yeah, right

This is a little something I first saw in a union newsletter before the Industrial Revolution had even got underway. I wonder what is more astonishing - that Google could locate it so easily, or that a few words of it would emerge from some long neglected corner of my brain?

Sadly, Google could not locate the author's name or its history.

Agree with the sentiment or not, perhaps it's an example of how free speech might be used without attacking any individual personally.

It was crisis day in the parliament

The house was hushed and still

A member rose with a question

“Are we doomed to go downhill?”

“I am confident of an upturn”,

The PM made reply.

“If workers pay is held at bay,

We'll all be home and dry.”

“How true, how true”, cried the workers.

“Let's end this wicked strike.

We don't want a rise in wages,

They can stick it where they like.”

“Thank God, Thank God”, sobbed the bosses.

“There's faith on the factory floor.

And now we've got this extra lot

We'll give it to the poor.”

They filled their pockets with money

And ran with eager feet

Pressing their surplus profits

On the people in the street.

They moved among the dole queues

And boarded every bus

With streaming eyes and heartfelt cries

“You need it more than us”.

Soon all the people prospered

And the devil became a saint

Now the sober unions

Had exercised restraint.

The cities were filled with singing

And the sound of laughter spread

As hand took hand in the golden land

and pigs flew overhead.