The Dominion

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 110, 3 February 1920, Page 6

The Dominion

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1020. al di ai the prince of wales "♦ OI tc The coming visit of the Prince . OF WALES is an event to be welcomed not merely on account of his per- j tional qualities, but because he will stand before the people .of this country as the living representative. • „f what is best and most enduring , in our British Constitution. Thn n ' spontaneous expressions of good- t will that were showered upon tho 0 Piunck in Canada and in the United States were first and foremost the g recognition of an unspoiled and responsive nature well endowed with £ the saving grace of humour. "It's the smile of him," said an American £ writer who set himself to explain Q the Prince's popularity, "the un- t affected, modest bearing of him, the a natural, fun-loving spirit that • twinkles in his blue eyes, and that j surest of all poses, the recognition f of duty to be done triumphing over a , youngster's natural unease and embarrassment that does it." A nature that enables him to win easy popularity with those he meets is far 1 enough from beins; a complete ex- 1 planation of the telling impression ) the Prints of Wai.es has already J made in and beyond the Empire. 1 Unaffected as he. is, there is clear I evidence in his bearing and in what 1 he had to say to his fellow-country- 1 men in Canada and to ! thc people f of the United States that he is keen- ( ly aware of the sense of responsi- 1 bility and obligation, of duty to 1 the State, which more than _ any- 1 thing else has enabled British Loyalty to weather the storms of time, and < gives it to-day a natural and appro- ' priate place at the centre and vapEX ; of a liberty-loving democracy. It ' has been well said that while other J monarchies have fallen, the Royal j line of Britain remains secure, because it has dedicated its power to | the service of mankind. It is par- ' ticularly plain that th'o institution ' of Royalty in Great Britain is a better safeguard and guarantes of popular liberties than has been de- : visecl in any other country. Tho very recent experience of nations | which pride themselves, not unjustly, 011 their advanced democracy, pointedly illustrates the fact _ that tho election of a President is apt to prove a poor substitute for the institution which in Great Britain sets an hereditary ruler definitely apart from all faction, and invests him with 110 tyrannical authority but with a powerful influence to be exercised with a single eye to the welfare of the whole people. The long delays in tho United States over the peace _ settlement—delays heavily prejudicial to that country and to the rest of the world—arc evidently due in great measure to the fact that the President, 111 whom the highest powers of government are vested, is and always must be a politician opposed by other politicians. ! The limitations of the republican constitution were exemplified, also, only the other day in France. Most observers will doubtless agree that in that country p tical exigencies-have excluded from tho Presidential office the man who of all others was best fitted to palvanisc tlio energies of the Ficnch nation for the great achievements it has still* to compass before it can enjov in restored prosperity the blessings of settled peace. The institution.of Royalty as it has evolved in the British Empire does not guarantee. a succession of gifted rulers, but it embodies an admirable tradition of public service- divorced from ' faction, and based upon truly 11a tional ideals. _ , Young as he is, and with his abilities yet to be put to the full and searching test that only time can apply, the Prince of_ Wales has demonstrated that he is actuated by it high sense of duty, and finds genuine inspiration _ alike in tljc traditions be inherits and in the ■ growth and development of the Empire over which, if he lives, he will one day rule. The breadth -of his outlook and the spirit in which he faces his prospective responsibilities are indicated in a speech he made at. "Washington. He said in part on „ that occasion :. As you know, I liavo recently been travelling in Canada, and I am tho richer mncb that thieo months journey by a wonderful exjieriencc. I camc here, thorefore, not only as an Englishman and as a representative of the British Empire, but also as a Canadian. . . . The British Empire is held together i>y the common aims ami the united sentiments of five sister nations,- all of which aie devoted to the same course of i democratic self-government. But Canada shares with the United States the splendid 1 territories of this rich continent. She is divided from you by no physical 3 barrier, no military line, 110 lrontier - other than the boundary guaranteed by > international law and good will. . • • 1 It seems to ine that this example of 1 nations living side by side in a-- spirit 1 of political tolerance and human liberty is entirely incompatible with the militarism which threatened Europe in the c reat war, and is thus a living example f of tho great principles for which we - gavo our best in that terrible ordeal. . . ( . >' may ue iiupeU tuat ilie 1 KINCE S impending visit to jNcw l6calancl will 6 iurtlier and valuably wuien 111s experience, and at tlie same time quicken in the people of tiiis Dominion a sense of what tno institutu/.i of E itoyalty means to the British uation. That he will receive as loyal and ■' hearty a welcome as greeted him m - Canada is not at all in doubt, hi fl this connection the action taken by the executive of the Returned Sol- ! diers' Association in_ inviting the t Prince to become their life patron h is particularly appropriate. The '- part he played as a soldier- is not the ~ least of his titles to regard. He has - said modestly that he cannot pre- " t elK l to have done as much as any other junior officer at the fi;ont. "'But,' - he added on the same occasion, "rav four years' service at the front did teach mo to know, .my brother officers and men in the. Allied forces on three different fronts, and I hope that our common service 0 as comrades-in-arms in a splendid \ cause remains as valued a memory to them as it always will to myself."