The Prince as an Empire Statesman

The breadth of view shown by the late Prince Consort was one of his greatest and most marked qualities. He seemed to have the faculty of seeing further into the future than most men and of preparing his own mind for developments which were yet hidden from the view of contemporary statesmen. Hence his famous Exhibition of 1851 and the realization of the fact that to encourage trade and commerce some knowledge of the world's products and resources was not only desirable but necessary. Hence the early perception, which he shared with the Queen, of the coming importance of the Colonies and of the necessity of bringing the Crown into touch with those over-sea democracies which were growing up to nationhood in such neglected fashion and with such little practical concern in the Motherland. Hence the dislike of the Queen and himself—because she had the statesman's understanding as well as her husband—to the Manchester school, and their opposition to the line of thought which said that Colonies were useless except for commerce and not much good for that. Hence the Queen's long-after regard for Lord Beaconsfield and her appreciation of his stirring and romantic Imperialism.

The Prince of Wales unquestionably inherited this capacity for statecraft from his parents. Natural and hereditary pride in his future Crown and in the greatness of the United Kingdom was developed by teaching and study and visits into an intense pride in the vast Empire which grew so rapidly from year to year around his country and under its Crown. Having a broader and saner outlook than many of those about him, without the spur of ordinary ambitions, or the hampering influence of partisan considerations, he was enabled to view this development more carefully, wisely, and clearly than the busy diplomatist or the much-occupied statesman. Hence the pleasure with which he saw the Imperial Federation League formed in 1884 and watched the efforts of Mr. W. E. Forster and Lord Rosebery to build upon the preliminary principles already evolved by Lord Beaconsfield. It was not long before he saw an opportunity to promote this sentiment of unity and encourage the extension of Imperial trade. He had visited different parts of the Queen's dominions and understood something of the immense possibilities which were still lying dormant. His sons had since travelled over an even larger portion of the Empire and had, no doubt, in private as well as in their published journals, told him much of the more recent progress of those great outlying communities. Contemporaneously, therefore, with the founding of the League just mentioned, His Royal Highness proposed the holding of a great Exhibition which should meet the new needs of the time as his father's had done in 1851. Then, the interests of British trade were cosmopolitan and Colonial development slight and unimportant to the immediate concerns of England. Now, British commerce was contracting with foreign countries and steadily growing with British countries. Hence the new Exhibition should, he thought, be confined to British resources and products and be Imperial instead of international.

On November 10th, 1884, the Queen issued a Royal Commission to arrange for the holding of an Exhibition of the products, manufactures and arts of Her Majesty's Colonial and Indian dominions in the year 1886. The Prince of Wales was to be President and Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, Secretary, of the Commission. The first meeting took place at Marlborough House on March 30th, 1885, with His Royal Highness in the chair. Amongst the members present were F. M. the Duke of Cambridge, the Marquess of Salisbury, the Marquess of Lorne, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Dalhousie, Earl Cadogan, the Earl of Kimberley, the Earl of Lytton, F. M. Lord Strathnairn, Mr. Edward Stanhope, Sir Stafford Northcote, Mr. W. E. Forster, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Sir H. T. Holland, Sir John Rose, Sir R. G. W. Herbert, Sir Charles Tupper of Canada, Sir Arthur Blyth of South Australia, Sir F. D. Bell of New Zealand, Sir Saul Samuel of New South Wales, Mr. Charles Mills of Cape Colony, Mr. R. Murray Smith of Victoria, Mr. James F. Garrick of Queensland, Sir W. C. Seargeant, Sir G. C. M. Birdwood and many other distinguished representatives of British, Colonial and Indian interests. In the course of his somewhat lengthy speech detailing the objects of the movement and the methods of operation, the Prince described the proposed Exhibition as one by which the "reproductive resources" of the Colonies and India would be brought before the British people and the different countries concerned be able to "compare the advance made by each other in trade, manufactures and general material progress". He pointed out the desire of the Motherland to participate in the development of Colonial material interests and then added: "We must remember that, as regards the Colonies, they are the legitimate and natural homes, in future, of the more adventurous and energetic portion of the population of these Islands."

The Secretary announced that the preliminary list of guarantees provided for £128,000, including £20,000 from the Government of India, £10,000 from that of Canada, £19,000 from the various Australasian Governments and £1000 each from individual subscribers such as Lord Cadogan, Sir Thomas Brassey, Sir Daniel Cooper, the Earl of Derby, Mr. Henry Doulton, Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Mr. Samuel Morley and the Earl of Rosebery. This latter list indicated in a most marked manner the personal influence of the Prince of Wales. On May 3, 1886, the eve of the formal opening of the Exhibition was marked by a meeting of the Royal Commission at which the Prince presided, sketched the history and progress of an undertaking to which he had given much time and intimated that the guarantee fund now amounted to £218,000, of which the City of London had recently voted £10,000. In proposing a vote of thanks to the Royal chairman, seconded by Earl Granville, the Duke of Cambridge said: "It is not the first time that His Royal Highness has acted as President in undertakings of this nature, and it is very difficult for any person to praise him in his presence without appearing fulsome; but it is not fulsome to say that he has always devoted his whole energies to bringing everything to a successful issue with which he is connected."

OPENING AND SUCCESS OF THE EXHIBITION

The Colonial and Indian Exhibition was opened on the following day at South Kensington by Her Majesty the Queen in the presence of an immense gathering, representative of all parts of the British realm. It was, in fact, the first of those great fÊtes with which the people became so familiar in the next two decades and which did so much to unify and typify the power of the Empire. In the brilliant throng surrounding the Queen and the Prince of Wales, as the latter read an elaborate address of loyal welcome, were the members of the Government, the various Foreign Ambassadors, distinguished men in every walk of life, representatives of Colonies and British islands in all parts of the world—Lord Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Lord Cranbrook, the Earl of Northbrook, the Dukes of Manchester, Buckingham and Abercorn, the Earl of Iddesleigh, Lord Granville, the Earl of Kimberley, Lord Napier of Magdala, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Sir F. Leighton, Sir Charles Tupper and Mr. Hector Fabre from Canada, Sir Alexander Stuart, Sir Arthur Blyth, Sir Samuel Davenport, the Hon. James F. Garrick and the Hon. Malcolm Fraser, from Australia, Sir Lyon Playfair, Sir Richard Cross, Sir William Harcourt, Lord Wolseley, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. H. C. E. Childers, the Maharajah of Johore, Rustem Pasha, Count Hatzfeldt, Earl Spencer, and many others. Madame Albani sang that splendid ode by Lord Tennyson beginning:

The National Anthem was first sung in English and then in Sanskrit as a compliment to the Indian visitors. The address read by the Prince of Wales referred to the origin and progress of the project, to the development of the Colonies, to the late Prince Consort's interest in Exhibitions and to his own position as President of the present Royal Commission, and concluded as follows: "It is our heartfelt prayer that an undertaking intended to illustrate and record this development may give a stimulus to the commercial interests and intercourse of all parts of Your Majesty's dominions; that it may be the means of augmenting that warm affection and brotherly sympathy which is reciprocated by all Your Majesty's subjects; and that it may still further deepen that steadfast loyalty which we, who dwell in the Mother Country, share with our kindred who have elsewhere so nobly done honour to her name." The Queen's reply expressed an earnest hope that the Exhibition would encourage the arts of peace and industry and strengthen the bonds of union within the Empire. An interesting feature of the proceedings was the receipt of a telegram from Sir Patrick Jennings, Premier of New South Wales, expressing that Colonial Government's "thanks and appreciation to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for the profound interest" he had shown in the success of the great project now so auspiciously opened. The London Times on the following day spoke of the "energy and devotion" of the Prince in this connection, and the press as a whole at home and in the external Empire joined in congratulating him upon the issue.

The Exhibition was a great success in every way. Over five and a half million visitors were recorded and the Queen helped, personally, to maintain public interest in it by herself visiting the various Sections repeatedly. The final meeting of the Royal Commission was held at Marlborough House on April 30th, 1897 and the Prince of Wales submitted an elaborate and exhaustive Report which was afterwards published. In his own remarks the President pointed out that the project had served its main purpose in very largely promoting knowledge of the Empire's resources and products and that, incidentally, its success had given the management a surplus of £35,000. This sum, he suggested, should be largely devoted to the advancement of the project for a permanent Exhibition or Imperial Institute—"in the promotion of which the Queen and I both take so warm an interest." Later in the evening the Prince expressed the hope that as the late Exhibition had been, allegorically, burnt that day, "the Imperial Institute may be a Phoenix rising out of its ashes. I trust that it may be a lasting memorial not only of that but of the Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen." Of the sum mentioned, £25,000 was accordingly voted to the new project.

The proposal of the Heir Apparent—as first expressed in a letter to the Lord Mayor on September 13, 1886—was that the idea evolved in the Exhibition should be made permanent and be embodied in an Imperial Institute which should be at once a visible emblem of the unity of the Empire, a place for illustrating its vast resources, a museum for exhibiting its varied and changing products and industries, a centre of information and communication for all British countries, an aid to the increase and distribution of national wealth, a medium for combining in joint co-operation older and smaller institutions of tried utility, and a fitting national memorial of the Queen's Jubilee. The movement developed steadily and, on January 12th, 1887, a gathering was held at Kensington Palace, upon invitation of the Prince of Wales, and was one of the most representative over which even he had ever presided. Amongst those present were Lord Herschell, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, the Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Revelstoke, Lord Rothschild, Sir Lyon Playfair, Sir H. T. Holland, Sir John Rose, Sir Henry James, the Right Hon. H. H. Fowler, Sir Frederick Leighton, Sir Charles Tupper, Sir Saul Samuel, Sir Edward Guinness, Sir Ashley Eden, Sir Owen T. Bourne, Sir Reginald Hanson, Lord Mayor of London, Mr. J. H. Tritton, Chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Pattison Currie, Chairman of the Bank of England, Sir Frederick Abel, Mr. Neville Lubbock, Lord Campden, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Lord Mayor of York, the Mayor of Newcastle and nearly two hundred other mayors, or chief magistrates, of British towns.

The Prince of Wales was accompanied by Prince Albert Victor and spoke at length upon the objects to be served and the progress already made in the matter which he had so much at heart. "It occurred to me that the recent Colonial and Indian Exhibition, which presented a most successful display of the material resources of the Colonies and India, might suggest the basis for an Institute which should afford a permanent representation of the products and manufactures of the Queen's dominions. I, therefore, appointed a Committee of eminent men to consider and report to me upon the best means of carrying out this idea." So much for the initiation of the scheme. The Report had been duly submitted and accepted and he now invited co-operation and assistance in establishing and maintaining the proposed "Imperial Institute of the United Kingdom, the Colonies and India." His Royal Highness pointed out that no less than sixteen million persons had attended the four Exhibitions over which he had presided—the Fisheries, Healtheries, Inventories and Colinderies, as they were popularly called—and expressed the strong belief that they had added greatly to the knowledge of the people and largely stimulated the industries of the country.

INITIATION OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE

"My proposals are that the Imperial Institute be an emblem of the unity of the Empire and illustrate the resources and capabilities of every section of Her Majesty's dominions." The Colonies and Motherland would thus teach other and emigration would also be greatly aided along British channels. He believed that the work upon which he had entered in this connection would be of lasting benefit to this and future generations and, after a careful review of the whole situation, declared that "from the close relation in which I stand to the Queen there can be no impropriety in my stating that if her subjects desire, on the occasion of the celebration of her fiftieth year as Sovereign of this great Empire, to offer her a memorial of their love and loyalty, she would specially value one which would promote the industrial and commercial resources of her dominions in various parts of the world and which would be expressive of that unity and co-operation which Her Majesty desires should prevail amidst all classes and races of her extended Empire."

A public meeting at the Mansion House followed with the Lord Mayor in the chair and was addressed by Earl Granville, Mr. A. J. Mundella, Mr. G. J. Goschen, and others. Strong resolutions of support and approval were passed, many telegrams of sympathy with the object announced, and a statement of initial subscriptions given which included the names of Lord Rothschild, Sir W. J. Clarke of Australia and Lord Revelstoke. During the next six years the project was steadily pressed forward; large individual subscriptions obtained by the personal influence of the Prince of Wales, supplemented by the growing sympathy with the Colonies and with Empire unity; while grants were given by the British, Indian and Colonial Governments. Gradually, the splendid building in South Kensington, known over the world as the Imperial Institute, approached completion and, on May 9th, 1893, was opened by the Queen amidst stately ceremonial and all the trappings of regal magnificence. Nearly all the Royal family were present and, in the progress through the streets, a particularly enthusiastic reception was given to the Duke of York and Princess May of Teck whose engagement had been very recently announced. Around Her Majesty and the Prince of Wales, as the latter presented the address of the Committee, were ranged the most representative men of England, many Ambassadors, and Indian Princes and Colonial statesmen. Lord Salisbury, Mr. A. J. Balfour, Mr. H. H. Asquith, Sir William Harcourt, Lord Rosebery and Lord Randolph Churchill were there, but not Mr. Gladstone. After a brief description, in the address, of the objects and history of the Institute, the Prince continued as follows: "We venture to express a confident anticipation that the Imperial Institute will not only be a record of the growth of the Empire and of the marvellous advance of its people in industrial and commercial prosperity during Your Majesty's reign but will, also, tend to increase that prosperity by stimulating enterprise and promoting the technical and scientific knowledge which is now so essential to industrial development." After some brief words from Her Majesty the great building was declared open and another important project initiated by the Prince of Wales had reached completion. The London Times of the succeeding day referred with accuracy, in this connection, to his "clear-sighted initiative and untiring energy" and a member of the Executive Committee, which had the enterprise in hand, wrote to the same paper that during the past six years "every important step in connection with the Institute has been taken under the immediate direction of the Prince of Wales. By his energy men have been moved to action and difficulties apparently insuperable have been overcome. The result of years of devoted labour was accomplished to-day."

EARLY ADVOCACY OF IMPERIALISM

These were the two chief products of what may be called the Empire statesmanship of the Prince of Wales. Long before either of them were undertaken, however, he had shown a deep and sincere interest in the unity of the Empire—a natural outcome of his training, his travels, his individual abilities. For many years he acted as President of the Royal Colonial Institute, accepting the position at a time when people were only beginning to awake to the fact that Great Britain was more than an Island and sea-power and when the Institute was the rallying ground and centre for a small group of men like the late Duke of Manchester, Lord Bury, Mr. W. E. Forster and Sir Frederick Young, who devoted much energy and enthusiasm to the promotion of what long afterwards became known as Imperialism. The patronage and support of His Royal Highness did very much to give the movement, in its earlier days, a place and an influence and to establish the Institute as the factor which history has since recognized it to have been. It was in this connection, on July 16th, 1881, that the Lord Mayor of London—Sir William McArthur M.P.—entertained the Prince of Wales at a banquet attended by many representatives of the Colonies and distinguished guests. In his speech the Prince referred with extreme regret to his not having been able to visit all the Colonies, and especially, Australia. He had greatly desired to accept the invitation extended to him two years before to visit the Exhibitions at Sydney and Melbourne. "Though, my Lords and gentlemen I have not had the opportunity of seeing those great Australian Colonies, which every day and every year are making such immense development, still, at the International Exhibitions of London, Paris and Vienna, I had not only an opportunity of seeing their various products then exhibited, but I had the pleasure of making the personal acquaintance of many Colonists—a fact which has been a matter of great importance and great benefit to myself."

A further reference was made to the sending of his sons to visit Australia and memories of his own tour of British America were revived, with an expression of special gratification at seeing his "old friend," Sir John Macdonald, Prime Minister of Canada, present on this occasion. In August, 1887, the Prince of Wales showed further and practical interest in Australia by accepting the post of President of the Royal Commission appointed by the Queen, in England, to promote and help the Melbourne Exhibition of 1888. The Earl of Rosebery acted as Vice-President and much was done in making the British exhibit a good one. Years before this, speaking at the laying of the foundation stone of the first Melbourne Exhibition—February 19th, 1879—the Governor of Victoria, Sir George F. Bowen, declared it to be well-known that the Heir Apparent was animated by "a desire to visit the Australian Colonies in person should high reasons of state permit." As illustrating the opinions formed of him by colonial statesmen, the following may be quoted from the autobiography of that uncouth, clever, patriotic personality, Sir Henry Parkes: "I met His Royal Highness on several occasions in London, and he struck me as possessing in a remarkable degree the princely faculty of doing the right thing and saying the right word."

Another matter to which the Prince of Wales gave an Imperial character was the Royal College of Music which he initiated, organized and finally inaugurated on May 7th, 1883. Upon the latter occasion he explained in his speech that the institution was open to the whole Empire, that scholarships had already been provided by Victoria and South Australia, and that he hoped it might become an Imperial centre of musical education as well as a British centre. "The object I have in view is essentially Imperial as well as national, and I trust that ere long there will be no Colony of any importance which is not represented by a scholar at the Royal College." During the years which followed, up to the time of his accession to the Throne, the interest of the Prince of Wales in everything that helped Imperial unity was continuous and most earnest. At the Jubilee periods of 1887 and 1897, he entertained many Colonial statesmen, as he had done at other times when opportunity served, and he was always delighted to meet them and to discuss the affairs of their countries with men who naturally knew them best. It was a process of mental equipment for the government of a vast empire which, in addition to his early travels, must have made the experience and knowledge of Queen Victoria's successor as unique as were the conditions and greatness of his Empire.

During the last Jubilee the Prince presided, on June 18th, as President of the Imperial Institute, at a banquet given to the Colonial Premiers and other representatives in London. Upon his right sat Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Premier of Canada, and upon his left Mr. Whitelaw Reid, the special Envoy of the United States. Amongst others present were Lord Salisbury, Sir Hugh Nelson, Premier of Queensland, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Lord Rosebery and Mr. Chamberlain—all of whom spoke; while Lord Ripon, Lord Dufferin, Lord Kimberley, the Marquess of Lorne, Sir W. V. Whiteway, Premier of Newfoundland, Lord Rothschild, Sir Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona) the Archbishop of Canterbury and a splendid array of other representative men in Church and State, army and navy, art and science and literature, were also present. In one of his tactful speeches on this occasion, His Royal Highness referred to the enormous growth of the Colonies during the Queen's record reign and expressed the hope that present peaceful conditions might long continue. "God grant it," he added, "but if the national flag is threatened I am convinced that all the Colonies will unite to maintain what exists and to preserve the unity of the Empire." In little more than a year these words were fully borne out by events.

But the Prince of Wales was never content to make mere speeches in advocacy of a principle. His aid to the Royal Colonial Institute and organization of the Imperial Institute were cases in point. When the Imperial Federation League was formed he could only help its aims indirectly because there were political possibilities in its platform, but when, in 1896, the British Empire League succeeded to its place and mission, with a broader and more general platform, the Queen and the Prince extended their patronage to the organization. On April 30, 1900, a great banquet was given under its auspices to welcome the Australian Delegates who had gone "home" to discuss the Commonwealth Act, and to recognize the services rendered by Colonial troops in the South African war. The Duke of Devonshire occupied the chair, with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York on either hand, and next to them again the Dukes of Cambridge and Fife. The Marquess of Salisbury, Lieutenant Colonel George T. Denison, President of the League in Canada, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Edmund Barton of Australia and Mr. J. Israel Tarte of Canada were amongst the speakers, and others present included the Right Hon. C. C. Kingston, the Hon. Alfred Deakin, the Hon. J. R. Dickson, Sir John Cockburn and Sir James Blyth of Australia, the Earl of Hopetoun, Lord Lansdowne, Lord Wolseley, Lord Knutsford, Lord Strathcona, the Earl of Onslow, the Earl of Jersey, the Earl of Crewe, Lord Kelvin and Earl Grey. The Prince of Wales was enthusiastically received and congratulated upon his recent escape from assassination at Brussels. After some eloquently appropriate remarks upon this point, he welcomed the Australians in kindly words and then referred to the war. "We little doubt," he went on, "that in a great war like the one we are now waging we should have at any rate the sympathy of our Colonies; but it has exceeded even our expectations. We know now the feeling that existed in our Colonies and that they have sent their best material, their best blood and manhood, to fight with us, side by side, for the honour of the flag and for the maintenance of our Empire." Such words may fittingly conclude a brief record of the Prince of Wales' interest in Empire affairs up to the time of his accession to the Throne.