THE LION ROARS

King Edward's abdication, although not unexpected, comes as a blow to a sympathetic world, which had hoped that some other solution to the problem could have been found. The days when the divine right of kings was an unquestioned maxim have passed, but it is unfortunate that the stage has been reached when a monarch's private life is subject to regulation by a Cabinet of Ministers.

Aside from the personal sufferings involved, King Edward's resignation has much graver national and international complications. The Tories have pulled a coup d'etat by eliminating a very liberal force within the country, who by his personal interest in labor problems and social conditions in the Empire, was in a position to accomplish a great deal along humanitarian lines. David Windsor, as he will now be called, was in closer contact with the masses of England than any other King before him, and those very people who needed his attention will miss it most.

Internationally, a conservative English Cabinet will be "throwback" to the days of imperialism and Empire, antagonistic to internationalism and less attentive to world cooperation.

Much criticism has been levelled, against Stanley Baldwin for the speed with which he has forced the issue. By bringing the whole affair to a head in one week, he has left a distinctly bad taste in the mouth of the rest of the world. Why the King was not allowed to regulate his private life according to his own desires, is a point that has been overlooked, and Baldwin's action must convince the world that from now on English Kings are destined to be mere puppets--dolls to be put in the imperial showcase and then removed when their usefulness is outmoded.

The publicity on the whole affair has been unfortunate, in that it has caused personal suffering to two people, who if ordinary persons would have passed unnoticed by the international muckrackers. King Edward has conducted himself with more dignity than Baldwin, and, hoping to do his country a service, has resigned rather than make a really nasty issue of the situation.

From now on England will be able to concentrate on the serious problems that have been pressing for attention from the foreign office, and go back to a state of emotional normalcy. With a new King to whom there can be no objections on religious, moral or imperial grounds, England and the Dominions can once more assume their traditional role of a unified Empire.