Milford chronicle., 1950-03-03
EmpiEe Has Been 80

Empire Has Been Lost
VNG GEORGE VI o. Enaland IS
A reported In the Invalid class.
following sn operation Of some
weeks ago. He is said not to be
IN a serious condition. but should
anything happen and the Princess
Elizabeth be called C the throne.
she would be crowned as q queen
only. not as an empress. as was
her great grandnolher. Victoria.
There is no longer a British en-
pire. and she win not Be empress
Of India. Without that now defuncf
title an she win inherit IS nve
queenly crowns. hose Of England.
Australia. Canada. South Africa
and New Zealand. With that OF
England goes the reign over Eng
lands colonies.
In reality Elizabeth. as queen.
win reign. but not rule. IN England
or in any Of the English common
wealth Of nations. though in each
Of which she win be queen. the
reigning monarch. the symbol. 70
which the people owe allegiance.
Il was IN the fan % 1919 that
King George v. ne father og
the present monarch. explained
the status Of the English mon
archy 20 q small group of
American newspaper men, Of
which ] was one. lie said fhas
as king he had no authority as
q ruler; that 90 The British
people, and 70 those uf the Brit
ish commonwealth Of nations
he was but a symbol. he was %
them only what the American
flag is 10 rs Americans.
The head Of the state, the gov
ernment, in England. as in ths
other four nations. is the prime
minister. In each Of the five ma
tions the king names the prime
minister. but he has no choice but
to name the individual the majority
in the parliament Of each nation
selects for the job.
As the most direct ana eldest
Of the ruling family, should
Elizabeth be called 20 ne throne
Of England, she win auioma-
ticaliy ascend The thrones af
Canada, Australia, South Africa
and New Zealand. They are
not and have not been Tor some
years English colonies. Each
Is an independent nation, and In
each a peoples parliament has
named the reigning family IN
England as the reigning family
In Its nation with the same
rights Of succession as Is true
In England.
At the Atlantic conference be-
tween President Roosevelt and the
English prime minister, winston
Churchill, held aboard a British
warship off The coast of Canada.
the President suggested %
Churchill that England grant inde-
pendence to India. ChrchiIFs re-
ply was that in accepting service
as head Of the English government
he had not done so for the purpose
Of hquidating his maiesty's en-
pire.
The specific purpose o.
|. Prime Minister AttIee when ne
was named for the Job at ths
direction Of the Labor party
representing q majority I'm
Parliament was 60 sociaIIxe
England. The expense involved
In doing that precluded ihe pos
sibility Of maintaining an
armed force, army and navy.
sufficient 20 police and protect
the Indian empire, and % meet
obligations for arms the war
had brought 70 England. He
chose socialism for England
as more desirable than holding
onto the empire. The king could
have no voice IN The making of
that choice. Attlee had done
what Churchill had refused %
consider. As q result when fbe
time comes 70 reign. Eliza
beth viii not be empress O.
India.
One Of the final chapters Of that
sad story Of the loss Of an empire
was written at the recent confer
enee Of the English commonwealth
OF nations held at Colombo, CeyIon.
II was a gathering Of the prime
ministers Of five independent na-
tons They do not necessarily tax
as one, nor are they subject to the
dictation Of any one.
The set-up Of il all sounds com
plicated, but in reality il is not 50
much so as II sounds. For an IN
derstanding, we need to realize
that the British commonwealth Of
nations is but a name; that there
is no obligated cohesion between
them; that they are bound only 5y
a sentiment born Of a common
origin Of their peoples. sharing the
same monarchy.
At some time in the future, he
present Princess Elizabeth win
wear the crowns Of England. Cana
da, Australia, South Africa and New
Zealand.
.f.
Soaking the rich for taxes IS