The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-25
VICTORIA THE SOVEREIGN.
From the Times-Herald.

From the Times-Herald.
Several popular errors prevail. in re-
spect to the place of the sovereign in the
English constitution. AS rule among us
the queen is looked upon as sort OF
show toy which Englishmen are willing
to pay for simply for the purpose of look
ing at. We often smile pityingly upon
them, and wonder how they can be so
foolish and so wasteful of the public
money. Another common impression Is
that "the queen reigns but does not gov
ern," meaning that she is powerless to
direct her parliaments or sway her peo-
pie. Queen Victoria has not the power
of Elizabeth nor even of her grandfather,
George I'LL, but nevertheless she Is not
fgurehead by any means. The royal
influence" is an enormous power. what
Ii exactly is no one can say with preci-
sion, but that it permeates the constttu-
tional government no one can deny. The
favor or disfavor of the sovereign infiu-
enceS the action and the conduct OF states
men and of ministers, and not unfre-
quently makes or mars a political policy.
The queen can control the appointment
| of particular ministers in her cabinet
and to that extent, at least, can control
| the cabinet. The prime minister is bound
| to transmit to her authentic information
| of all the most important decisions made
| by the cabinet, and the more important
votes in parliament, and she has a right
| to complain IL she does not know of every
great act of her ministry, not only before
| 1t is done, but while there is yet time to
| consider It. Her power in this respect
was notably eXerted in the negotiations
between Great Britain and the United
States growing out of The Trent At
fair" ard she did much to modify the
tone of Lord Clarendon's dispatches, and
| thus avert unnecessary causes of irrlta-
ton.
| Lord Palmerston, when he first became
| prime minister, was disposed to carry
| things with high hand and ignore his
| royal mistress, but the queen taught him
that she knew her rights and duties and
| intended to maintain them In a cele-
| brated memorandum addressed to him in
| 1851, at the time of the Napoleonic coup
| d'etat, she said: 1.-THE queen requires,
first, that Lord Palmerston will dis
tinctly state what he proposes in given
| case, in order that the queen may know
| as distinctly to what she Is giving her
royal sanction. Secondly. having once
/ given her sanction to such u measure
| that it be not arbitrarily altered or modi-
| fed by the minister: such an act she must
consider as failing in sincerity toward the
crown, and justly to be visited by the ex-
| ercise of her constitutional right of dis
kept informed cf what passes between
him and foreign ministers before impor'
tant decisions are taken based upon that
Intercourse; to receive the foreign dis
patches in good time, and to have the
drafts for her approval sent to her in suf'
ficent time to make herself acquainted
with their contents before they must be
sent or"
The queen was but 80 years old wher
she sanctioned If she did not pen this
memorandum. 1t brought Lord Palmer
ston to terms, and no prime minister since
that day has ever acted in important mat
ters without first making full explana-
tions to the queen. The sovereign in g
constitutional monarchy like Great Brit
ain may exert immense power and inbu
ence upon the policy of the government
and with Victoria 1t has almost always
been a power and an influence for good