TRIBUTES TO KING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22195, 23 August 1935, Page 8

TRIBUTES TO KING

[FEELING IN AMERICA JUBILEE REFERENCES BRITISH CONSTITUTION ENVIED [from our own corhkspondh.ntJ NEW YORK, .'.ur. 2 The United States would He stabilised if it had a King, like Grei'.t Britain has, observed the well-known critic and essayist. Mr. H. L. Mencken, on his return from a tour abroad, which included';! visit to London on the occasion of the King's Silver Jubiioo celebration!;. Mr. Mencken said Ihu.t, in a few minutes, ho could write the amendment to the American constitution, necessary to the restoration of the Monarchy. At the same time, Sir Josiuli Stamp, writing/his impressions in the Times in London.of a lecturing tour of 2H States, said he was profoundly impressed by the reverence held for King George throughout America. When the President appeared on the screen, he passed almost unnoticed, but the appearance of the King always met wt:h spirited applause,, declared the famous, economist. Remarkable Enthusiasm If it is true that "every Englishman loves a Lord," it is also :ri.e that every American loves a King. His lilajesty's Jubilee, and the expressions of loyalty it aroused throughout the Empire, stirred Americans deeply, especially a& it coincided w tli the decline of President Koosevcll in popularity. Every thoughtful American enTies the attitude of the Bri - ;is!i people toward the Sovereign, and wishes that his own people could entertain the same feelings toward the Chief Executive of the United States. One writer illustrated this feeling when ho observed that a Chinese editor was sent; to gaol for an uncomplimentary reference to the Emperor of Japan, wh le Senator Huev Long publicly called the President a liar without being disciplined. If the Home Office collected press references to the King curing the Jubilee celebrations it would discover that almost every newspaper in the United States paid glowing tributes to him, turd to the British constitution and form of government. The shortcomings of the American system were never so pointedly revealed as during the Roosevelt regime, when Parliamentary institutions have been submerged by the'government machine. Americans envy a system under which tiie members of the Administration must appear daily in Parliament, and submit themselves, their acts and policies, to review and criticism. Members of the American Cabinet need not be elected by the people; they never appear in Congress. Ideals o! Government Since the X.R.A. debacle, Americans Lave awakened to the fact that only one of their institutions is immune from criticism. Not, as one would expect, the President, who was the subject of debate in Congress last week, as to whether he would be impeached, but the Supreme Court of the United States. In ten years' residence, one cannot recall a single instance in which the nine members of the Court, or their judgments, have been criticised, until now. Those who believe the President should be equally exempt are urging that the constitution be amended. The founders of the Republic intended that Congress should he paramount, but the present Congress delegated the whole of its powers to Franklin Roosevelt. Contemporary historians sigh for the perfect perspective and precedence of the estates of the realm, under the British constitution. Air. Mencken's advice wil'. be ignored, but it Will serve to throw into bold relief the difference between Ihe British and Americafn ideals of government. Democratic institutions in the former, it is realised, find their highest expressions under tho monarchy, symbolised in the person of His Majesty the Kinir