The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, JUNE 21, 1897. SIXTY YEARS A QUEEN.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume V, Issue 512, 21 June 1897, Page 2

The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, JUNE 21, 1897. SIXTY YEARS A QUEEN.

To day we are in the midst of the universal celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throno of Great Britain—an anniversary of an event not only unparalleled in the history of Great Britain but in that of the world. No other sovereign has ever occupied any throne or b ) extended a period ; and that fact alone might justify the magnificent pageant and world-wide rejoicings now taking place. But tliero are more cogent reasons than that for theso widespread ebullitions of loyalty and manifestations of a nation’s gratitude and affection. Queen Victoria has been in every respect a model Sovereign. No breath of scandal has ever besmirched her fame. She ascended to a throno and entered a which for generations had been tho scene of every form of licentiousness and immorality; and immediately fho purified tho moral atmosphere. From that day the Court life of England has been an example of purity to tho whole of the world. We do not proposo to touch on the historical aspect of the present celebration ; to do that would require a volume. But we cannot let pass such an opportunity of pointing out the characteristics of the Queen which have given her so great a hold on tho affections of her people and lnadi) so strongly for tho upholding of tho Monarchical idea throughout tho Empire. It has become a common notion that the sovereign is now merely a figurehead, with no will savo that of her advisers and no power beyond that they allow her. That this belief i 3 altogether erroneous is proved by tho most cursory glance into tho history of her time. Take the opinion of three of her statesmen :—ln 18.77 Lord Clarendon wrote ; “ Tho Queen held each Minister to tho discharge of his duty and his responsibility to her, and constantly desired to be furnished with accurate and detailed informations about all important matters, keeping a record of all reports made to her, and constantly recurring to them—e.g., sho would

desire to know what tho slate of tho navy was, and what ships were in readiness for aotive service, and generally the state of each, ordering returns to bo submitted to her from all the arsenals and dockyards : and again, weeks or months afterwards, referring to those returns and desiring to have everything rulating to them explained and accounted for ; and so throughout every department.” Sir Goorgo Grey said in 1891, speaking at Sydney; When I was tho representative of tho Quocn in Africa 1 had arranged a federation of tho Uiiloreut Stuteu there, all

having agreed to come into it except one ; but tho plan was regarded with disfavor both by the Ministry and the Opposition of the day in England, and the consequence was that I was summarily dismissed. One person held that I was right in the action taken, and that person wus the Queen. Upon her representation I was reinstated. Her Majesty, together with the Prince Consort, held that it was necessary to pro serve to the Empire an opening for the poor and the adventurous, and experience has shown that the Queen better represented the feelings of tho British people of that day than did the Ministers.” Lord Beaconsfiold wrote in the same strain : “ There is not a despatch received from abroad, or sent from this country abroad, which is not submitted to the Queen. The whole of the internal administration of this country greatly depends upon the sign-manual of our Sovereign, and it may be said that her signature has never been placed to any public document of which she did not approve. Those Cabinet Councils of which you all hear, and which are necessarily the scene of anxious and important deliberation, are reported at their termination by the Minister to the Sovereign, and they often call from her critical remarks requiring considerable attention; and I will say that no person likely to administer the affairs of this country would be likely to treat the suggestion of her Majesty with indifference, for at this moment there is probably no person living who has such complete control over the political condition of England as the Queen herself.” There are not wanting instances where tho courage and perspicacity of the Queen have saved the nation from a disastrous war. But for her prompt and decisive action the seizure of the Confederate Envoys from the British ship Trent in the early days of tho American war of secession would have involved the nation in a war with the Northern United States, and would have probably ultimately meant the establishment of a Confederate Republic with slavery as a recognised institution, and the necessity of standing armies in America. The direct personal intervention of the Queen saved the world from these evils. This is a matter of history, and is beyond contradiction. Nor is this the only occasion on which the Queen has by her personal influence averted disaster. But for her action in 1801 the nation would have been involved in war with Germany over the Schleswig - Holstein question. Throughout her reign the Queen has exercised a real influence in tho nation’s treatment of foreign affairs ; and at a time when no statesman dreamt of tho expansion of a colonial empire Her Majesty was fully alive to its importance and always anxious to assist in its development. Hear what a great writer has to say on this subject :—“ The record of her reign is one long, almost unbroken record of Imperial expansion. The heritage which she received at her coronation sho will pass on to her successor multiplied many times. Of

all the jewels in her diadem of Empire she has lost none—save and except the rabbit warren of Heligoland—an exception which makes all the more conspicuous the uniform record of the reign. Our disputed titles to Delagoa Bay and South Africa, and to tho Island of San Juan in North-West America, were maintained until the decision of an International Arbitration conveyed these vantage points to the other claimants. Tho Orange Free State and the Transvaal were not in existence in 1837. If we have lost them during the reign of Victoria, it was during her reign that they came under our flag. Neither would havo beon lost to us if Her Majesty had been permitted to overrule the veto which Downing-street placed upon South African federation. The lonian Islands, which we occupied lather than possessed, wo handed over to the Kingdom of Greece. But with theso inconsiderable exceptions, wherever the British ffag flow on Juno 20, 1837, it is flying to-day. Our horitago she has kept intact, and great military empires, hungry for tho spoil of tho Queen of the Seas, have risen up in the last sixty years, but. of the colonies and possessions with which the Queen was invested in the grey old Abbey on that June day, she has lust none. The additions to tho British Empire during the Victorian reign began with the occupation of Aden in 1839, and from that date down to the occupation of Nupo last month in the Niger Protectorate, tho record is ono of continuous expansion. What with protectorates and annexations, wo have added to the territory sheltered by tho Union Jack in tho course of Her Majesty’s reign, dominions nearly doublo tho area of tho wliolo Indian Empire as it existed in 1837. There is nothing approaching to this record in the history of tho world.” And hear tho testimony of a Canadian subject on tho same matter :—“ Of tho forces working for union during tho past sixty years, tho most potent has been tho personality and position of the Sovereign. Of thoso working for disintegration tho chief has been the Manchester school of economists and theorists. Tho Queen lias been a rallying-point of loyalty throughout all the dark days of early struggle and political disaffection in Oanada, and through the later ovonls of American commercial coercion or efforts at annexationist conciliation ; throughout all tho gloomy days of South African wars and maladministration and Imperial indifference ; throughout tho times of Australian conflict with tho transportation system and struggles with a stormy and rough mining democracy ; throughout tho days of West Indian decadence or New Zealand's contests with powerful Maoris, and its moro recent struggles with tho crudo vagaries of Socialism run mad. Everywhere tho name and qualities and constitutional action of the Queen have permeated Colonial politics, preserved Colonial loyalty, helped tho British sentiment of the people, and dovoloped their constitutions along British linos.” Until the complete record of her life’s history bo written tho full inti uenco tho Queen lias exercised on tho policy of tho nation will never bo thoroughly known; but sulliciont has been made known to account for her extraordinary popularity amongst her people throughout the world. Her tastes have always boon simple, her manners unaffectod and her reputation absolutely spotless. What wonder thon that hor name should be revered as it is, or that tho completion of her sixty years' rcigu

should evoke universal enthusiasm. To-day the one expression uppermost in the minds of the subjects throughout the Empire will lie that with which we now conclude, GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.