"Whether of Them Twain?"

Free Lance, Volume XVI, Issue 867, 16 February 1917, Page 18

"Whether of Them Twain?"

(For the N.Z. Free Lance.) "But what think ye?.. A certain man had two sons, and he came _to the first and said: Son, go . work in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not, but afterward he repented" and ~ went. And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and \ said, I go, sir; and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father?" . . We were fighting for our country, 'we were fighting for a cause; We Were up against it badly, and we ' wanted, men by scores ;■..'. And the boys came forward nobly, midst the shirkers' loud applause, For we: were fighting for our country, we were fighting for a cause. -We were fighting for our mothers, and our sisters, and our wives, And the gallant lads went willingly to offer up- their lives; ' [ We werei plentiful in plaudits, as each new batch arrives, • And throwing bouquets handsomely at .everyone who strives. We were fighting for the. Empire, we were fighting to be free, • We were fighting for the guerdon of our,-heritage—the sea. And our volunteering army faces all there is to be—Is there nothing in this sacrifice appeals to you and me ? And compliments were passing, midst the sundering of ties, And cheers of lusty multitudes like thunder rent the skies. They were sending off the willing ones, with teaful, misty eyes. Whilst they preferred to stay behind —the brave, the keen, the wise. . But when the ballot laid a forceful hand upon this throng Then everything that had been right at once was cruelly wrong. "The Governemnt should, spare the weak, and leave it to the strong." Then Peace at any price would come. and surely not he long. The plumber had a joint to sold, the fanner'd sowed some oats; The carpenter was busy huilding lots of pleasure boats; The tailor had an order for some trousers and some coats, And the banker had to check the latest issue of new notes. The baker had just kneaded up a batch of fancy bread, And the undertaker had to plant a casual home-dead; The parson had a pair or so of couples he'd to wed, And the doctors vowed that patients were still waiting to be bled. The publicans had beer to sell, and "couldn't get awavj"

And the Christadelphian Hedonists could "never stoop to slay," And the squatter, on his-lordly lands, had "not got in his hay," And the genial, gentle racing man would go "some other day." "Public interest!" ' 'Public Interest I'' "Public Interest!" —what a farce! Public Interest's Private Interest, when the ballot comes to pass. ' You can stay at home and whimper, whilst the money you amass, But the graves of' our dead heroes are a shame to your poor class. "Public Interest!" "Public Interest I" "Public Interest" —let it go. i Get behind your women's petticoats, and let your sad tears flow. Are you game to reap the, harvest of the. cowardice you show? Is you manhood sapped by avarice? For God's sake answer "No." The boys who went are calling, they are calling for. a spell; Their sufferings and their torments are a tale no tongue can tell. The dead whisper on the night winds that the battle-field is hell, And "Public, Interest" answers: "It's unlucky, but—well, well!" Wellington, 1917. . .