Evening star., 1923-06-09
Rich Heir to Ancient Estates
Likely to Make Fight for Title

master Of the royal household in
Scotland and also hereditary carver
to the king in Scotland. Lord Car
michael has always been reluctant to
go to the enormous expense of estab- :
fishing his claims to the earldom or
Hyndford as well as 10 the barony
Of Durie of Anticosti before the COM
mittee of privileges of the house of
lords at Westminster. where the pro-
ceedings would have cost anywhere
from S150.000 tooh quarter of a mil
lion. He considered this all the more
unnecessary In View of the fact that
the government had already raised
him TO q purely modern peerage, as
Lord Carmichael for his services as
singularly successful administrator
of great oversee dependencies. But
as | have mentioned above, his cousin
and his next heir Sir Henry Gibson
Craig. who will follow him in the
possession of the entailed Skirling
estates of the Earls of Hyndford. is
not likely to be influenced by any
/ such pecuniary consideration, being
very well to do.
To what extent Lord Carmichael
has been regarded as the lawful Earl
Of Hyndford and as fourteenth Lord
Durie of Anticosti is perhaps best
shown by the fact that, having been
elected to parliament for Midlothian
in succession TO William E. Gladstone,
whose friendship and confidence he
enjoyed in a very marked degree. he
was forced to resign his seat through
the objections raised by the Rt.
Hon. Joseph Chamberlain and other
unionist leaders, who contended that
he had no right TO sit and vote in the
house Of commons. since, by inheri-
tanCe. he was presumably a peer OF
Scotland In fact. an acrimonious
debate actually took place In the
house of commons about the matter,
and it was in consequence of the pos
n
measure in the lower chamber being
invalidated on the ground that he
was Il peer, and Of the heavy fine
which the casting of such a vote
would have involved, that he with
| drew and was shortly afterward
raised to the house of lords as Lord
Carmichael.
Until that time the impression had
| prevailed that a member of the house
OF commons could retain his seat
there, even after succeeding to a
peerage, until the moment when he
received the indispensable writ of
summons from the crown to the house
Of lords. The discussion brought to
| light, however, the legal fact that a
| m MEMBERS seat in the~lower chamber
becomes invalid from the very mo-
ment that he inherits a peerage. no
matter whether he receives a writ OF
summons in the house of lords or not
That is to say, in cases such as Lord
Carmichael, where there is pre-
sumption of his right to the peerage
without his claims having been ac-
knowledged by the crown in the form
of writ of summons, it is up to the
member to establish definitely either
before the committee of privileges or
else before some high court OF law
| the fact that he Is not an heir to any
peerage before he can be allowed to
retain his seat and to cast his vote
In the house of commons.
1t may be added in conclusion that
Lord Carmichael. In addition to the
emtnence which he has acquired as
a colonial administrator, as an art
lover and expert--he Is a trustee OF
the National Gallery of England, on
Trafalgar square. and Of the Wallace
Museum in London-and as heir to
the earldom of Hyndford. so rich in
Scottish romance. drama and tragedy,
is world famed also as the greatest
living authority on centipedes and
spiders. his remarkable knowledge of
these insects and his uncanny infiu-
ence on them winning for him the
profound awe and respect of the ma
tives of India, when he was governor
Of Madras, of Bengal and Of Bombay.
where he Is still remembered to this
day for his amazing Haroun al Ras-
] child adventures among the natives of
, the lowest as we'll as of the highest
class. In native disguise he pene-
trated everywhere, and 1t is doubtful
whether any British governor ever
achieved SO much success among the
natives, whose various languages and
dialects he spoke without any trace
of accent. Indeed, to this day there
Is no British name that Is to such an
extent a household word throughout
| the length and. breadth of India as
Carmichael"