Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-09-23
THE KINGS INCOME
GENERAL PUBLIC KNOWS LITTLE
ABOUT 1T.
GREAT ClVILu LIST
English People Generally Disposed to
;. Grant Liberal Means of Support to
:. Their Rulers and the Descendants
of the Latter-Some Big Grants.

preparations for the maintenance OF
the king and his court, voted by par
lament brought two surprises, says a
London dispatch In the first place 1t
was much smaller than the public gen.
terally expected it would be, and the OPP
position to it was much less Three
hundred and seyenty-six votes were
cast, 800 in favor and only 81 against
The civil list carried a total OF
$780, 900 for the king, $250,000 for the
lqueen, 100000 for their sons and
daughters; continues the annuities
granted many years ago to the broth
Fers and sisters of the king, which
amount to $365,OO0; allows 100000 a
year to the duke of Cambridge, the
cousin of the late queen, and $4,000
to the Princess Augusta, his sister,
who is the wife of the blind grand duke
of Mecklenburg, making a grand total
of $3,230,0 900, which is an increase OF
$685., 900 over the amount paid IN
Queen Victorias time. 1t is also a
moderate appropriation in comparison
to those granted to some other sover-
Ieigns of Europe. The following will
show the appropriations for royalty
by the European powers:
Russia, $13 900; Germany,
$3,929,825 Austria, $3,625 ,000 Eng
land $3,230,OOO; Italy, $3,21O,O00;
Spain, $780, 900; Belgium, $1,375, 900;
Saxony, $941 900; Bavaria, 100000;
Sweden, $560,OoO Portugal, 100000;
Holland, $33O,O00; Denmark, $330,000;
France, $2,13O,O00.
1t was expected that King Edward
would ask at least $3,000,000 for him
self alone in place of the $2,O00,OOO
granted to Queen Victoria, for his
great uncle, King William had an al
Ilowance of $2,500,00065 years ago,
when the purchasing power of the
pound sterling was double what it is
now and the ruler of England was not
obliged to pay the expenses of many
court ceremonies and public functions
which are charged to him these days.
Furthermore everybody familiar with
the subject knows that the revenues
from the crown property have more
than doubled since 1887. when Queen
Victoria surrendered them to the pub
lie treasury in exchange for a per-
manent civil list of $2,000000 and a
promise from parliament to provide
lliberally for her family The govern
ment and not the queen got the best
of this bargain. Owing to careful
management and the increased value
of the lands the treasury, during the
greater part of the queens reign, has
enjoyed net profit from the proceeds
of the crown property after all the ex-
penses of it's management and the civil
list and the allowance for the royal
family have been deducted. 1t is esti-
mated that this profit has aggregated
at least $30,000,000 during the 60 years.
In 1897 the surplus revenues from the
woods, forests and lands of the crown
alone were $1,075, 900. In 1900 they
were S2125,0 900, and there are several
other sources of revenue to be added.
1t is a popular mistake that the
$2,000,000 a year which was paid to
Queen Victoria throughout her reign,
was in the nature of a salary for her
services as sovereign, just as $4,000
a year is paid to the president of the
United States This impression has
been strengthened by the frequent at
lacks that have been made by the
radicals upon the expense of support
ing the royal family and the continual
complaint that they are burden up
on the British taxpayers. The ruler
of Great Britain and the royal family
are by no means pensioners upon the
national treasury The sovereign pos
sesses an immense amount of property
by right of inheritance which
lis entailed and cannot be
alienated or disposed of except during
life Formerly all the lands of the
realm belonged to the king, but by ex-
travagance and generosity of various
sovereigns they had been reduced to
such degree that parliament, upon
the accession of Queen Anne, passed
a law prohibiting any further aliena-
ton, and at the same time gave the
crown perpetually the revenues from
certain sources which are more or
less regular.
King William originally made the
arrangement / have alluded to, under
which the revenues from these sources
were collected by the finance officers
of the kingdom and paid into the
treasury in exchange for certain sum,
and, following the example of his
mother and her predecessors on the
throne, King Edward has agreed to
surrender all of them for an annual
appropriation of $2,290,000, although,
like them, he retains for himself the
revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster,
which amount to about 100000 a
year, and for his son those of the
Duchy of Cornwall, which have been
the property of the heir to the crown
for more than three centuries.
The civil list, as it is called, is not
voted in lump sum, however but is
allotted to special purposes, like the
provisions of the annual appropriation
IF hills nacSod NV the congress- of the