The Dominion. WEDNESDAY. JUNE 3, 1914. THE KING.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2166, 3 June 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY. JUNE 3, 1914. THE KING.

King Oeoroe V. k 49 yon.i-s old today, and the people of Now feftUind will join with their fi'How-rontif.ry-meii in all parts of. Bis Majesty's Dominions jh celebrating bis birthclay with loyal eiitlittyiiaai. . There is a personal element itj MW Zealand's attachment to the present occupant of the Throne, for Kino George has actually been amonyst us. He han partak<?a ot , mn hospitality: and we tVol tliat. tv> know him the teller for liis visit, tart tltat lw kiiuwK us ami imr'aimtitions, uf !ii>, our national ideals arid ambitions, the better for his brief stay in i;l.u; Dominion. National sentiment is one of tk moil, importom,' '»f ihs Ucb which hold the linagitc together.

and tin; visit to Australasia of the King and Qukex—then known as the Duke and Duchess of Yokk—uudonbtodly strengthened the bonds whieh unite the British eommunitiiis an this part o£ tho world to the ancient Tlrroiio ot England. Like Victoiua aiul 'Ebwabd VII, Kiko George is something more than a far-off, and august, but vather shadowy, personality, whoso monograra i« given a conspicuous place iii our statutes. He is a man of flesh afitt blood life: mivselvcs, who Can joira in sympathy with his people in their joys find sorrows, and .for this reason he has won a place iu their hearts, Tiioagh his subjects include men of every "shade of politioal opinion aritt religious belief, all arc able to unite in their expressions of respect and loyalty to him personally, and to the high office he holds. Tho Kise and Qt;EEN r have always shewn themselves ready to help forward atiy good work, and have never feared to go in and out among their ■■ people. Writing in his constitutional history on the institution, of Kingship in England, Bishop Stusbs states that. a r hereditary King, however limited' , his authority may be by constitutional usage, is p.. stronger power ■ than an elective Magistrate: Ms personal interests are- the. interests of his people, who a.ve in a certain senso liis family, and he has no : tmijptation t-o liiako for luniseli a ] standing ground apart from them. ! These Ai'ords wore- never more true ■ I of the British Monarchy than at the | present tinse. . ] I T'he four years during which [ Geohoe V lias occupied the Throne i have bean a post eventful period itt I the constitutional history of the I United Kiftßdote, anil important tlcLrelopmonts have also taken plate in the wider sphere of. Empire polities. :He has seen the Souse of Lords shorn of many <>f its ajieicnt powors and privileges, and iti connection with the Home Bule Bill, hi has witnessed one of ttc most gigantic I struggles in the political history of :thc natjoß. No one can yet say exactly how tho liattls will end. nor what tho full consequences will he of tho great constitutional changes which now seem to bo inevitable. 'Dhongh deeply interested in these mamontous events, King George has always acted in a strictly constitationg.l and non-partisan manner. From time to time thorp have itaen rumours of Eoyal interfcrftnee, but they liar© been emphatically denies] by those in a pftsition to speak with first-hand It is tnie that s«»G people have ui'gcd that the- Kixs should intervene in tiie Home Rule contr-ovorsy, either by refusing to give his assent to the Bill or by bringing about a dissolution ot Parliament; autl, inefced-, there is a good dca;l to Fjc said in favouv of tho suggestion that he would be justified in takine steps to ensure that bafove an alteration in the constitution of such fuiidauietital inipori;ttneo is made the people should be given an opportunity', of ■expjcssiiiK their will by'nieang of a refereodara or a gefleral election. . There seed's,however, to be an earnest desJre N on the part of the-Responsible leaders of all parties that His M t wESTf should noi be tlvawM into tte struggle. He las certainly refrained "up to the prosent from taking siites, α-iicl it is to hb hopect that it will not be beyond the capacity of British statesmanship to devise sowe feettleftront whi-ch will l'CfHove the possibility of civil Va? amo-ng the Kilo's suliiaets in Ireland, It may brf , taien lot grantwl that no eac is vrnititiH motu aiixiously. for a peft.ccfnl .soiii= tion al this long and titter coiiti-ov-ersy than King Qeokise hinisaif, Kito Geokoe has followed 'in the footsteps of his lather in matters of foreign policy, and ha : s always dome his utmost te promote ]ieace anct goodwill among the nations. The great oßthwsiasm avoiiECd in I?ranee by his recent visit to Paris shows titat the people fully reedsnise that in- hiiri thoy have a sympathetic and untilcrstanding frl.otttl. 3lcfoT.ri.ttg to this matter, the. Lortdan Times states that ''not; even Kisg Edwaeb., yihan he visited Paris on his great mission of rOMinciiiation and apjaeasc-uroat, was greeted with such universal signs of rejoicing, .of eenfideHGC, and of I'egai'd." l It was notmoi-ely tlie mapiiificfenee of tiw offie-ial proSTiimfflc that la\pressed the -onlookers,, but it Was plain that t-feo greetings of the people came straight from the heart, for every tone and geetnw of tho Hiwltitiicfe showed that tho heart was stirw4 When thij KiKti visited Intlib in. 1912 he was nccprdod a wonclarfi.il rcceptioii, and if, as has Ijceu snggest&di he should find it pessible to .mate a furtjwi , tony of the solf-g&vcrttiHg Dominions, , he is certain of a truly royal greeting wlwl , -

■evssT bo may go. Our conception of the. Monarchy may differ from that which, prevailed in the days of tho. Tudobs and the S-TUAttTij, but, notv/ittisfciin'ding the change that has tak-ea place,' Ki.iigslii)} is still a very real power in British comm»iiitiee.. . Situ- SlSjrey Low lias m* marted that socially-" a,nd. morally Royalty rather gained Uiaa lost ground ia Ein'opo during the second half of the Nineteenth Oetitury, aticl this esjpccially. applies te Britain. How far thd" Monarchy had feen .brought into discredit by GBOitGfi If is iftdieated by the fenllowing eommerite of _ the Loncloii Times at the' time of his death:— Tlii'! truth is-atnl if speaks valnmes ahovi tUx* man—tlmt tissfe neve* was im WivMn'al Ipss regtetted by his fellow crcafums thiin this deceased! Itiiia. What eye lias .wept, for b-hn ? What Iteart lia* li.Mvcit owo Uitt)b n( unmercEiiary sorrow t Was there at any time a sotskWs i)»gi>ftiit on the stagt' wore eompletely forgotten than he Iws Iscon. cv«ji fretu Hw day on -which th* heralds" proclaimed his miceessor? If Qeotfa this fcmUi ©rcr tad a , friwi— a (kroted fritmiHn jwj- r«i)k of life, iva protest that \%o. iiAmo of Jiifti ot

licr has ucFt jet reached «», Such words sound harsh and bniktj ■. in OHi" days, for the tvigm of VjcToiiiAi EuVAttO VII, and George V have wrought a gretti drauge in public seniimont, and hare restored the Crown to its iru& position m liiufclifi estimation. Instead of being viewed with siilkm disfavowr or open hostility, the Monarchy has onm imxb wo.n a strong place .in the affectifras of tlio people, aftd has liecomc oftij -of tho principal bonds of Eflipite, and the tftjitoc of Imperial unity. jFmpolitical and adftiinistrativc purrroscs tire Overseas Dominions are, as Jlr- hovf points out, all but Me* pendent Bations, bttt thfiy arß •''linked te one aaothftr, and to the other lnnmbers of- tlio Empire, tjy tbo personal utiiuii of tlu Crown." '