THOUGHTLESS FOLLY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 May 1941, Page 4

THOUGHTLESS FOLLY

SHOWN BY MANY WRITERS OF LETTERS INFORMATION THAT WOULD HELP ENEMY. WARNING STATEMENT MADE BY MINISTER. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. •'After some 18 months of war. cases are still coming to notice of letters, both to and from our forces overseas, containing the most dangerous references to military matters.” said the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, last night. "It is incredible that, at this stage, any member of the public should fail to appreciate the threat to national security implied in such disclosures. It is essential in the interests of the Empire generally and for the safety of our forces overseas that such indiscretions should cease.” No letter, said the Minister, should contain any reference to any matter of military importance such as the name of a ship, date of sailing, projected route of destination, number of troops, composition of a convoy, or any other matter which might assist the enemy to locate a ship or trace its movements. The public should realise that any reference to shipping or troop movements meant that the letter was put aside for the necessary amendment, and frequently on that account missed the mail dispatch. Those letters which were free of such references were entitled to first consideration, and received it; the others were stood over till the mail was completely censored. Further, it might even be necessary to take action under the National Emergency Regulations to impress on the individual the gravity of his or her offence. "I am confident that no one would deliberately endanger the national interests in the manner I have indicated, and am convinced that in the majority of the cases referred to the root cause of the indiscretion is thoughtlessness,” Mr Jones said. “I am therefore appealing to everyone to co-operate with the Government to ensure the prompt dispatch of mails, and I would finally again stress the fact that the only sure means of such co-operation is to abstain entirely from any reference whatever to shipping or troop movement.”