Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1940. THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 May 1940, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1940. THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR.

ANE excellent purpose at least is being served by the debate in. the House of Commons on the British operations in Norway. As the debate proceeds it is being demonstrated once again, and impressively, that all parties in Britain are ot one mind in their determination that the whole energies of the nation shall be brought effectively to bear upon the prosecution of the war. Whether or not it is destined to weather the storm, the British Government is being criticised and taken to task sharply. The question at issue, however, is, simply whether the standards of planning and leadership disclosed in the conduct of the Norwegian campaign to date should be tolerated or must be improved upon.

That a political overhaul and stocktaking of this kind would be unthinkable in a dictatorship, particularly in the midst of a life and death war, is not, for the dictatorship, a < matter for congratulation. It is not in doubt that the ultimate outcome of the debate now in progress in the House of Commons will be to quicken and energise the war effort of the British nation and to make it more effective.

That being said, it seems likely that a great many people will find something extremely lame and unconvincing in Mr Chamberlain’s defence of the handling by his Government of the problems that arose lately in Norway. No one doubts that, the British Prime Minister and his colleagues are honestly intent on organising an effective national, effort for victory, but no real answer was made by Mr Chamberlain, or by his colleague the Secretary for War, Mr Stanley, to criticisms in . which the Government is accused of having allowed itself to be reduced to a routine and pedestrian procedure and of having failed to exercise initiative and resource in dealing, in an emergency, with an adversary quick in action as well as entirely unscrupulous. In all fairness it has to be recognised that Britain found herself faced by extraordinarily difficult problems in Southern Norway. Whatever the extent to which the swift invasion and occupation of Norway was made possible by internal treachery, it is clear that Britain had no opportunity ol: acting until the principal seaports and air bases of the invaded couniry were all in. German hands. There can be nothing but admiration and unqualified praise for what British forces were able to accomplish, on sea and land and in lhe air, in face of the tremendous handicap thus imposed. It does not of necessity follow, however, that the operations undertaken were planned and devised to lhe best advantage. Nt the stage to which the debate has been carried at time of writing, no reply has been made, for example, to the contention of Admiral Sir Roger Keyes that Trondheim might have been taken in a direct attack by combined naval and land forces. In this Sir Roger Keyes may be right, or wrong, but if he is considered to be wrong, it is not easy to imagine on what, grounds the landing of small Allied forces north and south of Trondheim is or was supposed to have been justified. Mr Chamberlain’s arguments that it. was necessary to do something to encourage the Norwegians, and that it. would have been inadvisable to concentrate solely on Narvik, are wholly unconvincing. Any encouragement given to the Norwegians by the Allied landings in Southern Norway must have been but. fleeting, and it now appears that there is nothing else to do, for the time being and so far as land operations are concerned, than to concentrate on Narvik. Incidentally, there is a lack of assurance at the moment, that such forces are being put into the scale against the German garrison at Narvik as might, be expected to ensure an early and decisive Allied victory in that vital region. Weight of course attaches to the contentions advanced by Mr Chamberlain and Air Stanley as to the necessity of avoiding an unwise dispersal of fighting strength. It would be going to a foolish extreme, however, to hold that the total demands of the'war will be met by concentrating forces in a single main theatre to the complete or undue neglect of subordinate, but still important, areas of conflict. This war, like others, demands an effective handling of secondary as well as of major problems. From that standpoint the British Government appears to-have failed and failed badly—both in broad planning and in such details of defective organisation and equipment, as were mentioned by Sir Archibald Sinclair in the course of the House of Commons debate—in dealing with the problems that arose in Norway. It must be hoped, that the debate will lead, to necessary changes, either in the composition of the Government, or in its standards of enterprise and efficiency. IMPROVING THE WATER SUPPLY. TN accordance with precedent, yesterday’s poll in Masterton on the proposal to raise a loan of .£10,500 for waterworks improvements was a small one. Only a little over one-fourth of those entitled to do so registered their votes. On that limited voting, however, Hie loan proposal was approved by a very substantial majority. This result may be regarded fairly as decisive, for it is hardly in doubt that those who definitely opposed the proposal mustered in full strength. Assuming that the proposed loan is authorised by the Local Government Loans Board, it will now be open to lhe Borough Council to do what is possible for the time being to augment our seriously inadequate water-supply. It may be hoped that this is only a beginning and I hat the ratepayers, having authorised an initial step, will be prepared, when better times return, to approve lhe outlay that is needed to give the town a secure and amply sufficient water-supply. A,part from its other limitations, the present intake, as most people know, is liable to be carried away by a heavy flood in the Waingawa River. It can be only a matter of time before the tdwn will be bound Io instal a safe intake higher up the river. This, with an additional and larger main, will not only give a greatly increased supply, but an increased pressure, which is of lhe highest importance from the point of view of protection against fire as well as from that of domestic supply. The establishment of up-to-date swimming baths is also contingent upon a radical improvement in the water-supply. Meantime the cleaning and concrete lining of the supply mains and the trealmcid of the reticulation mains which is Io follow should modify considerably the stale of affairs that has been experienced in recent summers.