A Third Try

Belgium's royal question became last week a question of the royal word. Exiled King Leopold had agreed, if he were allowed to return to Brussels, to transfer the throne temporarily to his son Prince Baudouin. This was acceptable to anti-Leopoldist Socialists and Liberals, if Leopold would guarantee not to interfere with Baudouin's regency. Some suggested that the monarch might stay in the Belgian countryside and devote himself to golf; others proposed the Congo. Then from Switzerland Leopold himself cut in huffily: "It is not necessary that I be asked for guarantees, which can add nothing to the value of my word."

That did it. The Socialists scorned the royal word. The Liberals split bitterly over the issue, while the pro-Leopoldist Christian Socialists (Catholics) sneered at them as "suburban Machiavellians." The Liberals angrily retorted that the Catholics' Premier-designate Paul van Zeeland was the real Machiavellian--he had meddled with Liberal solidarity. "We are ready to eat the pie," said Liberal Leader Roger Motz, "if it is prepared by a different pastry cook."

But the pie would not bake. Van Zeeland reported a total failure to Regent Prince Charles, advised a new election. The election was scheduled for June 4. It would be the third vote on the royal question within a year. Sensible Belgians, who were not letting their prolonged constitutional crisis affect their continued economic prosperity, were saying: "The English work for their government, the French work against their government, but we Belgians work despite our government."

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