WAR SACRIFICES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 January 1940, Page 5

WAR SACRIFICES

CALL ON ALL CLASSES SPEECH BY SIR J. SIMON. GUARDING AGAINST DANGER OF INFLATION. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, January 13. Calling for sacrifices from all classes of 1 lie community, the Chaneclinr of [lie Exchequer, Sir .John Simon, speaking at Glasgow, said that tin 1 war could not lie carried to till* only conclusion free men and women would tolerate without incurring immense burdens.

If inflation were to be avoided, he continued —and since the first day of the war it had been his constant concern at the Treasury and the object of the whole Government to guard against that danger—definite sacrifice was called for from everyone, whatever their means of livelihood. Sir John Simon enumerated three distinct methods by which they could restrict consumption, provide funds for the conduct of the war and limit the competition of too much money for too few goods. Taxation was the first method; the second was saving and the third was rationing. IDEALISTS & REALISTS. No peopie in the world were more devoted to peace than were the British, he continued. They had no desire to attack others and themselves sought no territory. They had not the least wish to expose themselves to the cruel trials of modern war. Yet the world saw Britain today with France and Poland deliberately engaged in a fearful struggle, and united as never before in history. One reason for this complete unity was the harmony of that blend of idealism and realism which made up the British character. Herr Hitler’s declarations and actions, and the fact that he had forsworn himself so often that no word of his could be relied upon, had brought idealists and realists to the common conclusion that if life was to be made worth while, and if tolerance and justice were to survive Hitlerism and what it stood for .must be overthrown. Neither was Britain alone in reaching this conclusion, Sir John Simon said. "The Dominions overseas are free countries like ourselves. They have their own problems in their own continents, and Germany may well have wondered whether they would take their place at our side as they did 25 years ago. Well, if Germany even questioned it, she has their answer.” With gallant France never had British co-operation in every field of endeavour been ’so close, and though Czechoslovakia had been conquered and Poland riven in twain, the Czechs and Poles were organising their scattered forces at the Allied side, he continued. FIGHT FOR LIBERTY. Stating that the "fight or liberty” was not a mere figure of speech, the Chancellor contrasted the realities of liberty of conscience, opinion and religion with the realities of the German concentration camps, the suppression of trade unions and the subservience of the individual to the Stale, and he said, "Nazi Germany and the surrounding countries which Hitler has overwhelmed are countries governed by a system which is a complete negation of human rights and which is only accepted out of fear.” Immense burdens and heavy sacrifices would be necessary to reach the only conclusion of the war which free men would tolerate, he continued, and he dealt with the existing conditions which, he said, had not yet involved any grave inconvenience. GRIM TIME COMING. As the Prime Minister had said, a grimmer time was coining. "The comparative quiet of the events at Home and the limited extent of losses and sufferings in the field may encourage a view that victory can be achieved without the full contribution of the whole population which will really be necessary. That would be a false view, a dangerous view—a fatal view.” Sir John Simon proceeded with a warning of the effect of inflation, and recalled the years which followed the last war.

The first step to guard against this danger in the present instance, said the Chancellor, had been the severest Budget tlie British people had ever faced, one reason for which was to raise the largest possible sum toward the first war year expense. The second object was to discourage unnecessary spending, but the Chancellor added that twothirds of the- consumption of goods was by people with incomes not exceeding £5 a week, and these people were hardly touched by the Budget.

Sir John Simon mentioned that the savings campaign was at present confined to small investors who had produced more than £50,000,000 in seven weeks.

He concluded: “The outcome of this war is going to show whether the selfdiscipline of a free democracy like ours is not a more potent instrument than the mechanical drilling of the totalitarian State. We have the greatest cause in the world —liberty—and the whole nation is prepared to sustain that cause by all necessary sacrifices.”