The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1920. THE ROYAL VISIT

Waikato Times, Volume 92, Issue 14369, 22 May 1920, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1920. THE ROYAL VISIT

To-day His Royal Highness, t'.i* Heir Apparent to the British Throne, will leave the Whores of Now Zealand after a triumphant lour of the Dominion. From the time lie stepped ashore from 11..M.5. Renown in Auckland a month ago he has indeed lived the strenuous life. His capacity fordoing- great things physically has! been signally demonstrated, and lie has also accomplished great things politically, for lie has revived and cniiokened fealty to the Throne, and thereby strengthened the ties of Empire. Such visits as that which has now conic f) an end cannot fail to have a beneficial effect, and it would be well could they be arranged at more frequent intervals. That the national sentiment is strong amongst us—stronger Iban many dared to hope—has been indisputably demonstrated, and fealty for the Throno has never been at a higher roint than it isi at present, for we have had our feelings stirred and have beer, moved to analyse our sentiments, w:lh the result that prejudice has been dispelled, and many have been forced to what once they condemned. The Prince's visit has made them realise the concrete fact that that smiling, boyish figure means much to the Empire now—and will mean niu-.'i more in future years—for his person represents the lie that holds a company of nations together. The bond apparently is slender, but it is*, strong—so strong indeed, that it welds. His Royal Highness has wrought a good work and rendered the nation signal service by his tour.

Whilst admitting that no ordinavy person could move the multitudes as they had been moved during t:ie past month, it would be ungenerous to deny that the Prince's progress has, in a measure, been a personal -triumph, tor he has endeared himself to the people of this Dominion. He has presented a living- embodiment of the principle of service which is expr;ssei in his motto. He iias shown a devotion to »■ duty that has been as unfaltering ?.s it has been inspiring, jfoung though he is in years he has manifested a practical sagacity such as is exhibited only in rare cases among men of much wider experience than he lias had. He has moreover, given frequent proof of th-i possession of a precious sift—the gift of the unerring instinct which prompts the right word and the right action at the right moment. And with it all he has preserved an unaffectedaess and simplicity that have, more perhaps than anything else, captivated the imagination of the democratic community. To the personal triumphs which he achieved in Canada and the Unit id States may now be added the personal triumph of liisi tour of .Now Zealand, and further conquests awa't him in Australia.

The Prince has been aptly describe 1 as an Imperial Amba.ssa.Jor. TUa triumphs which he has made in his journeyings licre have, as Loid" (Jurzon said, in a recent speech, resulted to the advantage of the Motlur Country and of the Empire as a whole. The Throne, which the Prince will one day ascend, is founded upon the will of tin peoples of the Empire. It has survive 1 because it rests on that f< inflation, while oilier thrones have crumbled in the dust. "Sublimer sight." wrote Tennyson on one occasion, "did this world never see llian our Great Britain, isled on the rook of the Constitution and watching all the old dynasties breaking up in thunder." At that time Continental monarchies ware failing to pieced just as we have seen tl;,em falling to pieces in the past eighteen $* months. But the Throne of Great Britain has survived because it represents a combination of a monarchical institution with a democratic freedom such as is unique in history. There is no country in the world which ( njoys a liberty greater than that claimed by the Britisli people. The Crown is the visible expression of the union in which the Mother Country and the dominions arc linked together. To Povereiga are yielded the respect and affection of the people because lie is the *■• mbol :<t t2iat union. But the fierce light winch

heats upon the Throne req.urea that the Sovereign shall personally merit the j esteem and loyalty of his subjects, j "Sternly and terribly tested,''-—to quote I an expression employed bv the Prince i at Duncdin—was the Monarchy during ! the period of the war. but no one can ] well doubt, that the result of that test i was to leave the Monarchy stronger a.i I | more firmly established ai'l<v iiic years' nf war than even it was befcre the war. "If ever a constitutional monarchy juslined itself," it has been justly said, "our British Sovereignty has abundantly jA'Oved its worth in our recenl experiences." And as they rn.iA.i their acquaintance with the Heir Apparent, lite Britons resident in the overseas dominions will have no uppreliension whatever respecting the future permanence of the Throne. They have the utmost. confidence that tie will prova a worthy successor when the time cf\mes —not, let us hope, for many years—lo a Sovereign to whom tliey ,«re deeply attached and of whom they are greatiy proud.