Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-04

The very human interest exhibited In
the unofncial welcome to the King and
Queen OF Siam Is interpreted by the
press as showing q healthy American
curiosity In the personality Of an abSo-
Lutte monarch and his queen. The eff
feet OF modern developments on thu
affairs OF the Orient and the fact that
the visiting King seeks the services OF
American medical skill are both sub.
jectS OF comment.
Royal princes, heirs presumptive and
apparent, and even dowager queens, are
no longer novelties here" says the San
Francisco Chronicle, but the reigninq
monarchs who have preceded King
Prajadhipok to these shores could be
counted on one hand without checking
on the thumb" The Chronicle adds
that now we know Siam Is a progress
sive country governed by an enlightened
monarch; everybody Is friend OF Siam
it Is moved and seconded that publicity
for Siam be referred to q committee OF
the whole"
Americans, naturally" declares the
Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail, will
hope that the King Of Siam is success
full in his major quest, and that he will
be cured Of his affliction," and that pa
per adds: Although he has the abso-
lutte power Of life and death over his
100000 or more subjects, his pictures
do not give the impression that he Is q
man who would use this power ruth
leSsly." Finding enthusiasm among the
people OF democracy for q ruler who
passed through the city in early morn
ing hours, the Milwaukee Sentinel re-
marks: when the American looks he
Is conscious no doubt Of the privilege
his American citizenship gives him.
Perhaps this Is what moves him to get
up to odd hours in the morning and
stand on a chilly railroad platform; he
is proudly exercising his democratic
prerogative."
For the first time" it Is pointed cut
by the South Bend Tribune, "the
United States is host to q reigning
Oriental monarch. For the first time
a King has established a home in the
United States. 1t Is hoped that medi-
Referring to the interest Of the royal
visitors in American fashions, the
Charleston IS. CO News and Courier
remarks that everything her majesty
acquires will certainly be ft for a
queen" and assumes that Queen Ram
bal Barni lis not to be outdone by any
of her sisters of the Occident." AS to
his majesty, that paper concludes, THE
habiliments Of the Hon. Herbert Clark
Hoover and the habiliments OF His
Majesty Prajadhipok look the same,
unless the son of Chulalongkorn parades
himself in gorgeous uniform"
1.-The royal representatives" thinks
the Birmingham News, doubtless will
be shocked by our Western goingS-on
before they are through looking us over.
Seeing this movie-going, motoring civili-
cation clipping it OF at breakneck speed,
they'll probably be glad enough to es-
cape the bedlam of Manhattan's ele-
waited and see the dawn come up like
thunder from the Eastern seas. Mean
while, wonderingly, they will study us,
smiling the while with that inscrutable
smile the Asians wear while considering
the ways and fashions OF Westerners."
Recalling that the King has re-
vealed to American reporters his 1nten-
ton to grant his people the right to
vote for municipal officials as first step
toward developing in Siam a system of
representative government" the New
York Evening Post states: what his
reaction will be to the practical demon
Stration in city government which New
York offers him we do not know, but
King Prajadhipok will have good reason
to ponder over the advantages of this
particular Western institution as COM
pared to those of Slams present system
of royal appointments. The aim Of gov