The Oskaloosa herald., 1914-02-12
ROYAL WARRANT men
Distinction Sought by Tradesmen
Of Great Britain.
Permission to Display Emblem of Sow
ereign Patronage Depends Upon
n a Service Rendered--When the
30 King Goes Shopping.

=" ming SoeS SnoppIn9'
London.-The ambition OF every
tradesman is to be numbered among
the royal warrant holders. and in a
position to describe himself, by Spe-
cial Appointment Purveyor to His
Majesty the King" Such distinc'
ton is highly profitable from bust
ness point of view, for 1t means that
the particular tradesman is placed
among the elite in his special line OF
business, and women especially. WHO
form the greater portion of the shop
ping community, naturally prefer TO
have dealings with a tradesman who
is in position to display the royal
arms. Many tradesmen are under
the impression that in order to obtain
the royal warrant il is only necessary
to fulfill an order, however slight, for
his majesty. Consequently they hope
that some fortuitous circumstance.
such as an unexpected stoppage on
the road may bring one of the kings
attendants into the establishment with
an order. Alas, for the optimism OF
man! Even il such all event did &C
cur there is little likelihood that the
long sought honor would accrue, for
royal warrants are not granted on
such slender grounds.
Before the royal arms can be dis
played. permission must be obtained
from the lord steward. This permits
sion is very rarely granted on the
strength OF solitary purchase, a po'
lite refusal being returned to The ap'
pliCant. But If frequent purchases
were made from an establishment. or
an order for large quantity OF goods
was delivered. it probably would fol-
low that should the trade apply for
permission to display the royal war
rant permission would be granted,
provided the commission had been ex.
ecuted in a satisfactory manner. Thus
all types Of tradesmen from tailOrs to
butchers, are to be numbered among
royal warrant holders. including an
humble flower seller en- the south
coast, who was in the habit of selling
buttOn.hoIes to the late King Edward
and other members Of the royal fam
lily.
It is not generally known that the
right of the royal warrant expires on
the death of the sovereign from whom
II was received. II is. however. Gus
tomary for the new king TO allow the
he
royal arms for the rest of his life
even though the new ruler may moi
make purchases, as did his predeCes
sors in the same quarter. In the case
OF limited companies considerable
tact and discretion have to be EN-
ploved, for the royal arms cannot be
Haunted with impunity.
When the king buys anything he
never inquiries its price, but should
any INSCRIPTIONS dealer think thai
orbitant price on this account the illu
sion is dispelled in due course. lmme
diately the account is sent in it is ex
amined by the keeper Of the privy
purse, who hands it over to the kings
valet. The latter official acts as his
majesty's private account, and it !:
his duty to see that reasonable price
has been charged II the price is ex
orbitant the account is returned to the
tradesman, accompanied by the sim
pie request that he submit 1t again
This is delicate hint which the
tradesman may take as he chooses
II he returns the account I'm it's orig
inal form it is paid. but he is hardly
likely to receive any moro royal pa
tronagc. The accounts having beef
properly checked. they are handed tC
the king for his approval and are
then discharged. Payment is always
promptly made, but even were this
not the case. the law Of the constitu
ton does not permit the king to b.
sued as debtor.
The German emperor can. however
be sued. for not long ago, a wine mer
chant claimed from him the sum o
G3. In the German law courts !
appears that the emperor had previ
Gus to this action paid the merchan
his account. less G3 discount and hat
then transferred his account to an
other wine merchant. The DISCARDED
wine merchant, finding that he ha,
lost the kalser's custom, determines
to have his revenge, and commence,
an action for the full amount due
Eventually the case was carried to tn,
supreme court of appeal. where I
was decided that the merchant wa
entitled to his &c.