The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-11-07
Does She Really Control the
'ano Destinies of Great
gaa q Britain?
Mr.. CREE SAYS SHE DOES
AND QUOTES AUTHORITIES SUP
PORTING HIS CONTENTION.
THINKS MONARCHY BEST GOVERNMENT

THINKS MONARCHY BEST GOVERNMENT
For Great Britain and a Republic the Best For
"a the United States--Still Loves the
seadf Queen Although He is Now
an American.
To the Editor: was both surprised
and amused by the criticism in your Is
sue of Sunday, October "a. Of my article,
"Queen Victoria: A Retrospect" pub
Hshed in the current numoer Of the
Wake Forest Student. / was surprised,
because of the betrayal of evident is-
norance of the government OF England
BY the following assertion, quoted from
POUR editorial, ITO credit her 1.-THE Queen
with any great ability as ruler shows
q lack of knowledge OF the English gov
eminent" and further by your approval
Of the following from Charity and Child
rem, quoted in your editorial. ''thc Queen
had almost as little to &C with shaping
the policy of the British government as
Mr.. Cree himself" Surely, Mr.. Editor,
you had your prentice hand in your
chair that day. Amused too vas |, be-
cause at first it seemed as if it must be
4 joke; and / am still amused because
1t dawns upon me at last that YOU real
" wished your readers to believe that
the Queen is a mere puppet, figure
head, and that she has nothing whatever
to do with the government Of the people
over whom she reigns.
To stand on my own merits as an
authority on the constitutional mon
archy of England and the ability and
perogatives of the Queen is more than
dare do: but / do most humbly beg
to lay before you and the readers OF
your Sunday issue some information on
these subjects which / have cleaned
from authorities.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica, whose
authority | dare say few will question
and q copy of which you may possibly
have seen, places the following among
the too numerous to mention peroga-
tives of the Queen. The sovereign, pre-
eminent in rank and dignity. is the legal
source of parliamentary authority. She
summons Parliament, prescribes the
time of meeting, prorogues and dis
solves it. Upon the resignation or dis
solution of n ministry it is her peroga-
tive to choose a new prime minister
from the dominant party in Parliament,
and in cooperation with him to form
new Cabinet. This Cabinet is in direct
consultation with the Queen on all i'm
portant matters, both OF foreign and do
nestle policy: and,in fact, up to the
time of George /, the sovereign attend
ed the Cabinet meetings and guided in
person their deliberations. And George
.,,f, hnp 10 ia
that privilegeif it had not been that he
could neither speak nor understand the
English language. The Queen can at
will dissolve Parliament, and calling the
election of a new House Of Commons
thus bring about the formation of a new
ministry. Nay further. she can dismiss.
and has dismissed single members of
her cabinet. st.ts 14rf
And this Cabinet, with which Queen
.lctoria is so closely connected and over
which she has such power. is that OF
which Prof. Woodrow Wilson in mis-
book 1.-THE State" says: They can
make treaties with foreign countries,
they can shape the policy of the mother
country toward her colonies; they can
move troops and naval forces at pleas
ure: they can make a score, Of momen-
tous moves OF policy toward the English
dependencies and toward foreign coun-
tries, which may commit the country
to the gravest courses of action--and all
without any previous consultation with
Parliament, whom they serve" They
simply consult with the Queen and then
act, as can be easily seen by reference
to the famous Trent affair. More than
that, the history OF the Trent affair will
bear me out in the statement that the
Queen does act both in an executive and
diplomatic capacity independently { OF
both her Cabinet and Parliament Did
not she and her husband. in the last
hours Of his life, change the despatch
prepared by Lord Russell embodying
the views OF the Cabinet; and draft to
suit themselves that despatch, which
played such an important part in the de-
c;sion of the United States? This
INDEPENDENT action Of the Queen not only
secured the release of Mr.. Slidel and
other secessionists, who had been unlaw-
fully arrested on British ship by an
American captain; but, also averted the
gravest and most imminent complica-
tons between the United States and
English governments. And yet, people
contend that she is a figure-head.
Again, the Encyclopaedia Britannica
Informs us that in 1884 George III dis
missed the Coalition Ministry; in 1907
the Greenville Ministry; and in 1884
William Nv dismissed the Wing Minis
try under Lords Grey and Melbourne.
In the first volume of McCarthy's
History of Our Times" page 251, we
learn that when Sir Robert Peel handed
in his resignation as prime minister TO
the Queen she commanded him to with
draw his resignation and continue his
ministry. Prof. Woodrow Wilson in his
"State" records the fact that in 1851
Lord Palmerston, in spite of the fact
that the Cabinet had resolved to. oh
serve strict neutrality on the subject,
expressed to the French Ambassadors in
London his unqualified appreciation OF
Louis Napoleon's coup d. etate against
the Assembly. Queen Victoria when
she heard of it exercised her perogative
OF dismissal and withdrew from Lord