An oul Letter tae tha Editor ...

Noo for a wee chenge am gane tae shair a weethin o an oul letter that wus sent tae tha editor o tha Northern Constitution awa baak in Feburary 1913. It wus gein tha gran heidin, ‘Aroon the Toon’ sae a wud think it mann hae come frae tha vicinity o Bellymoney, it wus jest signed ‘Mack’.

Sur, Perhaps you would gie me space in your valuable paper tae ventilate a wheen o’ things A hae on mae min’. These times there ir plenty o’ things tae grumble aboot. Why, there’s the bad wather, there’s the influenza, or something lake it, there’s the tak’ aboot what we will suffer under Home Rule, there’s the tax under the Insurance Act. A wish somebody wae mair brains than the common o’ folk wud gie me a few lessons on the Insurance Act. Naebody seems tae know much aboot it, and they say the man that framed it is always contradictin’ himsel’. Some o’ our local administrators o’ the Act seem to know as much aboot it as A dae, an’ that’s naethin’. Av coorse, there’s a whole lot o’ smert folk goin’ aboot who can talk a lot o’ blarney, an’ would fain fill you mouth wae an empty spoon, but A pity them that will be fooled in this way. This week A was told o’ an aul’ man who claimed the sick benefit, an’ afore he got his 6s he was oot 7s 6d gettin’ a line frae the doctor, a bottle o’ medicine &c. Anither instance concernin’ the injustice o’ this Act wuz forcibly brocht tae mae notice the ither day. Twa freens had been ill, and claimed the benifit. Yin got 10s for the week he wuz aff, and the ither, wha wuz earnin’ mair money tha him, was offered 7s 6d. He kicked up a shindy wae the local agent, wha said tae keep doon disturbance, A’ll gie ye the ten bob, but A’ll lakely hae tae pye this half-croon oot o’ mae ain pocket ! What dae ye think o’ that for an Act ? Then there’s a lot o’ folk under the impresshun that if yer in the hoose four days ye get paid, but it hes been pointed oot tae me this week that ye get naething for the first four days at all. That if ye wur aff a week ye only get paid for the last twa days. A heard a gie heated argument on this point a few evenin’s ago amang a lot o’ the nuts, and some o’ them very near came tae blows aboot it. A doot there hes been a guid wheen o’ mistakes made since the Act saw the light o’ day. For maesel’, A gie the metter up for a bad job !

Thats aa fur noo Folks mine an keep it Ullans.

Tha Poocher Aagist 2013.