The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-05
IRELAND AND THE THRONE.
The Proposal 10 Abolish the Vice
Royalty and Establish Royal

est, there are few who will feel disposed 10
find fault with the project of the British
government to abolish the Office of vice
roy OF Ireland and to devote a portion, If
not all, of the money thus saved to the
maintenance Of a royal residence in the
Emerald Isle. 1t is a proposal that has
been brought forward on several occa-
sions during the queens reign, and IS
known 10 have the warm approval of her
majesty, as it enjoyed that of the late
prince consort. The present visit of the
Duke and Duchess of York TO the sister
kingdom has led TO its revival, end rhere
is every reason to believe that the Earl
of Cadogan, who now rules as king at
Dublin castle, viii prove to be the last of
a long line of l0rds-leutenant. In his
stead there will be a secretary of state
for the Kingdom of ireland, just as there
is one for the kingdom of Scotland, who
will have seat in the cabinet, and make
his headquarters in London during the
legislative season, only sOjourning on the
banks of the Liffey when parliament Is
prorogued.
AS matters stand now, the official who
really directs the Irish administration,
who is responsible for it and supposed to
represent it in parliament, has no seat
in the cabinet, and is forced to content
himself with the title of secretary TO the
viceroy. This latter, whose functions are
ter, and who is to all intents and purposes
a mere decorative fgurehead, and ordina-
rily selected for the post on account of
his wealth rather than by reason of his
experience and brain, occupies a seat ip
the cabinet True. there have been times
where the contrast between the inte.lec-
tual and political status Of the viceroy and
of the secretary has been so marked-as,
for instance, when Lord Londonerry was
king" and Mr.. Aruthr Balfour secretary
that the former was left out of the cab
met, while the latter was included there
in. But that merely served to intensity
the anomaly of the situation, since it prac-
tically rendered the lord-leutenant the
subordinate of his own secretary. In
deed, no matter which way one looks at
the viceroyalty, its existence is both IL
logical and devoid of common sense and
reason. In the past objections were rails
ed to its abolition on the ground that it
would impair the rights of Ireland to be
considered as a distinct kingdom, and that
1t would endanger whatever prospects she
might have of eventually obtaining that
autonomy for which the nationalists have
been fighting 50 long. But these appre-
tensions have disappeared since the home
rulers have realized the extent to which
Canada and other transporting dependen-
cies of Great Britain have secured self
government although subject to the su-
pervision and judiciously exercised control
OF q secretary of state for the colonies oc-
cupying seat in the cabinet in London
Indeed, there is every reason to believe
that, far from being injured, the cause of
home rule would be distinctly advanced
by the abolition of the viceroyalty and
the establishment of an Irish secretaryshlp
of state instead, since the nationalists
would then have far stronger grounds for
demanding the same dgree of self-govern-
ment as that conceded to Australia, Can
ada and South Africa.
By those few who have been in favor
OF the retention of the Office of viceroy it
has been suggested that the prestige and
the dignity as well as its popularity might
be increased were it to be vested in the
person of some member of the reigning
family, and it has even been urged that
1t would contribute to revive the loyalty
of Ireland to the crown Neither the
queen nor any of her relatives has how
ever seen thesway to countenance this
proposal. For in the first place, the vice
roy as the principal emblem of English au-
thority in Ireland has to bear the main
brunt of odium in connection with any ar
bitrary measure that the cabinet of the
day may see fit to impose upon the EN-
erald Isle, and the unpopularity and re-
sentiment now directed merely against the
government would extend through any
| royal prince who might hold office as
viceroy to the reigning family, which is
as yet held by the irish to a great degree
unaccountable for the unjust treatment
| that has fallen to the share of Erin. Queen
! Victoria as a constitutional sovereign is
| often forced to give way to the wishes of
| parliament and the administration for the
time being, and to sanction things 10
| which she is opposed. But she does not
| see any advantage to be derived by the
| crown in Identifying either herself or her
| children still more than at present with
| acts of policy that are sometimes dictated
more by PARTISAN spirit than by any sense
of justice or public interest.
Then, too, viceroy of Ireland, in order
| to do things on fitting scale, is OBJ
! liged to put his hand into his pocket and
| to spend out of his own fortune a sum
at least equivalent to his official salary,
| which amounts to 100000 a year and al
| lowances. Now, an ordinary peer has an
| object again in thus spending his own
| money, for a term of office as viceroy in
| variably brings with 1t either a step in
| the peerage or else the order of the gar
ter. But what would a royal prince have
! to gain by spending his money as vice
| roy? Nothing, save the abuse of the
| press, the badgering by the cabinet in
| London, which expects the lord lieuten-
ant to act as It's obedient servant and
! to obey its behests, and possibly, the
| jealousy of the queen and of the Prince
| of Wales, who resent rather than aDpre-
| ciate any assumption of authority or
conquest OF popularity on the part of the
| junior members of the royal family
With some few exceptions, such as, for
| instance, Lord Spencer, Lord Bessborough
| and Lord Clarendon, the peers selected for
| the office of viceroy of Ireland have been
| such intellectual mediocrities and such po-
! litical non-entities as to have sadly dimin-
| ished the prestige of the office in spite of
| the extravagant amount of etiquette by
which they have been environed in the
hope of preserving it from ridicule. Some
| viceroys have been removed for their
| drunken habits even in a country where
| conviviality is the rule rather than the
exception, and there are few people who
| do not know the story of that noble duke
| who, to the dismay of the crown and of
the cabinet, was in the habit of exercising,
| when intoxicated, his viceregeal preroga-
! tive of comforting knighthood. The latter
! is a privilege that is enjoyed by no other
British subject Neither the viceroy OF In
| dia nor even the Prince of Wales can
| knight a man, save by special written au-
| thorization of the sovereign. But the vice
| roy in Ireland can knight whomever he
| lists, without permission from any one
| and in the particular duke to whom refer
| - l.