The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-03-12
PAYING FoR A PRINCE.
A London Paper That Does Not Object to
Pay Its Money for the Luxury.

A London Paper That Does Not Object to
Pay Its Money for the Luxury.
The Prince of Wales is fairly popular,
though he will never evoke the kind of
affection offered to his mother; and of
Prince Edward himself nothing is
known, either good or bad, except that
under his reign we shall escape the
danger which Lord Brougham believed
might be fatal to the constitution-tha
of finding a man of genius on the
throne. The opposition to the grant
does not proceed from any dislike either
to the monarchy or to the royal family,
but from sort of grudge against allow
ances which seem to poor people excess
i've, needless, and calculated, as they
put it, to ''pamper' purely ornamental
personages. That line of argument is
not quite fair, even as regards members
of the royal house who are distant from
the succession, for they are placed by
law under serious disabilities; they are
debarred by precedent from trying to
make fortunes, and they are forbidden
by feeling quite as strong
in Hackney as anywhere else,
from living in England as poor
men,. The number of the Princes will,
no doubt, in time lead to change of
system and of the law; but, for the pres
ent, we can not honestly say they have
no claim whatever upon the generous
consideration of the people, who, after
all, have hitherto willed that they shall
be what they are. Prince Edwards
case is, however, widely different from
theirs. He is the heir to the throne
under rule which will certainly last as
long as the monarchy; and he is as
much entitled as the sovereign, though,
of course, in a different degree, to a
dignified maintenance from the people.
If he has not, they have no right to con-
troll his marriage, or his conduct in
politics, or his general behavior
right which, formally Or informally,
they will most assuredly exert. The
popular argument that the Queen or the
Prince of Wales ought to find the money
is not just The electors do not main
tain their grown-up sons, but make
them maintain themselves, which Prince
Edward can not do. The Queen is rich,
if she is rich, through sedulous econ
omy which the people, mindful of the
conduct of many predecessors, ought
entirely to approve, and she should
not be fined for a virtue which
in an age of almost insane
luxury and profusion, helps in the most
definite way to restrain by discrediting
a general competition in expense. The
Prince of Wales, on the other hand, has
not got the money. He never was ex-
travagantly endowed for his position,
which is intended to be that of first
class noble, and the revolution which
has occurred in the affairs of his duchy
the decline alike in rents and royal
ties-must have reduced his revenues
by at least one-third. If Prince Ed
ward, therefore, is to be placed in the
Independent position which he would
occupy if be were the son of a great
noble, the nation must vote the money,
and should do it, as part of the unavoid-
able cost of royalty, without grudge.
The objection that the Prince is only
ornamental is inconsistent. If he so,
so is the monarchy; and if he is not,
then he is in training-or, if you will,
in waiting-to fill a post deemed essen
tial to the people, and yet, so far as we
can see, actually essential both to its
unity and to its leadership among the
communities it has thrown out. To
object to pay money for the heir to such
a post is no more reasonable, on the
ground assumed, than to object to pay
it for training ship or cavalry riding
school.-SpectGt0r.