Mexborough and Swinton Times, December 12, 1902
The Denaby and Cadeby Strike.
Treachery
(Lines suggested by an incident in the Denaby and Cadeby strike.)
When the cannon ceased to rattle
O’er the vastness of the veldt,
When the last death-stroke of battle,
Had from man to man been dealt;
How our hearts leapt when the news came
That the sounds of strife should cease;
Boer and Briton safely sheltered
‘Neath the snowy wings of Peace.
Peace! The word is glibly uttered
In the flush of victory;
Let us pause and look around us
Not in lands beyond the sea;
Here, at home, where men are brothers,
Striving in a common cause;
Is it Peace that dwells amongst us?
Are we guided by her laws?
Is it Peace, when honest labour,
Toiling, hotly, day by day
Sees the rights he fondly treasures,
Being slowly sapped away?
When the mighty power of Mammon,
Though it sow not, seeks to reap;
‘Tis a sight to make the angel
Sadly fold her wings, and weep.
And a tide of hot rebellion
Surges in the manly breast,
When he sees his home and loved ones
Baffled, cheated, and oppressed.
Could a man do less, then, think you?
With his very bread at stake,
Than to sound the note of battle
And to fight for honour’s sake.
Honour to the humble miner,
Who, for six long months and more,
Silently, has fought the battle,
Hunger prowling round his door.
Only one bright ray to cheer him,
One strong rock on which to stand
This, the golden bond of Union,
Labour’s safeguard through the land.
When the snows began to gather,
And the children cried for bread,
Went a traitor from amongst them
Threw aside the mask, and fled;
Sold his brothers, starved their children,
Dashed from hungry lips the crust,
Made them homeless, houseless, fireless,
Dragged his honour through the dust.
Can ye read in history’s pages,
Of a darker deed than this?
Of a wretch more sunk and fallen,
More engulfed in sin’s abyss?
Punishment can ne’er be meted
Out, to fit a crime so black;
Perjured, lost, debased and sunken,
Time will pay the recreant back.
VERA NORMAN.