New-York tribune., 1898-12-25
THE SAVINGS OF ROYALTY.
SOVEREIGNS WHO KEEP A BALANCE IN
TIE BANK OF ENGLAND.

SAFEST-THE QUESTION OF THE
DEATH DUTY-How THE BANK is GUARDED.
In spite Of her costly way Of living, the EN-
press of Austria has left immense personal
fortune. During the forty-four years that she
enjoyed the magnificent civil list Of an EN-
press Queen Of Austria Hungary she habitualy
lived within her income In the early part OF
her married life her savings, which amounted
to large sum annually, were invested In the
purchase Of real estate In the suburbs OF Vienna,
the land then unbuilt upon being now covered
with residences of one kind and another and
having increased almost hundred-fold in value.
The thus realized, together with the un-
spent balance Of her yearly income throughout
the latter half Of her married life were in
vested In stocks dealt with on the London mar
ket. her scrip and certificates being lodged in
the Bank Of England, In this manner almost
the whole Of her vast fortune, amounting to
roany millions OF dollars, Is at the present mo-
ment in the possession OF the Bank of Eng
land. and very awkward question has arisen
with regard to its disposal
Only week two ago the House of Lords,
sitting as the Supreme Court of Appeal Of the
British Empire, decided that bonds, stocks and
other property belonging to a foreigner DOM
iciled abroad could not be placed at the dis
the will had been admitted to probate by the
English courts, and the extremely heavy sue
oession duties, amounting to much per
cent had been paid the estate No matter
whether the stock is that of some foreign en-
terprise or Government, the mere circumstance
that the scrip is deposited in bank or
kindred institution in England renders it sub
ject to British probate duty and the test case
which has brought about this decision that
Of citizen Of New-York owning an immense
amount of stock In NewYork breweries, who
died in New-York, but who for one reason or
another had deposited the greater part Of his
American debentures and bonds in English
banks He died here in the United States and
not In England. Yet, according TO the decision
Of the House OF Lords, his American executors
cannot touch his American scrip deposited in
English banks until they have probated the
document in the English courts and paid the
British succession duties
Empress Elizabeths property, deposited al
most in its entirety in the Bank Of England,
Is at the present moment the subject Of a some
what acrimonious discussion between the Aus
tro-Hungarian Embassy in London, the English
Foreign Office, the great law officers Of the Brit
ish Crown. the revenue authorities and the
management of the Bank The Revenue De-
Of the property Of the dead Empress that hap
pens to be in the possession Of the Bank, while
the law officers have intimated to the latter
that the executors of Her Austrian Majesty 8
Will are debarred from touching the estate and
must be looked upon perfect strangers with
regard to the latter until the document has been
probated by the English Court Of Probate and
they have obtained proper letters of representa-
The ri ba ho n hpr ha nd
demurs to this pretension on the part Of the
British Treasury, and denounces the demand In
connection with the Empress's fortune as a
breach Of the rules governing international COM
fly, taking the ground that foreign soveregns,
like their ambassadors, possess extra territorial
privileges, exempting them, well their
property, from the Jurisdiction Of the native
courts we'll from local taxation.
THE LATE CZARs ENGLISH DEPOSIT.
Very much the same question arose at the
death Of the late Car, who left a sum amount
ing to several millions Of dollars deposited In
the Bank Of England An attempt was made by
the revenue authorities to collect English sue
cession duties on the property in question. But,
In Difference to the protests Of the Russian Am
bassador, Baron de Staal Sir William Vernon
Harcourt, then Chancellor OF the Exchequer,
gave way and agreed to remit the duties, the
understanding being at the time that the funds
In question constituted q legacy from the late
Car to his sister n-law the Princess OF Wales.
to whom he was deeply attached. Members OF
the reigning house of Great Britain are consti-
tutlonally exempted from every species OF TAXA
+,on and thus the plea Of the Russian Ambassa-
dor for the exemption Of his dead masters prop
erty in the Bank Of England acquired addi-
at Cir W IN