EMPIRE’S BEST

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 March 1940, Page 5

EMPIRE’S BEST

DOING ITS MOST IMPORTANT WORK DEBT TO OUR FIGHTING MEN ADDRESS BY MR SAVAGE. REFERENCES TO AFTER-WAR PROBLEMS. “Today it is Ihe soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Empire who are doing its most important, work —1 hoy are engaged in I lie essential industry of lhe times,’’ said the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, in concluding last night the present series of his Sunday night talks on current New Zealand problems.

He added that nothing less than stark necessity would induce New Zealand to send the flower of its manhood to lhe battlefield. It was dangerous delusion to imagine that our remoteness from the scene of conflict was the sufficient guarantee of our safety. The fighting man was imperilling his life for the things that the best men and women throughout the ages had cherished, and for which many of them had given their lives. The subject of Mr Savage's address was "Public Friend No I—the1 —the Fighting Man.”. He said that despite the title of his talk, he was not going to venture upon praise of the men in the fighting forces. They neither needed, nor wished, anything of the sort, from him or anyone else. They went to fight their country’s battles because they chose to do their duty. What effect that might have upon their lives and fortunes they know better than anyone who had never made lhe same choice. And as popular applause was not their incentive so it could not be their reward.

THE ALL-IMPORTANT FACTOR. "Let all of us remember as we work on farm or in factory, in office or shop, that the most valuable form of production is the preparation of armed force,” said Mr Savage. “On that the continuance of every other form of production is dependent. Indeed, everything we have and enjoy is in a very real sense a gift to us from the armed forces that protect us. If that statement seems too strong let us test it in this way: Suppose news came through tonight that our fleet and air force had been shattered by a sudden attack, delivered with overwhelming force, by the enemy; that the German army had burst through the opposing defences and was overrunning France, Belgium and Holland? In such circumstances what would be the value of real estate in New Zealand tomorrow morning? What would shares be quoted at on the stock exchange? What would anything at all, our jobs, our very lives themselves, be worth? Just as much as such things are worth to the Poles, just as much as they will be worth to the Finns, if their gallant forces are broken.

“It is our good fortune that our freedom can be defended thousands of miles from our shores. But in that circumstance lurks a peril. It blurs our sight of the certainty that geographical distance from the battlefield will avail us nothing if the battle goes against us. That distance would then do no -more than afford us a brief, tortured reprieve from destruction. 1 have said before, and 1 say it again, that we must face up to facts and see them as they are. It is a dangerous delusion to imagine that our remoteness from the scene of conflict is the sufficient guarantee of our safety. That remoteness is in itself meaningless; it has value only if the conflict is decided in our favour.

DEFENDING NEW ZEALAND. "Our soldiers will be engaged in no far-off foray that has little or no relation. except of sentiment, to our own lives and fate. In whatever distant place they take up their position they will be covering Auckland as immediately as if they were strung out along the North Shore, or entrenched on Rangitoto or Molatapu. Wherever they attack or defend they will be guarding Wellington. Christchurch and Dunedin as instantly as if they were in action at Lyall Bay, Sumner or St Kilda. “We have not sent —we shall not be sending—our boys overseas by way merely of a gesture, however splendid We are not engaged in theatricals that happen to be dangerous. Nothing less than stark necessity would induce us to send the flower of our manhood to the battlefield. Our men go to take their place in the armies of freedom because, without, them, those armies would be incomplete. “It may be that some among us. thinking fearfully of the dimensions that the present struggle may assume, will ask. ‘What can a few thousand New Zealanders do toward deciding the issue of so vast a conflict?’ To them I would reply, 'Remember what the New Zealanders did in the last war. Dwell for a little time on that.’ What New Zealanders did once, they can do again. The standard set by our Anzacs of the last war was as high as courage and discipline could raise it; but it was not too high for their sons and brothers to reach. AN ENEMY TRIBUTE. "Did the Anzac make a real contribution to the winning of the last war? Listen to what a distinguished

German general, von Roon, bearer of a name famous in German history, said of them. ‘To those of us who had opportunities of studying the position at first-hand. it was soon obvious that, when it came to warfare in which individuality and personal grit counted, the Australians and New Zealanders were, man for man, superior even to our best troops . . , We found repeatedly that it took the heart out of our best troops if they found that the trenches they had to attack were manned by Anzacs, and this dread of the name was intensified when there came to the Western Front German soldiers who had served on Gallipoli to stiffen the Turkish resistance. These men told such tales of the fighting qualities of the Anzacs that the young men had not the strength for fighting when they came to grips With those redoubtable opponents. It was the same on the defensive. 1 have seen our men holding their ground steadily enough till they found out they were being attacked by Anzacs, and then the resistance crumpled up. The inferiority complex on our side, so far as the Anzacs were concerned, was so marked at one time that there was created a special reserve, held in readiness to be thrown in to strengthen our line at the point where it came in contact with them.’ A WORD TO RELATIVES. “Now I would like to say a word or two to the fathers and mothers, the sisters, wives and sweethearts of the men who have gone or are going overseas to fight. I can understand how hard—for all your pride in them —it was, or will be. to say goodbye to them, and how sorely you will miss them. I will say no more than that, for'no one has a right, however well intentioned. to intrude upon the intimate personal feelings of others. But there are a few considerations that I would ask you to bear in mind and set off, as it were, against the sorrow of separation. “I would remind you that it is your privilege to remember this, that your son, your husband or your lover belongs henceforth to a society that men everywhere admire, and membership in which they prize, above ail others — the company of brave men. Comradeship in arms is, I believe, the most stirring and inspiring experience that can come into the life of a man of spirit. It will remain the proudest memory of his life, however long he lives; and no distinction that he may hereafter win in civilian life, will be valued by him as much as the recollection that once, of his own free will he was a soldier.

“And remember, too, that your man is fighting in a great cause. He is striving to uphold a higher, as against a lower, civilisation. He is imperilling his life for the things that the best men and women throughout the ages have cherished, and for which many of tern have given their lives —kindness, mercy, justice, good faith and truththings without which man. with his intellect. is a monster. NATIONAL OBLIGATION. “Now then, I proceed to ask, ‘What are we going to do for the man who is doing so much for us?' If we are sincere in calling him ‘Public Friend No. I,’ the question, what we are going to give him in return for what he is giving us, a question that common honesty compels us to raise, must come pretty high up in the list of our national problems.

“Of course complete compensation is out of the question. The value of life or health cannot be measures, and to those who lose either on active service full restitution is not possible. But our boys know that; they accept that; therein lies the merit of their going. “One of the few rays of light in the blackness of war is the fact that our governments—certainly those of the British Commonwealth and of France —have an appreciation of what is due to the soldier, and as far as is possible for them take all care for his welfare and comfort in sickness as well as health. The bad old days when anything was considered good enough for the soldier are happily gone; our governments do realise today that nothing is 100 good for the soldier. Relatives of our boys who go overseas may be sure that everything that the Government can do for them will be done. But as I have said a government however willing, cannot do everything; and I appeal to all to do something, however, modest, for the boys who are going to fight for us. “I regret that I have time now only for a word or two, in conclusion, about the future of our soldiers, our sailors and our airmen, and of these who with splendid devotion such as nurses, doctors. chaplains and men of the Red Cross minister to them in the field. When the war is over what are we going to do for them? After last war this country did much for the returned soldier, as it was in duty bound to do. This time, with past experience .to help us, we can and must do even more.

A FULL-SIZED JOB. Re-absorbing thousands of men into civilian life is going to be a full-sized job both for the Government and the community. The Government has already taken steps toward doing its part of the job. It will welcome suggestions from all who have the matter at heart. “I suggest that even now. though winning the war is of course our first dnd most urgent consideration, we can be giving at least a little thought to ways and means of bringing the returned soldier back into civil life. Some will not need any help. They will go back to their old tasks and callings whatever they were. But? for others it will not be so easy. We must charge our consciences with the duty of ensuring that no returned soldier who is willing to work has to come back to battle for a job. After the war I would like to see our men by the thousand settled on the land in conditions that will give them a sure prospect of success. Having given some of the best years of their lives to fight the tyranny of Nazism, returned soldiers must not be let in for a lifelong war against the tyranny of debt. "I want to see New Zealand filled with new settlers and new workers,” concluded Mr Savage. “New blood must come into this country, for if we don't fill it we shall not hold it. The best immigrants we can get are those that get a fair start in New Zealand cradles. There will be no better way of attracting them to the country than providing facilities for home-making for all our returned soldiers. Let al! of us who do not go to the war be thinking even now how best we can make it up to the fighting men for what he will have given up and done for us.”