THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1920. THE PRINCE'S DEPARTURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17941, 21 May 1920, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1920. THE PRINCE'S DEPARTURE.

Dunedin has sped the parting Royal guest. The scene as the Prince of Wales took his departure by train yesterday morning was a fitting finale to the proceedings by which our community has been deeply stirred and shaken out of its habitual rut since last Monday evening. If the opportunity of a more leisurely participation in the functions suitable to the occasion of his visit, here and elsewhere, had been offered to his Royal Highness, the satisof the public would have been even greater than it has been. The arrangements for the tour of the dominion were, of course, drafted in the Old Country, and there is just room for- regret that the programme there mapped out committed the Prince to such a rapid progress as he has been called upon to make through the dominion. As it is he has been rushed through the country, and he must have been over-worked in consequence. It is unfortunate, too, that for the same reason he has not been ablo to make a more comprehensive acquaintance with New Zealand. It has not been permitted to him, for example, to see anything of the industries of the country which are the basis of its prosperity. Nor have his official engagements allowed room for mucji more than a glimpse at the scenic attractions in which the dominion is rich. With the exception of his visit to Rotorua and his drive through the Buller and Otira Gorges, the Prince has had no opportunity of seeing what are rightly considered the "show places" of the dominion. No visitor whoso tour does not embrace Mount Cook and the picturesque Southern Lakes can have quite a full appreciation of the scenic background of New Zealand as a whole. No one would probably have derived greater pleasure from the inclusion of such trips in his itinerary than his Royal Highness himself. We may add, while considering tho personal viewpoint, that the Prince

would almost certainly havo enjoyed a chanco, if it had coino his way, of semiring a greater variety of .sport. Very considerately ho gave up his projected door-stalking expedition in the Wai-' rarapa in order that thoro might bo no interference with the programme for the southern portion of his tour, and there was no opportunity of compensation for the sacrifice which ho made. While those considerations naturally obtrude themselves, thoy do not, of course, obscure tho fact that the primary purpose of tho Prince's visit has been to enable him to meet tho people of tho dominion, and to express to them tho thanks of, tho Mother Country for such service as this dominion was privileged to render to the Empire during tho Great War. To the discharge of this purpose the Prince has lent an unflinching and outwardly tireless zeal. To tho striking manifestation of tho intensity of the interest taken by all sections of tho community in his visit ho has responded in a vein of appreciation that has been most gratifying to them. The sequel, as we have seen so well illustrated in the case of Dunedin, has been the establishment of a relationship between Prince and people far exceeding the limits of general cordiality. The delight of the people of Otago in having his Royal Highness in their midst and in seeing him a participant in the gatherings, both great and small, formal and in formal, inspired by a common motive during the past two or three days, has been unbounded. We need scarcely emphasise anew how largely the Prince, by virtue of his own engaging personality, has contributed to that result. The Prince's visit has served to accentuate in the mind of New Zealanders their sense of property in the lustre that attaches to the Imperial Throne, and to accentuate their recognition of the oneness of the Empire and of the insignificance of the dividing leagues of ocean. It is scarcely possiblo to write otherwise than in superlatives of the impression which the Prince has created in our midst. In leaving Otago the Prince carries with him the affection and regard of all, part of that "riband in the cap of youth" to wear which is his privilege and responsibility above all others of his day and generation. His visit will be long discussed, and never forgotten, and as often as the happy incidents which were associated with it are recalled, the hope will rise that some day, not too far distant, we shall receive tho glad news that the Prince of Wales is again to visit our shores.