14 OCTOBER 1938, Page 2

The King and Canada The announcement that the King and

Queen hope to visit Canada next year is extremely welcome. There was never a time when it was more desirable to emphasise and intensify the unity, spiritual as well as material, of the member States of the British Commonwealth, and nothing could be better calculated to stimulate the loyalty of Canada than a visit by the common sovereign of that Dominion and of the United Kingdom. In the evolution of Common- wealth relations this common sovereignty is almost the only outward symbol of a union which fortunately stands in no need of symbols. There is always a danger on such occasions of laying too heavy a burden on a King and Queen who shrink from no physical strain, but it is to be hoped it ruu.. be possible for them to get at least as far west as Winnipeg and to pay more than a fleeting visit to their French subjects in Quebec. The possibility of crossing the frontier into the United States arises obviously. The initiative must, of course, come from President Roosevelt, and it is likely to be taken. There is no country, not even France, where the visit of a British sovereign would arouse more enthusiasm or promise happier results.