The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-03
Members of the Cabinet Named
to Take Complete Charge. Body
Virtually Is a Directorate

commander every merchant vessel.
every motor and other wheeled con
Vcyancc. every draught animal. every
saaulc horse. every mandatory. mine
and quarry and factory in the
IL can place An embargo upon the ex-
port of every species of British
produce. prohibit the import OF all
foreign goods. forbid all vessels. under
the penalty Of seizure and conhsca-
ton. to trade with foreign countries,
determine the nature of c%ontraband
and decree the blockade of hostile
ports.
BY means of an order in council,
the King and the newly formed spe-
cial committee of the Cabinet. or rather
] should say of the privy Council. jast
organized To take charge of the war;
can. without any additional lcglslai ON
IN Parliament. compel every man 10
serve the country in the ranks o; the
army. on board The w3-sh!ps OF the
navy. in munitiou factories. mines.
on railroad lines and even in the cui-
tiration OF the crops Of the United
Kingdom.
OF course the Ministers OF the Crown
who are members of this special COM
mittec may DE eventually called upon
in Parliament 10 recount for any or
der in council that appears to Rave
been unduly harsh or contrary to the
rights which the British claim. under
;hc terms Of their Tor the most part
uowrittcn national constitution. But
while the various Ministers may he
criticised in either House. they can
not he punished for any specific act
performed by virtue Of al order in
council. All that could he done in
an extreme case would he to vote
their Impeachment for having given
~treasonablc advice in their official
capacity to the Crown.
In fact. the bills Of indemnity which
tie Imperial LEGISLATURE has passed
from time TO time for the protection
of acts OF Ministers. performed under
the terms of an order in council. have
always bee regarded by the highest
legal experts in the land as wholly
' supert'uous and az merely adopted 10y
Parliament for The purpose of making
a display and m assertion OF it's au-
thority. 1t must be thoroughly UNDER
stood that all orders in council have
statutory force Until actually repealed
by act OF Parliament, that is to say,
Until withdrawn by h sovereign.
since no act of Parliament enjoys IN
legal value until it has received the
sanction of the Crown. Parliament.
| indeed. cannot even meet without an
order in council from the King. sum
mon.ng II to its legislative duties.
From this Il will he seen hat the
powers possessed by the war commit
tee of the Cabinet which anne into
existence on Monday last are virtu-
ally those K a dictatorate. They will
be exercised in the name OF and in con-
junction with the King. II is a die
tatorate. therefore, which will in no.
wise interfere or impair the sover-
! eighty OF the monarch. since every or
! der must bear his sign manual. But
II Is to ali intents and purposes in
dependent for the time being OF the
contro! Of Parliament.
In one word. the committee is moth
ing more nor less than "A resurrection
OF the star Chamber Of the Tudor
and Csuecially % the stuart. rulers.
which for nearly three hundred years
las boon a hyvord IN English politics
as n non for some Of the ~ors'
forms nj royal tgIshi'! Wv :
of Grcat Britain. The Star Chamber
of the sixteenth and seventeenth GEN.
turtles was and remains an object "'
popular eNc"ration. The star 'naW'
Der of 1915 has been called into exist
cnce pv tho will Of the people ana III
responsc to popular demand.
Il nay not. therefore, he anliSs u
call. in the briefest manner possln''
the attention of tn" readers Oh ~
S,.H 20 the way in which these eisnI
men have Won the c"nhdehc" o' 'hei'
fellow citizens in such a degree as 1t