The Irish standard., 1911-01-21
plies successfully to all critics.
How Titles Are Bestowed.

british ministry. 1t does not hold
rs important place in tho economy
of English political life as cegiving
does in American, but it does hold
hig place. Very often the support of
the opposition of an important man
depends on the question whether or
not he is going to get an honor.
There arc three great classes of
lonors The first and smallest is a
knghthood The difference between
a knishthood and q baronetcy-the
next step In tho grade of honors--is
that the baronetcy is hereditary, which
the knighthood is not. knighthoods
are given to city officials, especially
if they have entertained royalty or
any distinguished foreign potentates
during their year of office. 1t is also
given to various distinguished naval
and military officers, and, finally, is
given to great actors and dstn-
guished Journalists. One of the rca-
sons why knighthood is bestowed
instead of baronetcy is that the re-
cipient is poor and therefore has not
he means to support the title for
his descendants.
The baronetcy is often stepping
stone to higher things. Lord Burn
ham, for instance, WIS Sir Edward
Lawson before he WIS created IA peer.
Similarly Lord Northcllre, the pro-
prictor of the Daily Mail and many
ether newspapers, was Sir Alfred
llnrmswOrth for several years. When
q great man of business wants a title
ii is usually IL bnronetcy which is con-
ferred upon him. By and by. if he
l'c seized with a further ambition, and
if he desires to retire from the active
political life of the House OF Com
mons, he gets IL peeragc.
How Money Makes Rank.
One of the first necessities of the
all political struggles is to have funds,
and funds are not always to be OBJ
| have no legislation to give away in
| England for money and that source OF
| political revenue is shut off. Nor does
| il often happen that Office, either ma
tional or political, brings In any mon
ey. so that source of revenue does
not exist. What, then, is left outside
;,,
ducememt to subscribe money to tho
| big fund which encll party is bound 70
raise? A general election is still a
very expensive performance in Eng
land. Each side. ii is calculated,
spends something like $5,OO0,0O0. In
deed, one OF the many quaint obiec-
tions raised by opposition journals
to the last election is that $lO,00O,OO
was wasted upon it.
The honors are the only resource
left. 1t is !; system of doubtful ethics,
but all criticism upon il by one party
or the other is hypOcriticnl because
both parties do it alike Now and then
II wild man gets mp in the House Of
Commons and dcnonnces 1t. But the
wild man is usually someone who new
ar could hope 10 get in the honor list
| himself and who is, therefore, able
to speak of il with the detachment of
the fox and the sour grapes. And ac-
cordingy nobody pays much attention
to him.
| II has come, then, to this that if 4
man with a large fortune and an am.
bilious wife desires to become n bar
Onct, he has to make Il certain sub.
scriptiOn to funds OF the particular
party to which he belongs If he de.
sires to become a peer, the subscrip-
ton has, of course, to be higher. The
exact amount of the figure is often
mentioned in private conversation, al
though with that tremendous retl-
cence over these little social blem.
ishes in English life which is charac-
leristic of the country, the question
is rarely discussed in the newspapers
! have heard the sum for baronetcy
put at $4,000 and for a peerage at
double that figure. But these figures
are purely conjectural. There is only
one person in either party who knows
all these ansactions-namely, the
chief party whip. And the chief party
whip is usually man who can be
trusted to hold his tongue.
OF course, there are occasional
scandals. The world wakes up one
morning to find that some person en-
.tirely undistinguished by intellect OF
perhaps distinguished by the want oi
it. has been deemed worthy of being
honored by his sovereign by being
created one Of the peers of the realm
Now and then the intrusive petticoat
ie heard Of in this, and in most hui
man transactions, and even the sug
gestion has been made that somebody