A ROYAL MISSION

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 54, 5 March 1927, Page 19

A ROYAL MISSION

jNTSWSPAPEE OPINIONS THE TIES OF LOYALTY EXTREME VALUE OF SUCH VISITS When the present tour was first mooted it naturally came in for a great deal of newspaper attention, and just before the Royal Party assembled on the Renown English leader writers commented at great length on the value of the tour in welding the British Empire into an even stronger entity than it was at that time. Naturally the Duchess has been very much in the public eye in connection with the tour. ..On the day of the sailing, "The Times" said: "Because she is a woman her avery word and look will forge a bond of sympathy of its own special kind between herself and the women and children in those -faroff lands." The following is a collection of much that was said just before the Renown departed on her voyage to New Zealand and Australia. "The Times": "The Duke and Duchess of York set out on yet an-

other of those visits to tho Dominions by which King Georgo and his sons have done so much to strengthen the ties of loyalty and sentiment that bind tho distant parts of the Empire to the Mother Country and to the Crown. Edward the Peacemaker and Queen Victoria saw the growing importance of a spirit of closer understanding and co-operation between the scattered peoples of the Empire, and of the part which members of the Royal Family, as representatives of the Crown, might play in shaping its destinies. In 1901, at the very beginning of his reign, in complianco with the wishes repeatedly expuressed by the Australian colonies and the Governments of New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and NewfoundInd, King Edward gave his consent to tho departure of our present King and Queen, then Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, on their prolonged

tour in H.M.S. Ophir, during which they covered 45,000 miles from one end of the Empire to the other. . . .

"Everywhere that he goes the Duke of York will find—as the Prince of Wales has found in Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and all the many other countries that he has visited in the last six or seven years—veterans of the Great War, men and women of many different colours, creeds, and races, but all sons and daughters of the Empire; everywhere he will meet, again as the Prince did, myriads of children of the Empire—most of them far too young to remember the trials and horrors of the war of the nations—in whose common loyalty to the Crown and fellowship with one another lies one of the best hopes to which the Empire or the world can look forward of escaping further catastrophes of the same terrible kind. It will be all the more easy for him to win their affection —not that it. could in any case be difficult—because he will have by his side the young wife and mother who has so quickly and so surely found her way into the heart of the people of

this country. From the first they have felt that, like his Eoyal Mother, she is one of themselves. Because she is a woman her every word and look will forgta bond of sympathy of its own special kind between herself and the women and children in those far-off lands. This is not the first time that she has visited with her husband' the scattered homes of our kinsfolk across the seas. But their present journey, like those by which the Prince ■ of Wales'has endeared himself to so.many of his father's subjects, is not merely a visit. It is in a very real and particular sense a 'mission. They go to represent the King.' . . The Duke himself shares the belief that the way to promote mutual goodwill and understanding is by bringing people together and helping them to know each other. '■I am one of those,' he said, 'who hold that the main principle which should be adopted in finding a solution, of the great problems of to-day, be they political or industrial, is the principle of the personal touch.' In that spirit he sets out, like his father and his brother before him, on his Imperial mission. In thu spirit the whole country will join in wishing God-speed to his wife and to himself." A MORE PEOSPEEOXJS EEA. The "Morning Post": "The cordial good wishes of the whole country will attend the Duke and Duchess of York. . . . During his time at sea the Duke of York will be at home, as only a naval officer can be at home. He learned his profession under exactly the same conditions as his brothel officers received their training; he understands His Majesty's service as no layman can understand it; and he is initiated* in his own right into the traditions of the Royal Navy. During his stay on shore, the Duke will be engaged in the strenuous and responsible task of his high office. State ceremonials, howevei impressive, are inevitably fatiguing, and cannot but impose a considerable strain upon the King's representative. In leaving her home for six months, the Duchess of York has cheerfully made what cannot be other than a sacrifice; and it is to be hoped that the pleasure her presence will give to others may in some measure compensate for an anxiety natural during her absence from domestic affairs. . . It is probablo that the opening of the capital by the King's son will in the future be marked as the opening of a greater and a more prosperous era in the development of the vast and rich continent, of which at present only the fringe is occupied." BEITISH CIVILISATION. The "Daily Chronicle": "The Duke goes to open the first meeting of the Australian Commonwealth Parliament to be held at the now Federal capital, Canberra. That is an historic event, which can but happen ,once. . . Wo do not forget that the Eoyal visitors go also to New Zealand, a Dominion which has made steady progress since the war, and has been successful during recent years in attracting a specially good class of settlers from this country. Australia and New Zealand are more than 1000 miles apart, and are out to resent being confused with each other. We, however, remembering their brotherhood in arms at Anzac,-may be forgiven if we regard their attempts to build up new Britains under the Southern Cross as uWin portions of a common enterprise. On the success of that enterprise and the preservation of the most intimate ties between, it and the Mother Country may depend in no small degree the ultimate future of British

people, British ideas, and British civilisation in the world." ONE CEOWN. ; The "Daily Mail": ". . Then they will hasten on .to New Zealand where.they can look forward to a sr,ell of delightful holidaymaking. It!-will be a pleasant prologue to the- serious business of the Australian tour/. . The Duke and Duchess will be reeeived.vwo can^be sure, with all the cordiality due to their personal gifts and character and with a deep consciousness -oft what it is they represent. The citizens-of the self-governing Dominions feel that the Eoyal Family belongs to them every whit as much as it does to their; EizroFh« r ■ "T s"b;)e. ets- Ia th<> house .of the British Empjre there are many mansions But there is one Crown common to aU, and. conveying to all" that sense of unity combined with md viduamasterivV? beea ™^»™A ™ S?e masterly State-paper promulgated 'by the late Imperial Confereneo." *

MAKING HISTOEY. The "Daily Telegraph": "Their Royal Highnesses will be followed throughout their historic voyage by^he best wishes o£ all sections of 6u7r/ eo . h° 6 -learnt t0 appre C ia?e P the pubkc spirit with which they fulfil all the duties, at Home and overseas/which devolve upon them by reason of their nearness to the Throne. Two yea ago they visited East Africa, wiS the respect of all sections of the pebple of that colony. They are now setting out on another journey which will take M£h rank among the series of Imperial fir ß ?]w g™***™ been carried out, P? y and Queen,, when Prince and Princess of Wales, and sub Wales and other members of the -Boyal family. Ac befits a Eoyal Ambassador to whom the Sovereign has delegated his authority, the Duke of York if travelling in His Majesty's ship Benown, which typifies the prestige of the Boyal Navy, with its traditions of >a thousand years. ... It has been arranged that 1 heir Eoyal Highnesses will pay a brief visit to New Zealand, that land of many natural wonders and human interests, before passing on to Australia.-. . . The occasion will be notable in the history of the British Empire, rich as it is in the record.of incidents full of.the deepest significance. For, as a result of the recent discussions in London^ between the Prime Ministers of this and the other partner nations, His Majesty and his House will henceforth stand in a new relationship to -the Dominions. The Crown has become more than.ever the recognised link binding together the Commonwealth in which all the.nations are equally autonomous, free to work out their own destinies in accord--ance with their own desires. As the Chancellor; of the Exchequer has remarked, the Age of Control has come to an end and the Age of Comprehension has begun. 'The Constitution of . the British Empire depends now and henceforward solely upon good sense,'good will, and Jpyalty to the Imperial Crown.' It May be that in future years it will be held that the most momentous act of the Imperial Conference of 1926 was the restatement of the relationship of the Crown to all the constituent nations of the Commonwealth. "

Mail bags are dropped 5000 ft fromaero- :- planes without damage,- it is reported, by a new method devised for European airways. The device is secret, but it is said to be a parachute operated by\ clockwork.