A LAY OF NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, 26 June 1913, Page 26

A LAY OF NEW ZEALAND.

(Specially Written for Sydney “Fairplay,” by “Rimu.”) The orators went up and down the land Preaching the awful wickedness of drink. The nation s bill for liquor in their hand Proclaimed the fact which none could dare to blink That nearly every man made choice to pay For something more than half a drink per day.

So sinfUl was this awful state of things That thousands voted in repentant mood To rob the glass and pint-pot of their stings And force a thirsty people to be good; No-license was their cure for every ill Suggested by that frightful liquor bill.

Whole districts robbed themselves to try the cure, Closed up the bars to free the land of sin; Their high intentions all men held as pure, Though based on arguments worn somewhat thin; For some explained that at the very first The fall of man was due to lack of thirst.

And then a curious matter came to light, The pubs were shut but still the cup went round. It seemed the sameold dog would keep his bite While twenty shillings went to make a pound ; For as the public bars began to close The nation’s bill for liquor swiftly rose.

And still the orators went up and down Proclaiming pleasantly that black was white, That green was blue and indigo was brown, And that their cure for human ills was right ; While cheerful persons with a thirsty smile Drank deeply to no-license all the while.