MODERN HAROUN-EL-RASCHID.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 215, 7 September 1912, Page 18

MODERN HAROUN-EL-RASCHID.

KING GEORGE AS "THE KING WHO SEES FOB HXKSELF." A VERY POPULAR MONARCH. W. Hamilton We contributes to the "Daily Mall" a sketch of the activities of King Oeorge V., in which he says: — King (ieorge is the modern UsTounalRasehid. Ijike -the .ruler celebrated in 'The Arabian Nights," he ie set upon seeing how Ms subjects live. He canuot disguise himself and' make midnight expeditions, after the manner of the ■JSastern caliplh. Photography and the newspaper Press make that impossible. (Besides, at midnight there are few •workers employed, and it is, above ell, his people at work that King George wishes to see. So in open day lie goes among them, watches them at 'bench or loom, sees how they make, iron and steel, how they get coal, how 'by rough and 'hard wortc witb their hands they are helping to keep up the industries of England upon "which the very existence of England's mill rone depends. Here is something new in the annals of monarchy. No British Soawrpijrn, no •Sovereign o»f any, other kingdom, no President of airy Common has ever until now made a. systematic effort to understand industrial processes and industrial problems by studying them 0:1 the spot. That is, of course, the only way to win any vivid knowledge nf them. Print fan prove anything, but can wiUi difficulty TuaJke it live, ft is the intimate personal impression that kindles t)he imagination ; and without imagination the dry 'bones of fact and ferurt? rattle tediously in the ear. DOW\ A COAL WNFE. Other rulers may haw read Bhu> Books about coal mines. What hare they got •from them save headaches? King , Oporge goes down a coalmine. Takes a lamp and stumbles along dark roadways. Borrows a pick and learns for himself what! it must mean to lww into t!he coalface for hours at a stretch. Other nil en* may have studied reports on "Housing." The wry term betrays the spirit in which they are. ■written; shows that the matter has been taken from tire free air otf reality into the vapid vacuum of parliamentary definite. King Geoiige and Queen Mary are not content with arid details as to "cubic (feet, of atmosphere" or with Board of Trade "index numbers." They want to .see the kind of houses in which those who do the rough. hard work live. Hence their surprise visits to smnll houses in Bout'h Wales and South Yorkshire.

Tn only one case was any notice sjrren. This was at. A'bendare. It made very little difference, (but it was not the King's plan. Ho wanted to see cottages and cottagers just as they are. ?!udclenly he -would have his motor car stopped. He would pet out ami ask the astonished owner "May we come in?" At Slaitbwailp t>he -washing was hung up to dry on a .square ■frame near the ceiling (a device. -1 think, peculiar to the North Country). At Woodlands model village the housewife was cooking the midday dinner. At the little farm 011 the moors the farmer's ■wife was entertaining two friends at 'farmhouse tea." The Queen joined them nnd said she thoroughly joyed it. And what is more, the hostess and the other guests enjoyjgd it thoroughly too. It is worth notice that both Sljuthwaite and the moor are in a constituency ■which used to T«"turn a Socialist member. In South •'Wales, aluo. a visit wns paid to Mr. Keir Hardic'e district. 'Most Sovereigns -would have left mwh places severely alone. That is not King George's way, nor Queen Mary's. ,lust u-s he seized the slander -which alTect*vl them bot/h and: crushed it for all the world to see, so now they went boldly uauong those -who wore supposedquite -wrongly, as the event proved—to be hostile to the institution of monarchy. In both disi tricts they- were receive*! not with mew j courtesy but with acclamations by the whole mass of inhabitants. From •polities in the party sense King George <rf course, holds scrupulously aloof. But he is entitled to congratulate himself on the happy issue of his courageous Tesolve, and further we must be gratefirl to him for having settled all doubts. Jf any existed, a* to Rnglaml and Wales I being unanimous in support of the inI sbitution that forms the strongest tip I between the different States of the ( Empire.

J A TEST OF E.YDritANCE. As a test of endurance tlieso journeys [ niiuU- it plain that Their Majesties »re. J linppily, very strong. It would be nlwiird !to say they were not tired after lung days of motoring, with the noii--p 01 ohppring about them and with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of eager eyes upon thrm almost, nil the time. The constant bowing and lifting of the hat must have beon positively pa.hiful at the dose of such a (lny. vnried 'by th-» 'f.jtigue of going over factories (sometimes three or four). Probably these domestic- tours, as we may rail them, were more fatiguing than the State ■|>To<-pssions of last year. En wvniwhe, they •were more interesting, both in their incident.', homely and human, and in their entire novelty and happily Their Majesties were never overtirpil.

Th-e domestic tour, a< an institution, marks a new stapo in the development of the relatioiiH between King and People. Acting upon their own judgment and {rood feelinjr. Their Majesties determined that, a np\v di'parturp was desirable. In the old days, when nations were perpetimlly at war. monarelis idoiiiiiipfl themselves wi-th tlip national life ■by leading our nrmies to battle. Now that pen<Tp i.« th<> settled state, tm'ly at intervals broken in upon nuloly Try the] clasli <rf arms, other moans nuist be sought. SovPT.fiign.s must place themselves, as it were, nt the head of the armies of industry. They must encourape their peoples forward along paths of progress other than those which are hewn out toy the sword. could moTe successfully draw tighter the utrings of affection and loyalty which bind the Nation to the Throw , than these visits to tlip homes and woriciirg ce.Trtres of the toiling millions. AT THE PUBLIC Yet it is not only among the toiling millions that King; Ceorjjc and Quwn Mary have been a<X'l:irmed during their very Ibusy summer. They have, (for instance, paid three visits to public schools —Harrow, Cltfton, and Winchester—and

in each oase the King has found his wav to the hearts of all boys, old 'boys and present alike, 'by hia words about their traditions, their honourable history, ttiear rofl of famous naTnes. Then as another means of identifying themselves -with the life of the nation, Their Majesties have sfhared the amusements of their people. They -went to Henley R«gatta. they enjoyed a variety performance at the Palace Theatre. King George has wateliod a cricket match at Lord's. These may seem small things in themselves, but to those who study ,the psychology of nations they ere im-

portant. Sovereigns who keep apart from the daily occupations and diver- 1 sions- of the -mass of their subjects cannot in these days expect to arouse any deep feelings of devotion. To mix with those -who are enjoying themselves has just as good ah effect as going among those -who are at wort. It is worth remembering that the only period when the English monarchy seemed to tie losing its hold upon the English race was the period during which Queen Victoria lived, in seclusion, taking no ipart in the national life.

It hae been the writer's privilege to accompany Their Majesties during their recent tours, and, with an ejqwrience of three reigns, he considers it not too nriKJli to say that neither Queen Victoria nor King Edward was so generally 'popular as King Clwrjfe and Queen Mary are to-day. They lhave stirred the sympathies of a far larger mass of the nation. The example of their home, of their simple lives, and frank, kindly manners hae gunk in very deep. Women in large mmrbern carry their (babies, as they wait to Bee Their Majesties, and ■hold them lip -wlhen the royal car passes. They seem to have an instinct that the Queen -will like to see them. That is Rignifiennt. It helps to explain) vrhy the New Monarchy promises to 'be the most popular form of monarchy that England has yet known.