"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.
(Specially Written for the Ladies' Page.) SHADOWS. January 20. i Since the armistice ar.cL the demobilisation— or, rather, the leave preceding the demobilisation—there' has been a regrettable number of offences against law and order by overseas soldiers, chiefly Australian and Canadian. Civilians have been ' stuck up" as in the old footpad days, and " Your money or your life" demanded of inoffensive people. In almost every case-that has been . brought before - the courts drink has been the excuse. Men who have won honour on the battlefield have in the armistice peace disgraced themselves. ; Never in the history of many years have the; La*/ Courts been so empty of cases, so free of criminals, as during the waryears, but it would seem, judging by the experience of the past few weeks, that the home-coming of the men will not be all for .peace. Does war incline men to hold life, cheaply? It would, seem like it by the! free use of firearms in the demand of; the law-breakers. Murder is an ugly thing, be the motive ever so excusable. But the sticking up of strangers in the streets and wounding for the sake of what they possess is a sort of " bushranging" to which even the Tom-all-alones of London are not accustomed. The lawless as well as the law-abiding made up the gallant British army. Many men who had defied the law of the land before they were called upon to fight for their country fought heroically, suffered -heroically, grudging no experience of the great adventure, fearing death not at all, putting to- shame many who profess "a sure and certain hope." But back into unheroic condition again they cannot live heroically. It takes the self-disciplined as well as the meek to rule their lives according to law. The undisciplined mistake liberty for license, and lose their balance between another man's rights and their own. All the country grieves to-day with the King and Queen for the loss of their youngest son, the Prince John, aged years. He has always been a delicate child, a sufferer from epilepsy. Much sympathy is felt for the sudden bereavement, of the father and mother, who throughout the war have shown so much sympathy with other bereaved parents. They have exceeded the duties of royalty in their kindness, much of which is only known privately. Queen Mary has been an ideal mother, and has allowed no formalities of State to separate her from her children, whose close companion she has been, and whose physical and moral well-being she has very close at heart. This is their Majesty's first loss of a child, and many a British mother's heart is aching with hers to-day. The mourning at Court will cast a shadow on the newfound peace rejoicings. We had been hoping for Princess Mary some of the brightness and gaiety this spring that is natural for a girl of her age.. The war-years have shadowed her girlhood at its "coming out," and she took her V.A.D. duties very much in earnest, working and not pre-
tending to work as hard as any girl in the kingdom. Princess Mary is a great pal of her brothers, and especially was ehe fond of her little brother John, a lovable child, who from his infancy suffered from epileptic fits, which have lately become more frequent and severe. The King and Queen were in residence at Sandringham, resting after their armistice exertions, when on the afternoon of Saturday, the 18th, Prince John had a seizure, and it was in the sleep. following the attack that he passed away. Dr Allen Reeve Manly was'in attendance, but the little Prince was dead when the King and Queen were called to his room. The sad news of their Majesties' bereavement threw the whole of Sandringham into very intimate and genuine mourning, for the Royal Family are as personal friends on the Sandringham Estate, and it seemed but yesterday that the bells were ringing for his birth at York Cottage, and, owing to his delicate health, much of his short life has been spent at Sandringham and Frogmore. The latter years have been years of added anxiety to his father and mother, for his attacks have been more frequent and of greater severity, and during the war-years King George, and Queen Mary, added to their public burdens, have carried their private anxieties. Between _ his attacks little Prince John —he was christened* John Charles Francis—was a very bright and happy little boy, full of pranks and mischief. Here are some of the- stories told of him : . The only person he was afraid of was Ms mother. "I thought you meant to be good during Lent, John," her Majesty said to him' once. "And so I did, ' mother," wa« his boyish reply, "but you never told me when I promised that Lient was going to be so long." Barely six at the time of the Coronation, 'be was deemed to bo too young to attend ceremonies. He did not share this view himself and was determined that if ho could not go with his eistetr and brothers, to the Abbey he would! see all he could. ILeft unattended for a few minute* he got to one of the private telephones and to a boy messenger at the other end proposed that they should go out into the crowd together. When motoring with the queen one afternoon when he wtas' about . eight, he wan rebuked for . hi© use of boyish slang, particularly for calling children "kids-."» He thought the rebuke was overdoing things. "All boys talk about "kids'" he protested. "What else can a fellow call them:?". And then he went on to say he had asked two of the workmen's "kids" to tea the next dlay.
The Queen said no more at the time and the "kids" had their tea party. •
His bright head and face was open seen by Londoners over the wall of Marlborough House when anything was " doing " near by. ' He liked to be "in" things—a lovable and loving little chap. His loss will be keenly felt in the Royal Family circle, especially by his mother. Although":there is ho official statement it is understood that the wedding of Princess Patricia on February 27 at Westminster Abbey will 'still take place, although the Court mourning will, of course, shadow the event, as the period will not be past. •• ■•■
There is growing disquietude here regarding the repatriation of the Hkins. Although many, are being sent back to Germany, many are still exempted. The lately-elected Government are pledged to turn all the Germans out of this country, but it is very evident that to do so ii painful to England. And the Germans are planning a great trade and jobsnatching invasion of Britain after the peace is declared. If election promises mean anything they mean the expulsion and the exclusion of Huns, and the policy of security for our workers and our manufacturers, and if these pledges are not kept there will be trouble. • The Government will be besieged with demands,. at the opening of Parliament. The homecoming soldiers are filled with disgust to find their places filled by aliens, friendly or otherwise, and there is trouble in brew if interned or uninterned Huns are allowed to remain. They were a danger to us while we were at wax, and they are not harmless to us now that we are at peace. Our men and we at home have not borne the tortures of the last four yeans that these Huns might reap the fruits of viotory. If we will not punish them the least we can do to prevent them causing further trouble ie to turn them out bag and baggage.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 3396, 16 April 1919, Page 57
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1,289"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND. Otago Witness, Issue 3396, 16 April 1919, Page 57
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