The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-14
KEEPING HANDS OFF.
THE PRINCE OF WALES INVARIA-
BILE RULE OF NEUTRALITY.
He Learned 1t From His Parents, and
the Queen still RigidIy Adheres to

archs.
From st. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Although there appears to be a dispo-
sition both in England and abroad to con-
denim the action of the Prince of Wales
in declining TO intervene in the great Ia
Dor war which has been raging for some
time past between the engineers and the
trades associated herewith on the one
hand, and a federation composed of their
employers ID IKE other, yet there is no
doubt that in refusing 20 assume the role
either of arbiter or of mediator in the
matter he has manifested both sagacity
and tact. 1t is perfectly true that any
one who could bring about a settlement of
the conflict in question would be conferr-
ing a lasting benefit upon his fellow-coun-
trymen and upon the nation at large. For
the fight has paralyzed not merely one
branch of industry, but a large number,
forcing the consumer to seek foreign
sources of supply. to which he will proba-
bly, in future adhere thus decreasing
those markets for British manufactures
that are annually becoming more and more
restricted by American and German COM
DGllllOn.
has lasted already several months, has re-
duced to want and untold misery not mere
" the more than 100000 men who ere
"out," but what is far worse, their wives
and their little ones; that is to say, tax
ing it all in all, community of people
numbering considerably over 100000. The
princes critics draw attention to these
circumstances, and point out that if ever
there was an instance where his acknowl-
edged pre-eminence as peace-maker
might be turned to profitable account it is
in the present case.
The reasons which have prompted the
prince to decline are due, in the t1rst pace,
to the fact that, no matter what the award
of the arbitra tor or the character OF the
compromise effected by the mediator 1t IS
certain to be equally unwecome to both
parties of the dispute, since neither one
nor the other obtains the full measure or
its demands and will consequently be as
posed to bear a grudge against the lndl-
vidual who has by his reasonings induced
it to recede from the stand which il had
made. The unpopularity thus reaped by
the prince would have reflected, not only
upon himself personally, but likewise up
on that throne which In these mouerh
times must look to the goodwill OF the
masses as the principal source OF It's
strength and foundation. Secondly, the
prince has made a practice throughout his
public life-that is to say, since he came
of age, about forty years ago-to steer
clear of every public controversy or dis
pute where he would be required to take
sides.
Of all the lessons taught to him by his
wise and clear-sighted father, the late
Prince Consort, there is none that mas
more firmly impressed itself upon his mind
than that of the necessity OF absolute I'M
partially on the part not ony of constl-
tutional sovereign, but also on that of the
latter's apparent. The crown to-day Is
not the despot, but merely the executive,
the servant so to speak, of the will of the
nation, and in order that the latter should
have absolute confidence in the occupant
of the throne it is necessary that the peo-
pie should feel assured of the soverign's
readiness to conform to their wishes. These
are sometimes voiced by one political party
and sometimes by the other. only If the
people can feel that theiI monarch is alb
solutely impartial, that there is on the
part of the executive no preference for one
platform more than for the other, can they
repose that blind trust in their ruler which
is Indispensable to sentiments of loyalty
and affection.
Prior to Queen Vietorias marriage she
showed a tendency to follow the example
of her uncles, King George " and King
William ", who had identified themselves
with one or the other of the political par
ties of the day to such an extent that
mere ministerial defeat, either in parlia-
n4ent or at the general elections, devel-
oped into the proportions of a popular
slap in the face to the sovereign, to the
detriment of the dignity and influence of
the crown. Indeed, at no time in English
history had the prestige of the throne
reached so low an ebb as at the time of
Queen Victoria's accession. A mere girl
at the time, she at first placed herself
too unreservedly in the hands of the earli-
est of her premiers, Lord Melbourne, whom
she grew to look upon as her political
mentor, and for a time it seemed as If
the errors of the previous reigns were
about to be continued. But her marriage
brought about a beneficent change in this
respect. For Prince Albert, in spite of
his youth, was, perhaps just because he
happened to be a foreigner, able to take
a clearer and more independent view of
the situation than any Englshman, and
to perceive that the true source of the
strength, influence and prestige of constt-
tutional monarchy in Great Britain lay in
It's absolute impartiality as far as the po-
litical parties were concerned. From that
time forth Queen Victoria kept concealed
from public view her true sentiments with
regard to the platforms of the day. True,
she may sometimes have manifested
greater degree OF personal liking for one
statesman than the other, and there is 70
doubt that during the latter portion of the
career OF Lord Beaconsfield he held
higher place in her affections and friend
ship than his political opponent, M:
Gladstone. But that did not in any way
mean that her majesty preferred the con
servatives to the liberals nor was it in
terpreted as such, since her son-in-law,
the Marquis of Lorne, sat in the House of
Commons ON the liberal benches, and the
husband of her granddaughter, the Duke
of Fife, of whom she was always particu-
larly fond, was likewise a liberal, while
to-day there Is reason to believe that Lord
Rosebery is far more persona grata at
Windsor and Osborne than Lord Sails
bury.
There were, to be sure, speculations
about the queens political preferences.
But nothing positive was known about the
matter until the other day, when the ma
ton was startled to find that Lord Ten
nyson's life of his father, the greatest
poet of the Victorian reign, contained not
one, but several private letters Of her ma
jesty, bearing her signature, and addressed
to the bard, in which she assailed in the
strongest manner possible, not only Mr..