Empire Tour

COMMONWEALTH

(British Commonwealth of Nations)

Four young men, brothers, comrades and coworkers, have a quaint avocation. One of them (not always the same one) is constantly being chosen to leave home. When he goes, the three remaining brothers are in the station, on the dock or at the flying field. They wave goodbye, and, when the absent one returns, he finds them once more at the field, dock, or station, pre-.pared to clasp his hand. All four are sons of the King and Emperor George V; and neither storm nor snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these brothers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. . . .

Britons are justly proud of four young princes who can perform so monotonous a ritual with such constant enthusiasm and eclat. When the Duke of York recently returned from Australia, for example, his bachelor brothers, Edward of Wales, Prince Henry and Prince George were not only on the dock to meet him (see cover), but they carried swords three feet long and wore uniforms in shrewdly calculated contrast.

It is this cheerful readiness to provide a feast for every eye that so endears the British Royal Family to Englishmen and partly accounts for the World popularity of the four Windsor boys. Even when only two of them are available for a state function they manage admirably to perform their duty to the public. Thus at Quebec last week, thousands of Canadians were joyous as there descended from the S. S. Empress of Australia: 1) His Royal Highness, Edward of Wales, clad Scottishly in the uniform of a Colonel of the Seaforth Highlanders; and 2) His Royal Highness, Prince George Alexander Edmund, wearing the smart full-dress of a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

Edward, 33, eldest of the four brothers, and George, 25, the youngest, were accompanied by a plump gentleman in morning clothes and a high silk topper--Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who had brought with him his wife. (TIME, March 14). Because Canadians have been visited four times by Edward of Wales, but never before by a British Prime Minister in office, interest continued last week in Stanley Baldwin.

Tactful Speeches. Since Quebec was French territory from 1632 to 1759, the spot on which the British Princes and Premier landed last week has been "The King's Quay" since the days of His Most Catholic Majesty, Louis XIV, King of France.

From the quay, past crowds which cried "Hip! Hip! Hooray!" the party ascended a steep hill to take luncheon near the old Citadel of Quebec, at the magnificent hotel, Chateau Frontenac. There Edward of Wales and Stanley Baldwin rivaled and outdid one another in the suavity and tact of their luncheon speeches.

Said H. R. H.: "With me comes the prime minister of the old country. Mr. Baldwin has, of course, already been here in the days before he assumed his high office, so I have had to forego the temptation of treating him, on the way over, as a tenderfoot.

"To Mrs. Baldwin, however, the dominion is new territory, so, and if I may for the moment, speak as a Canadian, I should like to bid her and her family a true welcome to this land where people speak the word 'welcome' from the heart and do not say 'good-by,' but 'come again,' and mean it."

Mr. Baldwin's luncheon speech fully reciprocated the compliments of H. R. H., but the Prime Minister's words at a conference with newsgatherers were less formal and more like his comfortable, pipe-nursing self. As the correspondents entered he remarked: "It's a nice morning I've brought with me isn't it?"

Soon Mr. Baldwin began to chat: "It is 37 years since I was here before. Then I did not come on a magnificent ship such as the Empress of Australia, but on the old Alaska.

"I came here unknown with a young friend. We were just two young men from Cambridge, but even then we were received with the courtesy and hospitality that Canadians always show. I imagine the population of Canada has doubled in the 37 years since I was last here, and I am eager to see the progress I know has been made.

"My only regret is that I cannot stay longer. It was difficult to get away. His Majesty was good enough to let me get out of the country for this visit and the time of my stay has been stretched to seventeen days.

"My purpose is to represent my country to Canada, and at the same time I hope to get an insight into your attitude toward the empire. I've got a strenuous tour ahead of me. What we in Europe value most in the New World is that sense of hope which we get when we come here.

"In Europe we have a tremendous body of problems, that legacy of the ages. You are free of that, and it is difficult for you perhaps to get our point of view on these things. The damage of what was has been so great that sometimes I feel that we can never get out of the fog; but here there is new hope and new confidence. Everybody is young and looks at the world through the eyes of youth."

Who would not warm to such easy, hospitable words--although indeed Premier Baldwin's political friends in England must have shuddered to read his unconsidered and spontaneous indiscretion: "Sometimes I feel that we can never get out of the fog."

As usual, Mrs. Baldwin hovered in her husband's background. She seems the "perfect wife" of Mid-Victorian days, submerging her personality in that of "my dearest husband," and busying herself in odd moments with causes unquestionably worthy. Her triumph was last week, that no smart anecdote or pert story was "hung" upon her name by the American press.

Itinerary. When Prime Minister Baldwin spoke of his "strenuous tour," he meant that he would travel throughout Canada in 18 days making 15 major stops. From Quebec his route and that of Their Royal Highnesses lay through Montreal (one day), the Canadian Capital at Ottawa (three days), then a cruise by private yacht up the St. Lawrence, by special train to Toronto (two days), and to Calgary, where Their Royal Highnesses would say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin and proceed to the nearby ranch of Edward of Wales.

From Calgary the Baldwins would proceed to the smart resort at Banff, Alberta; and thence return through Calgary to Winnipeg, whence they would speed through Ottawa a second time and finally board the Empress of Scotland at North Sydney on Aug. 18.

Such a trip, observers thought, would be of the very biggest empire service, since it would enable all Canadians to see what a very satisfactory sort of man lives at No. 10 Downing Street, London, and performs the great task which Britons proudly term "muddling through." Typical of friendly Canadian comment last week was an item boxed on the front page of the Toronto Globe:

STANLEY BALDWIN

The Man and the Premier

Don't expect too much of Stanley Baldwin -- Britain's Prime Minister--in the way of dress, pose or convention... To the man on the street Stanley Baldwin will appear "a nice-looking fellow." He might also be described as "chock full of common sense." Both inferences are correct. Mr. Baldwin comes from the "better" class of Englishmen, but he can be just as charming keeping pigs down on his Worcestershire farm as in the presence of his Majesty the King as a representative of the British people's will. . .