New-York tribune., 1901-02-03

N'1N'A N'''A9 put OF The prtItS derived from tnc
state management of Crown property
OF course. neither Queen Victoria nor her cid
est son was entirely dependent upon the allow
ances received from the treasury i'm respect to
The Crown property. The Queen retained.
she had right 10 do. the revenues of the Duchy
OF Lancaster, which. after the deduction Of all
expenses. amount to about S:30o0uU per annum.
King Edward, when stiu Prince of Wales. de-
rived a similar amount each year from the
revenues of the puchy of Cornwall which has
been the property Of The heir to the throne for
more than eight centuries. Moreover Queen
Victoria retained possession Tor her life of the
rQyal palaces art treasures and the royal park
OF Windsor, all Of which are Crown pr ,pcrty
The treasures include all the gold and silver
plate and the Crown jewels. worth several mill
ions Of pounds sterling. all of which are
turned over 10 King Edward. but for his life
only.
EXPENSES OF THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD.
Queen V.ctoria gave Parliament To understand
Of her OWN initiative that she had no intention
Of calling upon the nation, under the terms of
her agreement with the State. provide for her
grandchildren. Ii should likewise be stated that
Of the S2ooooo0 civil list received 10y her late
Majesty the salaries and retired allowances of
the royal household consumed nearly SIH0W a
year. while the expenses of the household swal-
lowed up S&D,sU year. one hundred thou
sand dollars year devoted to pensioning
deserving people. The remaining S50oVoo. all
that was left AT the august lady's disposal. was
assigned TO what known as Her Majesty's
privy purse"
Victoria, as stated above. satisfied with
Soo9"0co per annum. which sixty years ago
possessed double the purchasing power that IT
does to-day. King William, who reigned before
her. got S2,50o.ooo year. IL is probable that
King Edward will stipulate for a civil list Of at
least S3.is0.ta0 year which the State can well
afford 10 pay and still retain surplus Of the
Crown revenues That is To say, il will he able
10 pay him this amount without taking single
penny out Of the pockets of the British tax
payers a fact which viii probably Toe made
more widely known than has been the case dur
ing the reign of his lamented predecessor
There is some excuse for popular ignorance
and misconcepion about the subject, for the
arrangement between Queen Victoria and Par
Lament Was concluded many years ago that
lis terms can we'll have been forgotten. and it Is
Impossible T. refer for information about ques-
tiors of this kind To the British Constitution
Here in the United States, and in all the consti-
tutional States uf Continental Europe. III" Con
stitution q. rsists If "A single document uf r,la-
tivcly recent origin. definite IN its terms and
stipulatious familiar I" persons possessed of the
normal amount Il cGuCa1lrn- In England tn r.
is nothing of ihe kind and tn managing EDITOR
e "A New-Yorll daily newspaper wh" employed
Two men 10 search The Libraries last week for
copy OF the British Constitution Was doomed
10 disappointment his search remaining fruit
less. The greater part Of the British c"nstitu-
ton is unwrittrn The nearest approach io any
thing documentary upon the subject is found in
the Magma Charta obtained from king John
the Petition Of Right assrntsd to Icy King
Charles I in the beginning of his reign, the
Habeas Corpus act passed under Charles H. the
Bill Of Rights delivered by Parliament Ia King
William and Queen Mary, and in the su-cailed
Act Of Settlement Of l10l 10y virtue of which
king Edward VII holds his throne.
THE CROWN PROPERTY
The question DossibIy arise as To how
the monarch originally became possessed of the
lands now known the Crown property. For
rl.-rlv all the lands of the realm belonged to
th. Crown and were held of the latter 10y va
rjous feudal ten1res Owing to extravagance
and liberality on rhe part of various s"vereisns
i'm Granting Crown lands Ia their favorites and
,ourtiers the Crown property at the time of
The accession Of Queen Anne had been reduced
10 such an extent that its revenues scarcely eX-
c.e,led the rent ruil of a country squire. II Was
,b.p that AN act Of Parliament passed pro
lihtinp The alienation of Crown property
latx we'll Ia