New-York tribune., 1912-08-25

In word the Queen could by prerog-
ative upset all the action OF civil gov
eminent Within the government
] quote at second hand from Presi-
dent Lowell's treatise on The Govern
!nent of England" who himself quotes
from the American edition Of Bagehot's
Tho E glish Constitution" which ap.
pears TO contain an Introduction not
prefixed to the original English edition.
But President Lowell, HON like still
to call Professor Of the Science of Gov
ernment In Harvard University, Is a
safe guide. II any American whom
the subject interests will read Bagehot
and Lowell together on the place OF
the Monarchy In the english Consti-
, tuition he will have a true conception
both of the theory and Of the actual
working Of the Constitution in respect
of the Crown. and Of the position OF
him who wears II. And the Letters
of Queen Victoria" will show him how
theory and practice in her time wens
together. as they do still.
Bagehot's list OF surviving powers is
formidable one, and to IL might he
added others not less formidable. What
the powers of the Crown were in Queen
Victoria's time they still are. We DO
not hear that the present King pro-
poses TO avail himself Of these techni-
cal rights, or any Of them. But Mr..
l 70 e. a
President OF the United States may do
anything he is not specifically forbid
den to do by the Constitution or by law.
Some things actually forbidden he has.
in fact. done. So again ask. may not
King. even A living reigning Mon
arch. be more democratic, more loyal
to his people, more patriotic and bet-
ter example TO the world than such Il
! President as M Roosevelt? The ques-
ton implies no comparison between
President as President and King as
King II does perhaps suggest that n
President may find means TO be more
autocratic than King. and that even
a written Constitution Is not always
potent to restrain personal ambition or
to keep a Republican Chief Magistrate
within the magic circle of the law.
Not since George the Third has anY
English sovereign denied the bindins
force of d Constitution not in writing.
To it, and to the whole Of it, this pres
ent English King is oyal.
. There is another sense in which 1t is
true that the power of the Crown de-
pends on the wearer of the Crown. II
grew TO be, in the latter half OF Queen
Victoria's reign, power of which the
strongest Minister had 10 take ac-
count 1t grew and grew to the end OF
her reign. The accumulated wisdom Of
! experience for more than sixty years
was itself a power. She had. more
/ over, the courage to use IL She made
! Lord Palmerston. and Mr.. Lowe, and
MIR. Gladstone feel the weight OF 1t:
and many others felt the weight Of II.
! King Edward proceeded by different
and perhaps milder means. He was
essentially a diplomatist while the
Queen was essentially Queen. King
George is like neither. Though he was
/ forty-five years old when he came TO
/ the Throne. he has ever since been
Narning his trade. He chooses ways
OF learning which his grandmother
would never have thought of and his
/ father would not have adopted. But
there can be little doubt that his con-
scientious patience and tireless capac-
| ity for taking pains are already win
ming confidence. and must In the end
make him, for personal reasons as well
as from his kingship, a power in the
! State. He Is, as Gambetta said OF
himself, a man OF his time. Because
, we are Republicans we are a little apt
to assume that King Is an anach-
ronism. But there are throughout
the world many Kingdoms and EN-
! pires, and even II you count China, the
Republics are not yet In the majority
have drifted away, though not
wholly away, from that more purely
personal sketch Of King George which
: l set out to draw. None the less evil
dent is 1t, I hope, that the character OF
the man is a factor In his kingship.
His popularity has already gone
through vicissitudes. Probably, at
first. he was better known TO the peo-
ple of the overseas Dominions than to
his English subjects at home. When
he made his first appearance as King
II was with the memory Of his Father
still fresh in all minds: and his Father
was a man whose mere presence im-
pressed and delighted all. The new King
seemed by comparison reserved, and In
his manner there was at first some
thing which In less august parsonage
might be called shyness. He wore d
grave look. He lifted his hat to the
salutations Of his people, but the win
ming smile which captivated all hearts
| was not there. He had dignity, but
with II a slight stiffness. He did not
unbend easily. His naval training had
left its mark. There was something
OF the quarterback manner, which is
very admirable manner on the quarter
deck. In private 1t was even more
noticeable and that solemn hush which
the presence OF royalty does sometimes
produce was more solemn than ever
His majesty seemed aware of IL and