The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1901.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3482, 29 January 1901, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1901.

Notwithstanding the extreme shortness of the notice received by His Worship the Mayor of Timaru from the Acting-Premier, the ceremony of proclaiming King Edward VII. was carried out most satisfactorily, and the Mayor and those who assisted him in making the arrangements are to be congratulated on the result of their efforts. The platform was occupied by His Worship the Mayor, the Borough Councillors, the clergy, the Government officials, and a number of prominent citizens. The crowd around the platform was verv large indeed, and furnished proof of the genuine interest taken by the townspeople in the ceremony. It is certain, however, that the' assemblage would have been enormously swelled by arrivals from the country if the farmers had known what •was about to take place; but, as we I pointed out yesterday, a longer notice could riot have been given. The Acting-Pre-mier's telegram reached the Mayor en Sunday night, and though His Worship did ■ his best to r spread the information, a large proportion of the residents . beyond the borough-did not get the news until too late to attend. A great number came in subsequently, and there were some «omplaints about the notification not having been made sooner. From what we have' said it is evident that no one was to blame, for even the Governor's cablegram from Honie did not come to hand till Sunday evening. Under the circumstances it *is Surprising that so much was done both in Timaru and in the other centres of South Canterbury. The tele-, grams which we publish this morning show that the same remark applies to all parts of the colony. The Proclamation was everywhere received with enthusiastic displays of loyalty. We have been asked who drafted the New Zealand Proclamation. It was a transcript of the Proclamation that had already been made in London, with a few formal modifications which were necessary to make it applicable to the colony. The Proclamation made in London followed closely, as far as possible, the wording of the Proclama-tion-made when Her Majesty the late Queen came to the throne. We, have a copy of that document, and we believe the same form was used at the accession

of William IV. When it was first drafted we do not know, but it is clear That- it meets all requirements. Of course" the King's reign began at the very moment of the Queen's death. Neither the Proclamation nor the coronation, which generally takes place some months later, c rnfers the royal dignity and authority, tut it is fitting that the accession of a new Sovereign should be marked by solemn ceremonial, and that the fact of the accession should be as widely and as speedily made known as possible. The people throughout the British Empire are well satisfied with the system of government provided by the Constitution and,its various local modifications. It can trulv be said that there is more real liberty under the sceptre of the King of England than can be found in any other country in the world, not excepting the two great Republics, France in the old world and the United States of America in the new. King ? Edward VII. has succeeded to an Empire which rests on the broadest and surest foundations. The great secret of its strength is the freedom and justicewhich prevail within its' borders; and the King and Emperor, though he is not an autocrat, is no mere cipher, and can con tribute largely to the well-being of his hundreds of millions of subjects if he wisely exercises his legitimate authority and influence. There is good reason for hoping that he will do so. The allegiance of his people has been frankly and freely given, and they look to him" to net up to the high standard established by the great Queen who has on!y just pasiod away. The affection of the British people for the Prince of Wales has been steadily growing for many years, and now that he has ascended the throne they feel well assured that the record of his mature manhood in the exalted position to which he has been called will be worthy of himself and the memory of his august mother.