Evening star., 1903-12-17
.H0N0REO THE PRESS
Decoration Bestowed pdd Upon
Melville E. Stone.
ACT OF ITALY'Sl KING
PAPAL PRACTICE OF CoNFERRING
TITLES AND WEALTH.
It is Believed That Plus x Will Depart
From the Custom Of Leo XIII in
Treatment of His Family.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record-Herald.

Chicago Record-Herald.
ROME, December 7, 1908.
The King of Italy has recognized and
honored American journalism by making
Melville Elijah Stone Of Glencoe, ILL.,, and
New York city, N. Y, grand commander
Of the Order of st. Maurice and Lazarus.
This elevates Mr.. Stone to the rank Of
knight, and confers upon him the title OF
sir. and the right to wear a dazzling deco
ration, a cooked hat, knee breeches of silk.
silk stockings. diamond buckles upon his
slippers. a pink satin swallow-tail coat
trimmed with twelve ounces Of gold braid,
striped waistcoat, ruffied shirt, short
horned collar and sword. 1t also gives
him the privilege of visiting the capital OF
Italy at any time, and he may remain as
long as he pleases at his own expense: he
may also accept railway passes and free
tickets to the circus in Rome and all other
Italian cities, and enter the presence OF
King Victor Emmanuel and his successors
as long as he may live and give them the
latest news from everywhere. These prfvi-
leges are not hereditary, however. Sir Mel
willie must play lone hand, so to speak,
and his posterity will have to hustle for
themselves.
This decoration has been bestowed upon
Sir Melville because of the energy and skill
he has shown in the diffusion of knowledge.
The king is under the impression that he
writes all of those beautiful pieces which
appear in the newspapers marked Ito the
Associated Press" and by the royal COM
mand the Collegio Heraldo made an inves-
tigation of Sir Melville's entire career. from
the time when he received the largest num-
ber Of picture cards from the superintend-
ent of the Sunday school In Macoupin
county for punctuality, obedience and per-
feet lessons, down to his recent triumph Of
scooping the newspapers OF all the world
with the news of the pope's election. The
st. Maurice part of the decoration is due
to his business ability and enterprise The
Lazarus end OF 1t is a recognition of his
humility his piety. his abstemiOus habits
and his amiable disposition.
Sir Melville's Duty.
The next time he comes to Rome Sir Mel
Vile must kneel and declare that he is the
kings abbidientissimo ser1itore whereupon
his majesty will hang a q red, white and
green striped ribbon around Sir Melville's
neck, with a bauble hanging from it, and
when he pays his fees, which are fixed by
schedule, the Collegio Hefaldo will give
him large piece Of sheepskin properly In
scribed, which he can take home to show
to his friends at the Associated Press meet
ings and hang up in the front parlor OF the
baronial villino at Glencoe, He will then
be permitted to wear an, arrnor made OF
stove pipe and a coal scuttIe upon his head.
hoop pole shod with an iron spike and cflal-
lenge other knights to joust with him.
If he wants to set up coat Of arms he
can do so but for that privilege the Collegio
Heraldo will separate him fropn q consider
able portion of his income. butasuch mer-
cenary affairs are never discussed in polite
society. 1t Is in order for Sir Melvtlles
friends to congratulate him.. The American
announcement of this honor has been COM
municated to Mr.. Stone. has been authofiz-
ed to console the king with an assurance
that Sir Melville's new responsibilities will
Press or diminish his wages.
Will Depart From Custom.
Speaking Of titles. people are wondering
whether the new pope will follow the ex-
ample of his predecessors and confer them
upon the members of his family. The al
most unanimous opinion is that he will not.
For centuries this has been customary.
Nepotism has been one Of the greatest evils
from which the church has Suffered. 1t has
not only been considered proper for popes
to bestow titles upon their relatives but
also lands and houses and large sums of
money from the papal treasury. Half of the
splendid old palaces in Rome were built
with church funds and the wealth Of near
ly all the Roman princes came from the
same source.
This practice was begun by Pope Martin
V in 1920. He was Colonna, and enriched
the members Of that powerful family with
lands and houses and money and conferred
princely titles upon them. This had very
important influence upon the election of the
succeeding popes because Of the benefits
that would be derived by their, families, and
old age thus came to be the most necessary
of all qualifications for the papal candi-
dates. No young or even middle-aged man
had a chance Of an election. and the sacred
college was kept constantly in conclaves
choosing one after another Of the repre-
sentatives Of ambitious families.
From this source came the riches Of the
families Barberini. Savelli. Cont. Orsini,
Gaetani. Borghese, Farnese. Ludovisi, Pam
flli Chigi, Rospigliosi and others that might
be named. whose palaces are now the show
places of Rome and whose estates occupy a
large part OF the area Of Italy. Only the
other day the present head of the Farnese
family sold to the French government for
5000, 900 francs a palace which was erected
with church money by pope Of that fam
lily for his relations.
Plus TX and Leo XIII.
Plus TX conferred titles and wealth upon
the members OF his family; Leo XIII did
the same. He made all his nephews and
the husbands Of his nieces counts. and
gave each of them a considerable sum of
money, although not as much as they
wanted. His eldest nephew, Count Lu-
divico Pecci. inherited the family estates at
eldest brother Of Leo XIII. the property
being entailed In the family. Leo XIII re-
ceived nothing from the estate. but lall of
his wealth was given him by his admirers
and members Of the church
He founded schools. hospitals and other
benevolent Institutions; he contributed to
the support Of others; he made frequent
and liberal contributions toward the erec-
tion OF churches, conventssan Heminaries;
he aided many religious organiza tions, and
was very liberal In his donations to the
poor, but he was equally generous toward
his own family. Is 81
The pope may do what he pleases with
the money of the church. While he has
committee to supervise the receipts and ex-
penditures and audit the accounts OF the
Vatican his commands are absolute, and
there is no authority, even in the sacred
college. to prevent him from giving away as
much as he likes. Leo XIII was-very pru
dent, however, and took good care to pre-
vent scandals. His elder bfothef Cardinal
Giuseppe Pecci, left a will3bequeathing all
OF his estate to the pope. and a short time
prior to his death personally made trans
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