TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1943. TASKS IN THEIR ORDER.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 March 1943, Page 2

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1943. TASKS IN THEIR ORDER.

QHARPLY as he dissented from the sanguine optimism of k those who have, as he said, jumped to the conclusion that the war will soon be over, Mr Churchill in his latest broadcast address’showed also that he perceives very clearly the necessity of preparing in good time to deal with the problems both oi international order and of national welfare that will arise w ien the war is over. lie stated emphatically, indeed, that under tre Government of which he is the head, work is proceeding vigorously on problems in both these categories. Very wisely the British Prime Minister denounced the folly and danger of allowing attention to be diverted from the task of winning the war when peace is still remote and the fruits of victory have yet to be won. lie condemned unreservedly, also, attempts to bind the British Government, or its successors, to heavy financial commitments, without regard to the circumstances that might prevail when these fell due. Those who prize most what is best in British democracy will respect Mr Churchill’s contention that Ministers and members should not be reduced to the status of pledge-bound delegates, denied the right to exercise their judgment at a given time and in the circumstances then existing. Uncompromisingly as he insisted, however, upon the necessity of giving first place to the winning of the war and of avoiding reckless commitments, Mr Churchill ranged himself unmistakably with those who are determined that action shall be taken in good time to avert the mistakes made after the last world war. With the war yet to be won, his policy with regard to the future was summed up as:, “No promises, but every preparation, including, where required, preliminary legislative preparation.” The British Prime Minister stands for the safeguarding of world peace, when it has been established, by the use of national or international force, 1 or both, against any new attempt at aggression and by a reaffirmation of the lofty conceptions of freedom, law and morality which were expressed, though ineffectively, in the League of Nations. He thinks that nothing could be more foolish at' this stage than to plunge into details such as the determination of frontiers. With all respect to Mi Churchill, there may be danger also in allowing questions of this kind to remain too long unsettled, but the goal to be aimed at in any case is the broadest and firmest development of international co-operation. Much as Mr Churchill objects to premature promises and reckless commitments, his ideas on the subject of social progress and economic adjustment, and with regard to the extension of equal educational and other opportunities to all, are as liberal as the heart of the most ardent reformer could desire. These ideas at the same time are admirably practical. _ His observations on the re-establishment of rural life and industry, the wise encouragement of parenthood, the development of social security, health and education, the revival of trade and other aspects of national reconstruction and progress will all of them command wide approval. There was good sense as well as apt phrase-making, tqo, in the British Prime Minister’s observation that the best way to insure against unemployment was to have no unemployment. While his address was in a most essential degree a demand for unflagging and undivided effort in getting on with the lai from completed job of winning the war, Mr Churchill at the same time proclaimed himself a follower of the larger hopeone who believes that with comradeship and loyalty in national and international affairs there will be no need “for Britain to run into that horrible, devastating slump, or into that trough of bickering and confusion'which mocked and squandered the hard-won victory of a quarter of a century ago.”