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

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:
"T'he 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 shaking 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 if Prime Minister'S conduct
were 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
| ject On the other hand, the nation
would be disguised at the spectacle Of
an avaricious sovereign, who boarded his
| income, and SO proved himself adwarfed
|
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
and 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
! If the crown, after surrendering all it's
| landed property, receives in return an
| income so divided as to place only e100-
600 year at its absolute disposal the
remainder being appropriated under con-
ditions which render any considerable
economy impossible, il seems but reason
able that the country should make
| special arrangements for special exigen-
| ces. Hence it has always been under
stood that the nation will grant dowry
| 10 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 adj
vantage to the State, by strengthening a
national alliance already existing, or
effecting a new one; or it may be the
occasion of all sorts of political combina-
tions 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 Ii 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, a civil list of 1856, 900 year. To
this we must add e31,000, the revenue
derived from the Duchy of Lancaster,
and e17,000, 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 f433,O00 The Prince of Wales
has 100000 year, of which $50, 900 is
derived from the Duchy of Cornwall, and
FAC, 900 from an annuity on the consoli-
dated fund; the Princess of Wales, G10,-
600; the Duke Of Edinburgh and Prince
Arthur Els, 900 each; the Princess Royal
or Crown Princess of Germany, eS 600;
Processes Alice, Helena and Louise, &C.
900 each; the Duke of Cambridge, f12,-
900; the Duchess of Cambridge, Sc 600;
and the Princess Teck and Princess Au-
gusta of Mecklenburg-S trelitz, $4,000
and $4,000 each, respectively. These an
nuities amount to G132,000, and adding
this, with the revenue of the Duchy of
Cornwall, to our former total, we reach
total charge of eG25, 900 year. Now
the crown lands produce profit of $685.
900, and the other branches of hereditary
revenue about G13,000, which sums are
carried to the exchequer. Thus the net
result of the system we are discussing is
that royalty costs the British taxpayers
less than e250,000 a year. Now, taking
Prof. Lewis estimate that the taxation of
the working classes amounts to 12t 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
Il taxable income of E100 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"