The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-23

in the smoling-room of the House oil
Commons the other day, and there
may be a. good deal of ground for their
complaint, but they are not so badly
off as we English are. II you think
about it. you will find that we are
ruled, more or less, by representatives
of all the alien races under the sun.
I'VE meet them at every turn, in
every walk of life, in every branch of
government Here, in the House of
Commons, we have a lot of them.
An American in Parliament.
'Take the case of the late Sir Ellis
Ashmead Bartlett He was the son of
Ellis Bartlett of Plymouth, Mass, in
the United States, and of a Philadel-
phia woman, whose name was Miss
Ashmead before her marriage. Yet he
sat in this British Parliament for sew
eral years as representative OF
Sheffield and Suffolk. He was knight
ed by the Queen, and he twice held
office in the government as civil lord
of the admiralty. Time and again the
legality of his position was questioned
in the House, and 1 am ready to con-
tend that he was never properly nat
uralized, even if he went through any
form of naturalization at all-which is
doubtful. And he was only one of
many"
The growl of this member of Parlia-
Inent is well founded. England makes
use of the talent of foreigners more,
perhaps, than any other nation; and
she is not at all careful about their
having been naturalized before she ad-
vances them to the highest positions
and showers her greatest honors up
on them.
EngInnd's German War Lords.
A foreigner may even aspire to lead
England's armies to battle, or COM
mand her warships in the naval Arma l.
geddon which all the Powers are pre-
pairing for.
Prince William of Sake Weimar, the
son of German prince and a German
princess, born in Germany, is now
general of the First Life Guards. He
married a daughter of the Duke OF
Richmond and entered the British
army, In which he was rapidly adj
vanced to several important COM
mands.
In the British navy another German
prince His Serene Highness Prince
Louis Alexander of Battenberg. holds
rank as a captain. He was born at
Gratz, in Austria, the son of Prince
Alexander of Hesse, and grandson OF
the reigning Grand Duke of Hesse.
For some unknown reason his parents
had him naturalized as a British sub
ject at the age of IA, and he entered
the royal navy as a cadet. Although
he was a prince. he did not rise rap
idly in the service. He objected
strongly to being promoted above the
heads of his fellows out of his turn
and would not allow any of his infu-
entail friends to use their pull or
his behalf.
For this reason he became popular
and to-day there is probably no Off
Ger in the British navy who is better
liked. Those who have served with
him say that he is fine disciplinarian,
who knows how to keep his crew in
good shape without being severe. His
fellow officers soon found that he did
not put on side" because he was a
prince, but was always genial and
friendly and as ready to take his turn
at hard and unpleasant work as any
of them.
He had been in the service for six
teen years, and had only reached the
rank of lieutenant. when he married
his cousin, Princess Victoria, Queen
victoria's granddaughter. in 1884. The
next year he was promoted to COM
mander, and there was rejoicing
throughout the navy among horny
handed Jack Tars who had served
with him in a dozen ships all over the
world. and followed him into the
thickest of the fight in many a desper-
ate battle of the Egyptian War.
HE may be furriner," they said
''but he's a good-plucked 'un; an he's
got enough sea-salt into him by this
time to make him a true-blue Briton.'
The love Of the sea is strong In
Prince Louis. Although he had married
the British Queens granddaughter
81, g..
him. he stayed in the navy and spent
most of his time at sea, just like any
other naval officer. 1t took him siS
years more to reach the rank of cap
tain, which he now holds, with the ex
pectation of being shortly promoted
rear. admiral.
Two Alleged Foreign Peers.
Among the foreign members of tn
British Parliament to the legality o
whose position exception has bee
taken, the best known is Lord Roths
child, a member of the world-famou
financial house. He is the grandso
of old Nathan Meyer de Rothschild, O
frankfort, who laid the foundation @
the fortunes of the house by gettin
the news of the Battle of Waterlo
ahead of all the other financiers, an
even of the British government.
II is a question whether Lor
Rothschild's father was ever natural
lied as British subject, and whethe
he has been naturalized himself. Ger
tainly he has a bewildering collection
of titles and seems to owe allegianc
to several states. He succeeded hi
father as a baron of the Austrian En-
pire and his uncle as an English baro
net. He became a member of tn
German Parliament in 1867, at the yer
time he was sitting in the BIRTHS
House of Commons as the representa-
tive of Aylesbury. He held that sea
for twenty years, and was then mad
a peer and promoted to the House c
Lords, of which he is now one of tn
most influential members He is ais
a member Of the Kings Privy Council
perhaps the highest honor to whic
a British subject may aspire
Lord Goschen, the former ChanceI
Tor Of the Exchequer and First Lor
of the Admiralty, is another famou
member Of the House of Lords who's
nationality has been the subject o
dispute. His parentage is German
but there seems to be little douh
that he can legitimately claim to be
British subject. Nevertheless, he ha
had to fight hard against the prejudic
which has opposed him Throughout
his political career on account of hi
birth, and his success is the NOR
noteworthy on that account
When he was made First Lord o
the Admiralty. some English news
papers started the cry. Our Navy /
now controlled by German" TIL