The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-05-10

Snowdon, lofty Welsh mountain, from
scores Of other tabled hills between.
In their usual capacity, these bea-
cons, of which there are about 30 in
each county, are warning signals, call
ing the countryside to meet some great
emergency. This time they heralded a
more joyous event. one of the most
joyous the British empire has known.
1t is the Silver Jubilee of the twenty
fifth anniversary Of the accession to
the throne of King George V and Queen
Mary. Now at it's height, this glorious
celebration, observed the length and
breadth of the most extensive empire
in the world, is scheduled as 100 days
of rejoicing and still has many weeks
to go.
For the onlooker in America, such
a sentiment spread throughout posses
sions so widely scattered that "the sun
never sets on the British flag" might
well fill him with wonder as to how a
people who govern themselves so COM
pletely can feel such a devotion and
loyalty for the figureheads Of a mon
archy which they struggled almost to
the limit to crush in centuries past.
That is not so hard to explain. Per-
haps one of the reasons is that the
king is just that-a figurehead. But
he is fgurehead vastly more impor-
tant than most of us who have had
1ift1n
arches, other than in books, can un-
derstand.
To the average citizen of the British
Isles and to citizens of every far-fiung
outpost of the empire, the crown rep
resents the empire. Time was when,
to territorial possessions, the name
England itself stood for the paternal
wing of shelter and discipline over all,
but today most of the many nations
that comprise the empire are self-gov-
erning, and loyalty to the crown and
the sovereign as exemplifying the pa
ternal wing of shelter is perhaps the
greatest single unifying influence,
drawing the vast realm together under
George V as the head of the great ma
tional family.
Symbol of Unity.
The crown and the sovereign are not
quite the same thing, however. The
crown is the technical symbol of unity,
the king, himself, the sentimental one.
Laws are still passed in parliament
under the Norman lie Roy lie veult."
In state legal cases it is "The crown
versus (name of defendant)." All func-
tons of this true peoples government
are conducted in the name of the
crown.
King George in his latest Christmas
address said Il would like to think
that you who are listening to me now,
in whatever part of the world you may
be, and all the peoples of the realm
and empire, are bound to me and to
one another in the spirit of one great
family" The king is the head of that
family.
The prince of Wales, after returning
from visits to Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa and India, was
articulate in his realization of the uni
flying power of the crown-a power
of tradition and sentiment without
which it would be mighty difficult to
keep Britannia hanging together.
"The people of the old country must
realize that the patriotism of the Do
minions is national patriotism, and not
mere loyalty to Great Britain" he said.
1T is loyalty to the empire, of which
Great Britain, like the Dominions, is
only one part. The loyalty of the Do
minions is, in very special sense, 10y
atty to the crOwn-and the crown rep
resents the unity of the empire. The
king, as constitutional sovereign of the
empire, occupies the same place in Can
ada and In the whole British empire, as
he does in Great Britain, and his house.
although originally founded in Great
Britain. belongs equally to all other
nations Of the Commonwealth
Although your average Britisher