FACTS AND THE BOSS.

[With Apologies to Mr. Rudgard Kipling : see the "Times," August 1st.] ["And Joseph said unto them . . . Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine P "—Genesis xliv. 15.] HE, singly, grappled two-and-two,

And made it five, with flouts and flings.

He proved that trade by taxes grew ;

That wealth consists of outgoings—

The export, not the goods it brings; And, these shut out, 'twere gain, not loss, To live by mutual laundryings- Once on a time, so spake a Boss.

He split a party through and through,

Till shocked Foundations* danced on springs, And, all a league behind, he drew Quite half a leader's soul in slings.

He filled the Press, he pulled the strings, He thwacked his own once-worshipped joss,

With Words he ran amuck at Things— Once on a time, there was a Boss.

His figures one another slew ; His argument full-circle swings.

A tied-house Empire, stuck with glue, • He underpropped with tariff-rings. No Briton he, who pronely clings To truths long overgrown with moss, Takes logic lying down, while sings Tunes for the time a siren Boss.

• "Foundations of Economic Doubt." A Pamphlet. By a Prime Minister.

The one-man fight against a " crew " Is joy for bards, is sport for Kings! Though blown to vaunt a one-eyed view, The one-note trumpet stirs and stings. He'll sweep the polls ! A Gladstone brings, A Bryan, fortune to the toss,

Sure of the pendulum. . . It swings- And—once, ah ! once, there WAS a Boss I 0 ye !—or may I write it "you"?— Whose songs full oft an Empire sings. Don't mix the tinsel with the true!

Fly high, see clear, shake free your wings! Leave one-man cults to underlings; Rub clean your slate and write across :— " Facts, in the end, are stubborn things; Once—for a time—there was a Boss !"

F. EDMUND GARRETT.