The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1922. THE PRINCE’S TOUR.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 June 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1922. THE PRINCE’S TOUR.

The spontaneous and enthusiastic welcome accorded to the Prince of Wales on reaching Home after his recent tour of India and, the East indicates in no uncertain manner how thoroughly the people of Britain appreciate the untiring efforts of the Royal Family to be of service in making the Empire a reality. Never before has the heir to the Throne undertaken and carried out such a comprehensive tour of the units of the far-flung Empire, a task that he was peculiarly fitted to perform with credit to himself and honor to his future inheritance. It was the only way in which the Prince of Wales could become personally acquainted with the conditions, the people, the customs, and the attractions of those countries which are united by a common tie of loyalty to the Throne. In his tour of the .onthern Dominions the Prince was practically among the people of his own race, language and customs. but in India he came into contact with entirely different conditions and surroundings, where religion and caste create definite barriers of social intercourse. Tn view of the disturbed state of India, it must, have required more than ordinary courage to face what at the outset promised to be a determined boycott, if nothing worse. The wisdom of the visit can now be realised. Indian temperament has no regard for those who dare not face danger. Their fatalistic spirit ignores perils and recognises only Kismet, or Fate. Throughout his tour of the vast Empire of India—the jewel in the diadem of the British Crown—the Prince displayed a bearing as equable and ingratiating as if he were attending functions in the various counties of England. On the occasions whew he was called upon to speak, there was a dignity and a frankness in his excellently chosen words that, must have disarmed all hostility and convinced the Natives that, though he was the Raj who in due time would be their Sovereign ruler, yet that he was at, heart a man who understood their strength and the great traditions of the races who have proved their allegiance to the Crown by the shedding of blood in defence of the Empire. Above all, the mission of the Prince was a guarantee of closer union, as well as an assurance of a full measure of Home Rule being granted when the time was ripe for such an important step to be made. It was not. of course, in the province o p I the Prince to refer to political i matters. His was the duty to imply by his visit that the future welfare and happiness of the vast millions in India was a matter of the deepest concern, not only of the Royal Family, but rtf British statesmen and the people whom they represent in the Council of the Emnire. The experience gained bv the heir to the Throne dnrinv his tour of the .whole. Emp're will be of immense service to the countries where he has been. Tn these days of upheavals and isms these is much blatant talk of the rights of the peole. so that it is as well that an opportunity should be given for the realisation of the one great immutable fact that the head iof the great British Empire and ■his expectant successor should stand forth as the embodiment of the true rights of the people—the right to be democratically and wiselv governed, and t.ojiave as a rallying point a king and a flag—security, freedom, justice and independence, instead of the chaos that, usurped government brings about. The people of the Empire will feel great satisfaction at the Prince’s safe return after his strenuous round of visits, and will probably now look forward with some curiosity to the announcement of his choice of a bride He has endeared himself to the whole Empire, and has done much to promote its unity and further the cause of peace