Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1941. STANDARDS OF WAR SERVICE.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 June 1941, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1941. STANDARDS OF WAR SERVICE.

will agree that Parliament has done the right thing in placing on record its admiration oi the courage, tenacity and determination displayed by the officers and men of the New Zealand Division, Maori and pakelia alike, in the tight for liberty on the battlefields of Greece and (Tele, together with an expression of confidence in the leadership ol Major-General Dreyberg. V.C., and of sympathy for all those who now sorrow for the loss of our gallant soldiers. Parliament as obviously is not doing the right thing, however, in continuing to conduct its own affairs on a basis of party wrangling which is never admirable and in days of supreme national emergency is both discordant ami discreditable. At a time when men are being asked to fight and if need be die For their country, when increasing sacrifices are being demanded of the whole population. and when our very existence as a. free people is at stake, what possible right have members ol' Parliament to indulge in party strife of the kind of which we have had a not her exhibition this week.' In the minds of an overwhelming proportion of the men and women of New Zealand, this strife undoubtedly awakens unqualified contempt and disgust. No one is called upon, in order to determine who is to blame or most to blame, to examine and dissect the wranglings in which some of our politicians engage. In these days of crisis such as we have never known before the duty of all New Zealanders is or should be clearly defined. Most certainly it is not in doubt that the duty of members of Parliament is defined with absolute clarity. To parly bickering, once it has begun, there is no end, but if the right lead were given and the rigid action taken by all who desire to take it, the discreditable state of affairs that exists today would be ended speedily. At all events, such partisan wrangling as then continued would be reduced to contemptible proportions and might be expected to die, before long, of inanition. Because this country, in common with its Empire and other allies and associates, is literally fighting for life and for all that makes life worth living? the aim of all good New Zealanders; in or outside Parliament, must be to forward and assist such an organisation and use of our total national energies and resources as will ensure the most powerful war effort of which we are capable. It would be foolish to suggest that we have yet reached this standard of effort and service, or that we ever shall achieve it in existing conditions of political organisation and leadership. The extent to which the Dominion is capable of expanding and enlarging its war effort can be determined only when the right lead is given. That lead most certainly is not being given with political parties boggling over the question of forming a National Government and preparing, contentedly or resignedly, for a general election. Al! obstacles to the attainment of political unify for the prosecution of the war would be overcome in short order if our politicians, or the bulk of them, would but emulate the example, not only of courage but of disciplined self-sacrifice, set by our soldiers, to whom the House of Representatives paid a presumably sincere tribute on Thursday. Our country in these grim days has one great and overshadowing need. Those who are intent honestly on helping to satisfy that need will spend neither time nor energy in magnifying petty differences. There is need of a loyal and united concentration on essentials on the home front as well as on the battlefield and nowhere more than in Parliament, on which in these days an almost overwhelming responsibility rests. A. united concentration on essentials is needed and should be demanded, not only in order that the war may be fought and won, but to give substance to our national expression of admiration and gratitude to the members of our fighting forces, so that those of them who return may enjoy justice and security in the heritage they have defended and confirmed.