KING EDWARD SEVENTH AS WIREPULLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 275, 14 November 1908, Page 3

KING EDWARD SEVENTH AS WIREPULLER.

Ills MAJESTY ISXIiHTS A WONDERFULLY SOOTHING INFLUENCE i There is good reason why King Ed- | ward Ml. should he called the " first I Diplomat ia £ulope." The extent to which lie luis made his presence felt at home and abroad since lie came tu the tli rone is little short ot' amazing. That His Majesty intervened with success in a recent scandal in Ireland is one of those open secrets that never gel into the papers. Things were beginning to leak out, and several ivputa-

tions were tottering. Tile is-iny decided Unit it whs nut fur this good uf the public service, so lie put his almost irresistible miluence to the tusk ul' sinooLhin<j matters over before it was too law. Again, ill Parliament some nienib;:;s showed a disposition t 0 ask questions, but hi the end it was allowed to lizzie ,out. One ol those mysterious "hiats from high quarters" reached the leaders of the Opposition—and that was £ll end of it. His Majesty has taken a keen interest in everything connected with the life o£ the nation, both in society ami in government affairs, and several times h'e has intervened to .save a delicate situation and to clear away a didieully that it would have been inadvisable 10 unravel in public, lie heartily disapproves of the public washing of dirty linen. j The recent Naval scandal caused the I King a great deal of annoyance, and s far more is now going on behind tho , scenes than the public imagine. Army scandals, too, are being dealt with none [ the less severely because little is heard , about •tliem, and on a recent visit to , AklershoL the King used some very strong language on the subject of Army discipline. As a result one or two " slack " ollicei's have got an attack o< " nerves." King Edward, it is well known, is doing all lie can to push forward Mr. Haldane's territorial scheme. One peer, who severed his connection with the Territorials in a fit of pique, has, to the surprise of his frieads, renewed his connection with the scheme. It is whispered that his " second thoughts " were due to tlie personal intervention of the King, who did not want to lose his help, and quite frankly told him so. There are some people who do not like, what they call, this "meddling/' but as they are generally the people who are ready to accuse kings of hcing 'a ■pack of idlers,'' litle attention need be paid to tlieir complaints. In international .politics His llajesty'a inlluence is enormous, and in this field he is able to exercise his perfect tact. It is solely owing to King Edward's intervention, for example, that Norway did not become a republic. The great Bjornson, who played a most influential part in the separation from Sweden, was a republican. But he was convinced by an autograph letter from King Edward -that a monarchy was the thing for the new Norway, particularly if the young Danish prince who iiail married an English princess should be invited to ascend the throne. In his letter he pointed out that England would guarantee Norway's independence, and that this could be much more easily carried out if Norway, instead of declaring itself a republic, elec- | ted Haakon king. These arguments were so effective that Bjornson dropped the idea of forming a republic. It is an open secret that King Edward endeavoured strenuously to prevent the Portuguese crisis. When Queen Amelie was in England at the time of the Orleans wedding, she had several conversations with the King on the subject of affairs in Portugal. The King impressed upon her the danger into Tvhich her husband was running by liis departure from constitutional methods of government. He also had sonic correspondence with his brother monarch, cautioning him against the establishment of a dictatorship. That his warnings were unheeded is now a matter of history. His failure to save the situation was a terrible blow to King Edward, who was far more effected by the double assassination thin most people guessed. King Edward's meeting with the Czar at Keval Ims already borne fruit in the summoning to Constantinople of a conference of the great powers to discins reforms in Macedonia. Germany is not at all pleased about it, and there has been some discussion in the Austrian Parliament.

German anxiety has been somewhat assuaged iiv King Edward's meeting with the Kaiser at Kronberg. The Kaiser was rather unwilling to meet liis illicit', but the latter wrote twice to

urge the importance of a -private interview, and doubtless at that meeting, and at the subsequent, meeting with the Austrian Emperor at Isclil, Balkan affairs were thoroughly .thrashed out.