, 1870-06-10

/
I l:1ity and an advantage Of England. The grra,
tl.arteE left John such p1cro2attves As would nov
seem ty1annous; but they were not secured him
| u, any written constitution, and 20 Liberty hs.j
| Tam to Rrow. The constitutional fact TO Which
/ fyDe and Hampden referred WIS a myth. snd
as naa y & e dsaen Hss t5
| b tween King, nobility. aud commons, Which,
though said 70 be unchanged, has been perpet1sll3
eEangns faas e,sa3s InsFe haa I'd been GRADUAL Substitution
Even after the great charteI, the King retaiped
al executive power, the initiative A oi
liz TSfsa99 9ny aR9 he Ct 'op1s' sss SSsn ssf
carried o. by serve Jadsea Al Alter tns sI4a a1sas
charter, the King WAS conn1ed In matters Of TAX
3n 6nt Thas @ was LET would have LETT him IN
ueienaent, out 1or foreign Nara. The real limits
non On him vas turbulent nobility, when that
was removed the Crown assumed dsspouc power
The question between the people and the stuarts.
Nas whether king OF people should rule, Thsis
N Vas anally settled N 1ess, under william he
i've lel dhe wIa a, R the ysto
the Department Of Foreign Affairs owing. in nart
% SPECIAL reasons; but since then tnat passed into
lament The change Of tenure Of once Of Jndves
made them no longer dependent npon the Crown.
which could not remove them. George the Third
1avola ~ the snen rsrts 1sos
against the Wing oiigarchy. but what he aid Wa
Patny P1t N,ris,st u n1 pnaesnanaed way He made
majority. but he couid not have retained lin
had not the majority shlfted. The Kinr Vas noT INV
merely ngure-head; he must accept Ministers
lAwcr really lay IN the Minste1A The preroca-
tire OF dissolylng Parliament wss in the hands Of
me Prime Minister, to be exercised hut once, how
Premier, Ladies' OF the Bedchamber, and the Blsh-
ops. The King did not preside at Cabinet Council
meetings. ne owing, It Was said to the 1act thar the
but really TO the gradual change from q ,lespouc
70 limited monarchy system Of government
The Commande5-in-chlef Of the army was ap-
pointed By the Sovereign, while the navy was
under the control OF q BOARD dependent On farlIa-
ment But not soldier could be paid except by
grant ct Parliament, aud recent reforms had
tlrely TO the Minister OF War. The prerogatge OF
declaring war and peace was not ostenalbiy under
PafliamentatJ control, and was. perhaps, the
The Prime Minister could declare war, but it de-
pended on Parliament to vote the troops.
A., Thus, the monarchy was mere dgurc-neah,
was the veil OF & Constitutional illusion, aud the
latter felt warm sentiment OF 1oya1ty toward one
whom they would not permit 70 govern In 30
nuence for good or evil George the Third had
thus done much harm: the present ruler much
might as well be made By stamp, which costs
little or nothing, and it was surprising that Mt.
MIL had cited Victoria as one Of the instances OF
fact, she had not ruled The course Of policy In
late years In England was the rcEerse OF what
kings would have dictated 50 the Eiceroys IL
the colonies had likewise become tgure-heads,
though they undoubtedly did some good. Thus,
Canada was British only because It had British
hgure head, fact which might be considered by
all who desired to invade It.
Through this ttnnsfer OF power the executive
hal been swallowed up by the legislative. The
rufn would | e1isuc, was thus disproved. But TIC
inc English people dld not The question arose
from this, how much importance was to be given
10 certain heories on the subject OF the balance Of
powers. which had been previously Set forth. In
powers, and the result might be that when thera
caEe collision with the legislative power some
violent shock might occur, which could not be the
case In England, which was crowned republic,
While America was an elective monarchy. The
Introduction Of the Cabinet Ministers Into the
Honse Of Representatives or the Senate must
was to take ali Tic power from tic President aa
Constitutional fiction had played In England part
anaogons 70 that playcd by legal fiction In human
but b. adopting English 1ctons as realities, Ger.
tain European nations had been led astraJ, though
England had serted, perhaps, as IN useful model
was The means by which Parliament gained
roEer, granting supplies only to carry certain
points !, means S Which s gained strength with the
The second change WIS the transfer Of power
from Lords to Commons. Theoretically, the two
were equal, save IN originating, money bills. In
but sunk after the wars Of tho Roses. AFTER tho
Restoration that house recovered its power aud
a 1sd It a9sH 9sTn a5ng 1De f 1gn @ Of and
while The House Of Commons was
that Of the Tories, who saamped the House Of
Los,ss WIN y new Peers and set precedent for the
stood In The way Of progress. From the time Of
George Tue First down the heads Of the govern
mons and not 10 The House o. Iof,s u No M sssses Ss
men Of ma1k would now lead the House Of Com
mons Y be could help T. SIN the Lo!ds retained
resigned It's claim TO cocqual powerA Now the
initiation ofimportant Legislation there had ceased
It was abandoned, and the debates were rotI Of
interest 1t had lost its semi-liberal character,
and had for century and a half resisted change
Of every Kind, even slavery and the reform OF the
criminal laws In 1852 they restsien Parltameu-
Of coercion. The same thing recently occurred In
the case Of the Irish Church L yet retsined, how
ever, much obstructive force: Thoughtful men we're
beginning 70 see that such an assembly, thus
blocking legislation was not conservative but reyo
lutonaly. sGIne other method Of checking hasty
Legislation could certainly be invented The Loris
represented only privilege and the 1aadholders.
Other European countries adopted q second cham
beE, though he did not know that anything Was In
reality gained By IL Aristocracy was dead. It
had seryed its purpose, and there was nothing to
save it from corruption Nov, nothing was left
hut privilege, which invariably sapped the mental
Eords was recruited fro@ inert Tas AZ S nctfon "
Privilege would not much longer be allowed to
Iold !S It's present position Thus It was that the
and embraced the chief members of the govern
ment Now the House itself had become really
popular assembly, which 1t Has not until 1857, be-
fore which time not one-seventh OF the people had
votes
So the British nation. having adopted the e1ec-
tive principle, WAC called on TO 5rame upon It the
est Of the present crisis The rerolaslonists Of
the Last century sought only to enhrone the cleo
I'VE principle and we're misled by the false analogy
Of old republics It was assumed that the people
1UnH
we're gone. A century had passed, more fruitful
than any Of its predecessors They knew now
Int wore out in course OF time, and elective gov
efnment took its place. Now they knew that |
elective government had its dlstempers and lta- |
Ienum With It They found that they had three |
great evils to contend with, those Of faction, |
demag9gtsm. ana CORRUPTION: These must b
te met in England. The constitution makers OF \
The last century had not seen thoac things and did
aot know what would be the great problems OF the
uture.
After 1883 the evils Of the elective system, its
actions and coHnptlona, soon appeared, and the |
stng was forced 70 choose between one OF the I
ICY Of Tories and Wings. resulting In countless |
wills to the nation 1t was singular that writers |
n the English Constitution had not seen that the
,ase In every elective government Everywhere |
here was party allegiance and party morality.
p England, party government was recognized In |
IND party government had received q formal rec
]gnition In Canada. The Government Of England
Fas now merely the Liberal party. The real Gov
ernMent OF the United Stotes was the Republican |
,arty. 1t was, indeed, doubtful whether large
a'dles would work without party organization He |
'ead 1rom Burke long and warm eulogium upon
1atty, and the useful purposes It subserved; that
Il was generous intention for power dlsttn-
.u1sEed from = mere struggle for ofnce and
trent hs hn oRp Rprfa aad "sS uea ead ne sss4 T
lEeoty presupposed some constant fundamental I
Inference Of opinion. In the political history Of |
England such a difference had generally happened |
l!en e, party struggles there had preserved some |
morality md dignity, but where the fundamental |
principles OF government were settled, which had 4
into factions. Even II Burke were right the best
men might often be excluded from once by the |
%9Iknss t 30 o. pa1S5 5yse. IL Il tended ALMOST inss
would not submit to the slavery OF party. Party
had been defined as the madness Of the i
many, for the advantage Of the few. It divided /
1n England the organization Of parties had hither-
70 been less complete THAI IN some other countries
nd We're 81 unceaa ocearence NJ song sn ra'eaYa n
cinal cleo tions were OF NO consequence, and thus
IaIty Organization could not well be kept up. 1
c!nachments Of party despolsln that the decay Of
Corruption began early in England, and the sys.
tenn OF brtbing members WIS In full operation i'm \
der William the Third. The bribery fund consisted
loue5 anu o1nCEs, A1u k1eat administrative
abl1ses were experienced These grosser faults ]
wealth OF members Of Parliament, which put |
hem above bribery and the reduction OF patron I
had 5's s{sss% Of ID s''''5eR England q
Heaven only knew where they would |
ave been. The experience during the railroad |
mania showed that power to pass private bills
,hould be taken from any political body The /
yrcat struggle now Was with electoral competI- !
ion, but 80 long rs men were wha, they were. and !
52r1y remained, corruption could InDt bp rooted l
3ut.
The third evil parasite was demagogsm How
,ad II was few knew. It's full Development In |
England had been suspended by the undeyeoped /
onff al .1Itn -. L