The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1927. THE ROYAL TOUR.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 22 January 1927, Page 8

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1927. THE ROYAL TOUR.

"Great roars °f clieernig' oTcet-ed the Duke and Duchess u York at Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, on the occas-on ot the visit of the ltoyal couple to that historic Island. dm' inhabit ants of Kingston, the cable messages tell ms tins rmnniiio- “]e.U no doubt ot then enthusiastic loyalty Do the Throne.” Tire cheering commenced as soon as the Royal bavin; mas sighted, amt rose u» a roar as the Royal Ambassadors of Empire landed. lhc enthusiastic welcome accorded the Dune and Duchess of York by the local people' of that outpost id Fmpiie, is but the forerunner ni die great wave ot enthuDastie expulsion of loyalty to the Ciown which will greet tlm Imperial missioners in southern climes. Twenty-five years ago, there was opened in its temporary home in Melbourne IhP Rtti-liu-ment of Ihe newlv-fedtnMed Australian Cornmoiiwealtit; Uptin that occasion; a Royal Duke, iron Ring', performed the opening ceremony, Another Royal Duke lias set out to open in its permanent home in Canberra, tne Parliament of the ('oinmonwealUi of Australia, Since the first visit, much water has flowed beneath the bride of time._ Australia. lias developed . info » nation, instead of a. collection td States. A .world war has been fought and won, in which all the great overseas Dominions, also many colonies, as well as tUiy islands, studded throughout, the Seven Seas, dowit to patriotic little Jamaica, were deeply fliul volmously engaged. Since the other' Royal Duke n visit, .new nations have been borit within the Empire; indeed, the Enipiie itself has ceased to lie an oiganisri ruled from the centre, hut, lias become a commonwealth of British nations, enjoying an oqqality of status that has consolidated this new confederation, unitedly working tor the peace of the world. Still the bond holds., and the bond is the common loyalty to the Royal Eamily. But even the Royal Eamily lias changed : the King to-dav is rather the first citizen than an austere monarch. Nevertheless, he is the rallying point of the new. commonwealth of British nations. In 1920, the heir to the Throne visited these outposts of Empire, and now we have in prospect a visit of the lieir-piesumptivc. It may. not seem on the surface a visit of any more importance than social import, hut underneath the surface the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York means a good deal more than that. It is by such visits that contact is kept between the Throne and the Dominions, a contact which, being- far more personal ana spectacular than the constant contact of vice-royalty, strikes the imagination much more powerfully, and helps. 10. make us, 1.2,(H)0 miles from what .is still the centre of the Empire, realise what a vast heritage is curs. Still, in spile of rationalism and Bolshevism and all the subversive philosophical and political beliefs l , which have been so much in evidence of late, a certain something—though we may not grant it to he Divinity—hedges a king or a prince.

Oil, happy Kings-. "Whose thrones are raised in their subjects’ hearts. Every mminrclt, of course, is subject to a mightier one' —the judgment, of his subjects. If it is- the duty of the people to. serve (lie King nobly in the common cause, an equally heavy obligation is. lajd on the Throne to administer, to guard, to. adorn

the State. Yet, notwithstanding the constant change in tho relation of the Royal Family to' ihe people, still princes arc regarded with affection as possessions of the people—they do not own, so much as they are owned. Still, regardless of the growth of various “isms,” the contacts between the Throne and ihe people have power to stir the young nations in the Great British family, just a«s ceremony arrd traditions stir them, since behind the Royal visitors is. the whole of the ceremony sanctioned by a thousand year's of English usage, and the whole tradition of the dominant British race. Ami as they stir the people to the great traditions of the race and the mighty spread of the Empire, to the glories of which these princes are the heirs, these visits are of the utmost importance. The commonwealth of free and enlightened democracies is not held together by iron lowa, bur by such kinship and friendship as are embodied in a common symbol, arrd common memories and common affection. In na.vy rope there used to be twisted one red yarn. So men could tell navy rope wherever it swung a. yard or ran through a sheetblock. Out of this Sir Henry Farkes, a great Australian, coined a. line simile of the Empire whose navy ruled the sea-—the one touch of tradition which runs through all its colonies and dominions—“thy ciimson thread of kinship.” The crimson thread in the care of the statesman and the poet—and. above, all, the princes who come from the home of the race to visit us and receive the warm hearted welcome of the loyal and. progressive citizens who dwell in the thrice-blessed lands, set in the Southern Seas.