The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-08-02
THE GcIrTr
Commercial AOOertisrr.
SATURDAY. AUGUST >
Queen Victoria as a Millionaire.

Queen Victoria either l. or ought % be- very
wealthy woman. Her income wa- at 5Ec Ie-,iD-
ming Of her reign fixed AZ 1856 600 a wear. Tins
sum, 1t was understood, would. with the .ycer-
ton Of EyC 600 q year. be divided between a..
lord steward. the chamberlain and the master of
the horse the three great fuBctiunaries Of the
royal household. OF the residue. eco. 900 were
70 D. PAID u the Queen Tor her personal expenses.
and tine remaining $50 900 were for .contingen-
clc-- IL Is probable, however. that the above
arrangements have been much modified - -iDp
has worked changes.
The Prince COnsort had an allowance Of go
900 4 year. The Queen originally wished him TO
have ElOO, 900; and Lord Melbourne. then prime
minister, who had immense influence over her.
mad much difficulty IN persuading her that this
sum was out of the question, and gaining her
consent 10 the governments proposing $4,000 4
year 70 the House of Commons, which, TO her
Aalesty's infinite chagrin. cut the sum down
nearly one-half.
During the happy days of her married life the
expenditure OF the court was very much greater
than II has been since the Princes death. En-
perors and Kings were entertained with utmost
splendor at Windsor. During the Emperor of
RussIa's visit, for instance, and that Of Louis
PhIIIppe, one or two hundred extra mouths were
IN one way or another fed at her Maiesty's ex-
pense- The stables. too, were formerly filed
with horses-and very fine ones they we're
whereas now the number is greatly reduced. and
many OF those in the royal news are "iobbed"
-. {. hired by the week or month as occasion
requires, from livery stables. This poyertv of
the master of the horses department excited
much angry comment on the occasion Of the
Princess Alexandria's state entry into London.
But besides the reviously-mentioned e6O. 900
a year, and what residue NAV be unspent from
the rest OF the 'evil list, as the 1885. 900 is
called, Queen Victoria has two other sources of
considerable income. She is in her own right
Duchess of Lancaster. Her revenue from this
source has been steadily increasing. Thus in
1868 1t was E26 900; in 1867, COG, 900: in 1869.
E3l 900; in 1872, E4O, 900. The largest of
these figures does not probably represent a fifth
OF the receipts of John Gaunt. but the Duchv of
Lancaster, like that of Cornwall, suffered for a
long time from the fraud and rapacity of those
who were supposed to be its custodians. MANAGED
rs 1t now is, it will probably have doubled its
present revenue before the close of the century.
The other source is still more strictly personal
income. On the Both of August, 1859. there
died a gentleman, aged seventyotwo. of the name
OF John Camden Neild. He was son of a James
NeIld, who acquired a large fortune as a gold and
silversnlth. lie received every advantage in the
way OF education, graduated VI. a. at Trinity
Colege. cambridge, and was subsequently, called
TO the bar. lie proved, however. the yery reverse
OF his benevolent father. He was a miser horn.
and hid all his talents in a napkin, making no
use OF his wealth beyond allowing it to accumu-
late. From the date of the death of his father.
who left him G250, 900, besides real estate. he
Adu spent out q small portion OF his income, and
allowed himself scarcely the necessaries of life.
lie usually dressed in a blue coat with metal but
tons. This he did not allow to be brushed, mas
much as that process would have worn the nap.
lie was never known to wear an overcoat. lie
gladly accepted invitations from his t~enantry, and
would remain on long visits, because he thus
saved board. y few days before his death he
told one OF his executors that he had made a most
singular Will, but that he had Il right to do what
he liked with his own. When the document was
opened 1t was found that, with the exception of a
few small legacIes, he had left all to .sHer Ora
cIous Majesty Queen Victoria, begging Her Maj
estys most gracious acceptance of the same, for
her sole use and benefit, and that of her heirs.
Probably vanity dictated this bequest. To a
poor old house-keeper, who had served him twenty
SIX years, he left nothing, and to each of his exc
cutors, tIOO. But the Queen provided hand
somely Tor the former, and presented 81 900 to
each OF the latter; and she further raised n me-
mortal to the miser's memory. The property be-
q%ueathed to her amounted to upwards Of $780,
OOO; so that supposlng Her Majesty to have spent
every penny of her public and duchy of Lancas-
ter incomes, and only laid by this legacy and the
interest on 1t, she would from this source alone
now be worth at least II, 900, 900. Be this as it
even that portion of the public which sur
hey should stimulate us to greSlS- ~" - 'n nou
our government viii approach the quessi"a III
manner, basing the proposition to the
3 her Will ,rOUaGreBt unon the broad ground Of
her wealth, for the wills of kings '7;as~ rs l have
not proyed: so that there will be no enllS-V l.
lent on this head in the pages of the Wnsfr0- FL