New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-10
THE PRINCES PROPOSAL.
NTH NOTES ON THE GROWTH OF THE
IMPERIAL IDEA.

LONDON. september u.
Once again the Prince Of Wales Is credited
With having done the right thing. His proposal
b commemorate the Queens Jubilee by the es-
Establishment of q Colonial and Indian Institute is
received with q chorus of that applause TO which
The Prince is thought to be by no means insens-
ible. 1t is commonly said Of him, and is now
said again, that no man has so much tact as His
ROYAL Highncss The secret of this tact and Of
The success in social and other matters which he
achieves is that he takes immense pains. No
pne is better acquainted with the currents Of
public opinion. No keeps closer watch on
events in which he has an interest which are
likely TO concern him. No ono is so well served
by those about him. Perhaps it may be said
That he has something of the journalists faculty
Tor seeing what Is timely Certain it Is that no
editor and no prince OF finance is kept more fully
and punctualy informed
In the present case it would have been sin
rularly for the Prince TO make mistake
lie might have let the occasion pass altogether,
on the ground that 1t was for Others and not for
The Queens to take the lead in celebrating
the Queens Jubilee He might have proposed
Some old-fashioned and conventional scheme
What he has in fact proposed was. nevertheless
plainly suggested 10 him by the success of the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London. This
show has far outstIfpped all its predecessors. The
number Of visitors to the Colonies" exceeds by
more than a million tho number who had during
the same period passed the turnstiles of any
previous exhibition. j speak Of 1t as the Col
bnies. Mr. Burnand told people they ought to
call it the Condcrics. but they would not trou-
BILE themselves to put in the extra syllable That
is a matter, one Of many, in which the English
man of to-day is becoming AmenCanized Some
times il is spoken of as the Indian Exhibition.
Perhaps most often Of all it is called the EXhi-
Shout to you None of the previous South Ken
sington spectacles honored. They were
called the Fisheries, and the Hcaltheries. and so
on. The title of "the" exhibition was reserved
for the present
There is, in fact, great Of public opin-
Ion in the direction of imperial unity. The period
when the colonies were ignored. or when 1t was
fashionable 10 cry Perish India, has passed The
Queen, perhaps, took the lead in this movement
with Lord Beaconsneld to encourage her ambi-
ton 1t hardly be doubted that her
sumption of the title Empress was, at the time.
IN unpopular act The people of England cared
for their Queen because she was their Queen.
The dignity was bound up with the history of
their race and kingdom. Why should she want
TO give herself a brand nameP She the
oldest Queen in Europe. She would be the new
est Empress. The imperial idea had not durlnS
the early part Of her reign, possession of her
Imagination Golden and the Manchester school.
though their best day had passed before DisIaelis
came, still governed the thoughts Of the middle
Class. Ialmelstons gibe did much to bring
Them into contempt. lie said Of them that If an
enemy landed at Dover these people would make
b calculation whether it was cheaper TO let him
in or TO keep him out. He said again that their
one idea of foreign policy TO promote the
sale Of piece goods
The En0lsh when the cheating yard
wand is most to the fore, are proud people
and these taunts ranked But they thought.
or half Of them thought, that Lord Beaconsields
Imperialism a sham Imperialism What he
cared for was the glitter of it, the swagger II
was, in his mOu til. only another form OF Jingoism
The best proof Of its unpopularity, OF Of the dis
trust his proposal excited, is a single fact. He
had TO assure the House of Commons that the
Queen would not the dignity of Empress al
home. She was TO be Empress in India III Eng
land she still TO be Queen and Queen only.
Her signature would still be Victoria, r. No
English State paper would bear other than the
familiar and time-hOnored style. No doubt the
assurance was given in good faith No doubt 1t
was for a time observed. But the Queen signs
to-day Victoria, r & l. She is Regina ct I'm
peratrix of England, well as of Greater Britain
She is SO styled in public documents she SO sly les
herself when she gives an autOgraph-which she
almost never does-or when she bestows some
loyal subject distinguished foreigner, as
She did the other day on Mulkhtar Pacfa, copy
of that in, auable fragment of Queenly antobios-
raphy, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life IN
The Highlands"
When the Earl Of BeacOnsfeld had been gath
cred to his fathers, the imperial idea made more
rapid progress The who thought the Col
pnies useless appendaees and India burden
fell MIR Goodwin Smith. the best
pen among them, folsook England and settled in
Canada. Mr. Freeman lost caste precisely because
he had used that unluclly phrase about the per
bhng Of India-used 1t with contingencies and.
as he ever vehemently protested. for rhetorical
purposes But ii stuck to him like burr Men
bf very different stamp from Lord Beacomfeld
or from the brilliant scholar learned historian
took the lead in those questions. The late Slr
W. T. Forster was one of them a practical pol
itician if there was one. and q statesman of
broader views than most who were to be met i'll
England
The defect of most English statesmen is their
fnsularity a remark none the less true because
IT is not new Nobody can have lived long In
England without many opportunities Of verifying
It, They attend TO foreign affairs. or to their own
Imperial anairs when they must from necessity
not from choice They seldom care to discuss
them no man likes TO betray his unacquaintance
with great subjects, selects a subject on which
he is unable to shine, or. since Englishmen do
not care to shine in which his infcriorlty will be
evident Mr. Forster used to talk continental
politics often and well: he was the exception
He had never held Office which required him
10 know them. but he had a breadth Of mind and
power of conception which had he come earlier
into public life. would have made him great
leader lie it was who pressed upon the duh
attention Of the English public the idea Of I'm
perial Federation lie found ally. after
lime In Lord Rosebery an ally and then sue
ressor Lord Rosebcry is now at the head of the
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