Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-04-25

What is meant by the stewardship Of
The Chiltern Hundreds, lately conferred
on Mr. Bradlaugh and Mr.. Marriott q
u Is nominal Office, in the gift of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Enabling
q member of the House of Commons.
by constitutional fiction, to resign his
seat. Membership of the third estate
OF the realm. once obtained, is assumed
to run an uninterrupted course from
the date Of the return to the general
election next ensuing. and member,
not In any other manner disqualified,
can only give up his trust in one way,
and that is by accepting an employ
ment of profit under the crown, in
which case he ceases TO be a member
until the constituency: from which he
derived his representative position are
pleased 20 re-elect him. 1t sometimes
happens, as in the instances cited, that
members are anxious to withdraw,
though only temporarily. in order to
obtain fresh mandate from their con
stituents; or it may be that some elect
OF a county or borough desires to retire
altogether from the parliamentary
aroma The modus operandi is ALWAYS
the same. A formal application to the
minister for the stewardship of the Chill
tern Hundreds of Stoke, Dest,orou OH.
and Bodenhanl, in Buckingham shire, or
Of the manors of Poynings, East Hem
dred, and Northstead, or the eacheator-
ship of Munster. all assumed To- be
Offices of emolument; and, If the minis
ter sees no reason to the contrary. the
applicant is forthwith granted. > AS
matter OF fact, these stewardships are
not places of profit, bat sinecures with
out salary, and the persons to whom
they are given hold them by what may
be called q tenure of grace.
Bohn's Encyclopaedia of Political, Con-.
stitutional, Statistical, and Forensic
knowledge" says that rs soon rs the
stewardship (of the Chiltern Hucdreds)
lis obtained, it is resigned, that it. may
serve the same purpose again" Ger
tain specified government appoint
ments, frequently held by members of.
Parliament-being conferred by heads
of departments, and not directly by the
crown-are exempt from the category
of employments which demand resiyna-
ton with a view TO reelection; such are
heiunder Secretaries of State and the
Suryeyor-General of the Ordinance.
in office, accepting another post, does
not thereby vacate his seat. Some
writers doubt the strict legality Of tie
form. on the ground that the steward
ship fails TO embrace the full meaning
of ''place of honor and profit under
the crown" and strictly speaking that
is so; but, like Mercutio's wound, twill
serve" The practice dates back about
one hundred and thirty years, at which
period the original object for Which the
post was created had long ceased
to exist. Chiltern is ridge or series
OF chalky. hills extending across the
county of Bucks, not far south of the
c,nter, reaching from Tring in Hert-
fOrdshire 10 Henley in Oxford, a dist riot
anciently covered with dense beechen
wood, the resort of daring and desperate
robbers, bold OUTLAWS of the Robin
Hood type, who led more or less
merry life under the greenwood tree"
at the expense of the peaceable farmers
and villagers of the uplands Inasmnch
as 1t became necessary to clear the
country of these banditti by bringing
them to the rough-and-ready Justice of
those far-off days, the crown appointed
an officer called the steward of the
Chiltern hundreds, whose duty was to
pursue and arrest the brigands, and
provide them with a shrift and con-
venient halter. In course of time Chit
ern became as free from footpads as the /
precincts of the royal palaces, so that
the active duties of the stewardship fell
into desuetude, and the salary ceased to
be paid. Yet the honorific office re-
NAMED. a shell minus q KERNEL and
some time about 1850 Minister of
State applied it to its present purpose.
London Telegraph.