The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE. Proprietor. FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1901.

Waikato Argus, Volume X, Issue 864, 25 January 1901, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE. Proprietor. FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1901.

||Tjie Britisli ntition Ins become so| to the government ofj Empire being' carried on onl jPputely constitutional grounds, witlis pQueen Victoria upon the Throne! tftuid to no serious hitch having! pj-i.tisen dut'ing a reign of over sixty! j&jyears, that they are upt to enter-g kuain the fear tliat the change whichl ffjhas now taken place will be for the! |a worse. With the exception that* Sit he late Queen's trained judgment? Ifiis no longer at the service of Minis-1 Sjlters, and through them at that of* Silthe nation, we do not believe tliatfi I'lthere are any grounds for the fear. 1 || King Edward VII. is now nearly| c|sixty years of age, and for many! tjr.years has had the confidence of bisi Ujlate lamented mother. It is fair tol plpresume, therefore, that he is wellf in the policy of thel ||Empire, and has a f<ur grasp of tin« pduties which now devolve upon| Piiim. After all, under the British \ IJeonstftution, the King has little J Ijiival power. H« has a great ileal of| S'lpatronage to dispense, has the powers Idto remit sentences, and to declare; ||war, Itislii.s Alin'sters. however,: ?3who are held responsible for his acts,!! if they run contrary to the; ef the tiatioit an adverse flgvote of Parliament displaces them.: g|lt is impossible in these days that| fcjfthere can be any recurrence of suchl feevents as took place when thel SjStuarts wore on the throne. .lf>„ : |i'i British monarch in theses I'"*) , . , . . R were to i»nore the opmioi^f moH the people as expressed by| .'fitheir represenlafcives in Parlia-| S3,i-,•• ii i • i I gSment, his deposition would speedily! igfollow. Pet us not be misunder-| We do not mean to hint| H|even wt the possibility of sue!) as PJGracious Majesty, Edward VII.| vf|upon the throne. Our remarks were! solely by the desire to de-| M*J;<ie!. ill" situation iu the worstl aspect. We have notl pthe slightest fear but that Edward! ,|.aVil will follow in the footsteps oft mother ami restrict himself top JjKJperforniing in ti .strictly constitu-fe l&itional niaiiiief the duties which* to his office. | k: As Prince of Wales during the* IS'nabt few vears our new Iviny hasf u I

Ekmade himself very popular with all! : ' During that period many! Moi the duties which appertain to thel ' SBCrown have devolved uponl ||hiin, in the peformance of these! Sduties he has displayed a most! fjlaudable anxiety to promote every £ §£;ood cause by the granting of his apt iproval atfd patronage, and in many! cases by tlie exercise oi his ndminis-l trative ability, it is a favourable! omen that this ability has been! proved very considerable. / It is in times of trouble that! , a nation requires somethiK% tot d ; ,|sootlt<! its grief. We believe, atj _ Ithis juncture, a large modicum of] , isconsolation can be derived from thel Ijfiict there is every reason to believe! [Htliat Edward VII will prove an able,! ffgood and popular King. As to the! lady who «ill share with himjj fifjmany of the responsibities of office, \ |§tiO more popular lady has ever been ipcrmsort to a British King or sat -teiipon the throne as u reigning we can hardly except the |f ; ;:.'teat and good lady whose death jjjiwfi are now mourning. Some pcof us can remember when sjjii' rin cess Alexandra came to P| England a young and beautiful girl P»s the affianced of our present pKing. She immediately won all! iflhearls by her beauty and gracious! unassuming manners—she lias? P;|retained that affection ever sincef pp-iy her exemplary conduct and by| Jp'the display of true womanly in-j pstincts. She has so conducted her-? pjSelf in her high position as to have| yoffcred to the women of Britain an| 'N.'xample worthy to be followed. lt| ||* will ut first appear strange to us to| losing " God Save the King," but weR -)|||shal] soon get accustomed to (he| SSnoveliy, and we believe from oura plnart that the anthem, which itn-s |if plies much more than affection fori lljthe monarch, will soon be sung as| 3p|imar!ily as applying to Edvvard| as it lias ever been since it \vas| |«written. The Empire prays thatl may be the case. |