The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-02-23

erty The queen retained, as she had a
 right to do, the revenues of the Duchy
 of Lancaster, which, after the deduc-
 ton of all expenses, amount to about
 three hundred thousand dollars per an 1 mum. King Edward, when still a
 Prince of Wales, derived a similar
 amount each year from the revenues of
 the Duchy of Cornwall, which has been
 the property of the heir to the throne for more than eight centuries. More over, Queen Victoria retained posses sion for her life of the royal palaces,
 art treasures and the royal park of
 Windsor, all of which are crown prop erty. The treasures include all the gold and silver plate and the crown jewels,
 worth several millions of pounds ster- ling, all of which are now turned over to King Edward, but for his life only.
 Queen Victoria gave parliament to
 understand of her own initiative that she had no intention of calling upon the nation, under the terms of her agree ment with the state, to provide for her grandchildren. It should likewise be stated that of the two million civil list received by her late majesty, the sala- ries and retired allowances of the royal household consumed nearly seven hun dred thousand dollars year, while the expenses of the household swallowed up nine hundred thousand dollars year. One hundred thousand dollars year was devoted to pensioning deserving people. The remaining three hundred thousand dollars, all that was left at the ,s+ l., Jy,,, rJ; what was known as "her majesty's privy purse"
 Victoria, as stated above was satis- fled with two million dollars year, which sixty years ago possessed double the purchasing power that it does to- day. King William, who reigned before her, got twenty-fv hundred thousand dollars year. Ii, is probable that King Edward will stipulate for civil list of at least three million dollars a year, which the state can well afford to pay and still retain a surplus of the crown revenues. That is to say, it will be ab/ to pay him this amount without talking single penny out of the pockets of the British taxpayers, a fact which will probably be made more widely known
 
 of his lamented predecessor.
 There is some excuse for popular ig- norance and misconception about the subject, for the arrangement between Queen Victoria and parliament was concluded so many years ago that its terms can we'll have been forgotten, and it\is impossible to refer for information about questions of this kind to the Brit ish constitution. Here In the United States, and in all the constitutional states of continental Europe, the con- stitution consists of a single document of relatively recent origin, definite in it's terms and stipulations, familiar to per- sons possessed of the normal amount of education. In England there is nothing | of the kind and the managing editor of | New York daily newspaper who en- ployed two men to search the libraries 1 last week for a copy of the British con- stitution was doomed to disappoint- ment, his search remaining fruitless. The greater part of the British consti- proach to anything documentary upon the subject is found in the Magma Char ta obtained from King John, the "Peti- ton of Right" assented to by King Charles In the beginning of his reign, the habeas corpus act passed under Charles II, the bill of rights delivered by parliament to King William and Queen Mary, and in the so-called act of settlement of 1701, by virtue of which King Edward VII holds his throne.
 The question may possibly arise as to now the monarch originally became possessed of the lands now known as the crown property Formerly all the ands of the realm belonged to the 'rown and were held of the latter by various feudal tenures. Owing to ex- ravagance and liberality on the part # various sovereigns in granting crown ands to their favorites and courtiers, he crown property at the time of the of Queen Anne had been re- { luced to such an extent that its reve- tues scarcely exceeded the rent roll of ( country squire. It was then that an { ct of parliament was passed prohibi- ing the alienation of crown property. ( Thanks to this law, as we'll as to sub- S equent escheats and forfeitures, the ( rown property by degrees developed nd grew until it attained it's present l By the legal term "es- t heats' is meant that when there are no e eirs to succeed to a territorial inheri- i ance the lands escheat, or revert to the | rown, that is, the sovereign, who is in c ne eyes of the law the original propri- t tor of all the lands of the realm. For ] lerly the sovereign was expected to de- l. ray the expenses of the judiciary and n the diplomatic service, and to pay all a ensions, for which purpose he received O le proceeds of a number of special t txes and imposts. These were surren- e, cred to parliament at the close of the o: ghteenth century an the treasurys as- II lmption of the payment of those ser lC ants of the state for whose stipends g icy had been employed. During the lS st two reigns the crown lands have al zen under the management of the W of lands, woods and for Ill ts. Grown parks that are open to the lbic are under the control of the state r apartment of public works.-Ex-At- lo che in the New York Tribune. re
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