The Washington herald., 1906-12-16

lord justice clerk In the outer house,
i've judges, called lords ordinary, sit IN
separate courts. Appeals may be made
from the lords ordinary to either Of the
divisions OF the inner house, and if the
occasion demands. the opinion Of all the
judges of the court of session may be
called. Appeals may also be made from
the court of session to the House Of Lords
at Westminster. The lord justice gen
eral Qord PRESIDENT the lord justice
clerk. and FIVE other judges form the
high court Of justiciary, instituted in
1872 for criminal cases, which sits at
Edinburgh for the trial of cases referred
to il from the circuit court. The members
of the bar who practice in these courts
are described as advocates. The princi-
pal law officer of the crown is the lord
advocate. and the lawyers who in Eng
land are styled solicitors. are known in
Scotland as writer's to the signet. Scot
land is represented in the cabinet by
secretary for Scotland who in the pres
eat administration IS Capt Sinclair, SON
in-law Of Lord Aberdeen, the Viceroy Of
Ireland.
From this Ii will be seen that 200 years
Of union have not served to destroy the
time -honored institutions Of Scotland
While they may have been assimilated
10 those Of England. they still remain
intact, and al every step in Scotland one
is reminded that she has a national ex-
istence of her own. Among other things,
the jury system, that most cherished in
stitution Of the English-speakIng race, is
different. For whereas in England. as
in America, the jury Is limited 20 a
membership OF twelve. and It's verdict
has to be unanimous. one Of either
guilty or mot guilty" Scotch juries
in criminal cases are composed Of six
teen members, and 1t is the vote Of the
majority that determines the verdict.
which, besides those Of guilty" and mot
guilty" may be one Of not proven,
This is returned in criminal cases where
the jury are more or less convinced Of
the guilt Of the defendant. but do not
consider the evidence sufficiently con-
elusive TO convict him of the crime. It
will be remembered that a verdict Of this
nature was returned against Alfred Mon
son for the dlling Of Cecil Hambrough,
thanks TO which Monsoa is going through
life branded with the suspicion Of a cow
ardly murder.
As to the advantages to Scotland OF
the union, they may be appreciated by
a brief review Of the facts, that although
the northern kingdom is far from rich
in mineral or agricultural wealth. her in
dustries and her trade have increased al
together out CT proportion 20 her size and
population As I have shown above,
Glasgow is superior in Importance and in
population to either Liverpool or Man
chester; and while there are relatively
few English firms in Scotland. there Is
scarcely a single concern Of any i'm
puTtance IN England and in the colonies,
in which Scotland is net represented by
one OF the principal partners. directors. or
managers Throughout the world under
the English flag, they have achieved a
celebrity for their business acumen; while
their administrative ability is best shown
by tho extraordinary manner in which
they virtually monOpolize all the gov
ernmenI offices Of the higher grade. The
former prime minister arthur Balfour,
Is a Scotchman; while in the present
cabinet. not only the prime minister, but
likewise a considerable number Of his coll
leagues, hail from the Land o Cakes.
They abound in the government Offices in
London. in the diplomatic service, among
the administrators Of the various colonial
dependencies Of the empire, and in the
commissioned ranks Of the army and
navy; while almost every vessel Of the
royal and mercantile navy seems TO be
run by a Scotch engineer. While they are
exceedingly shrewd. and somewhat hard
in driving a bargain. yet they have won
a name in all parts of the world for rug
ged honesty, coHscientiousness. and COM
meTcial integrity; and their patriotic at
tachment TO the land of their birth, TO
its poetry. its traditions, its Institutions,
causes them, no matter In what quarter
of the globe they may find themselves, TO
hold together, and to unite for the COM
mon veal, in a manner which adds TO
their weight and importance in the COM
munity among which their lot is cast.
There is one Scotch institution, how
ever. that is doomed TO extinction. name
", the Scotch peerage. For, by the terms
of the union of 1907. the crown Is de-
barred from creating any new Scotch
peerages. Since then more than half
OF the total number of Scotch peers have
peerages of the United King
dom, emitting them to seats in the House
of Lords Each British grant Of a peer
age Of the United Kingdom TO a Scotch
peer advances the process Of the alb
sorpuon of the Scotch peerage into that
OF the United Kingdom; and this. to-
gether with the absence Of any new ere
alton. viii eventually reduce the inde-
pendent Scotch peerage to the sixteen
peers who. by the terms Of the act Of
union, represent their order in the House
of Lords. These sixteen peers. instead of
continuing a system Of self-election, will
then probably be created peers of the
United Kingdom. and then the Scotch
peerage. as a distinct body, will have
become amalgamated into that OF the
United Kingdom, the parliamentary in
corporation of the two countries will be
and the act of union
passed two centuries ago viii have been
Scotch peers. may add. are
debarred from the privilege enjoyed by
Irish peers, of sitting in the House of
Commons at Westminster for English
constituencies, when they DO not happen 10
have been elected representatives of their
order in the upper chamber; and, as the
vast majority Of the Scottish peers are
Conservatives and Unionists, and invari-
ably elect peers Of their own political
creed to represent the Scotch peerage in
the House OF Lords, il naturally follows
that those members OF the Northern
Kingdom who are Liberals, and who do
not happen to possess peerages of the
United Kingdom, are debarred from any
share in the political life of their coun-
try. They are indeed deprived Of most
OF the civic privileges OF commoners.
without enjoying the compensation of
those of the English members Of their
order.
In conclusion, it may be said that the
union has rendered impossible any recur-
renee Of the ante-reformation days Of