The morning call., 1893-12-23
PENSIONERS ABROAD, AT HOME.

observation of foreign affairs fills the
American beholder with amaZement.
queen VIctOria'S son, the Duke of Edin-
burgh. who lately inherited the title of
Duke OF Sake Coburg- -Gotha, with the
revenues OF the duchy. has been in receipt
OF an annual allowance of 1925. 900 from
England. to wit: grant of SIS, 600 made
IN 1866 and subsequent grant of $4,000
made In 1873. 1t was manifestly improper
that the Duke should remain a pensioner
Of England, especially as the Coburg reve-
nues are ample. aud the Duke therefore
announces that he will surrender the grant
OF 1866. But he couples the surrender with
stipulation that he shall retain the $50. 900
year which he draws from the British
people under the act of 1873. The report
states that the announcement was received
by Parliament with cries of "Oh! Ohv
and that Mr.. Labouchere attempted to
discuss the subject, but was sternly told
by MIR. Gladstone that he could have no
opportunity TO do so. To test the sense of
the House Mr.. Labouchere moved an ad-
Journment. The ID otion was defeated by
vote of 3 to l.
1hese are things which no American can
understand. The Duke of Edinburgh has
become one of the princes of the German
Empire. He is bound to lead the Sake
Coburgers to battle under the German flag
whenever William orders him to take the
held. He may be required to march them
against England. No one could be more
OF foreigner in England than he is. Yet
he is to draw $4,000 year from the reve-
nue extOrted by grinding taxation from
English taxpayers, and in the event of war
he would probably. like the immortal
Pickens of South Carolina, SEND in his
little bill for salary to the Government he
proposed 70 destroy before buckIing on
his armor.
The Duke of Sake -Coburg- Gotha has a
CIVIL list amounting TO about $50, coo a
year, and he receives an annual allowance
OF 100000 year from Prussia in payment
Tor his cesson of the principally of Lich-
tenberg. be is not required to keep up
any state. and the late Ernest saved most
OF bis income. At the time of his death he
was accounted the richest man in Ger
many. His savings will go to his heir, so
that il the Duke of Edinburgh lives to the
normal term of life he may die as rich as
his mother will. Yet this millionaire IS
unwilling to raise his clutch from the fifty
thousand year he draws from the over
taxed British people.
hat IS most ominous of all Is that the
British Parliament, by three to one, holds
that be is right. and that there is nothing
censurabIe In his conduct. Mr. Gladstone,
the exemplar of English comm ou-sense.
refuses to allow his greed to be discussed.
Talk of gOrging Jack and guZzling Jimmy
Originals must have been found for the
pictures in the royal houses. And yet the
House of Commons, which is supposed to
embrace the most sensible men in the king
dom. men who are keenly alive to the cruel
pressure OF taxation on the working classes,
votes by three to one not only that the Duke
shall go on drawing his Thousand dollars a
week. but that it is impertinent and unbe-
coming to criticize his conduct
We. in this country, fly to the opposite
extreme. No public servant receives a
salary which enables him to save any.
thing worth mentioning during his term
of Office; and when the public have done
with him he is thrown aside to starve if
he chooses. One of the greatest of our
Presidents had to write books to leave a
pittance to his widow: Lineoln's family
would have been penniess. but for acci-
dent. when he was assassinated; another
ex-President is glad of an appointment as
assistant professor at university. As
for ex-Senators, they can be found all over
the country in various stages of poverty,
earning a scanty living by the hardest of
hard work. One of the brightest of them,
John j. ingalls,. is writing for syndcates.
Hannibal Hamlin was grateful for post
of collector.
1t seems that middle course between
the English practice and our own might
be wiser than either. 1t is no part of our
business to question The uses to which the
English put their money; but we might
perhaps provide that ex-Presidents and
other men who have served this country
in high places should not in their old age
repeat the story of Belisarius.
Too MICH EAlTH