Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-04
THE
BRITISH
CRISIS

lent Majesty George V. by the grace
of God of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland and Of the British
dominions beyond the seas. King, De-
fender of the Faith, Emperor Of India,
will receive the British crown from the
Archbishop of Canterbury in West
Minister Abbey one day next June
This man. Of whom the world knows
nothing. actually became king that
night last May when his father died.
For eighteen years England and the
English knew that some day this
Young man would be called to reign
over the vast dominions of the British
Empire comprising one-1fth OF the
worlds territory and one-fifth OF the
worlds inhabitants But the British
people never inquired what manner OF
man he might be; they never asheu
him for his opinions as to matters OF
governmental policy; they never ques-
toned his fitness for the high office he
was destined to fill; they kne" only
that he was of the royal race and that
he would be king.
The king business is one OF the Old
businesses. it has had
The King it's ups and downs 1t
has been popular and
DuSIHeSS. it's tradesmen have
ruled or ruined at their august pleas
ure: it has been unpopular, and lts
tradesmen have paid with their llVes
the penflty of their kingsh1p. Kings
have been the inspired and consecrateo
agents of the Deity in ruling the NOR
tails Of this inferior world; kings nave
been the pawns in games played by
great soldiers. diplomatists and pr1ests'
kings have been mere figureheads 10
represent in mortal flesh the Immortal
and intangible spirit OF a national
existance. But always kings have been
kings, and never has there oeen a
king who would of his own accord
abate one jot or little Of his royal
power Never has there been king
who did not believe in his soul that he
was made of better clay than other
men,
Something more than a century ago
there was a great social CONFUSION IN
the western world which caused
thrones to totter, and which ocasioneo
terrific slump in the stock OF the
king business by striking down the
notion that kings ruled by virtue OF
divine right This great panic was
followed by a long series of ups and
downs in which no king ever kne"
quite what his business was worth;
About forty years ago things quieted
down, and ever since then king stock
has been gradually rising. Today the
king business is more hour1Shlng than
at any time within the past hundred
years.
m fhnSp
whose veins runs the blood of men who
signed the Declara-
Pride in ton of Independence,
subjects of kings are
belHS ouDJeCL' quite as proud Of
+beir estate as are citizens of republics.
An American will not fail to vince when
some careless-speaking Engishman re-
fers to him as an american subject.
And yet the Englishman Is as prlde1ui Oh
his relation as subject or King george
as any American, be he JeHerson 6rlch
himself, could be of his citizenship In the
American republic. Any person In Eng
land who agitated the overthrow OF the
monarchy and the establishment OF a
republic would be even more or traitor
than an American who would advocate
making certain citizen into KING Iheo-
dore l. There are no repupllcaHs III
Britain, lust as there are no HloildicHiSls
in America Every man likes his own
system True, it may be objected that
there are republicans in Spain, but tnen
there are also monarchists in France the
trouble In those two countries Is that the
system has changed so many times that
the people are not settled In their pref
erenceS.
The one thing about which every Briton
is agreed is that it is his first duty, under
any and all circumstances whatsoever to
tn
the crown is the only effective bond of
british unity. Even the Irish, long as
they remain in Ireland, forget the suf-
ferings of $50 years of cruel oppression
and send messages Of devotion and 10y
alty to the new sovereign. The Hindu
revolutionists. too often maligned as
anarchists when King Edward died,
gathered in state to express IN ceremonial
solemnity the sorrow of the 3OO,O0O.OU
subjects of the kaiser-i- Hind. There
NAV be bitter politics and even bloody
violence in protest against the constl-
tuted British government, but there Is
nothing but love and loyalty for the
English king.
| And the man who has come to occupy
this the greatest throne in all the history
of monarchy, the
Little Known man who has
come to rule over
About George v this the greatest
| empire ever acknowledged by man. the
man who now receives the homage or this