Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1942. TO THE LAST MAN.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 August 1942, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1942. TO THE LAST MAN.

—— AS Minister of Armed Forces and War Co-ordination, Air Coates has stated that, with the support of'Parliament, the 'War Cabinet, has adopted the policy of calling up all men in the Dominion fit and able to bear arms and that it is intended to proceed with the regular balloting of men in all age groups up to 45 years. At what rate the continuing call on manpower is to proceed, Mr Coates did not say. No doubt this will depend largely upon factors of supply and organisation—it would be useless to call up men who could not be equipped and trained effectively—and upon war developments. In any case reinforcements are to be provided for New Zealand troops wherever they may be employed overseas and proper consideration is to be given also to the maintenance of necessary reserves and especially to the protection of our own country. It may well be, Mr Coates' observed in part, that future developments will show it to be wise and desirable that our troops should be employed in new theatres of war on the grounds that the safety of our own country and that of our Allies could best be served by going after and fighting the enemy rather than by awaiting him on our own shores. It should not be hard to visualise the havoc and destruction that would follow if New Zealand had to fight in this Dominion, or, in other words, if New Zealand became a battlefront'. ]f may bo supposed that in the policy thus outlined, the War Cabinet will have as undivided support from the country in general as from Parliament. Since defeat would mean either death, or degradation which might be much worse than death, for every man, -woman and child in this country, it is plain enough that we cannot afford as a people to be content with anything less than the maximum war effort of which we are capable until victory has been Avon. The fact that this imperative demand must be met of course makes it essential that our resources, and above all our resources of manpower—a term which in these days of total war must be taken to comprehend both men and women—should be so organised and used with the greatest possible effect. It is or should be a. matter not only of mobilising every available man and of organising women for auxiliary and other service, but of seeing to it that every man is placed where he will best play his part in the common task of safeguarding the life of the nation. The necessity remains, as Mr Coates observed, of maintaining the most advantageous balance that is possible between service in the armed forces and in industry. Other vital considerations are involved, amongst them that of doing everything that is practicable to safeguard the present and future welfare of the youthful manhood of the Dominion, upon, whom the whole future of this country must so largely depend. No limit can yet be set to war demands and these demands must be met, if need be, to the last man. This certainly should not mean, however, denying to young soldiers'—particularly the lads who join the Territorial Force at<the age of 18 —the education and training that will enable them to play a competent part in civil life when the war is over. Action to that end rather should be regarded as an indispensable part of the all-out war effort to which we are committed. It is plainly essential to an ultimate realisation of the aims for which the war is being fought.