Bahind the Headlines HIS MAJESTY EMPEROR OF AMERICA

Northern Advocate, 22 July 1939, Page 1 (Supplement)

Bahind the Headlines HIS MAJESTY EMPEROR OF AMERICA

With the death of the uncrowned

king of Samoa, thoughts have been

turned to that almost forgotten army

of men o* many nationalities who

have laid claim to sovereignty. The most famous, perhaps, has been the rule in Sarawak of the Brooke family,

but there are many others who have

ruled and have been acknowledged

and there are others who have failed to make good their claims. It is little more than 100 years ago that New Zealand barely escaped the rule of an uncrowned king, Baron de Thierry, in that year informing the British Resident in the Dominion that he intended to set up a sovereign Government in what is now Northland. Incidentally the Baron offered free medical benefits and no taxation as an inducement for support. His action awoke the somnambulistic powers of Britain, and the would-be sovereign had to resort to teaching music in Auckland. The United States once acknowledged an emperor “Norton the First,’’ an English Jew, who for 26 years was treated like royalty. Having earned and lost a fortune Norton suggested to his chief creditor that he should marry his daughter and make her empress. The nuptial plan wa* not fulfilled, bujt Norton announced his accession by printed bills which proclaimed that the Legislature had recognised him as Emperor of America. In his adopted town of San Francisco the citizens ad- i dressed him as “your majesty,” and sent him a telegram signed with the names of the world’s rulers, wishing him prosperity. A special seat was provided for him in the Senate Chamber of California and (when he died flags were flown at half-mast and 10,000 people attended his funeral. The present Earl of Derby would probably have been King of Greece if an ancestor of last century had accepted an offer. A dynasty which has provided half the countries of Europe with connections, was founded when in 1810 a French general named Bernadette became King of Sweden.

• • • • SYRIA ABSORBED BY FRENCH By the abolition of the Syrian Parliament, the Leventine State has ceased to exist and has been absorbed into the French Colonial Empire. A state of 60,000 square miles, Syria is bounded on the north by Turkey, on the south by Palestine, on the west by the Mediterranean, and on the east by Mesopotamia, and has a population, mostly Mohammedan, of less than 3,000,000. After being under Turkish domination during the Great War, the Armistice placed Syria under Allied control and in November of 1918, Bri-

tain and France issued a joint declaration, establishing national Governments in'both Syria and Mesopotamia. In 1923 Syria was placed under the French Mandate by the League o£ Nations and in 1936 a treaty of alliance and friendship Between France and Syria was completed. In the days of European unrest which* followed, France did not ratify the agreement, and in May of this year riots occurred as a result. In recent weeks France has made unsuccessful attempts to persuade the Nationalists to continue the mandate so that now a high commissioner and council will govern the State.

* * w .STATUTE OF DANZIG j Cables recently have referred to the Statute of Danzig. The status of the free city was defined partly in the Treaty of Versailles and partly in the additional Convention concluded between Danzig and Poland in 1920. The respective rights and obligations of the Free City, Poland and the League High Commissioner in Danzig were clearly defined, Danzig being given, the status of a Free City and not _ forming part of the Polish State and its Constitution. Its port is administered by an independent Harbour Board, which is responsible for its business management and also for seeing that its free use by Poland is net interfered (with. Danzig is included j in the Polish Customs system, though its own Customs service forms a • arate administrative unit, run by Free City cfificials under the control of the Polish Central Customs Authority. A certain percentage of the total revenue*, derived by Poland from its Customs system is assigned to Danzig. The Free City is required to apply, within its own territory, provisions similar to those of the Minorities Treaties, and to see that there is no discrimination against Polish nationals or against Danzig citizens who are of Polish origin or Polish-speaking. The Polish Government is responsible for the Free City’s external affairs and diplomatic representation. The Polish Government may not conclude any international treaty or agreement affecting Danzig without consulting the Free City. The League High Commissioner is empowered to veto any international treaty or agreement so far as it applies to Danzig, if the Council considers it to be inconsistent with the Free City’s special status. The High Commissioner’s functions are of two kinds. In the first place, he is the local representative of the League as guarantor of the Danzig Constitution; and, in the second place, he has powers to settle disputes between Poland and Danzig, subject, hchvever ,to their right to appeal to the Council of the League.