The Daily News FRIDAY, MARCH 20. EXIT, THE GERMAN LETTER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 77, 20 March 1908, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, MARCH 20. EXIT, THE GERMAN LETTER.

A constitution may be described as a I inaekiue designed to ensure to the po,*- j pie that employ it the maintenance of order at home and etl'eetive protection troui aggression abroad. Therefore it i- | that constitutional questions are silwtijs of iuU'r<*;«t. About the constitution n tlie .Motherland lucre are peculiarities that are very interesting. Vor iustanc. I lie second estate, the ot IjorrK, being hereditary, it ison'.y a power in the land when Parliainen is iu session. During ih c period ol" jvthe llo\i-e ot Jv.t- is a power thai lias gone lo sleep. The Uurd estate, the Hou-e <d' l.'ommoiis, being an elective body. die-« absolutely wlu-n it is dis>oived, and there i- 110 >etoiui estate in ill ' land until the new House has h.vn chosen by the people. Like the of Peers, the second estate ill recess period? may be descried as a power th;u, taking its rest, has gone to sleep, J'h>tirst estate is never ipiiescent u> ill'' -econd and third usually are.

The power of the King i,s a vital, active force that is every day exerted. For the first estate tliere is no period of recess, and even if the mortal body m which the lirst estate is vested should suddenly perish, the Kingship goes onward without even a momentary pause. The King is always the King; it is impossible for him to divest himself of h's Kingship unless he abdicates or is deposed from his position, in wnich ease the Royal authority of the first estate passe* immediately to another. The Ivni]K'ror of Germany sent a "private'' letter to Lord Tweedmouth, the First Lord of the IJritish Admiralty. The question arisen—ls it possible for the first estate —particularly in Germany—to write a private letter? lie, himself, being always public, a living power in the pujlie interest, how can anything he does lie considered "private"? This may, perhaps, be considered a point so fiue as to be scarcely worthy of a moment's rellectiou, but it may rise again wit.i regard to matters of much more serious import than the Emperor's letter to Lord Tweedmouth. As has been said, constitutional questions are always of interest because they are always Of importance, for no one can foresee wh?n they will not arise to exercise a vast iafluence upon the peace and happiue-s of the world, England has had upon her throne monarchs who were very forgetful of the oaths they swore liefore the altar upon their coronation, and one at least, was not above accepting the subsidies of a foreign Power to the prejudice of the interests of his people. Auother accepted the forces of a foreign Power and used them against his people in endeavors to recover li'is lojt authority. Had correspondence of either ol these luonarchs fallen into the hands of the British Government at tlie time, would the letters have been treated as private documents'; Would it not have been lielu that the King lii.nI self being always necessarily public property, everything he wrote was public property also';

It has not been alleged that the Kaiser | and Lord Tweedmouth as personal friends carried on a correspondence. The letter sent to tne First Lord of the Admiralty was in the nature of a freak, and ii" doubt occasioned its recipient a considerable surprise. Of course It was written to serve a purpose. The first assertion put forward in regard to it was that it was designed to affect British policy ill relation to warships building. Tills was promptly repudiated, and it was allirmcd that the letter was "purely private and personal." Tinletter next appears as a "bantering" description or criticism of Lord Esher, who, as Governor of Windsor Caslle during tlie Kaiser's recent visit, appears not to have proved entirely satisfactory to his Imperial Majesty. Lastly, it is given forth that the letter was 'a long, elalwrate argument, involving labor and time, and intended to demonstrate that German naval preparation did not necessitate corresponding British additions," uad so, having travelled aii round the clock, a return is made lo the very hour at which the troub'e started.

it appears to nave ueeu realised at oni'c in England ihat his Imperial Majesty had Iwen guilty of an imprudence, tint in fa'-t lie had made a big mistake. The impulsive and radical section (if liie pl'es> saw in the incident all attempt 10 tamper with iho administration of England's lir-t line ot defence, and wen' disposed to make the most of it accordingly. The sober section kept their lira-Is and their tempers When a King blunders egre'giotisly it is etiquette to appear sublimely unconscious. Thi-- ru-e governed the line of inaction. Of cour-e', .Ministers had to reply to questions in Parliament, and ihey did so with blooming dignity and reserve, feeling, no doubt, that the least said was soonest mended. The German people, too. seem to have acutely felt that their muchloved monarch hail made a bit of an :t<s of himself, and were grateful to Elyland for the high-minded tone assumed in relation to it. From past experience it is vevv certain that if England's King or any British Minister had made a mistake of corresponding magnitude the entire German press, like the heathen, would have "furiously raged together." From this trifling incident, which might easily have flowed into very serious consequences, the Government of England emerges with dignity and honor worthy of the nation.