The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13
ROYAL INFLUENCE
 IS NOT FOR EVIL
Ex-ATTACHE DISAPPRovES A
 STATEMENT
That Example of Modern Court Has Bad Effect--Insist on Good Morals Strict Demands of Victoria, Ed
 ward VII, and Kaiser Have
 Had Far-reaching Results.

x-Attache in Chicago Tribune.
 "Afwiu- Arnerican,'' in the North American Review, after admitting that the social infiu- enceSof the crown might be the most power Ful If alI Instruments for the betterment of 4ha people declares that 1t is essentially bane- full especially in Great Britain, and proceeds to condemn it as emphasizing and encouraging ,vhaf fs least desirable in the national char acter. In fact, the article contains a bitter arraienment of the English monarchy and even condemns the labors of tho reigning house in connection with phtlanthropic and charitable enterprises In one word, Anglo-American denounces the mode of life of King Edward and of the members of his family as futile, and depiores the. spirit 1t engenders and the example which 1t sets as perpetuating an at mosphere which is fatal to the realization of the countrys best self.
 Now. the most effective manner of gauging influence, whether it be for good or for bad. is by a careful consideration of the results achieved. And these both in the case of the late Queen Victoria and of her son and suc- cessor the present king, have been of So far reachine and beneficial a character to con- stitute in themselves a response to the accu- satious of Anglo American and refuta- tIon of the charges contained in his article In the North American Review. At the time when Victoria ascended the throne the morals of the court of St. James and the morals of English society were at low ebb. They were those which prevailed at most of the foreign courts, and in the .eading capitals of Europe, where vice was fashionable, and connection with a divorce suit the destruction of e friends home, far from being drowned upon, were regarded, indeed, constituting addi- tional titles to fame and distinction for the leading statesmen and politicians of the day. Among the most important personages in the entourage of King William ". were the mem bers of his large family of natural children, while during the reign of his predecessor the power exercised by unworthy favorites, upon whom he lavished even the jewels of the crown, was so great that foreign envoys did not hesi- tate to pay to these ladies much the same in terested homage that was accorded to Mime de Pompadour at the court of Versailles in the days of King Louis XIV. of France.
 VictoEia's Strict Demands.
 Queen Victoria, by means of her personal in nuence changed all this, and. with the as- slstance of her clever and high principled hus- band, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, set to work to introduc9 healthier code of morals not only at court but likewise in English soV ciety. Vice ceased to be fashionable. The ap- pearaIce of a woman in the divorce court, eveps in the role of an Innocent and much tn- 1ured petitioner, carried with 1t exclusion not merely from court but from any association with. the princesaes of the reigning house for the remainder of the lady's life, and while 1t was found impossible ito apply the same stan dards ps punishment to the man in the case vet the queen and the prince consort lost no opportunity of Inanifesting to them their dis pleasure. Indeed. one of the most eminent of English statesmen, one enjoying international