The Angry Exile: Getting around Australia's plain tobacco packaging law #1

The Hangman

Into our town the Hangman came,
Smelling of gold and blood and flame.
And he paced our bricks with a diffident air,
And built his frame in the courthouse square.
The scaffold stood by the courthouse side,
Only as wide as the door was wide;
A frame as tall, or little more,
Than the capping sill of the courthouse door.
And we wondered, whenever we had the time,
Who the criminal, what the crime
That the Hangman judged with the yellow twist
of knotted hemp in his busy fist.
And innocent though we were, with dread,
We passed those eyes of buckshot lead --
Till one cried: "Hangman, who is he
For whom you raised the gallows-tree?"
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye,
And he gave us a riddle instead of reply:
"He who serves me best," said he,
"Shall earn the rope of the gallows-tree."
And he stepped down, and laid his hand
On a man who came from another land.
And we breathed again, for another's grief
At the Hangman's hand was our relief
And the gallows-frame on the courthouse lawn
By tomorrow's sun would be struck and gone.
So we gave him way, and no one spoke,
Out of respect for his Hangman's cloak.
The next day's sun looked mildly down
On roof and street in our quiet town,
And stark and black in the morning air
Was the gallows-tree in the courthouse square.
And the Hangman stood at his usual stand
With the yellow hemp in his busy hand;
With his buckshot eye and his jaw like a pike
And his air so knowing and business-like.
And we cried, "Hangman, have you not done
Yesterday, with the foreign one?"
Then we fell silent, and stood amazed,
"Oh, not for him was the gallows raised."
He laughed a laugh as he looked at us:
"Did you think I'd gone to all this fuss
To hang one man? That's a thing I do
To stretch a rope when the rope is new."
Then one cried "Murder!" and one cried "Shame!"
And into our midst the Hangman came
To that man's place. "Do you hold," said he,
"with him that was meant for the gallows-tree?"
And he laid his hand on that one's arm.
And we shrank back in quick alarm!
And we gave him way, and no one spoke
Out of fear of his Hangman's cloak.
That night we saw with dread surprise
The Hangman's scaffold had grown in size.
Fed by the blood beneath the chute,
The gallows-tree had taken root;
Now as wide, or a little more,
Than the steps that led to the courthouse door,
As tall as the writing, or nearly as tall,
Halfway up on the courthouse wall.
The third he took -- we had all heard tell --
Was a usurer, and an infidel.
"What," said the Hangman "have you to do
With the gallows-bound, and he a Jew?"
And we cried out, "Is this one he
Who has served you well and faithfully?"
The Hangman smiled: "It's a clever scheme
to try the strength of the gallows-beam."
The fourth man's dark, accusing song
Had scratched our comfort hard and long;
"And what concern," he gave us back.
"Have you for the doomed -- the doomed and Black?"
The fifth. The sixth. And we cried again,
"Hangman, Hangman, is this the man?"
"It's a trick," he said. "that we hangmen know
For easing the trap when the trap springs slow."
And so we ceased, and asked no more,
As the Hangman tallied his bloody score.
And sun by sun, and night by night,
The gallows grew to monstrous height.
The wings of the scaffold opened wide
Till they covered the square from side to side;
And the monster cross-beam, looking down,
Cast its shadow across the town.
Then through the town the Hangman came,
Through the empty streets, and called my name --
And I looked at the gallows soaring tall,
And thought, "There is no one left at all
For hanging, and so he calls to me
To help pull down the gallows-tree."
So I went out with right good hope
To the Hangman's tree and the Hangman's rope.
He smiled at me as I came down
To the courthouse square through the silent town.
And supple and stretched in his busy hand
Was the yellow twist of the hempen strand.
And he whistled his tune as he tried the trap,
And it sprang down with a ready snap --
And then with a smile of awful command
He laid his hand upon my hand.
"You tricked me. Hangman!," I shouted then,
"That your scaffold was built for other men...
And I no henchman of yours," I cried,
"You lied to me, Hangman. Foully lied!"
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye,
"Lied to you? Tricked you?" he said. "Not I.
For I answered straight and I told you true --
The scaffold was raised for none but you.
For who has served me more faithfully
Then you with your coward's hope?" said he,
"And where are the others who might have stood
Side by your side in the common good?"
"Dead," I whispered. And amiably
"Murdered," the Hangman corrected me:
"First the foreigner, then the Jew...
I did no more than you let me do."
Beneath the beam that blocked the sky
None had stood so alone as I.
The Hangman noosed me, and no voice there
Cried "Stop!" for me in the empty square.

Maurice Ogden

Sunday, 13 November 2011

Getting around Australia's plain tobacco packaging law #1

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

I'm not sure this hasn't already been covered in the legislation but as it's been reported it's going to be mandatory plain packaging, and the defence the Commonwealth government intend to use against the tobacco industry's accusation that their trademarks have been appropriated and that under Australia's constitution they should be compensated is that the trademarks have not been actually been taken, they just can't be used on cigarette packets. I'm no lawyer but we all know that the number of places the industry can use its trademarks has been diminishing and I feel that at some point you have to concede that effectively they've been taken from them, but in the meantime I wonder if there's anything to stop the trademarks being used on the cigarettes themselves. Most cigarettes have always had their makers' names on so it doesn't seem to unrealistic to use the whole cigarette. Maybe whatever ink ends up being used on the paper to do this would actually make cigarettes slightly more harmful for their users, I have no idea, but on Planet Smokophobia the alleged health benefits from the plain packets would surely offset any harm done by fully branding the cigarettes themselves instead. No, I know that makes no sense, but when we're talking tobacco legislation is that even necessary any more?

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Comments (6)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

+1 Vote up Vote down

woodsy42 · 698 weeks ago

Can they use transparent plain packets as well?

1 reply · active 697 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

Angry_Exile 90p · 697 weeks ago

Unfortunately not. As I understand it the new law says the packets have to be a combination of the now traditional horror picture and a plain olive colour with the brand and type of cigarette on the olive bit, presumably in a font that some overpaid trick cyclist has told them is psychologically the most off putting font to smokers. But since most or all the states and territories already have laws that make retailers put the cigarettes in drawers or behind screens or doors on the shelves to hide them unless it's a tobacconists (actually in Canberra even if it is a tobacconist, which seems a bit strange - but it's a strange town) this plain packs law is only going to prevent the brands being seen when a smoker takes the pack out for a smoke. That's what made me think of putting the brand on the cigarette itself in a more noticeable way.

+1 Vote up Vote down

George · 697 weeks ago

Seems to me the way round it is to supply the standard pack (with no nanny warnings or porno cancer pics) wrapped in a goverment approved paper sleeve. Buy the pack, rip it off and leave on the counter.

1 reply · active 697 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

Angry_Exile 90p · 697 weeks ago

Oooh, I like where you're going with this. Like a packet within a packet? It might have to be something more substantial than an outer paper wrapper because I think the new law is mandating a precise spec for the packaging, but if what the packaging contained was a removable inner box of light card with whatever logos on, in turn containing cigarettes, it might be a goer. As with my idea I don't know if the law's been written in such a way as to allow that but assuming its a valid loophole the only downside would be increased cost, though of course that'd apply to my branding of the cigs idea too. Nice one. I'll see if I can do a photo mockup later on.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Marcy · 697 weeks ago

There should be a good market starting up for fancy reusable cig packs, including those supplied by manufacturers with their proprietary labels, given away for free of course to anyone who wants them, made out of tin maybe and bound to become a collector's item in the future.

1 reply · active 697 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

Angry_Exile 90p · 697 weeks ago

Funny you should say that, but in the last few posts cigarette cases, covers and personal design cigarette boxes have had a mention. But you've reminded me that I once saw stick on labels with joke health warnings, which is along similar lines. I'll do another post in a while a give all these a mention.

Post a new comment

Comment as a Guest, or login:

Tweet this comment

Connected as (Logout)

Email (optional)

Not displayed publicly.

Submit Comment

Subscribe to

Add insightful or amusing remarks for me to think on and respond to. Or add annoying comment spam for me to waste time deleting, in which case may your genitals turn square and fester at the corners.

Unnecessary ranting and gratuitous profanity is strictly encouraged.

NB - due to some annoying pricks comment spamming lately all comments with three or more any links go into a moderation queue. If it's not spam I will publish all comments even tenuously related to whatever I was rambling about in the post. Otherwise please refer to the comments policy.

Comments by IntenseDebate