El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-03
By
Frederic
]. Haskin

the same old way The British Will
have the substance, but not the form;
the Americans will have the form but
not the substance.
This is the way it works. Britain is
the land of compromise No question
is ever threshed out to the bottom.
When a political quarrel becomes fierce
and heated both sides swearing that
they never will quit, someone pops Hp
and says that this quarrel is detri-
mental to the interests of the crown
The interests of the crown are to be
preferred, in Britain, above all things.
And therefore everybody gets together
and some kind Of a working agreement
Is patched up. 1t seldom is given the
form of legal enactment, but merely is
a gentleman's agreement between OPP
posing political leaders, and is binding
only by virtue of the EnglishmanS
sportsmanlike conception of fair play.
1t is because of this habit of working
Britain gets along as it does. Because
of the compromise England retains
more of medieval feudalism than any
other European country and at the
same time has the most successful sys-
tenn Of popular government Because
OF the compromise, the church of Eng
land exists al once as a militant and
deeply spiritual religious organization,
and as a more or less corrupt political
promise, it is possible for Mr.. Asquith
to advocate the abolition of the power
of the house of lords, while leaving it's
form intact; and it is possible for Mr..
Balfour 10 advocate the reform Of the
house of lords, leaving its spirit I'M
changed.
An OvervOrked Custom.
The whole history of British politics
is permeated with this spirit of COM
promise-with this desire to reach
substantial working agreement without
very much regard for forms or cere-
monies. England did once decapi
a king, but its usual practice has been
TO leave the kings head on his should
ers and to take power away from his
elbow. The experiment of ending the
Stuart dynasty by by cutting off King
Charles head having proved a failure,
the next time 1t seemed necessary to
end that dynasty, the king was taken
firmly but gently and set off his throne,
and the job was given to a more pliable
monarch under a contract which ma
teriaEy cut down the royal power
Since that time it has been the habit
of English people, every little while
to take for themselves the use of some
kingly prerogative or noble privilege,
although never seeming to interfere
with royalty or aristocracy- The people
take the goods" and leave the titles
and gilt trappings with their former
owners.
The people in 1892. after a tremend-
Gus struggle in behalf OF honesty and
decency in government, forced the I'M
willing King William " to sign writ
ten promise giving to the peoples rep
resentatives the right to create a suf-
ficient number OF brand new peers 10
form majority of the house Of lords
and thereby to pass the reform bill.
king, any other people but the English
would have exercised it, and would have
then and there put an end to the power
Of the ariStOcracy to thwart the will
OF the people. But, in this supreme
hour as in every other crisis. there was
a compromise The Duke of Wellington
and his house of lords being beaten
passed the reform bill. and the peoples
representatives did not exercise the
right OF making several hundred new
peers.
People vs.. Peers.
Again the people and the peers are
arraigned against each other, and as in
the time of King William, the final
decision may come from the king. who.
after all, is the legal source of all pow
er in the United Kingdom Britain was
agitated over the question of whether
or not Mr.. Asquith would demand of
King Edward the right TO create a
wholesale lot OF radical peers, as was
done in the revolution OF 1882. Very
suddenly king Edward dies and George
V came 70 the throne.
Instantly men Of all parties and class
es declared that IL would De a shame
TO embarrass the new king by forcing
him to take decisive action in a can
StitutiOnal crisis - I've very beginning
Of his reign. Therefore q truce was
MADE, ana, ~nder the "a tSldency or KING
George, the leaders OF the two great
political parties entered upon a series
of conferences looking toward a COM
promise.
But after all it may be that the new
king will be forced to decide the mo-
mentous issue. The king has more
power and more influence that most
Americans think, and the one factor in
the present British crisis about which
It is impossible to form a definite
conclusion is that unknown quantity
King George V
TOmorrow-His Majesty King George.
girl. but her chances of making a really