King Leopold's Gesture
If Belgium's constitutional crisis were simply a matter of formula- finding, the offer made by King Leopold in his broadcast speech last Sunday should have been sufficient to bring it to an end. The King has accepted the compromise proposal by which he would return from exile, turn over the exercise of his royal powers to his eldest son, Prince Baudouin, and leave the question of his permanent return or abdication open until the Crown Prince's coming-of-age in two years' time. His token return is calculated to satisfy the majority who voted for him in the recent referendum, while his temporary return thereafter to exile should satisfy the considerable minority who voted against him. That, at any rate, is the hope of the King himself and of all those who have become alarmed at the bitter passions which have been aroused in the past few weeks —passions, many of them, only very indirectly connected with the central issue of the debate, which is the fitness of King Leopold to rule in Belgium as a constitutional monarch. The compromise is one which it must have been hard for the King to accept, but he has been•persuaded that it is his patriotic duty to do so. It remains to be seen whether his gesture evokes as patriotic a response in the ranks of politicians and public. Certain details remain to be worked out ; the Belgian constitution, for example, does not provide for the delegation of royal powers, and, unless some clarifi- cation is made,of the voting methods to be adopted next time, the whole trouble will start again in two years' time. But the gesture expected of the Kingfhas been made ; the only fear is that it may prove to have been made too late. Yet—Prince Charles, Prince Baudoin, King Leopold, does it matter so profoundly which 7 .
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