Evening star., 1939-11-27

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factories, in hospitals, in offices, In
your own homes, and in numberless
other ways.
Whatever your work may be,
know that In greater or less degree
the war has interrupted and affected
your daily life. Some of you are
already mourning the loss Of those
who were dearest to you. For such
grief as yours, no words of mine
could pretend to afford consolation.
I would only say this, that know
no cause more worthy of the SUI
preme sacrifice than that for which
those lives have been given. We
must be thankful that 50 far the
war has brought no such casualty
list as those which overshadowed
the early months OF the war of 1914.
But there must be few to whom 1t
has not meant anxiety or disturb
ance OF mind, discomfort, material
loss, or even severe hardship.
Businesses Dislocated.
Husbands and wives have been
separated from one another, or from
their children. Home arrangements
have been upset by having to billet
strangers or children accustomed to
different ways of living. Businesses
have been dislocated, hard-earned
practices have had to be abandoned
buildings have been Communicated
at short notice, and at great incon-
venience to their owners and occu-
pants.
Heavy taxation has cut into in
comes and imposed severe restric-
tons upon expenditure. Then
again. there are the daily irritating
1nconveniences of restrictions of
various kinds, not forgetting the
blackout and the difficulties and
dlscomforts of travelling. Most of
these hardships and inconvenience
have been brought about by the
necessity Of providing against at
tacks from the air. Some of them
may seem now to have been un-
necessary since the air raids have
not taken place, but if they had
come as every one expected and had
found us unprepared you would have
rightly blamed the government for
Its neglect. Even now we cannot
assume that the Germans will not
change their tactics and make a
sudden attack from the air upon
this country. We must not, there
Tore, rashly dispense with our safe
guards, but we are constantly revis-
Ing the existing restrictions and we
shall certainly relax them whenever
we feel that We can do so without
undue risk to the public safety.
do not think I need say more
about restrictions which are i'm
posed only in the general interest
and which I am sure will be cheer
fully borne If they help to bring us
victory.
1t matters nothing to them that
they are daily blowing up neutral
ships as well as British and thereby
drowning or mutilating citizens of
countries with which they are not
at war. They hope that these bar
barous weapons can cut of our own
supplies from overseas and 50
squeeze or starve us into submis-
sion.
You need have no fears that this
attempt will succeed. Already we
know the secrets of the magnetic
mine and we shall soon have that
mastered, as we have already mas
tered the U-boat, and in the mean
time, despite some losses, our con-
voys are still moving steadily in
and out Of our ports and they will
continue to do so, thanks to the
courage and the spirit of the men
IN our merchant navy and in the
warships which escort them.
Seamen's Courage Praised.
It may be that some of you who
are listening to me are yourselves
serving at sea in his majesty's ships
or in the vessels which maintain our
supplies from overseas. would
like you to know that we are con.
stantly thinking of you and of the
perils Of storms and of a ruthless
enemy that you are facing day and
night. Upon you still has to be
borne the brunt Of the war, and we
cannot be sufhciently grateful to
you for the cool and steadfast cour-
age with which you have carried on
your tasks. We do not forget that
the safety Of these islands depends
on the untiring watchfulness of our
seamen as it has done ever since
the days Of Queen Elizabeth. Others
OF my listeners may be serving in
the army, some in distant garrisons
overseas, some in France, some
again. keeping perpetual vigil over
their guns on their home frontiers
For you the time for conflict has
not yet arrived, but we know that
you are cheerfully enduring the
monotony and discomfort that in
eyitably attend the routine Of prep
aration and that when the day of
battle comes you will be ready to
meet 1t as your fathers were before
you.
And as for you who are serving
IN the air force, our youngest fight
Ing service, you, too, have an i'm
portant part to play in the defense
OF the homeland, as well as in the
defeat of the enemy forces. We
have watched with pride and ad-
mlrauon your gallant exploits in
your aerial combats in which you
nave taken part and we feel conf
dent that you have been more than
equal to any demands that NAV
have been made upon you.
said q little while ago that this
was a different kind of war from
what we expected. Perhaps you may
sometimes wonder why we ourselves
are not attacking the enemy with
more vigor. Well, I would remind
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