DREAMS ABOUT TOM O'BYRNE.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 28, 24 September 1920, Page 4

DREAMS ABOUT TOM O'BYRNE.

By "Spectator."

I had a dream, a happy dnttB, I Mstr the eulmination, Of all the schemes of Labour world by shrewd apialgamation, The onlyNmissing link I saw, I saw it but too plain; The agricultural worker was the weak link in the chain. The Miner was the strongest link, and held the situation, The industries could all be held by his strong -Federation, 'Twas plain the men who mined the coal, were of the proper stuff To stop the railways and the ships if they went slow enough. The seamen and the engineers, the firemen and the miners, Ihe P. and T. and the railway men were holding up the liners, The men who make the farmers' cheese, and sawmill men in turn, Were out in force to do their bit, marshalled by Tom O'Byrne. And since, I had another dream, and in it I could see, The- shepherd and the cow-boy, and the man who ploughs the lea, And all the rural people who the farmers'' wages earn, Were being organised and led and trained by Tom O'Byrne. f ^he network now I saw was worked, by Tom of great renown, The man who'd always ruled the roost would have to knuckle down, The man who laboured with his hands would get his full desire, The man of capital would now be trampled in the mire. The gold, which in the ages past had been so hoarded up, By fatted landlords and such ilk, and filled his brimming cup, Must be disgorged and parted round, and everything was pat; Employers lost condition while the union men waxed fat. But, yet again, another dream— That all should he alike, The fatted man upon the land, and others went on strike, He killed a sheep for family use, consumed the butter-fat, That previously he carted to the nearest factory vat. He utilised his time and learned to grind some oats, 'twould seem, And smacked his lips as he consumed the porridge with his cream, The spuds which once the railwaymen took to the city store, Now played a quite important part and helped the farmer's "score." From time to time, the thing went on in this new-fangled way, The farmer for the first time had a jolly holiday, He never in his life before had such a heavenly spin, And kept his old condition on while Tom O'Byrne grew thin.