UNSPARING EFFORT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 April 1942, Page 3

UNSPARING EFFORT

DEMANDED OF DOMINION TIME OF PERILOUS URGENCY PRIME MINISTER ON WAR OUTLOOK. ADDRESS TO LABOUR PARTY. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “Today the immediate task confronts us with perilous urgency. The danger to the country is comparable, with that of England after Dunkirk, and we must equal the magnificent response of our kinsfolk as they faced the threat of Nazi invasion. The hour calls for the finest expression of, our spirit.” This call was issued by the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, at the conclusion of his address in presenting the annual report of the New Zealand Parliamentary Labour Party at the Easter conference of the New Zealand Labour Party, which opened in the Wellington Town Hall yesterday morning. “Reservations and conditions, arguments and divisions, must not be allowed to retard us in our utmost effort,” Mr Fraser continued. “There is no time to bfe spared in waiting for others to toe the line or for personal or sectional interests to be adjusted first. The spirit of democracy demands that everyone must sacrifice his gains, deny himself of his cherished rights and devote all his labour and valour to serve the common cause. We have done and given a great deal, but all that we have done must be regarded as only an earnest of all we have yet to do. EVENTS OF PAST YEAR. “Since last Easter the impact of the war upon New Zealand has been most severe. Our men in the Middle East have fought in strenuous campaigns in Greece, Crete, and Libya. We can take great pride in their achievement, but with it we share the sorrow that has touched so many homes in our country,” stated Mi’ Fraser. “In the air we have made a substantial contribution, more than 6000 airmen having now gone abroad and many of them have served with outstanding distinction. In the Royal Navy there are some 2000 New Zealanders serving in overseas waters.” For the naval defence of the Dominion there had been a considerable measure of security since the command of the Anzac area had been entrusted to the United States. The Dominion’s contribution consisted of the ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy and a growing fleet of minesweepers and other small vessels. Mr Fraser added that air strength had been substantially increased by the most modern equipment from Great Britain and the United States. “The training of airmen and the building of airfields takes time, and it is a matter of great satisfaction that plans well laid years ago have given us a firstclass asset for home defence,” he added. “The Government has in recent weeks restated our full air requirements both in the United Kingdom and the United States.” CALL ON MANPOWER. “Placing the country on a war foot- • ing has produced a profound effect on’ the civil life, and we have gone a long way in the past year toward reaching total war effort. There are at present 140,000 men who have left industry to take their places in the armed forces, and of those remaining 15,000 workers alone are directly engaged in producing munitions and another 6000 men have been employed in the construction of defence works,” stated the Prime Minister in reviewing the impact of the war on the country. A sharp distinction between the conditions which workers could expect in peace and wan was drawn by Mr Fraser, who asserted that beyond the production of the minimum of goods necessary for existence and for efficiency, all production should be for'war purposes. “The only justifiable free time is that necessary for rest and rebuilding strength and energy for further work.

“Objectives and principles to which we attach the highest importance in times of peace must at present give place to those aimed solely at the utmost production for war purposes. Under these conditions the material wellbeing of the individual must be sacrificed in the interests of the common good and every section of the community has a duty to every other section.” Ivlr Fraser considered that in general the workers had played their part loyally by keeping up production and assisting the Government in adjusting working conditions. Reassurance was expressed in the prospects for primary industries. Last year Mr Fraser had feared that there might be a considerable reduction in the value of exports, but though there had been a decline of £6,250,000 from the previous year, the figures were still the second highest on record. EXPRESSION OF CONFIDENCE. The conference discussed Mr Fraser’s report during the afternoon and evening, and at 10 p.m. the following motion was put by Mr Eddy, M.L.C., and carried unanimously with musical honours: — “That this conference thanks the Frime Minister for his informative report, expresses high appreciation of the manner in which the Government has administered the affairs of the country under the most difficult and trying times brought about by the war, and records its full and complete confidence in him as Prime Minister and in his Government.” This afternoon the Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland, is addressing the-conference on the campaign for Christian order.