1936-12-14 — Page 6

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1936.

GERMANY'S CRY FOR COLONIES

After a period of "dimming down" on the question of the return of Germany's former Colonies, Dr. Schacht. Reich Minister of Economy, returns to the subject, declaring that Ger- many's lack of space is a night- mare, Actually, however, there is very little real connection between the population question and the possession of Colonies. General Goering. in a recent speech, admitted that the densi- ty of the population in England is slightly greater than that in Germany, but he argued that "the difference lies in the fact that. England owns one-third of the world as Colonies, and we It has been well pointed out by Mr. Leslie Aldous, however, that the wide- spread belief that any modern nation can solve its population: difliculties by owning Colonies is an illusion. All the self- the governing Dominions in British Commonwealth maintain. (strict control over migration from the Mother Country; and there is the further fact that most of the Colonies in moré or the less tropical regions of globe are not fit for large-sçule habitation by while inen. If we look back to pre-war times, we find that statistics show that

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The King leaving the House of Lords after his speech

When

A

The

WET November mori- ing in London. trees in St. James's Fark shed their yellow leaves

at any breath of wind. Some boughs are as bare as on thal January night, not so long ago, when the old King's lifet moved peacefully to its close.

Along the Mall and down Whitehall. from the Horsc Guards to Parliament Square, stand crowds waiting patiently, beneath umbrellas, in a steady beat of rain, to see King Edward VIII pass by to open his first Parliament. They do not yet know that the state procession. with its golden coach and its escort of cavalry has been can- celled.

I enter the Houses of Parlia- ment and find my way from policeman to policeman into the Press gallery of the House of Lords. This gallery is high up over the north door of the chamber.

Ninety feet away, facing it, at the south end of the chamber, is the throne, standing beneath T elaborate Gothic canopy picked out in old gold.

there were more Germans living. T

in Paris in 1914 than in all the' German Colonies put together. Similar arguments apply to other Great Powers which have excused recent acts of aggres sion by the plea that they need room for expansion. Italy. in forty years. was able to settle only a few thousands of soldiers and officials in her colony of Eritren bordering upon Abys sinia. Japan, who says that she wants to find. elbow room for a million of her people every yent. had settled less than

of 200,000

her. people in Formosa after "owning" it for thirty years; less than a half- million in Korea after twenty years' occupation; and only 200,- 000 in Manchuria after many years' free access to the country. Free access to raw materials is. of course, a somewhat diffurent matter. Even so, any supplies obtained from Colonies are not n-free gift from the inhabitants, The but have to be paid for. obstacle lies in trade barriers DOWN QUILTS these two matters were success- and currency difficulties. If ATTRACTIVE fully adjusted, the situation of all countries would be vastly different from what they are to-day. From the standpoint of the population problem and that of economic argument, Germany's case for a return of

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✩ *

HE galleries that run round the House of Lords are occupied by peeresses and the wives

distinguished of persons, Although it is only eleven o'clock, and the King will not enter the chamber for a full hour, the floor of the House is packed with peers in their scarlet and ermine mantles, sitting together and facing the throne, and with. pceresses grouped together on the back benches, wearing evening dress and diamond tiaras.

Facing the throne at the very steps of the dais is the Wool- sack, the seat of the Lord Chancellor, G huge, backless divan covered in dark red cloth and stuffed with wool, #t memorial of the far-off days of Edward III, when that com-

EDWARD Opened

Only

His

Parliament

by H.

V. MORTON

some youthful, cach one rising

above a collar of ermine and a _vivid splash of scarlet, might. imagine that this was an extra- ordinary congress of. Father Christmases met together to lay their plans for some world- wide benevolence.

A touch of fantasy is given to the gathering by the entrance now and then of a decorative foreign minister. I see a man move forward to the diplomatic enclosure wearing a helmet sewn with pearls, with a crest formed of the plumes of a bird of paradise.

Another exotic figure is that of Sheik Hafiz Wahba, the Minister of Saudi Arabia, who enters in Bedouin dress, a dagger stuck in his belt, a robe of camel's hair billowing out round him, and his keflch, designed to shield his eyes from the burning desert sun, falls in folds on his shoulders.

Everyone looks as the new German Ambassador, Herr von Ribbentrop, comes in. He wears evening dress without one ribbon or decoration, and he carries a pair of white kid gloves. He appears to be very interested in everything that lies around him.

A

☆ * +

T 11.46 the throne is food- Ht. Concealed lights in the roof of the canopy - send ́a gold glow over the soll.

modity was the staple industry.tary seat on the dais. The talk of England.

The judges take their seats on it, dressed in robes of scarlet, deep capes of ermine falling over their shoulders, and full- bottomed brindle wigs upon their heads.

I

T is a changeless pageant. No doubt it looked very much the same in Plantagenet times as it does to-day....

A child, gazing down upon the rows upon rows of noble heads, some groy, some bald,

the Colonies is not convincing. rant action in Germany's favour There are other issues also in- is a matter upon which there volved, but whether they war- is considerable diversity

opinion.

of

+

dies down. Everyone looks at the throne. It is over a quarter of a century since a solitary throne--the throne of "Queen Victoria-faced the Lords.

It is symbolic of the new reign. That empty throne standing in a mellow light, with ;' the arms of England blazoned on its back, is eloquent of a new age. We look at it and wonder what that age will bring forth. Three young men enter the House of Lords, walking in single file.

They wear the heavy, fur-banded mantles of dukes. They look remarkably Shakespearean. We rise to our feet as we recognise the Dukes of York, Gloucester, and Kent.

It is now five minutes to.

·

twelve. Suddenly the Ughts; which have until now blazed on gold braid, on scarlet and on ermine, are lowered until only the cold daylight steals through stained-glass windows from the wet November day.

"Has

something Kone wrong?" whispers a young man next to me.

"No," I assure him, "this is the tradition. The House will be unlit until the King enters It."

T

* ★ *

HROUGH the doorways on either side of the throne we see the Gentlemen at Arms come to attention. They stand there, outside the Chamber, grasping halberds in Gold white-gauntleted hands. helmets are hidden by the cas- cade of white cocks' plumes that fall over them.

Through the right hand door. walking at funeral pace, come the College of Heralds in their quartered tunics. Three peera slowly enter.

expression, and says in a volce which everyone can hear:—

**My lords, pray be seated." He takes his place on the 'throne, and at his left hand the Imperial Crown, which he is not yet entitled to wear, gleams with reflected light as it lies on the velvet cushion.

The King's first act is to take the Protestant Oath which the Accession Declaration Act of 1910, states must be "made, subscribed and audibly repeated by the Sovereign." This oath is presented to him in writing. He holds the document and reads out in a firm, clear voice:

I do solemnly and sincerely In the presence of God profess, testify and declare that I am a faithful Proies- tant, and that I will according to the true intent of the enactments which secure the Protestant succession to the Throne of my Realm, uphold and maintain the said enact-- ments to the best of my powers according to law."

A Bible bound in bright red is given to the King. He takes it and kisses it. An Officer of State approaches and hands him a fountain pen with which he signs the document.

Then in a deep silence the King prepares to deliver his first speech from the throne. An official approaches bearing the cocked hat of an admiral. The King places it on his head and, thus covered and seated according to custom, takes a copy of his speech and reads it to the assembled Lords and

K

One bears the Cap of Main- ⚫ Commons, tenance, a Tudor cap of red velvet, another bears the Im- perial Crown on a cushion of red velvet, and the third holds, point upright, the Sword of State. The House of Lords la still unlit and in the poor light- we can only just discern these symbols, but in a few seconds the candelabras blaze up; and we see the King.

H

* ☆

E walks slowly into the Chamber, bareheaded, robed in a State mantle of crimson velvet, with a vast · fur-lined train held by 'two- young pages in red coats and white slik knee-breeches. The Lords make a deep obeisance and the King bows in return. Very slowly he mounts the steps. of the throne and stands facing the assembly, while the pages arrange the train of his mantle.

King Edward still bears a, notable resemblance to the Prince of Wales. Middle age- sits very lightly on him. Ho faces the peers with a resolute

☆

ING EDWARD is a good -utters his speaker. He words crisply and with p air of authority. Not one word of his speech is unheard. Do my ears deceive me, or does His Majesty refer to the "United States of Amurica," giving to the word the slightly unpleasant nasal pronunciation common In that country?

great

Slowly, and with dignity, he rises from the throne and leaves the House of ..Lords. And those of us who have heard King Edward VIII make his first speech from the throne, go out into the grey November weather with the knowledge that we have lived for a moment that will go down in history.

To-day's Thought EVERY subject's duly is the King's, but every subject'a soul is his own,⠀⠀

—SHAKESPEARE.