Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-09-10
Income Of the English Royal Family.

Income OF the kngl1Sn kOyaI famllys
In Chambers Journal the following
account of the theory upon which the
| incomes of the Queen and Princes are
adjusted, and the manner in which they
are taken care of and paid, is given:
"The nation desires that there shall
always be harmonious cooperation be-
tween the responsible government of the
day and the members of the royal house
hold This is effected by making the
great officers of the household-the Lord
| Chamberlain, Master of the Horse, and
Mistress of the Robes, etc.-removable
with every change of Ministry. The
scandal and friction which would be oc-
casioned il Prime Minister'S conduct
we're always the subject of adverse and
interested criticism from officials in daily
contact with royalty is thus avoided and
the independence of the Minister Sc
cured Again, the nation does not wish
so to endow monarch that, on the one
hand, his wealth may be applied as mere
caprice or tyranny suggests, perhaps to
the detrlment of the freedom of the sub
iect. On the other hand, the nation
would be Disguised at the spectacle of
an ayaricious sovereign, who boarded his
income, and SO proved himself a dwarfed
and unworthy representative of the maj
esty of the State. To counteract both
tendencies the civil list is, as we have
seen, divided into classes, the object for
which the total of each class is to be APP
piled being specified by act of Parlia-
ment In this way the maintenance of
the desired amount of State pageantry
ana magnifcence is insured. Finally,
the actual issues in each of the
classes are subject to the examina-
ton of Treasury official, the Auditor of
the Civil List, whose business it is to see
that the prescribed total is not exceeded.
But this system, however beneficial
and constitutional, certainly imposes on
the country some correlative obligations
II the crown, after surrendering all its
landed property, receives in return an
income so divided as to place only e100,-
900 year at its absolute disposal, the
remainder being appropriated under con-
ditions which render any considerable
economy impossible, ii seems but reason
able that the country should make
special arrangements for special exigen-
cies. Hence it has always been under
stood that the nation will grant dowry
20 the reigning sovereign, and will be-
stow pensions on the various members of
the royal family. There is much to be
said on other grounds for these prac-
tees. A royal marriage may be an ad-
vantage to the State, by strengthening
national alliance already existing, or
efecting a new one; or it may be the
occasion of all sorts of political combina-
tons and trouble. In either case, it is
of the last importance that any proposed
marriage should, if suitable, have the
sanction of Parliament; if unsuitable, its
veto. Now the granting or Withholding
of the dowry gives to the House of Com
mons exactly the needed power. If now
we are asked to ascertain the cost of
monarchy, Che task is by no means diff
cult
Her majesty receives, as we have
seen, civil list of g3S5, 900 year. To
this we must add G31 900, the revenue
derived from the Duchy of Lancaster,
and e17000, the annual cost of main
tanning the places in the occupation of
the crown (such as Buckingham Palace
and Windsor CASTLE, which is provided
for in vote of Parliament. These items
amount to e433,000. The Prince of Wales
has 100000 year. of which ESQ., 900 is
derived from the Duchy of Cornwall, and
f40, 900 from an annuity on the consoli-
dated fund the Princess of Wales, G10,-
900; the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince
Arthur Els 900 each; the Princess Royal
or Crown Princess of Germany, eS,000;
Princesses Alice, Helena and Louise, f6,-
900 each; the Duke of Cambridge, G12,-
600; the Duchess of Cambridge, $4,000;
and the Princess Teck and Princess Au-
gusta of Mecklenburg- Strelitz, $4,000
and $4,000 each, respectively. These an
nuities amount to E132,000, and adding
this, with the revenue of the Duchy of
Cornwall, to our former total, we reach
total charge of f625, 900 year. Now
the crown lands produce profit of $780,
900, and the other branches of hereditary
revenue about G13000, which sums are
carried to the exchequer. Thus the net
result of the system we are discussing is
that royalty costs the British tax payers
less than G250,000 year Now, taking
Prof. Lewis estimate that the taxation of
the working classes amounts to 12a per
cent of their taxable incomes, and cal
culating the proportion which the cost of
royalty bears to the general expenditure
of the nation we arrive at this result,
that in the case of skilled artisan with
a taxable income of Gl00 a year, the
maintenance of royalty costs him nine
pence year. Such, then, is the outcome
of constitutional contract the nation has
made with its sovereign"