MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1927. THE KING'S SON.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 43, 21 February 1927, Page 6

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1927. THE KING'S SON.

The welcome that will be given to the Duke and Duchess of York in New Zealand will spring from two sources—attachment to the Monarchy as an institution, and personal liking for members of the Royal Family. These are the ties that bind the Briton to the Throne. He is by conviction and tradition a monarchist. The factor of tradition is impossible to analyse completely; It is something that is felt but cannot be put into words. The Briton is a practical mystic. He is convinced by experience that a constitutional monarchy is the best form of government—at any rate for his society. Looking round the world, he does not see any superiority in republican forms of government; indeed, he is quite sure that they would not suit him so well as the one under which he lives. Applying the test that he uses in most, if not in all things, he is convinced that it works well. The Briton, however, is more than a practical man of affairs. There is in him something of the poet and mystic, and that something is satisfied by the institution of monarchy, with its age, its traditions that link one generation with another, its religious aspect, and its ancient forms and ceremonies. It appeals to his reason, and at the same time touches that side of his nature —and this is perhaps the strongest part of him—which finds guidance in what transcends reason. The personal aspect of his devotion to the Crown cannot be separated from the constitutional factor. Were the Monarchy less loved and respected it would not be so strongly rooted in the popular will. It is almost a commonplace that when Queen Victoria came to the throne the Monarchy's future was dubious. By the purity of her life and her devotion to duty Victoria made the foundations of the system secure, and her successors have built wisely upon her work. They have been patterns of constitutional rule and have endeared themselves to their subjects by untiring industry and practical sympathy. The development of the Empire has buttressed the Monarchy, for not only has this growth added fresh lustre to the Crown, but it has become increasingly clear that, far more than a Republic could be, the Monarchy is a common symbol and bond of union. It is something that men of all creeds and races can share and understand. It happens that the Duke of York, a son of the King, is visiting two Dominions just after the Imperial Conference has laid emphasis on the fact that the Crown is, in the words of the "Manchester Guardian," "the sole constitutional link binding the free peoples of the Commonwealth." The Duke and Duchess of York thus come to us surrounded by the aura of that royalty with which Britons at Home and oversea have been accustomed to associate national and Imperial greatness and stability and Imperial unity. They come, too, with the reputation of being a charming young couple, strict in public duty, and simple, unaffected, and sympathetic in their ways. They are assured of a very warm welcome from a community that has inherited the Homeland's "loyal passion" for her "temperate kings."