PETER PIPER'S LETTERS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 83, 11 September 1869, Page 3

PETER PIPER'S LETTERS.

PETER'S VISION.

Having been much troubled in my mind of late in. respect to Thousands eernit Hundreds and Hundreds versus Thousands, and wondering to what all this agitation would tend, I fell into a trance. And lo and behold ! I saw men everywhere spread over the face of the country, searching for gold, MMHbey "were yer 7 numerous. They pitched their tents in, every gully and spur, and the plains were covered with them as with locusts. And the people had no land and no abiding-place in Otago, , but were aB wayfaring men who had, taken up their abode for a night. And it came to .pass that they , extracted much treasure out of the j bowels of the' earth, and then took - iiheiv" departure io other and more gunny climes,. whe?e they bought laud

and planted vineyards, and ate the fruit thereof. But many were satisfied with the country, and beheld that the land was good; but as yet they had no land, no, not as much on which to feed a goat. And it came to pass that some of the owners and occupiers of the soil treated, these people badly, and looked upon bhzm as aliens, and took their one ewe lamb, or pig, and make their owners pay heavily for trespass ; and the people groaned under their burden. And it came to pass that the people lifted up their eyes and saw the hanks of the Molyneux, the Taieri, Idaburn, and hundreds of other plains that were well watered ; and they cried to the Q-overnment, "Give us these lands for a price ; " but the G-overn-lnent made answer that the land was not theirs to give ; that they were under a bond to the present holders, who would retain possession of the land for the purpose of feeding sheep upon it. And I saw that this made the people more clamorous for land. 'What did they care about sheep ? the land was made for men and not for sheep ! And it came to pass that a great and powerful party arose, calling themselves the Tuapeka Land League -, and to this powerful league the G-o-vernment listened, and proclaimed all the available land of Otago into Hundreds. And it came to pass that the sheep had to be driven hither and thither, and those who had invested in runs were either ruined or took their flocks to the Fijis, or other of the many islands in the South Pacific. I saw also in my dream that the people got the land, and had every man his cow ; and they had milk and butter of kine, and were very thankful for a home. But I saw in my dream that there were no sheep on the mountains, and every man had to kill his cow for food, for there was great dearth over all the land. And behold, the people sighed for the flesh-pots of former times, when a sheep could be got for a bob ; and now the country was a perfect wilderness, and those who could crawl away after the sheep did so, while those who remained subsisted on vegetable food, until they almost resembled the cabbages which grew in their garden, they were so green. I saw also that the Home merchants would not send their ships to Otago with goods under double freight, as they could get no return freight ; so there was dearth and darkness on all the land; and many were the hard thoughts against those who had made political capital out of the cry for Hundreds. I saw in my dream a poor object coming, or rather crawling, towards my residence, and, on a nearer approach, I saw it was my old friend Sandy, who entreated for even a sliceof haggis ; but I made answer to him, "As the Lord liveth, Sandy, I have only a sheep's heacl and trotters ! whteh when I have picked I shall lend to you to make a pot of broth with, and after you have done with them you can. let good old Bryan have a taste. Be considerate, Sandy, to the poor." Then I saw in my dream that the people did at last consider their ways, and that the conflict between class and class was bringing ruin upon their devoted heads ; they therefore got old Peter to draw up a memorial to the Government to let the runholders have again possession of their land, and bring their flocks and herds with them ; which being accomplished, great was the joy of the people of Otago, and the country was prosperous again, to a greater extent than ever it had been before ; and the people were contented, having had such a lesson as they never had before, and it made them wiser and better men. And behold, once more the Scotch had abundance of haggis. The bleating of the sheep and the playful antics of the lambs awoke me, and lo ! it was a dream ! Old Peter Piper.