Emmanuel IIT, now has the pleasure of knowing that the direct succession of his house is established to the third generation by the birth of the young. Prince who is to be called Harold after the frst of Norway's Jong line of Kings, Harold 1, Hanfager Cfair-haired") who ruled from 872 until he abdicated in 930, three years before his death, in favour of his son Erik, Av later Harold IT entered English history by gallantly attempt. ing to conquer England ahead of William of Normandy in 1086. He fell in battle at Stamford Bridge but three weeks later "he was fully avenged by the death of his conqueror and namesake, Harold 11 of England at Hastings. ' Norwegians celebrate their national day with special rejoleing in this birth of a Prince on Norwegian sell for the first time in 567 years. For the last Norwegian-born prince was Olaf who was born, algo at Oslo, in 1370 became Olaf V but died at the untimely, age of 17 after a reign of only seven year As. in' Italy female' succession barred in Norway although that, country was the first to give women wit the parliamentary franchise and_although on the death of the young Olaf his mother Queen Margrete was lected 10 be queen. She reigned: only for two years the election being due to the immediate difficulty of finding on alternative successor to King Albrecht of Sweden, the next in line. However Margrete herself was the daughter of King Valdemar Itt of Denmark and in. her great-nephew Erik of Pomeranla who had claims on the thrones of Sweden and Denmark the Norwegians eventually chose their Regent, Thus Margreto retired in his favour in 1380; eight years later Erik was crowned Kalmar og King of the three count ind Norway became linked with Denmark, Sweden dropped out and chose her "own King in Karl Kautsson in 1448, The union with Denmark ceased after 400 years, In 1814 when Norway and Sweden again came under a single sovereignty, to dissolved. in 1905. when. Xing Haakon Vil, whose consort' Queen Maud was the daughter of King Edward VI of England was unanimously elected to the throne, King Haakon VIl's young grandson, second cousin to King George VI of England, has entered upon a cureer which Is filumined by historic traditions stretching back for over a thousand years, and which will be watched ith the fervent affection and loyalty ofa and enlightened people, who receive the warmest congratula tions on his auspletous birth, Constitution under which the votes have been cast. The declaration carried certain reservations so that actually the elected Congress mem~ bers may decide to enter. the Legislatures, but a definite decision will probably not be made until March. This means that in provinces where in the normal course the Congress leaders, having the command of a clear majority, would be invited to form ministries some delay will occur in preparing for the new Governments, In the Punjab for example the overwhelming victory of the Unionist or Constitutionalist Party has at once evoked an offer to Sir Stkander Hyat Khan, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and he is proceeding to form a ministry, Similar offers will, no doubt, be made to Congress leaders in provinces where the voting justi-fes it, but it docs -nob seem Mkely that it will be either accepted or declined until the party caucus has defined the position.
Reports of the polling indicate that full advantage has been taken by the women of the opportunities offered. In Calcutta and Lahore this enthusiasm reached such a pitch that police aid had to be called in to curb feminine excitement at the polling booths. In the two provines concerned—Bengal and the Punjab—the Congress Party failed to secure majorities. Whether this failure was due to the women's influence cannot be ascertained but the point is worth noting. A'good proportion of the electorate would be iiterate—iMliteracy is not inconsistent with sound judgment. in rural areas at all events—for after all there are only 22 millions of the Population of India literate in their own language. Coloured boxes were adopted in many polling booths to meet this condition, In certain places the boxes have been marked with symbols such as a plough, a hurricane lantern, a bicycle and' forth—these symbols being adopted by the candidates for the contests, The device is said to have worked satisfactorily. The Provinces with single-chamber Legislatures (Legislative Assembles) are North-West Frontier Province, Punjab, Orissa and Sind. Provinces with bicameral latures (Legislative Councils and Legislative Assemblies) are 'Bengal, Bihar, Bombay. Central Provinces, Madras, United Provinces. The composition of the Legislative Councils varies with each province and the exact Political complexion. cannot be determined until later. Summing up it seems' that the Congress Party will form the ministries of six provinces (Bihar, Bombay. Central Provinces, Madras, Orissa, United Provinces) and, by reason of its strength will be able" to exercise considerable influence on whatever coalition ministry Is formed in three provinces (Assam, Bengal, North-West Frontier Province). ' Tu one Punjab) the Congress Party is definitely inva minority and it probably ie in that position in another The sweepitig successes of the create certain diMeulties in the initiation of the new regime, even assuming that the decision 10 take office is approved by the party caucus as the result of the Ex ecutive Committee's meeting at Wardha on Saturday next and the subsequent final consultations of the All India Congress Committee, Nevertheless "as the new constitution has been designedly framed to enable the elector to learn by experience the immediate test of Congress' claims to confidence may be no bad thing. In reality—with the obvious exception of the Punjab—the Congress Party has not had effective opposition. Tt has been allowed to seek the suffrages of the electors on an irrelevant hostility to the Government, whereas the Government was not a party to the elections as it indirectly has been in previous con= tests under the dying regime, lous groups of different provin-el significance have endeavoured to organise to bring their candidates in, but, apart from their particular ist' views, they have too often seemed to advocate merely milder versions of the Congress full-blooded policy of defiance of the system which "in point of fact cannot survive the change of regime and. in defence of which there has been no call for anyone to stand. In this species of shadow fighting the Congress orator has naturally come off best. The elector will be able to fudge whether the trust which has been reposed in the victorious party {s justified when the wheels of the new ministries start or refuse to move according to the eventual decision of the dictators of Congress actions. On the problems which may thus arise the deliberate intention of Parliament, as defined {in the report of its Joint Committee is worth recalling, In endorsing the principle that the new Constitution, "must contain within itself the seeds of growth", the Committee so The success of a Constitution do-pends, Indeed, far more upon. the manner and spirit in which It Is worked than "upon its formal provisions. Tt is Impossible to foresee, $0 strange and perplexing conditions of the problem, the exact Ines which constitullonal development will eventually follow, and it is, therefore, the more desirable. that those upon whom responsibility will rest should have all reasonable scope for working out their own salvation by the method of trial and error, Judging from the temper of the Congress politicians the provinces which have decided to give them power will have ample opportunity gaining experience on those lines. The Constitution is well-equipped for the purpose in that It contains what are intended to be effective safeguards against sabotage and ultimate folly.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.