ROYALTY IN U.S.A.

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 134, 9 June 1939, Page 10

ROYALTY IN U.S.A.

WHAT SIGNIFICANCE?

A CALL ON THE PRESIDENT

CROWN AND CANADA

(By A. Duff Cooper, former First Lord of the Admiralty.) (World Copyright 1939 by Cooperation.) I was recently asked by one of those profound students of world affairs who read only between the lines of newspapers and attach deep and hidden meanings to the most unpremeditated actions of the great, what was the political significance of the visit which our King and Queen are paying to the United States of America. I replied that in my opinion it had no particular political significance but was merely the natural and fortunate outcome of a series of events. It was important that the King should visit Canada. Since the passing of the Statute of Westminster, the King is the sole link which holds together the British Commonwealth of Nations. This fact is not always fully appreciated even at home, and- is seldom understood or believed in foreign countries. The Government of Canada is in exactly the same position with regard to the King as the Government of Great Britain. The Parliament that sits in Ottawa is as free and unfettered in all its actions as the Parliament that sits at Westminster. The Cabinet who meet in Downing Street have no control whatever over any of the self-governing Dominions, whose High Commissioners are their Ambassadors, and the British Secretary of State for the Dominions has functions analogous to those of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The King is therefore under a far greater obligation to visit his Dominions than any of his predecessors, and it is to be hoped that in the long and happy reign which we all wish him, each one of the Dominions will enjoy the privilege of a Royal visit. Since, therefore, it was necessary for him to go to Canada, it was very obviously desirable that he should extend his journey to the United States. For to visit the Continent of North America without seeing anything of the United States would be indeed as though a man were to go to a performance of Hamlet, only to withdraw from the auditorium 'whenever the Prince of Denmark was on the stage. Which of us, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean, would willingly forgo a glimpse of New York, which is certainly one of the major wonders of the modern world? The King and Queen undoubtedly share the curiosity which their humblest subject would experience in similar circumstances, and would have been equally disappointed if any cause had prevented that curiosity from being gratified. THE UNITED STATES TOO. The people of Great Britain, reluctant as they were to be parted from the head of the State even temporarily in these anxious times, are glad for many reasons that the King and Queen should pay this visit to the New World. In the first place, they do not grudge a holiday to one whose responsibilities are never-ending, and whose term of office is a life sentence. Nor could any holiday be better chosen for a man who was a sailor before he was a King, than one that will be spent so largely on the sea. They are glad that the King should see America, and they are equally glad that America should see the King. We are very proud of their Majesties, and we have no doubt whatever of the impression they will produce upon the open-minded, warm-hearted people of the United States. There is indeed in the minds of many Americans a deeply ingrained distrust of royalty, born of an ancient grudge handed down by tradition, and' nourished by doctrines that have been firmly held for. a century and a half. But George the Sixth is not George the Third, and we are anxious that Americans should see the difference. It is true that our King is descended in the fifth generation from that well-meaning ,if meddlesome Monarch, but even the stern vengeance of the Old Testament did not extend beyond the third and fourth generation. Therefore we may surely take it for granted that no recollections of some of the least glorious pages in English history will interfere with the welcome which their Majesties will receive, and that the ancient grudge, has been as completely forgotten in New York as it has been in London, where the statue of George' Washington stands within sight of that of, George 111 and under the shadow of Nelson's monument. On the other hand, we do not expect Americans to subscribe to the sentiments which Shakespeare put into the mouth of one of his worst moi\archs: There's such divinity doth hedge a king, That treason can but peep to what it would. The Americans are unrepentant Republicans. Their Constitution has served them well, and they have had no reason to regret it. They will not be dazzled by the glamour of royalty. They will judge our. King and Queen upon their merits. Confident of the verdict, that is all we demand. BRITAIN AND AMERICA. We are glad also that, at a period when the world is full of fearful rumours, they should not have been allowed to interfere with the Royal time-table, and that the King and Queen have refused to postpone their visit, which was arranged so long ago andf which has been looked forward to so eagerly. It is a proof of Britain's determination to continue hoping for the best and to have confiedence in her sea power if the worst should eventuate.

Yet another feature of this auspicious visit is a thought of satisfaction to the people of Great Britain. The King will have an opportunity of getting to know the President. Heads of State have in the past been little but names, and not always even names, to the citizens of other nations. Even today the ordinary Englishman would hesitate to name the King or President of half a dozen foreign countries. But there is not one home in a million where the name of President Roosevelt is not a household word. The radio has brought him to countless firesides, and he is certainly the first President of the United States whose voice has been familar to Englishmen. In that voice they have heard expression given to sentiments which they recognised as their own, and they have rejoiced at the vision and , courage which inspired the speaker. As they listened to him the waters of the broad Atlantic seemed to dwindle and they understood that distance cannot divide nations who share a common faith. At such moments, who has not wished that all remaining causes of misunderstanding might be removed? Who has not thought how fine a gesture it would be if, when the King says goodbye to the President, he could leave with him an envelope which, on being opened, would be

found to contain a cheque for the whole balance of that unhappy debt?

But such dreams belong to the realm of romance rather than to the world of realities. The real importance of the King's visit is the opportunity it provides not for paying debts, making treaties, or for spreading propaganda, but for the heads of two great peoples who have so much in common to ehajce hands with "one another and have a talk.