The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-06-21

m1SchleyOuS to the development or tn6 character of her successor. This was especially so when it took the form of excluding him from any apprentice ship to the more important functions which monarch has to discharge un- der the British Constitution. What Sir Sidney Lee now tells us confirms striking diagnosis made by W. T. Stead at the time of the baccarat scan- dal at Tranby Croft in 1891. When the press. the pulpit. and public opin- ion in general were united in con- demning the Prince for setting so bad an example. MT. Stead, with his us- ual independence and courage con against than shining. "The Prince of Wales" he said, occupies a position which exposes him to temptations against which human nature is not proof, because it deprives him of the balance weight which would have en- abled him to stand firn'' The Prince he continued, was rarely permitted to do any serious work. All the year long he was doomed to an endless sen try-go of monotOnous and sOul-wearN ing ceremonial There was nothing in his life to give dignity to this thought and occupation for his leisure. So the wonder was not that he should have disappointed so many hopes, but that he should have preserved so many pf the ordinary virtues of humanity. z Fifty-TwO Before He Saw State
 Papers.
 The truth of this judgment has nev- CT ben fully realized until to-day Sir Sidney Lee now discloses the amazing fact that Queen Victoria persistently fought against the recommendations of her Ministers that the Prince should public affairs. It was not until 1892, when he was fifty-one years of age, that she consented to his being allow ed to see selection of the confidential state papers. It was not until three years later that he gained the right to receive all foreign dispatches as a matter of course, and to possess a key to the official pouches containing re- ports of proceedings in the Cabinet
 It was the renewed remonstrances made by Gladstone, beginning as ear ly as 1872 that made the first breach. in this wall of exclusion. No doubt his long continued championship of the Princes interests had something to do with the kindliness with which that statesman was always regarded by the Prince, and also with the dislike shown him by the Queen. We are told, on the other hand, that Lord Beacons- field, her favorite Prime Minister as- favor, tacitly accepted her modest es- timate of her sons political discre- tfon."
 The concession, however, came too late to neutralize the defect of the stupid policy that had been pursued so long. In his sixtieth year the late King came to the throne which had whole of his life, but he came to it's responsibilities in large measure as an outsider. Let us hear again the straightforward testimony of Sir Sid- ney Lee:
 He was stranger to the admins he was too old to repair the neglect of political training. Nor was he of an age at which 1t was easy to al ter his general mode of fife. He cher, ished a high regard for his mothers statesmanshfp and political acumen.e precise manner in which they had been exercised. At the outset there were slight indications that he overestimat- ed the sovereign's power. In consult tation over a kings speech, he seemed in some peril of misinterpreting the royal function, but his action was due to inexperience and to no impatiencs of ministerial advice.
 Edwards Heir Differently Reared.
 In one respecEnot even hinted at, Of course, by the biosrapher-the mal-
 
 wholesome result. He evidently made up his mind that his own children yhbuld not be handicapped as he him self had been. Accordingly, the pres ent King, instead of being shielded from every breath Of fresh air, was sent to rough 1t as a rniddy on a man of war, and, after reaching manhood. spent several years in knocking about tfie world as an active naval officer. It is generally known. too, that in the period proceeding his accession there were opened to him opportunities of acQuainting himself with the problems he would shortly have to face. In- deed, Lord Rosebery's remark about the 'inexperience" of the new King at tho political crisis of 1910 would have have been far more appropriate to the much older man who was called to the position of supreme responsible fty nine years before.
 good deal of light upon King Edwards s private opinions oh domestic politics. It seems that the reform in which he was most interested was the housing of the poor. His concern in this man. ner dated from his chairmanship Of the Royal Commission on the subject almost the only serious task he was permitted to undertake while Prince of Wales. It Is amusing to note how the organs of the opposing political parties are fastening upon those points in which King Edwards views agreed with their own. The Conservative papers emphasize his resentment at the criticisms of the Transvaal War. his lack of sympathy with the out- cry against Chinese labor in South Africa, his displeasure at political or atory which appealed to class preju- dice, and excited in the poor unwar- ranted hopes,'' his dislike of the bud get of 1909, and his demur to eany al- iteration in the status or composition of the Upper House. The Liberal papers on the other hand, call atten- ton to his disparaEing comment on the tariff reform proposals, to his ear nest attempt to prevent the throwing out of the budget by the House Of Lords, and to the fact that the Con- servative schemes for altering the up- per house '.conffcted as directly with the Kings predilections as. the scheme for reconstructing it's veto" Sir Sid- ney Lee has rendered public service by dispersfng the false rumors that were widely circulated in connection with this last controversy-rumOrs ppearance of validity through their adoption in the Encyclopaedia Brit annica article. The Encyclopaedia in- terprets as "a remarkable sign of the Kings discomfort the insertion in the Kings speech of the words "in the opinion of my advisers" in connection with the passage referring to tho House of Lords. We learn from Sir Sidney Lee that this phrase was not on interpolation by the King, but was from tha nen Of the Prime Minister