The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-04-26

Don Carlos met with an accident
incidental to his profession"
In these frankly brutal words a. So
cialiSt member of the French cham
Der OF deputies summed I'D the terri
bic tragedy that occurred in the streets
of Lisbon. The cruelty of the phrase
need not blind us to the grim truth
which 1t enunciates
1t Is the part of every European
ruler. whether hereditary or elective,
whether by the grace OF God" or "by
the voice OF the people," to face not
only daily, but hour by hour, and min
ute by minute. the risk of ASA ssina-
ton. 1t Is this sinister fact which in
the course of the last twenty years
has quadrupled the police force of the
continent and raised the unpleasant
business OF spying to the dignity of
profession.
In only one country in the world can
the monarch walk abroad among his
own people without fear and without
precautions. That country is Eng
land The genius OF the English race
has so nicely balanced our constitu-
ton with f1ctiens that the head of the
state Is never subject to the dangers
which result from the vagaries of
popular opinion. No one would seek
the life OF the king of England because
OF the passing of some law which was
Tepressive
The maxim that ''the king can do no
wrong" is literally true within the con-
fines OF the British empire. To ex-
press our national indignation Britons
murder no one. least of all their king.
They simply open the fioodgates of.
their wrath upon the devoted head of
the prime minister, and turn him and
the party of which he is the leader out
of office. But On the continent il is
very different.
There the ruler is officially RESPONSE
bic, at any rate in the eyes of his PEG
pie, for the acts of his government. If
the government acts unwiSely he be-
comes unpopular; if it acts oppressive
ly he is fortunate if he escapes from
the throne with his life. And. in every
country, there are malcontents who
find fault with the government, and
ascTibe their own misforIuneS to the
social system under which they live.
To such persons the ruler is the man
regarded as responsible, and they will
stoop TO any methods Of intrigue and
crime to revenge themselves on his
head.
Even in q country where law and
order prevail, and justice is dispensed
with a firm and moderate hand the
anarchists-bitter fanatical opponents
Of every known social system which
man has evolved. They are ever at
work, secretly seeking with dagger
and bomb, to take the lives of the rep
TesentatiVes of the continental states.
Against these subterranean forces.
which strike swiftly and unexpected
~, the ruler interposes, between him
self and a terrible death, sometimes
IL IFvr 1c
merely the efficiency of a police force
But he knows that it is impossible in
q large body of men TO count upon the
loyalty of every one of it's members.
One man may be a traitor, and his
reasonable disaffection opens a gap
In the protective symtem with which
the ruler has surrounded himself,
through which the stealthy dagger
may glide. or the brutal. mangling
bomb be thrown.
The monarchs must know what they
have to face. From their earliest youth
they are trained for their profession.
and taught to realize the penalty of
greatness.
A successful modern monarch must
of necessity be a man of iron nerve.
1t is his duty to move frequently
among his people-to toe present at all
sorts of functions TO which the public
diers may line the route along which
he passes, but he knows we'll enough
that this display of force is utterly
futile so far as the determined assassin
is concerned. II is so easy to destroy,
and so easy to throw a bomb the few
yards which separate the crowd from
the royal procession.
The wonder is, not that so many
rulers have met deaths by assassina-
ton during the last thirty years. but
that the list of royal tragedies is not
longer.
Daily the monarch must face these
unparalleled dangers with a smiling
face and calm and collected manner.
If he feels terror he must never show
1t, for the rifles of his profession forbid
it. and il is inevitable that the mon
arch who appears frightened in public
will become an object Of popular ridi-
cule.
There is a story of a certain Eu-
ropean monarch whose life had beeen
attempted time after time, and on
whose nerves the cruel ordeal under
which he had hourly TO live had I'M
mistakably told. He was driving down
one of the streets of his capital when
little child threw a small bunch of
violets into his carriage The great
ruler Immediately took refuge under
the seat. from which undignif1ed posi- |
ton he had to be hauled by his secre- |
tary.
On the other hand, there is an anec-
dote of a recent king of Italy whose !
life was attempted on more than one !
occasion. Aren't you frightened by |
these attempts on your life?" asked |
someone. I MUST expect it," retOrted |
bis majesty. struggling his shoulders !
'it is my business"
A great part of the tragedy OF these |
assassinations lies I'm the fact that in |
the vast majority of cases the muir
dered monarch is in no way RESPONSE |
BILE for those acts which have resulted /
In his death. Very often he is a sim |
pie, kindly gentleman, absolutely in
capable of the crimes of which he is /
accused, and for which he has to pay
the penalty. He suffers for the acts |
and Ill advice OF his ministers.
Dom Carlos was a genial man, full |
of the joy of life, keen sportsman. an
artist OF merit, and. in short. a Gull
tured gentleman, yet he was doomed |
TO death by malcOntents and murdered /
in cold blood; his eldest son persisted |
with him. and his second son and |