"NOW IS THE TIME"

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 88, 31 January 1947, Page 3

"NOW IS THE TIME"

The clouds of war drift slowly Froni conflicts' blood-red stage Whilst around the council table The victors re-engage; They who in united strength Gained victory o'er the foe Divide their ranks by bargaining In triumph's afterglow.

Where is now the spirit of defensive

Brotherhood? Where now the grim desire To banish war for good? . Already there are rumours Spreading from land to land Warmongers raise their voices The fires are being fanned!

Wrangling at the Treaty table, Power groups—and compromise Will never bring a new world order Whatever be its guise. Leaders, politicians, statesmen Try as they will, must fail— Treaties, gilded scraps of paper Are signed to no avail.

In the hearts of wondering mothers Grows the ever mounting fear of bearing sons for sacrifice In some future year; Mothers of countless generations Have paid wars bitter price Watched their sons spent lavishly With gambler's dice!

This vicious loathsome farce must end This savage waste of human life This pattern of blasted hopes and

dreams This senseless costly strife. How long, must rich young life Feed the dripping jaws of Mars? Rivers of blood for ages flowing Bar mans' pathway to the stars.

Only the so-called common people Reaching out from shore to shore Offering the hand of friendship Can avert the curse of war! Strength of bond and strength of

purpose Blending in one world-wide voice, This alone can save the future It must be the people's choice.

To the memory of the fallen Of two great world wars Let us build a tower of friendship In a worthwhile cause. Let us now our voices raise Send a universal call To the leaders and the people Of every nation great and small.

"Now is the hour, now the time!" Wait not till war-drums roll, Make a covenant of peoples That never more shall war's grim

toll Sap the life-blood of the nations Humanity's destiny control Peoples of the earth, stand firm! Make known our sovereign will That peace on earth may come, As it can—and will, By a clearer understanding, Of that message of goodwill Borne on the wings of time Since that epoch-making birth, The message indestructable The salvation of the earth! William R. Whiteside, Whakatane