NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11986, 7 June 1902, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE SKATS OF THE MIGHTY.

Although Balkan princelets, sighing for the boulevards of Paris, occasionally announce that if their country desires it they will (sacrifice their own feelings and part with all their interest in the throne for a sum down and a settled annuity paid quarterly in gold! thrones qua furniture are seldom to be found in the market. With no current prices to assist the valuer, the average value of the thrones of the great would therefore be extremely difficult to gauge, especially in view of the fact that there is no standardisation in thrones, and every two pieces of furniture would vary considerably in value Thus the Golden Stool of Ashanli, which is composed of carved wood with thin gold plates, naturally would compare verv unfavourably with the Shah's " Peacock" throne which the late Sir Richard Burton is said to have valued at £5,000,000, whilst to attempt to assess the monetary value of the sentiment appertaining to the thrones of some European monarchs would present a task that few would care to undertake. Four years ago it was announced that in addition to the famous green Sevres dinnerservice of 6000 pieces, presented to King Kalakaua, of Hawaii, by Napoleon 111., on the occasion of his visit to Paris, there was to be sold by auction at Honolulu two thrones of the late monarchy that were " warranted to be of fine gold," but as neither the names of their purchasers or the prices they attained have been made public, an excellent opportunity of arriving at the market value of a throne was unfortunately lost. That their purchaser, however, marie as good a bargain in respect of his seats of the mighty as George IV. did when he purchased for £800 a cabinet now at Windsor made by Goutier, that is valued to-day at anything between £50,000 and £100,000, is most unlikely. A visitor to the Peacock throne-room of ms Majesty of Persia a year ago, found there, in addition tc the silver gem-encrusted chair of State, the rug edged

with prmoiones, and p5S^ amethyst , «k the pillow Upon w hich Shah reclines, which, in view of ,£ a «J that it is covWd with peart,, m J*£* new and GaMdatt reading of the S * line respecting discomfort appertain; to the practiced those of the mighty 2* retire to their cUes wearing their &£ He aso oWovW upon a magnifiS carved table ovulate workman,*? I empty cognac bjttle that had been a insured possessicnpf the Shah for years xi though little domesticities such as ml iS to make the whoi world kin, it is ft tV likely that the firoue-rooms of gJJJ would be scanned^ in vain for a parallel? nament, though tie Courts of the Kitm hf Commerce might ereknee reveal a siL"; possession. ApaL perhaps, from the marble frieze dcsigncl by Stothard and tie" cured by E. H. lailey, R.A., fflustrai&i incidents in the Wars of the Roses, which ii the distinguishing future of the throne-™,* of Buckinghan PahW an apartment boas? ing a length of 64ft, the throne-rooms of King Edwari VII.' are not remarkable fa, any peculiaity, a fact that undoubbdlr adds to dignity. At the Palace of St James, whe-e the principal throne of En B * land is to bi found, the Ambassadors of £ World bein; accredited to that Court, the moist Itnporant piece of furniture is a'com. fortable char of gilded woodwork, richly holstered in crimson velvet, that was made" early in' tin last century. The throne is provided wih a gorgeous canopy composed of gilded rood with crimson velvet draperies Whifa bear in relief embroidered crowns set vith fine pearls, and is very much more imposng than that at Buckingham Palace. . , . ; :, Tt —— —, .

CH! UNREST IN' EUROPE • **■ A glance at the condition of Europe ■. suffices to how that coming events are casting the! shadows before. The strikes and rioting the social unrest and commercial strife, are but the twentieth century counterparts of the nationalist and political agiations in the nineteenth cen. ! tury that criminated in the movements 6t H 1848: The 'great difference (says the El. pansionist) is that the causes of the' present upheaval are not local but universal*! not political nit social. They are fount! in the conditio! of the masses, and are due in large part ;o the system of militarist that weighs lpon the European nations - ' and' devours tieii substance. The manitestations, he>v*ver, differ in some respects in • the various countries, although the* have a common cause. In Italy they an' connected with the efforts of the Papacy ' to recover its temporal power as well at - with tile economic situation of the<peoplej and in Spain they spring from Carlisnj,' ' which still has its adherents in the north* and from relgious and economic causes* v! In Austria, rice, religion, and poverty are at the bottctti of the ferment which threatens to rend the ill-assorted uniotf between Ausria and Hungary and dissolve the empire d the Hapsburgs, unless it 15 ."- propped up by either a Russian or Ger* " ■ man alliance the former seeming for th« moment the' more likely. But it is. to v Germany th* we have to look more par- ' ticularly, foi the reason that though the < commercial conditions are milch disturbed, the perfect military organisation of the empire mskk it by far the most ".important factor n the European polity. Then the Socialist movement is more powerful I politically, aid in spite of all the Govern- ; j ment has cone to repress . it, , is, better organised tlan in any other country in Europe. For these • reasons the policy of 1 Germany his to be taken into account more than that of the other Continental* Powers. GJrmany alone, whether as ft) conservative or revolutionary' Power, is ii*ia condition to lead and .pursue an; active ' policy. The agrarian and other agitations on foot in fee ■ country and in the Reich* stag are, therefore, worth attentive study, As a help ti an appreciation of the situa* tion in Gesnany, it may be i mentioned that the Socialist vote in 1898 ' had rifiettj in 21 years from 493,000 to 2,107,000,! while the aher parties that in 1877 fee, ceeded the , Socialists in their votes h*H some of than now not more than one*; : fourth their former strength in the electorate. It ii the combination of feudalists' and commercialism that gave rise to socialism in Germany. In Russia every- ; thing is in i state of transition, And the outcome is lot very clear. The contest in that country is between the autocrattfl bureaucracy aid the developing intelligent* of the more well-to-do class allied to thsjxj socially-awakening labour class in the great industrial centres! The movement,' such as j - it is, "is both social and political; but is not yet sufficiency powerful or organised -r : to interfere with the expansion policy of the Government; which, amid internal ' troubles and through external opposing obstacles, is puslirig the borders of the empire steadily t«wards the sea in several directions. Of Great Britain little need be said; the conditions are exceptional in : many Ways, aril unlike those of otheD. , J countries. The political, social, and conV" ; mercial developments have been along iIK J dividual and sepa-ate lines, and only quits recently has there been anything like * v i fusion or alliance between" them which : has taken the form of a feudal-commercial-ism grafted on a cosmopolitan finaricialism. Lastly, there is Republican France. Attacked as it has been from all sides, and by every reactionary influence, imperial, and ecclesiastical, the Republia seems firmly established. Through the] - free exercise of the suffrage and the second ballot, Socialism and Radicalism have become more permeating than revolutionary forces in French politics, so that the dempcratising of France goes oa 1 without violent material friction; and the. tendency is rather to levelling up thM; pulling down/

THE AMEFvICAN PRESIDENT. . la an article on the American President the Washington correspondent of the Lob* don Times says:—One of the April mug** zines contains an interesting article entitled, , "An Overworked President"— highlycoloured, but perhaps not overdrawn rictart of Mr. Roosevelt's daily occupations and burdens. As you read you wonder how amid all these distractions it is possible fO! any President, even for this one, with h»y extraordinary powers of work, to go through _ it all and still retain the capacity of reflection and clear decision in great matters. There is a story that Southey once described to Madame de Stael the divisions of his &»T. —two hours before breakfast for the History of Brazil, two hours for reading after, 60 ; two hours for the writing of poetry and so on through all the waking hours. "&-* pray, Mr. Southey," queried the French* woman, "when do you think?" A closet illustration occurs to me. Not long *f tj * , the late Lord Randolph Churchill hid taker! office as Secretary of State for India, i asked him whether he did not find me maS " tery of details difficult. " Details," broke out Lord Randolph, "you don't suppose I attend to details? I want all my eneigfe* -J for big questions." The President's friends j say he has not yet learnt that there art limits to his strength or to his capacity i<* j details. He has a many-roomed mind, w has, moreover, a passion for justice, in SO'*? things as well as great. Party disyu** are brought to him to settle, and he «*<**{ them.. The. claims of office-se«ke»-PP-*

i ''' 111 arrow —<m—i»«»^, ;j 'xtf bis time do they not occupy? Im--1 *T've by nature, he yields sometimes to I "a of time do *' ey not occupy- Im--1 Ve by nat ure ' he viel ds sometimes to If; i ge from sheer lack of time to think 3 S'.out. In his belief that the public J • j ce requires the best men, he derates ! J< t0 the rival claims of candidates alike I f 0 important and for comparatively liin- ■ Artint posts. "He still thinks himself a 1 Mm Service Commissioner," said one oi his 1 fr'ends. ■He does not like delegating resl. nsibilities. He cannot take things easi'y. f £■ does not readily put his financial con--11 eiew* into the keeping of his Secretary of ; I ■. *jj Treasury* nor surrender to any MiiiWUJr !f 1 /' tie : right of final judgment on any nutter 1 f high policy. Between him and his conI ception of duty he allows nothing and noI hody to intervene. Oho day, as he cawe taut into the ante-chamber where people vi arc waiting to see him, an excellent Bishop Ii ■ | / A e \Vest, lying hi wait near the door, tried 1 to P« sellt t0 1 " m a little group of '■■ . Worshipping nien and women from his dirt- j s _ . "Bishop." Said the President, each I*" or( j sudden and sharp and peremptory, his I'. West, lying in whole manner permeated . present to him a little group of ht>roworshipping men and women from bis din "Bishop," said the President, each tfo rd sudden and sharp and peremptory, his eT es blazing, his whole manner permeated I Vith kindliness, yet somehow suggesting the I rough-rider at the head of his regiment— I • "feishop, lam delighted to see you, and • 1 lodld be delighted to know your friends, i ; ' butl have my executive duties to do, ard I J ; must do them. Good morning." And he I vanished from before the eyes of the aston--1 : ished Bishop into his inner room. A hunI ■•■? ■ dred persons heard this crackle of PresidenI ';" : tial musketry. They smiled, perhaps ; and 1 '-:':■' perhaps the good Bishop was a little star--1 tied* But millions of people know that a ■ si to his executive duties is the mas- | . fesion of this President; and you canI not get them to believe that it is not a high 1 ideal, or that a man who lives up to it is 1 iiot a good President. Mistakes? No Itled. and millions them cost him dear; devotion to his executive duties is the master passion °f *bis President, and you cannot get them to believe that it is not a high ideal or that a man who lives up to it is not a good President. Mistakes? No doubt, and some of* them cost him dear ; I but so long as the masses continue to beI '.'•■; lieve in his loyalty to duty and his pure 1 ainis, so long will he retain the confidence I of tie masses. | ■ • ' OUR CABLK NEWS. I . Lord Kitchener has been made a viscount 1 in recognition of his distinguished services I ; in South Africa. He has received congratuM lations from the foremost men in all parts of 1 the globe, A British general is to accomI /{* pany each Boer commandant for the purpose 1 •; of bringing in the surrendering commandos. I £ The only exception is in respect of the rebels I'■ ° in tie western districts of the Cape Colony. 1 Commandant Smit goes there alone, as the 1 task of persuading the rebels to surrender is 1 \ '""■!'''//expected to be a delicate one. At the I • /iYerteinging conference the Boers reliuI ■ /: quailed their demand for independence be- ■| i cause of the threat on the part of the BriII fob. not to negotiate further, but I; to '• dictate terms, and also because I ef the reduced number of Boers in the •I field, aid the necessity for saving the existI encei of. the race. Both Botha and De Wet I ' iedged the honourable arid generous | conduct of the British, and promised to be •| feral to the King. It is evident; however, 1 that the Boers were at the end of their reunites, being without food and ammunition. 11/ Erftfythuig is progressing satisfactorily. | // Jlrthquakes have been experienced in CornI wall, and volcanic dust has been seen in 1 /England. A mud volcano at Baku, on the I // Caspian Sea, suddenly broke out in eruption I // and overwhelmed flocks grazing in, the neighI / bourhood. The Hon. Mr. Herbert, secretary I '"-.."t0 the British Embassy at Paris, has been I :'/i appointed ,to succeed Lord Pauncefote as 8 ' British Minister at Washington. The Due id' Orleans has issued a manifesto reiterating his claim to the throne of France. j