ANCIENT POLITICS.
Under this heading, “Antiquary” gives in the Oamaru Mail the following amusing allegory of present day politics : “The following translation from the history of the ancient Mamraouites has just been discovered, and may prove of interest in the present crisis : “In these days the land was ruled for the people and by the people, and in this maimer, after much tribulation, did tranquility come unto them. Behold, it was the cusiom to choose seventy and seven men from among the people, and to send them to the ‘City ot the Winds’ to make laws and rule the laud justly. The majority were called ‘Rulers,’ and the minority ‘Opposers.’ And the people said : ‘Deal justly, oh, ye Rulers, and ye shall remain in your seats ; but. as the flesh is weak, ye shall be watched closely by the Opposers, and if ye fail and come short in your deeds, behold, ye shall be plucked down from your high places and the Opposers shall be exalted in your stead.’ “Thus-did the Opposers wax envious, and watched the Rulers with hostile eyes, and at divers times did they prove folly against them, and took their places, the Rulers becoming Opposers in turn,' Yea, and the people did gloat, saying, ‘Truly we are the people, and wisdom dies with us, for by having watchdogs we are served honestly.’ “But, alas ! in the days of the rule of Joseph, the two parties became bitter, and wroth at one another ; and under Massins, the head of the Opposers, did cry out and say : ‘Go to, this man doth wax fat and rich, he hath been pampered overmuch, and hath become a tyrant, giving as presents great ships, yea leviathans, which belong to the people, and laying heavy taxes and grievous to be borne upon the people.’ “Then Joseph and his brethren did say : ‘Ye are liars, and from jealousy do ye speak ; the Public Treasury is lull and runneth over! Behold lor spite would ye sell me to Egypt, as ye did my namesake ol old.’
“Then did both parties, in the language ot old —(the meaning of which is lost in the mists of antiquity) —‘take to the stump,’ talking and harangiug to the people of the North even unto the South. Joseph said : ‘Great and powerlul are we, and in no case can ye take our places.’ ‘Nay, then,’ said Massius, ‘the laud groans under thine oppression, and we shall be raised to ‘the top of the pole.’ —(Meaning obscure). — Ye are thieves and robbers, and receivers of bribes.’ ‘We be true men and no thieves,’ said Joseph, ‘but ye are liars, backbiters, and haters of the truth : yea, for place and power do ye say these things.’ “Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad, so these men did yap and roar upon one another, like unto the inhabitants of Billingsgate; even like the children who play in the market places, they did cry out and say : ‘You did !’ ‘We didn’t !' ‘You did!’ ‘We didn’t!’ ‘Did!’ ‘Didn’t!’ Yah ! Yah ! Yah !
‘Then it came to pass that the wise men of the people arose and said : ‘We will bear this folly no longer, but will make an end of it. From the seventy and seven we shall choose ten men —surely ten just men can be found —from either side, shall we choose, and give the rule into their hands. We have many laws and statutes laid up lor many years. The sixty and seven can go back whence they came, and for ever hold their peace.’
“And behold, it was done according to the words ot the wise men. Joseph was sent to the South to his grain stores, with his Miller, to make corn into flour and feed the people. Massins returned to the North to his land, taking his Herdman with him to feed sneep and oxen. The others went each to his own place, and the gold which had been paid to them was saved to pay the debts which the laud did owe. Verily the ten ruled justly and well, aided by men called the ‘Heads of Departments.’ A great peace rested on the laud, and prosperity for many days.”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MH19120413.2.29
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Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1030, 13 April 1912, Page 4
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705ANCIENT POLITICS. Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1030, 13 April 1912, Page 4
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