The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-04-22
LIMIT NICTORIA'SP

Considerable as are the powers of
Queen \icturia, they are not un.im ted.
There are some very curious reStric-
,iun> on the rrval prcrnvatiyr The
queen cannot. for in~la .ce. cDmmun;-
cate with her subject "a can the most
menial ot her servants: nor can she re-
ceiye presents from her people save
through officers of State or friends per
S0nally known to her majesty.
The queen could sell or give away
the royal navy, or declare war with
Russia: but she could not spend sin
gle larthlng of pahlic money without
the consent of parliament. The qleca
has no power over taxation. and could
not create any new office with fees at
tached to it. Neither could she annex
new fees to old offices. She could not
increase the wages Of one of her iOot-
mea unless She did it out OF her pr
vate funds or without exceeding the al
lo~ancr made to her !y parliament
\ curious c;lrinilm mt OF the royal
prrrogativc is elected bv IN act of par
lament passed in the reign Of George
Ill. This act deals with Sabbath
breaking, and in it it is distinctly stated
hat in N ls,-,
erS who have been convicted of Il GER
tain form of SabI,ath-hrcaking Yet
her majesty could pardon ninety y-aine
per cent. ofall the prisoners in the land.
Though no act of parliament is CON-
pletc until it has been signed 10y the
queen, her majesty is subject to the
laws that she signs, and cannot Issue 4
proclamation contrary to law. If, for
instance, it were the law of England
that no train should travel at rite
exceeding fifty miles an hour, the
queen could not issue a proclamation
cNempting Il certain train from tho
operation OF the law. Nor c..1 !.
majesty issue 4 proclamation which
would injurc the community, such as,
for example, Il proclamation yNcmpting
n whole town or neiohborhood from
serving on jury.
Though the queen could recall any
subject from abroad, she cannot compel
4 subject to leave Great Britain. This
disability does not cease to operate even
in time of war. and. though at such a
time the queen could call upon every
able man to take up arms, she could
not force n sing lie civilian to leave the
conntrv. even to carry on necessary
war.
Her majesty could not set up courts
such as the star chamber. the child of
Henry Wis misguided genius. nor
could she invest Il spiritual court with
temporal power. Though her decision
is absolute after Il prisoner has been
sentenced, she could not interfere with
the course ofiu>ticr before the sentence
has been passed. nor could she exert
any influence over the judges. Neither
could she interfere in a case OF private
rs opposed to public wrong.
The queen is the only person who
cannot arrest Il suspected trlon. No
action can be taken against her for
breaking the law, and therefore she is
precluded from making an arrest, as.
supposing the suspected prisoner were
innocent, no action for la!>2 impris ou-
ment could be taken against her ma jcs-
ty. The law, indeed. assumes that the
queen can do 10 wrong, which seems
about rs absurd rs the legal assump-
tion thHt the queen cannot he under
age, and cannot die.
The queen cannot exclude member
from parliament after he has been duly
elected, nor can she delegate the duty
OF signing laws to any one. Her pow
cr of disposing of territory in time of
peace has been disputed. In time of
wAr her majesty could hand over Lon
don to France to bring the war to an
end. but it seems clear that in time OF
peace her majesty cannot subject any
part Of the empire to the sway OF Il
foreign p"wcr.-Homr J"r""/.