Flotsam and Jetsam.

Manawatu Herald, 5 June 1894, Page 3

Flotsam and Jetsam.

(By Motuiti.) At the close of my last writing I stated that instead of being supported "at an outrageous cost " by the nation, Victoria is actually giving yearly a large sum of money for the privilege of being our Queen. Let me prove this. Here are the facts of they may be relied upon. The British Civil List is some £885,000 ; the grants to members of the Royal Family ; and the salary of the Viceroy of Ireland, £20,000; total, £576,000. A large sum total this, it may be said ; but small certainly by comparison with that of any of the great States of the present day. Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Spain, the United States of America, each of these in this present year of grace pays a higher Civil List than England. " I speak by the book." But, while the British Civil List is £385,000 per annum, let U3 grasp the historical fact that the second Act passed in the first year of Queen Victoria's reign was that which settled the income of the sovereign and is entitled "The Act of the Civil List." That Act appropriated for the maintenance of the Queen the sum of £885,000, and it is still the same. But, in return, and that Her Majesty might not be guilty of the extravagance of her predecessors, Her Majesty was required to make over to the nation all the Crown

property and her interest therein for her natural life, and in lieu of this concession the annual sum of £385,---000 was guaranteed her. So, since the year 1887, the Government has been renting and farming the Queen's lands add properties, and making a profit out of the same 1 For what is the actual fact ? The average annual income to the nation from Her Majesty's estate, from the first year of her reign till 1890, has been over £400,000, thus leaving to the State a average yearly gain of £15,---000 ! That is to say, for the privilege of reigning c\er us the Queen has actually been paying at the average rate of £15,000 a year for the last 57 years ! No doubt she thinks the game worth the candle. Intelligent reader of the Manawatu Herald, would you ? Scarcely ! Further, out of the yearly sum of £385,000 granted to the Queen, in lieu of the crown properties handed over to the State, Her Majesty is allowed only £60,000 for her private purse, that is, to spend as she thinks fit. All the rest is spent for her by Parliament as they think fit — in keeping up palaces, steam yachts, foxhounds, gold sticks-in-waiting, and such-like paraphernalia considered necessary (by Parliament) for the maintenance of the Eoyal dignity, 1 his is a faot either not generally known or, if known, not sufficiently considered. Yet it is a hard and certain fact all the same. In the disposal of £328,000 of her annual income the Queen of England has little more say than you or I have, A tax of less than one farthing per had on all her subjects would more than cover the £60,000 a year which she is allowed to spend as she pleases. One penny per year for each family in the Empire — not such an oppressive amount, when one comes to think of it ! The plain truth is that the income of the English Sovereign is smaller proportionately than that of any other ruler on the face of the earth. " But the total of the British Civil List is £576,000, and not merely this personal sum of £60,000," says our Foxton republican. Granted. Then compare this total with the Civil List of the United States of America ; not to speak of Prussia, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, in all of which the form of Government is infiniLely more expensive. Civil Lists of the United States— President and Vice-President, 83,000 dollars ; Senators, 230,000; Representatives in Congress, 1,465,000 ; travelling expenses and stationery for both, 119,000; State Governors, 168,000; State and Territorial Governments, 1,250,000 -total, 3,415,000 dollars, or roughly £853,000. That is the cost of the republican form of government in the United States of America, population 60,000,000 ; the cost of the crowned democracy of Great Britain and Ireland, population 40,000,000, is £576,000. Members of Parliament in the Old Country are not paid, and there no vice-presidents or state governors. It is true that English Cabinet Ministers of roceiva high salaries ; so also do the Cabinet Ministers of the American President. We may set them oft" one against the other. But the grants to the members of the Royal Family, the dowries to the children, and so on— what about them ? Well, I am afraid I have already filled a column of what I hope may be " readable matter " (for thinking readers), and that is about as much as the proprietor of the Herald is likely to pay for in one issue. O this lamentable " depression ! " But once upon a time 1 read the " Royal Marriage Act," and it threw quite a wonderful light on various matters that seemed dark enough before. In a future issue I may have the privilege (and profit !) of explaining some of its provisions to the readers of this paper. lime ! Hawe I