OUR CRITIC.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 137, 10 June 1911, Page 15

OUR CRITIC.

[A reply from an Auckland tramwayman to Mr Nesbitt's scathing criticism of our local tramway system.j Tie Sydney dailies spout it forth, and grandma moans and groans; The words that an unkind critic said in sharp nerve-shattering tones; The words of an expert man, who comes from die land that is hot and dry. And has seen our faults through a hasty glance of his wonderfully expert eye. He has seen us all, and he knows our faults. he has studied you and mc; He has reau our records—siatistics too— and he knows our pedigree; A little mau in a big grey cap, and tourist leggings and pauts. Has rushed through here on his all-round tour, aud has summed us up at a glance. The city In which we had so much pride is bad. aud its ways are queer; And we did not know till the truth was told by a Sydney Chanticleer; Our cars are heavy and lumbering too, with a noise that knows no lull; Our streets are bad and our lights are bad and our business men are dull. i But humour gleams in our critic's eye when ! he says that a ten-ton cane And a Nasmyth hammer are both required on a .rauicar window pane. But, like all men with narrow views he ! judges many by one, ' j He has given us a bit of his little mind I but heed him not my son. " i Was there ever an island in the world so young and small as we, " I Could boast of a city so grandly built, and a people that live so free? I Heed not the prejudiced critic's tongue, j I who sings of your streets unkempt; | Bnild on my sons (for your land is young), I and treat 'em witi contempt. 1