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In the Palace of the King.
TJndor the hcadlino " Things a King Cannot
Do" tlio Chicago Tribune prints an interesting
reference to the powers and privileges of mon
archs, as follows:
The rulers of the peoples of the earth, of whom
there arc now seventy-six of recognized importance,
have on the average much Iobs power than is usually
imagined. The new King of Eng
King and land, for instance, will find when ho
Subject. ascends the throne in many ways
ho is not as free as his subjects.
An ordinary Englishman may travel where ho
pleases and may select his own traveling companions.
Tho King of England may not leave the coniines of
the empire without being accompanied by a Minister
of state. The British constitution provides that the'
King shall hold himself at all times in readiness to
sign acts of Parliament af tor they have passed both
Houses of the national Legislature. Until they have
been so signed they do not become law. It might
liappon that in somo crisis the King's signature would
be needed without a moment's delay. The existence
of tho state itsolf might well depend on instant ac-
tion; for instance, an army of invasion might sud
cnly appear off the coast of England, in which case
dt would bo necessary to call out the militia. This
could not bo done legally without the signature of
tho King. Thereforo it is provided that a responsible
Minister of state shall uccompany the King wherever
ho may go to present emergency acts of Parliament
to him for his signature. Even if Parliament is not
in session this act is enforced, because it might be
necessary at any tlmo to call Parliament to meet in
extraordinary session.
ooo
No matter how tired the King of England might
grow of his responsibilities the lawyers say that ho
could not abdicate. There is no precedent for such
an action, and, as is well known,
Cannot precedent is an important factor in
Abdicate. ' the British government. If tho
King should absent himself "from
tho kingdom without formally noti flying his Minis
ters of state, so that ono of them might .accompany
him, Parliament would be obligod to meet and declare
tho throne vacant. According to tho authorities the
crown would then be placed in commission ; that is,
)the King's place would be taken by a kind of Board
of Directors, composed of tho highest statesmen and
'noblemen in tho land. What such a commission
would do with a royal truant on his return does not
.seein clear. No ruler of Englapd has ever done such
a thing, and therofore there is no historic precedent
ito servo as a guido for future action.
No King of England can forco a subject to accept
a peerage or other title of nobility. There are few
Englishmen, indeed, who would refuse to bo made
sEarls, if tho honor wero offered them, but the King
,can do no more than offer tho honor.' He may order
and compel a subject to sit in the House of Lords and
.legislate for -his country, but ho may not compel tho
acceptance of a titlo. iV.
ooo
In time of peace no King of England may main
tain a standing army without the consent of Parlia
ment. Every year of tho world it is necessary to
introduce what is called the annual
Armies army bill and procure its passage
and Taxes by both Houses of Parliament. If
tho members of parliament were to
bo stricken down by somo pestilence or plague and so
kept from attending tho sessions of the national Leg
islature in legal numbors, the British army would
absolutely pass out of existence. At no time does
tho army of England have more than a twelve
month's lease of life. That lease must be renewed
yearly. Tho idea behind this somewhat curious pro
cedure is that if tho King wero allowed to maintain a
standing army without tho sanction of tho Parlia
ment that army might at some time be used against
tho people.
Noither can the King of Groat Britain and Ire
land avoid paying taxes on whatever property he may
The Commoner.
own in his own name. The allowance or salary of
the new Kingagain following historic precedent is
likely to bo $1,920,000. If from this amount ho
should save a portion and buy an estate ho would bo
obliged to pay taxes on it like any commoner. On
the other hand, crown property is free from taxes of
all kinds.
ooo-
All the land in the kingdom is according to law
held by its present tenants ' from the crown." Land
owners regard it as their own, but in reality it be
longs to the King, and if the letter
National of the law wore strictly followed,
Landlord. he might recall and recover it in a
perfectly legal manner. To tho
King also belongs absolutely all the sh jvg around the
whole coast of the islands from low to high water
marks. Some day wheu an ingenious inventor dis
covers a method of taking advantage of the motion of
thctides this ownership may add greatly to the 'pres
ent income of the crown. The King is also vested
with the ownership of the beds of all tidal rivers such
as the Thames.
A curious limitation of the powers of a King is
the fact that his wie, though a Queen, is in the eyes
of the law a mere subject. It would, it is true, be
high treason to attempt to kill her, but if she should
commit any offense against the laws of the country
she might be brought into court like any ordinary
person, and, if convicted of an offense, fined or even
imprisoned.
By a legal fiction the King of England is sup
posed to be present in every court in the land. An
ordinary citizen who is involved in a case at law must
be present either in person or by attorney, but th
King needs no representative, and a case may go on
in his absence exactly as if he were present in his
royal robes.
ooo
Among the rulers of the world there are twenty
two presidents of republics, and in many ways they
have greater powers than a majority of the fifteen
Kings and six Emperors who occu
py corresponding places of power!
The King of .England technically
possesses the right of vetoing an act
As a matter of fact, this rig-lit has not
been exercised for so long that it is practically obso
lete. The President of the United States, on the
other hand, exercises his veto power frequently, and
it takes a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress
to pass a bill over his veto. Even the lordly German
Emperor has no right of veto on laws passed by the
Bundesrath and the Richstag. Neither can he pro
rogue nor dissolve the Reichstag except after a favor
able vote by the Bundesrath. In no case can ho pro
rogue the Reichstag for more than thirty days unless
its members so agree. The Emperor may conclude
peace, but may not declare war unless it be, necessary
for. the defense of the empire.
The Power
of Veto.
of Parliament.
Labor.
The labor program for the Twentieth century is
as follows: To organize the yet unorganized workers;
to build up national and international unions; to
make our unions more effective; to protect the in
terests of the toilers; to promote their welfare by all
possible methods; to safeguard every step wo have al
ready gained. It may bo true that others by ""their
sympathetic action may aid the workers' movement
but we resent the promises and claims of any and all
that the betterment of labor or the abolition of any
form of injustice to tho wage-earners depends upon
any other power than the federal labor unions of tho
country. Associated capital must be met by organ
ized labor. Workers as individuals are today as much
at the mercy of the employing class as a rudderless
ship in a tempestuous sea is at tho mercy of the
waves. Gorapers, in New York World.
With all the railroads of the country morged into
five and the ftvo harmoniously skinning shippers and
passengers to pay dividends on watered stock wo
should fully realize what combination against compe
tition means. St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The German government not only sells life insur
ance to its subjects but it requires those who earn
less than a certain amount to be insured atrainst ill
ness and old age. Buffalo Times. ...,
the Boers.
For some months any attempt to question or criti
cise these and tho like expressions of imperialist
chivalry was described, in tho courteous terms applied
by tho "Times" to Mr. Leonard Courtney, as "anti
English whining." But now our officers and men are
coming back in some numbers from tho seat of war,
and the burden of all they have to say about the men
they have been fighting is that of tho s peech made
the other day by General Porter:
The Boers wero a brave nation who fought gal
lantly and well. They treated British prisoners with
every consideration, and wounded with the same care
as thoy would their own. On a few occasions the
white flag was abused, but in what largo community
would they not find one or two miscreants?
Equally t3rpical of what seems to be the prevalent
feeling of our soldiers is the article contributed to
the current "Monthly Review" by Mr. Basil Williams,
a gunner in the City Imperial Volunteers. His ac
count of the experience of a Canadian sergeant who
was taken prisoner by tho Boers is worth quoting:
He belonged to a small forco which, in the unac
countable way so common in this war, suddenly found
itself surrounded by Boers. This particular Canadian
was riding along when lie saw an armed Boer block
ing his path; he pulled out his revolver to have a shot
at him, but just as he was pointing it his horse
stumbled, and he fell head over heels on to the
ground. For tho moment he was stunned, and the
next thing of which he was aware was that the Boer
was helping him on to his feet, saying in 41 good
humored way to him, "Don't try o,nd kill me, I don't
want to kill you, but to give you a hand up." After
this tho first question the Boer asked him was, "Have
you had any breakfast?" "No." "Well, here is some
thing to eat," and ho pulled a dough cake out of his
pocket
Which, then, is the correct opinion? To hold
General Porter's, or even to suggest that it might be
tenable, was described six months ago as "unpatriotic,"
"pro-Boer," "exalting the enemies of England," and
"twisting the facts against our countrymen." Do
our imperialists really contend that the British army
is anti-British, that General Porter holds a brief from
Mr. Kriiger, or that Dr. Leyds was potent even
among the C. I. V? ' Or will they own frankly that
they. lost their own heads in a trying time and so
split a great many foul words which did their own
country Very foul wrong in the ears of tho world, and
that now they are as sick and sorry for it as they
ought to be? Manchester, (Eng.,) Guardian.
r Kitchener, as the representative of Anglo-Saxon
civilization in South Africa, is pursuing 'the meth
ods that were so violently denounced when em
ployed by Weyler in Cuba. The Boer families, we
are told, "are being systematically brought into con
venient centres from all over the country" the recon
centrado policy. They are not to be left to shift for
.themselves and starve, as in Cuba; that is, not all
of them. They are to be fed, but "those whoso hus
bands are still in the . field are provided for on a
reduced scale, which is raised to a full allowance
when thp husbands surrender."
This is the very refinement of cruelty. The wo
men and children are taken from their homes, herded
in camps, and kept on insufficient nod, in order that
their sufferings may force the hu ands and fathers
to surrender. Weyler himself never imagined any
thing more despicable than this. Philadelphia Times.
An Election Echo.
It appears that tho Filipinos are not easily in
fluenced by tho ballot. During tho Presidential
campaign of last year it was solemnly promised that
the re-election of William McKinley would have the
effect of immediately bringing the war in the Phili-
pine Islands to a close; that tho "rebels" were only
holding out in the hope that the election of a new
administration would result in tho immediate with
drawal of the United States troops from the islands.
Possibly not as many people were foolish enough to
believe this theory as the administration managers
supposed. What the country needs is not fewer presi
dential campaigns, but more dignified ones. Cam
paign lying ought to be made as reprehensible as cheat
ing in business transactions. Cincinnati Enquirer. "
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