New-York tribune., 1914-11-29

is still privileged with his close
friendship, gave me long ago pleas
ant picture of the plain and homely
life, and the even social interests OF
this remarkable man. Pomp and CIR
cumstance are entirely alien TO his
democratic spirit. He has reduced
the fummeries of courts to their low
est expression, and moves among ms
people with an easy, unpretenuous
frendliness, qualified by a modesty
that amounts almost to bashfulness.
When he and his Queen come to Eng
land. for which he has a deep affection,
they come as plain citizens, put up at
a hotel, visit the theatre, go shop-
ping, and vanish without the world
being any the wiser. His uncle's pas
sion was the greatness Of his sover-
eighty; King Albert's passion is the
happiness of his people and the good
name of his country. To these his
whole life has been devoted with
extraordinary singleness of aim. lie
went TO the Congo TO see the truth
about the Leopold regime for himself,
and his accession was coincldent with
the wiping out of that blot from the
record Of his country. He knows the
greatness of country is expressed not
in palaces but in the lives of its people,
and as Crown Prince he set himself TO
learn what those lives were like. He
worked in the mines, he drove engines
on the railways, he mixed with the
working classes in all their activities.
And the constant theme in his speeches
in the Senate and elsewhere was the
wellbeing of the working population
of the country.
But IL the condition of the poor was
to be raised, something else was neces-
ary besides sympathy and knowledge.
That something was the prosperity OF
industry and commerce. Now, there was
one defect in the equipment OF his
country which as sound economist
chiefly disturbed him. Belgium had
great overseas trade and was the sec
ond port in Europe, but its merchan-
disc was carried in foreign bottoms,
chiefly British and German. He saw
that this was not merely a source of
commercial weakness, but also of po-
litical menace. That menace came from
Germany. Subtly, stealthily, that coun-
try was acquiring a predominant in
fuence in the life of Antwerp. Ger
mans were capturing the Chamber OF
Commerce, the marine insurance busi-
ness, the control of the banks, the pos
session Of the navigation companies, Of
the freighting trade, OF shipbroking, of
everything. Antwerp was becoming a
city in which the people we're Belgians,
but the masters were Germans.
To change all this the Crown Prince
set himself to emulate the example OF
Peter the Great, though with a nobler
purpose. The establishment of mer-
camille marine for his country became
the dominant purpose of his life, and
10 accomplish it he assumed the dis
guise of q newspaper reporter and Wis
tied the principal ports and shipyards
of Europe 70 carry out his investiga-
tions. II was thus that he went to Bel
fast in 1908. And since his accession
he has pursued his purpose with less
privacy--for he can no longer pass
himself off as a reporter-but not less
enthusiasm, as the visit 70 the United
States showed.
II is not wise, perhaps, at this stage
to probe too closely the secrets Of those
last tragic days at Antwerp, but when
those secrets are revealed the spirit of
this man will shine out with a radiance
that will glow in the pages OF history
for ever and ever. He and his people
have won an Immortality that will be a
precious inheritance and an enduring
Inspiration for humanity. They have
given us a new faith in our kind. They
have shown Us that in the most peace