Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-26
POWER or THE KING
INFLUENCE OF EDWARD IN
cREAsING OVER HIS SUBJECTS.
An Authority Says English System Of
Parliamentary Government 10 ,
In Decline. ~,
From the London Mall.

From the London Mall
A momentous thing is happening before
our eyes. Parliament is withdrawing more
and more into the shadow of outworn
usages. The kings most excellent majesty is
more and more advancing into the light of
rising suns. We are beholding a revolution.
You cannot now commonly talk with men
about the times and not hear contempt ex-
pressed for parliament. 1t is not contempt
for Mr.. Balfour's ministry or contempt for
Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman's dovecote;
It is contempt for the whole system of par
Elementary government. Men are sick of
parliament. The house of commons is out
OF fashion. We have grown away from II.
Session after session passes and the great
problems remain unsolved The reason Is
plain. Efficient men have neither the time
nor the inclination to cultivate platform
oratory-the only test of craftsmanship.
Efficient men are seldom takers. The aver
age member OF parliament Is as ignorant Of
modern scientific thought as he is improved
In the difficult field of organization and adj
ministration For the most part he is a
well-to-do professional man. a pictur-
esque lounger in high places, amusing him.
sell. and the caricaturists. by playing at
politics. The biggest men in the nation
are not to be found in parliament. Parlia-
ment Is too small for them.
A Royal Foreign Minister.
But this general contempt for parliament
would hardly deserve a commentary did It
not synchronise so eloquently with new
and an altogether vigorous faith in the wis.,
dom OF the British crown. An expression of
inpatience regarding party politics is now
almost invariably followed by protestation
of admiration for the king Where should
We be now If the king had not turned for
eign minister" is question asked at many
tables. The king today Is recognized by his
people as something more than glorious
decoration of the state: he is openly ac-
claimed strong, tactfui. a sapient and q
far-seeing ruler.
The power of the king is now enormous.
Nobody can doubt that II the will of par
lament clashed with the will of the king.
the entire sympathy and approval of the
nation would be upon the side of the SOW
ereign. Rightfully and within the bounds
of our constitution. the king exercises such
pew as is undreamed of by foreign critics
OF our system. 1t would surprise many peo-
pie snid I3agehot in the last reign, to know
how many things the queen could do with
out consulting parliament. What the ma
ton hopes for from the king in these SLOW
enly days Is an increasing use of this his
most rightful prerogative.
Illimitable Power.
Let US begin by looking at the power Of
the king as 1t appears to the most rigid
of constutionalists. According to the late
Nc. Gladstone:
THE sovereign in England is the symbol
of the nations unity. and the apex of the
social structure; the maker with advice
of the laws; the supreme governor of the
church, the fountain of justice; the sole
source of honor. the person to whom all
military. all naval, all civil service is rem
dered The sovereign owns very large prop
critics; receives and holds, in law, the en-
tire revenue of the state; appoints and dis
misses ministers; makes treaties; pardons
crime or abates It's punishment; wages war
or concludes peace: summons and dissolves
parliament; exercises these vast powers for
the most part without any specified restraint
of law; and yet enjoys in regard to these
and every other function an absolute i'm
munity from consequences.
The king If he willed it could disband
the army and send the entire British navy
to the scrap heap, without asking the per-
mission of parliament He could give the
Isle of Wight to Germany, and invite the
Gear of Russia to take possession of Corn
wall. He could pistol an inefficient minister
and not be brought to the assize. The pre-
negative of the crown of England Is only
limited by human boundaries