STRAIGHT TALK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 December 1941, Page 5

STRAIGHT TALK

ADDRESSED TO AUSTRALIA “DAILY MAIL” ASKS QUESTIONS USE OF ALL RESOURCES. f ■ THE CONSCRIPTION ISSUE. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, December 30. The “Daily Mail,” in a leading article said: “As Mr Curtin has paid us the compliment of plain speaking, he will not object if we return it. Australia’s position is similar to that of Britain after the fall of France when we stood alone with a powerful enemy at our front door. Australia is now for the first time directly menaced, though the Japanese bases are thousands of miles distant and the Allies are still holding Australia’s front door. “The Dominions’ succour, so freely given, is gratefully acknowledged, but the British know that only they themselves could secure their country as a last stronghold of freedom. Is Mr Curtin satisfied that Australia is making a comparable effort to maintain her own integrity?

“Mr Curtin, as recently as December 21, denounced conscription. British women are being drafted to the Services; Australian women are still recruited voluntarily. We suggest that Australia’s first object should be to use all her resources ,of manpower and materials to secure herself as far as possible from 'attack.”