IN THIS FUTURE

Otago Witness, Issue 2685, 30 August 1905, Page 63

IN THIS FUTURE

(Foi the 'Witnese.) This is the truth that is learned of the years— the tiutn of the folks oi the earth: Tnat msxi go forth to win far lands tor the country or their birth. And this is a fact proved many times: That the children of those parts, Born of the homes their parents raise with the power of hands and hearts, Know only the range and plain as theirs — a heritage to hold; And they learn to love the strange wild lands, while their xaarents love the old. Living thus in lands apart, in life and spirit changed, The younger and the older race in time become estranged.Oftentimes, m many things, is the Motherland defied, Till the pioneers claim their own at last, strong in their new-found pride! And so, some day, shall our South race rise, with our island flag unfurled, Claiming our independence then, for such is the way of the world. And tho' we know not of those things that shall mould our histor\ r , •While a Sotithland race has power to rule I know that this nmst be : By the law of tho land and the strength of the httnd in these islands o£ the foam, Always the alien will be barred, and the white man find a home ; And as ever pride of race prevails, and fear is a thing for ecorn, Shall we strive to hold the land for the white and the millions yet tinborn. And this is how we will gain our strength for , the pride of that future daj": We will mount 'our guns on the heights of our land ; by every beach and bay; Our creed shall not prove an empty dream, our might not an idle boast ; Maoriland will be guarded well when searchlights flash from tlje coast, When every -mountain boosts a fort, each hill a strong redoubt, And when the plains are scarred with pits to keep the enemy out!

We shall build a fleet of our own to sail and guard our dreaming shores, And tho towering cliffs shall shake to the sound when the mighty cannon roars ; Our island men shall man the guns, ready to stand on the decks And tight till the victory is theirs or the ships are battered wrecks — Fight for the life of a race new-born, ov drown by the harbour-mouth : That is how we are going to guard our country of the South. y&c have our citizen-soldiers now, but in the coining years Each man shall know how to handle a gun, and all shall be Volunteers. Each man must do his share in defence — it is only right he should Prepare to struggle for all that is his, for all that 'is grand and good. And when the thundei of war booms forth from the bush and fiom the town, A nation shall lise as a single man, that our foes may be beaten down. • • • * •? And when some writpr tells of our wars— the wars of some future age,—

O liow I wish I—couUk read his lines and take from his book a page : Learn of the awful battles iought, of the men who conquered then, And all that a writer may write about with the graphic power of the pen ; Of horrors that do, and always will, to a mighty war belong, "When men meet men in deadly hate, and there is no right or wrong.

Of what shall he write: of the far-flashed news when they sight the enemy's ships; The long- farewells when the men march forth, the touch of ps>s3ioned lips; The crashing conflict of fleet with, fleet, the cheers of our sailor lads Mingling with the roar of the gams in the rush of the ironclads ; Of sraoke-grimod men by the fire-riranied guns in the dust and heat ot the forts, And the falling buildings and levelled walls in the streets of our island ports 2Shall he wiite of outposts, of sldrnnsliing, on the range -where the scrub grows dense; Of battles fought by the coastal towns, the stand and the stern defence; Of men who face the bayonet blades and ths ever-bursting shells, And stand where the wounded and dead lie thick, till the pits are blood-stained hells; Of the clash of arms, the hoarse wild shouts, when foe with foeiuan meets ; And the glory of the fierce onslaughts an-d the gloom of the long reheats? JTow there are some may sneer at my vsvss and mock at my chosen lhymes; But as I have written, so shall it be in' the stormy future times. While strong the hand and firm the will, as of old it shall be again, And the spirit that triumphed at Bunk-ears Hill in the hearts of men shall reign: The South will rise in the years tc come, and, lising, united stand — From the lowest in the city slum to the highest in the land. — E. L. Efttli. Beach road, Devonport, Auckland, August, 190 a.