The sun., 1895-01-20

Mr.. Medley overiooks the letter Of George
III. to Lord North. in which the King eS.
pressly declined 10 acknowledge that his
right TO veto bills had lapsed by non-user. The
right Of the Crown 10 veto the acts OF colonial
legislatures has certainly. not lapsed, although
Of late years II has been sparingly exercised. OF
the old prefoRntlve power OF summoning Par
lament nothing has been left to the Crown.
Far otherwise has VI been with the sovcreign's
power Of deciding when Parliament shall be
dissolved. A dissolution Of Parliament has bceii
described by Diccy rs appeal from the legal
to the political so, erclgn, from the Ministry ard
Parliament Of the day to the constituent
ccs which exercise the rights Of tho
people. There is no doubt that. In the
early years OF George ILL.,. during his
struggle with the WhiR olignrchy the King
used the power Of dissolution as threat. But
rs soon a. the system OF administration by a
homogeneous Cabinet was established. tho dis
solution became simply means OF ascertaning
whether the Ministry In power commanded the
confidence OF tho people, and the King was justl-
fed In exercis q his prerocntive only when he
had reason to believe that the original harmony
between Parliament md people had been broken.
The experience Of France has shown that. where
an Executive lacks the power Of dlssolvinR
Parliament on his own motion. or on tho advice
Legislature tends. under the system of Parlia-
mentary government, to become omnpotent.
AS we have seen, the prerogative for which the
King fought most strenuously was tho power to
choose his Ministers. Even after he had been
compelled to relinqulsh the system Of an inner
and outer Cabinet and the practice OF keep
ing ono royal spy in tho person of the
Lord Chancellor. no strove for the op-
tion Of accepting or rejecting the nominees
Of the dominant party. Thus George Ill, by
the demand OF certain pledges drove the Min
istry of All the Talents to resignation in 1907.
The dismissal Of Lord Melbourne in favor OF Sir
Robert Peel by William Nv. in 1884 was another
assertion Of this prerogntive. In 1880 Peel,
though possessing the confidence OF the coun-
try. was unable to assume power because the
Queen refused to part with the ladies of
tho bedchamber who were near relatives
of the outgoing ministry. The elections of 1S4l,
however, went strongly In favor of Sir Robert
Peel. so that a compromise was arrived at, and
the Tories came into Office. But, although the
Crown has lost the power Of designating tho
party which, through It's representatives. shall
take office, there are conjunctures when the
personal decision Of the Crown may play An i'm
portant role. In the absence, for instance. OF
any one definite bead Of the dominant party IL
becomes incumbent on the sovereign to choose
between the rival candidates for leadership.
The choice is seldom wisely made. Queen Vic
toria made a mistake when she summoned
Lord Harrington to form a Liberal Cabinet
In 1880. and she seems to have made
another blunder when she invited Lord Rose
berry to become Prime Minister. As to the part
which the Crown may play in the conduct of
1t is true that the right OF tho
to be consulted in advance was as
serted when Lord Palmerston was dismissed
from the Foreign Office in 1851, but the author
Of this book neglects to mention that when
Lord Palmerston returned to power 1t was with
but any formal acknowledgment of the duty Of
the sovereign with regard to pro-
Iected acts Of foreign or homo policy. The con-
troversy had really been between Prince Albert
md Palmerston, and the latter remained the
victor.