The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1891-02-23
the SlrUATi0 4.
EDITOR BULLETIN -

question between the Queen and the
Cabinet is to be sought for in tie
provisions of the Constitution, aud
not in the mode of procedure follow
ed by other countries. Nevertheless,
reference to English procedure is
valuable in the present case for eX-
planning both the extension and imi-
tation of sovereignty rs now under
stood and held in Great Britain. Let
me refer your readers to the article,
"Government," il the Encyclopedia
Britannica, which has apparently
been overlooked by others who have
addressed you on this subject. After
describing the Cabinet as 1.-THE inner
council OF The Empire, the arbiter Of
national policy, foreign or domestic,
the sovereign in commission, etc,
the writer professor Edmund Rob.
ertson) proceeds to discuss the
"change of power in the English sys-
tem," and says: The osteuslhle
seat of power is the throne, and down
to time not long distant the demise
Of the crown suspended all the other
powers of the State In point of fact,
however, the real change of power
occurs on change Of ministry. The
constitutional practice of this CEN
fury has settled, beyond the reach Of
controversy, the occasions on which
ministry is bound to retire. 1t
must resign or dissolve when it is de.
feated in the House of Commons,
and if after a dissolution il is beaten
again, it must retire without alterna-
tive. The dormant functions of
the Crown now come into existence.
1t receives back political power from
the old ministry in ORDER to transmit
it to the new"
From this it is clear that, on the
death of Queen Victoria, Edward
VII will, in the opinion of the writer
OF this article, have no power to ask
for the resignation of the ministers.
What would he gain, if his new min
listers could not maintain majority
IN the House of Commons?
Now, has not the new Constitution
of Hawaii imposed on the sovereignty
of this kingdom precisely the same
environment as exists under the I'M
written constitution of Great Britain!
And if, on the one hand, it limits the
power of the individual occupant Of
the throne, it establishes on the other
the principle Of the permanence and
continuity of sovereignty, as eX-
pressed in the wellknOwn apholism,
1.-The king never dies" TO hold
that the death of the king utilities
| appointments, commissions, and war
rants issued in bis name is to contra
dict this Fundamental principle of
constitutional monarchy. No act
of a sovereign as sovereign is
annuIled or loses its force
by the transfer Of the sover-
eighty to another. For the sover-
eighty by which the act was perform
ed abides through all changes of the
person in whom the sovereignty rests.
BY the recent appointment of Her
present Majesty as Regent, the ex-
ercise of Sovereign power was trans
ferred to her. kalakaua remained
King, but the functions of the Sover-
Ign were vested in the Regent. The
Regent then held by delegation the
same powers that have now devOlved
on her by succession and procama-
ton. During the Regency all acts
of the King were or should have
been performed by the Regent, or in
her name. say ''should have been"
for it appears from notice in the
papers that during the Regency writs
continued to be issued in the name
of kalakaua. Ii so, | venture to
suggest that they were null and void.
Had the Legislature been in session
during the Regency, and had reslg-
nation OF the Ministers occurred, the
new Ministers would have received
their portfolios from the Regent in
her name. But they would have
been kalakaua's Ministers. Had he
been permitted to return, the moment
he set loot on Hawaiian soil the tune
tiOns of sovereignty would have re-
turned to him, but all the acts of the
Regent would have been as binding
on him, as though they had been his
own.
Viewed in this light, it should not
seem grievance to Her Majesty the
Queen that the transfer of sover-
eighty has not affecte the position
of the Ministers. They are the re
representatives. of the nation, exercis-
ing their office by Royal authority
That authority is not limited by the
life of the Sovereign i'll whose name
it was given. In lis continuity lies
lis dignity and strength. 1t is no
disparagement OF the exercise of
Sovereignty that it is lifted by its
environments above the fluctuations
of personal prediction and caprice,
each Sovereign being bound TO re-
gard the acts and commissions OF his
or her predecessor on the throne, as
if they were his or her own; with the
compromising assurance that his or
her sovereign acts will receive The
same recognition from the succeeding
occupant OF the throne.
PONO.
Fob J2 1901