The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-02-01

| the latter,s colleagues in the cabinet are
| responsible to parliament, he alone, ac-
cording to the terms of the British con-
| stitutfon, is responsible solely to the mon
arch, and acts as the delegate Of the lat
ter. This viii show, therefore, that the
| new ruler of the British empire viii. by
/ the terms Of the English constitution, as
| sumo sole and absolute control of the for
eign policy of the United Kingdom, and
that he is thoroughly qualified by expert
| ence and by his knowledge OF interna-
tional affairs for the task.
With regard To domestic politics and
| affairs, il is perfectly true that the pre-
negatives of the sovereign are restricted
to greater degree, but not to the extent
| which appears to be generally believed.
No statute can be enacted or repealed, no
new measure put into force so far as do
nestle affairs are concerned, save with
the knowledge and the sanction of the
| duly elected representatives of the people
| assembled in parliament. But, on the
other hand, parliament cannot enact any
law, repeal any statute, OF put any new
measure into force without the consent
Of the sovereign, which may be given or
withheld as the monarch sees fit There
have been numerous instances, though
not in the reign of Queen Victoria, of SOW
ereigns Withholding the royal assent to
measures enacted by parliament the last
case having been when King George ".
declined in 1923 to give his consent to the
measure passed by both houses Of the ma
tional legislature admitting Roman Cath
olics for the first time to the offices of
state. It may be added that the king was
ultimately persuaded by Lord Eldon to
give way in the matter.
1t is this faculty of giving or withhold
ing the royal signature that virtually
places supreme power in the hands Of the
English sovereign, for it is not only every
parliament measure, but hkewiset every
administrative act of any importance that
must receive the mOnarch's sign-manual
before it can be put init force or become
endowed with any degree of validity.
During the last quarter Of a century Of
Queen Victora's reign, It has been esti-
mated that she was obliged to put her
signature to at least 10000 official docu-
ments of one kind or another in the year,
or 200 a day, and the new king, like his
mother, may be trusted to- show himself
not only too conscientious, but likewise
too jealous of his prerogatives, ever TO
affix his signature to any paper before he
has read and mastered its contents
Another but little known prerogative Of
the British sovereign is the constitutional
right to dismiss either a single cabinet
minister or else the entire administration,
if either have ceased to enjoy the conf
dence of the monarch. It does not matter
whether the cabinet has a parliamentary
majority or not, and students of history
may remember that in 1884 King William
~. turned out the administration Of Lord
Melbourne, which had an enormous ma
jority in the commons, without any rea-
son than that the cabinet had ceased to
enjoy his confidence. Although the Lib
eral party was extremely indignant at
this dismissal which even the leading
Conservatives looked upon as il-judged,
no one attempted to deny its perfect
legality.
If I mention these facts it Is to show
that the British monarch is far less of a
hgurehead and dummy than is asserted
in print, not only abroad, but even in
England itself presumably by scribes who
have never taken the trouble to make
tional history of the British empire
Those who have had the privilege of be-
ing personally acquainted with the prince
OF Wales, as has the writer since his boy
mood, and who, therefore, have some
knowledge of his personality and charac-
ter, have reason for believing that while
manifestng the breadth Of view and the
liberal sentiments that have characterized
his social reign during the last four de-
cades, he viii. on the other hand, exercise
to their fullest extent the rights and pre-
negatives that are granted to him by the
terms Of Of the British constitution. He
is thoroughly alive to the progress of the
democratic movement in the old world
and possessed of too much common sense
not to appreciate that some Of the de-
mands which it puts forward are justified
and if one may put forward any specula-
tion as to the policy which Albert Ed
ward IS likely to pursue I would be dis
posed to express the opinion that it will
be less conservative than Liberal-Union-
ist But, whatever happens, the new mon
arch, who now becomes supreme head OF
the Church of England and Defender OF
himself to be q "roi faineant"