NOT UNSATISFACTORY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1941, Page 5

NOT UNSATISFACTORY

REASONS SEEN FOR COMFORT & CHEER BRITAIN NOW IN COMPANY WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF MANKIND. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.23 a.m.) RUGBY, September 30. Mr Churchill said the facts he had stated were “not entirely unsatisfactory” and he continued that, whether the devoted Russian battle lines or the majestic momentum of the United States were looked to, Comfort and good cheer would be divined in the struggle, “which nevertheless, even if alone, we should carry .'on inflexibly, un waveringly and with steadily increasing reserves.” The Empire, Mr Churchill said, had climbed from the pit of peril on to a fairly broad plateau. “We feel around us the upsurge of the enslaved countries of Europe,” he continued. “We see how they defy Hitler’s firing parties. Far away in the East we see the faithful, patient and inexhaustible spirit of the Chinese race, who too are battling for home and freedom. We are marching in company with the vast majority of mankind, all trending and forging forward towards the final goal which, though distant, can already be plainly seen. When we reflect upon the magnitude of modern events, compared with the men who have to try to control or cope with them, and the frightful consequences of those events to hundreds of millions, the importance of not making avoidable mistakes grows impressively upon the mind.”

For these reasons, Mr Churchill said, he would not attempt to discuss at the present time the questions of future strategy, which, he said amidst laughter, were discussed every day in the newspapers in a vivid manner, and he took as an example the question of whether Hitler’s preoccupation in Russia should not be taken advantage of to launch an invasion of Europe. The question, he remarked, “had several times occurred to those ' responsible for the conduct of the war.” If he threw out dark hints, none but the enemy would have the advantage, if he gave cogent reasons which could be ranged on the other side he would be giving gratuitous reassurances to Hitler.