King Edward's Influence

Southland Times, Issue 19387, 10 September 1904, Page 3 (Supplement)

King Edward's Influence

m AN AMERICAN APPRECIATION. Tho once Anglophobe Sun t,Now \'crk) gave prominence in a recent hM-e to nn article upon the international sii tation, dealing especially with tho i.if'i'enco exerted by the King in iho promotion of European peace. Describing tho King as " the greatest potentiality Jn world polfitics at the present (moment," tho writer affirms thut '* ho has by personal initiative and con&unimato skill accomplished more for the political welfare of his Empire in particular and for the preservation of ttto world's peace than would liave been within the power of. tho ablest statesman upon England's historic roll" Tlie main secret of the Kting's power, says the Sun, " lies chiefly in his broad humanity, in His wonderfully, exact understanding of human nature." The article continues :— " Tact, tolerance, sterling commonsense, and a genuine spirit of democracy are combined in i.im to cake a symmetrical mentality rare among men of high degree— rarer. Indeed, then among thoso who are in the thick of the fight upon the Human* battlefield. - . .- Tho day has gone by wlien the strength of any one nation is great enough io overawe any cc_nWination of its s^v-als. Great Britain herself the strongest of single Powers, has been forced to accept this truth, and she has wisely abandoned her traditional policy of 'no entangling alliance-.' She has done it regretfully, for combinations, even when designed simply for self-protection, entail new dangers and complications, as witness tho present situation in the Far East. It is conceivable that a crisis may *rise, menacing alike Great Britain and America, when nothing short of a hard-and-fast alliance between these countries and .lapau will preserve the peace of the world. King Edward is fully alive to every feature of tlio situation. What part he took in .bringing about the Anglo-Japanese alliance cannot be known. His cordial declarations of political sympathy nad friendship with tbo United States have nover included any suggestion of allianco between tho two countries. Tho genunino official ties nt present existing suffice for the time. Wlien a great peril to tho world's peace does arise— whether it directly menaces America or his own Empire-he will bo ready to translate the bonds now uniting tbe two nations into a closer union. It Is forced on ue, in such an analysis as we are attempting, to compare King Edward and his Imperial- nephew of Germany. European I history 'during the next few years, if

1 their lives are spared, will be largely th record of the accomplishment of thes two flnen. Whether their efforts will h - directed along parallel or antagonisti lines is the problem which the dipiomati world is debating at tho present moment Although of the same hlood and pro fessing tho saino motives and purposes there is little . in common ir. the twi Sovereigns. " The ambition of one is pacific ani constructive ; the ambition ot the othe ia aggressive and destructive, or shal we say reconstructive ? Thero is no ques j tioning the ability, nay, wen the genim jof Ermperor William. jloth K.'ng oik j Emperor are unequivocal in their pro j testations of loyalty to the cause o j peace. No man in Europe « ries- peaci j more often or more vociferously that the j German Emperor, but h'S 'declaration! are not accepted without question, whereas thoso of King Edward aro believed to be sincere. i ' ■■■ '