New-York tribune., 1909-05-23
The Bulk of 1t Is Deposited in Foreign Banks
Saws ExAttache-Valued at S25O.O000OO.

until he has been restored to full liberty and
aes,,rancas have been obtained that he is an
entirely, free agent and not acting under fear
or commission for 1t relieves their anxiety as
IN the safety of their own savings-that is to
say of the money that they have put away in
nrevision of a rainy day. Most of them have
funds on deposit abroad. for in these days OF
democracy there are few, if any, of the anointed
of the Lord who can feel absolutely secure
against the danger Of any popular uprising or
national catacIysm. Whenever ruler Is over
thrown one of the first things that happens is
the con1scation of his fortune. The various
reigning dynasties Of France, of Spain, of Ma
niles of Tuscany and of Parma have all under
gone this experience within the last .undred
wears and while Duke Ernest Of Brunswick ana
of Cumberland has. through the chiValry OF the
,,-esent German Emperor. recovered control Of
his enormous private fortune, which had oeeh
seouestered for more than a quarter Of a CEN
tur, b:- Prince Bismarck, all the crown prop
erty of the former House of Hanover remains
confscated.
One Of the disadvantages to which rulers are
subjected. and from which ordinary citizens are
naturally immune is the state of uncertainty IN
the popular mind as to their title 10 any prop
ertv which they may possess There Is usually
no question at all about the ownership Of the
banking deposits cf a private individual, always
providing that the money has not been stolen'
but all sorts of arguments raised with re-
gard to the rights of royalty to property. The
latter may be divided for convenience sake into
three cIasses-namely, their entirely private es-
tate resulting from legacies. from savings and
from successful investments, sometimes even
speculations. Then there is the income when
the sovereign and the members of the reigning
a1 acrrryr
the head of civil list The latter must not be
regarded in any way a stipend. but merely
as a ouid pro quo for crown lands which they
have ceded to the nation. Thus in England
the crown lands which Queen Victoria and Ed
ward VII surrendered to the national treasury
on their accessions for the duration of their re-
spective reigns only, yield an annual revenue
by several million dollars larger than that
which the present King receives as civil list
from the treasury. Finally, there is what Is
known as crown property; that is TO say. prop
ertv which is. so TO speak. entaed in the reign
ing house so that It cannot be alienated Ihus
in England the crown property comprises BUCK
inghan. Palace and Windsor Castle, with their
contents, sundry other palaces and the real es-
tate mining rights. etc, Of the Duchies OF Lam
caster and of Cornwall. including whole districts
of the metropolis In Prussia the crown prop
very extensive. It is the same in Austria "hlie
in Russia il is estimated that nearly one-htth OF
the cultivated area is embraced in what Is
known as the domain.
As soon as ever a monarch loses his crown his
civil list is stopped. no matter how much he may
he morally entitled thereto through the con-
tract which he has virtually made with the ma
ton at the time of his accession. If his dynasty
happens TO be overthrown at the same time. the
revolutionary government promptly proceeds TO
seize the crown property regardless OF the fact
that the fallen ruler has inherited IT from a
long line of ancestors and that 1t has beeh
owned by his family. often for many hundreds
of wears The revolutionary government usually
nuts forward the argument that the basis OF
the right of the fallen dynasty TO the property
was its possession Of sovereign power; that
without the latter the reigning house would
never have been able TO retain its domains. ana
that since the sovereignty has passed from the
family its title to the crown property ceases
inso facto. and becomes vested in the state.
or course there is always confusion as to
what constitutes crown property and what prl-
vate property. Thus, when the King and Queen
of Naples were driven from their capital sill the
contents of their palaces, their silver, even the
laces and fans of the Queen, were seized and
confscated Only two years ago the French tri-
bunals gave Judgment against ex-Empress Eu-