The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1907-01-10
4 MAN OF PRIVILEGE
tosOoN's LORD MAYOR spsmos-
AGE OF eoMP AND POWER


Th~ Fira Holder OF The HlEh and
niEhty Omee Wa. Elected In 1nso
and Proved Popular = Dick whit
tinEton and other Ancient worthiea.
The most impressive thing about the
inayoralty OF London Is It's great an
tIuIty. In Saxon and Norman times
LONDON was an independent state. and
the chief magistrate-the pOrtreeye. Or
the baIlin-was an absolute ruler. Tho
nrst mayor was elected in 1889. and be
was so popular that he retained The
Office for twenty-four years. The arst
lord mayors pageant was IN the reign
Of Henry VIII. and in II be figured a.
chief butler 10 Anne Boleyn
Through the long, intervening years
the lord mayor has retained many OF
his prerogatives as a ruler. Most peo-
pie have no idea how extensive his
privileges are.
He has his own chaplain On olden
days. like the monarch, he had his
jester. tool. and badges Of royalty are
attached TO his oftice-the seepter. the
swords Of justice and mercy and the
mace. BE has right OF precedence in
the city before all the royal family.
Soldiers N any number cannot march
through The city without his consent.
He hns the right OF private audience
with, the king. He has the privilege
OF direct entrance without question at
royal ieyees. He can at any time dis
solve the city courts, even that OF the
common coCncl. by removing the
sword and mace from the table. He
Is lord OF the river Thames. OF the con
servancy and he controls uie city
purse.
The majesty OF his state Is pretty
considerable too The city gives him a.
sum OF 10000 10 expend- His palace.
the Manslonl House, is furnished with
plate and ornaments worth 100000.
He has a splendid retinue OF servants.
including a sword bearer. mace bearer
and seven trumpeters. whose tiveries
cost some 1000 annually. He gives.
yearly banquet. which costs thou
sands Of pounds: and employs an army
OF 100 walters, cooks and carycrs.
Best OF all. he'll has the power to raise
vast sums OF money for charitable pur-
poses. In the last quarter OF a century
the lord mayors.of London have raised
nearly s6y000.o00 for the relief OF vari-
Gus people In distress.
Another feature which makes the
lord mayoralty attractive Ia lts glamour
OF romance More often than not the
king Of the city Is q self made man.
Dick whittinEtos started out as an
apprentice. as many other lord mayors
have done The mayor OF 1911 came to
London In rags in carriers cart The
wealthy mayor Of 1913 bad been a
founding. As recently as 1890 We had
lord mayor OF london who began life
as n bricklayer's lsborer.
When men ofrthis character are en-
allied TO the seats o. the mighty they
are apt to do freakish things at times
The laborer mayor instnDced above
had q sou who feb from high ladder
and was killed. and the mayor on being
brought to the spOt broke through tie
crowd. exclaimins. See that the poor
fellows watch is safe
Another self made lord mayor gave
Charles II. a. taste OF his quality
Charles dlned with him In the city, and,
the wine passed so freely that th.-
guests grew noisy and the MAYOR IA
mIliar. Charles therefore stole away
to his coach IN Guil6haIl yard. hut the
bIbulous mayor pursued his majesty.
and. catching him by the band. cried
ont. with a monstrous oath. "Slr. ynu
shall stay and TAX t'other bottle And
the merry monarch actually turIsd
back and saw the fun to a dnish
The temeFity OF this mayor seems. all
the more remarkable in view OF the
Stuart kings tyrannous dealings with
the city. He imprisoned twenty OF III,
principal citizens because they refg
him a loan on bad security. lie dned
the mayor and aldermen $4,000 on the
pretext OF trihing city riot and ESQ
600 for pretended mismanagenrnt Of
estates.
The mayors themselves. however.
could fine readily enough on. sccaSion.
For example. his worship Of the year
14T9 had one or his sherifs fned ESQ
Cabouh $1,000 OF our money, Tor knee,-
ing too close TO him while, at prayers In
81 paul'q