New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-15
'IApANS SHOW IN LONDON END OF A GREAT RULER
UnrivaIied Influence OF King
Edward for Peace.
THE SECRET OF HIS POWER
A Loss to the Statesmen OF the
World-Great Incidents IN
His Reign.
London. May D.

London, May Z.
/ The sudden tidings of the Kings III
ness caused more terrible shock this
week than the onlinous bulletin which
suspended indefinitely the coronation
festivities. The earlier warning put an
end to holiday revelry and carried the
menace of a short, ill-starred reign after
a. protra cted and most illustrious one
The later bulletin was forecast of I'M
pending catastrophe to the kingdom and
to the empire-the loss OF the most pa
cific and statesmanlike of monarchs, who
| had set an inspiring example of personal
service for his country and the world.
If the anxiety of the Kings loyal sub
iects was more intense on the second oc-
casion than it had been on the first, it
was because the value of his life had
| increased many times during the reign
/ They We're startled by the alarming
news from the palace not merely be-
cause they loved and honored the King,
| but mainly because he had made him
self supremacy useful in the governance
of the empire and in the promotion of
the greatest Of world interests-the
cause of peace. It was a sense of
| irreparable loss that sobered and sad
dened the silent multitude in front of
/ buckingham Palace when it was whis-
pered that the end of great reign had
| come.
There is something more potent than
the medieval fiction of sovereignty by
divine right. That is the modern idea
of the moral responsibilities Of power.
King Edward had represented it in the
| British Empire as Mr.. Roosevelt and
| President Taft had done in America
| He had inherited the Victorian traditions
and traits of character; he had served
an extraordinary apprenticeship and re-
ceived special training for the business
of reigning; and after ascending the
| throne he had recognized the obligation
! to make full use of his resources and
opportunities for ministering to the well
fare of the empire and to the highest
interests OF civilization.
| Some Of His Achievements.
He had become the foremost figure in
world politics; he had readjusted the
| balance Of power. both In Europe and
| in the Far East; he had Refrigerated
the resources Of British diplomacy: he
| had strengthened friendships with Amer
! lea and Japan and Gained the resent
| full enmities Of France and Russia; he
| had improved the strained relations of
England and Germany: he had increased
the power and prestige of the crown
and had made peace in South Africa;
and he had kept faith with all nations
and helped to create nefghborly feel
| ing within the empire and outside of it.
He had done his work quietly and
| effectively, and in consequence of his
powerful will and well ordered activities
the forces of modern civilization We're
more conciliatory, tolerant and reason
able He had dignified royalty and made
the business of reigning of world wide
| utility.
| The worlds stock Of practical states
nanship would be heavily depleted 'by
| the loss of this master workman. That
was why thoughtful men read the medi-
cal bulletins from the palace in silence
and shivered as if they were on the edge
of q precipice. He was peacemaker of
unrivalled influence and authority at a
momentous crisis in British politics.
when the constitutional mechanism had
| got out of gear and needed to be set in
order; and the possibility of his death
could not be contemplated without init
nations of national disaster.
The Confidence Of His People.
| notwithstanding partisan clamors over
| the iniquity of dragging him into poll
/ tics, there was a general conviction that
| his services as an arbiter between par
| ties and legislative houses were indis-
pensable and that there would be no
risks of meddlesome activity or growth
of absolutism SO long as he was allowed
! to work in his own way and with. an
| open mind. He was trusted as implicit
| ly at home as he was abroad, and no
| safeguards were needed against vasares
and abuses OF irresponsible power The
| impending trisis in constitutional gov
eminent intensified the popular alarm
! over the Kings illness. Optimists, OPP
portunists and pessimists alike felt that
/ he could not be spared. When the end
came the loss of the only effective peace
maker was generally deplored.
! What was the secret of the sovereign's
power in commanding the sympathies of
| his subjects and OF good citizens under
every flag when in his last hours he was
/ struggling for life in the palace? He
| had touched the world on every side and
become intensely human. During his
long apprenticeship, while his mother
was nursing her sorrows and disposing
of the drudgery of state business in Sc
clusion, he was mastering the art of
managing men and adapting himself to
circumstances. When he came to the
throne he had not only his mothers in
stinct for going straight and telling the
truth, but also his own talent of f1exi-
| bility of mind and method.
Resources Of King Edward.
| His resources of tact, simplicity, good
breeding and bonhomie were always ser
viceabie in the regulation of policies at
home and abroad. He could work as