If the Sovereign be Under Age

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 31, 6 February 1937, Page 5

If the Sovereign be Under Age

Regency Bill Passes After Lively Debate AND LORDS GET TIRED OP WAITING United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright LONDON, Feb. 5. Lively passages between the socalled wild men of the Left and 1 Sir John Simon and Earl Winter- ! ton occurred in the committee 1 stage of the Regency Bill in the House of Commons. j Mr Ede, on the first clause laying down that the Sovereign attains his majority at 18, said: “An ordinary vvinor could not manage an estate, citizens cannot vote or a peer or members of the House of Commons take hi* seat until he is 21.” ' Sir John Simon recalled that Queen Victoria came to the Throne when 18, He did not think there was any justification for departing from the traditional age. ) The clause was adopted without a division. On clause two. Sir John Simon moved an amendment making it possible for four or more persons, instead of three or more, to declare the Sovereign incapable of performing his Royal functions. Ho explained that in a case o l three out of six there might bo an equal 1 division among the six, Mr G. Le M. Mander and Mr Ede ! thought that no member of the Royal , family ought to be associated in tho matter, the former arguing that tho ; person next succeeding would be in a , difficult position if he had to decide whether the Sovereign was insane or | not. There might be feeling in the I country, and the person ascending the Throne should not be a subject of controver* y. “I protest against this attempt to deceive the House and the country into the belief that this is a permanent Bill,” <said Mr Gallacher. “It is directed against the present monarch ! and the House is already discussing j before the Coronation how it is going I to find a substitute for him.” Earl Winterton described Mr Gallacher’s suggestion ax a monstrous assumption which could only be made by someone who approached his adbject with a distorted brain. Mr Maxton: What is your justification for contradicting him! Earl Winterton: The statement is without foundation. Mr Maxton insinuates that there is something in the personal position of the King that makes this Bill necessary. It is a monstrous statement and quite untrue. Mr Maxton The noble lord is, of course, a master of vituperation. Mr Gallacher, resuming his speech, described Earl Winterton’s intervention s.s “ignorant presumption” and accused him of “ serving out insults as it pleases his high majesty.” He added that 3 v<-y Regency Bill hitherto had related to their Heir Apparent if he were a minor; this Bill related to the reigning monarch. Sir John Simon, replying, recalled :hat on his last illness King George V. had said it was possible for him to perform his necessary duties to the end, but suppose there was a case in which the monarch was completely and suddenly rendered incapable from physical illness or mental diseuse. The country mder the existing constitution would bo ' Lhout. means of securing the appointnent of a Regent. Sir John said there was no truth whatever in tho statement that there was something suspicious about tho Bill. He would be prepared, if it " ere the wish of the House, to exclude from the list of persons making a declaration in case of incapacity tho one who would become Regent. I think Wq should retain tho husband o r wife of tho sovereign. The clause was aerced to as amendAMENDMENT ADOPTED. Received Friday, 7 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 5. Sir John Simon moved as an amendment another clause deleting the words saying that tho Regent must be a resident of the United Kingdom and substituting the words “domiciled in Borne part of the United Kingdom.” Sir John Simon said it had been explained that the Regent might be a person act ing as a Governor-General in a Do min ion or might be in a Dominion for a temporary purpose and thus not a resident but domiciled in the United Kingdom. The amendment was adopted. Mr. Maxton asked why tho Regent must be 21 while a King could be 18. Sir Donald Somervell replied that there must be a Regent when the heir to the throne was under 18 and the potential Regent might be only a few months older. It was thought '.here should be a minimum gap of three I years. ' The Bill was read a third time wirn out a division and sent to the Lordwho, tired of waiting, had adjourned. OATH NOT DEFINED Received Friday, 7 p.m. CAPETOWN, Feb. 5. The Corouation Oath Bill does not give tho actual terms of the oath but declares that “the Oath shall be administered to tho King at the Coronation, the purport of which shall bo that he will govern tho people of the UnioL according to statutes agreed on in the Union Parliament and according to their other laws and customs and that he will cause Jaw, justice and mercy to be executed in all his judgments.” General Hortzog said the Bill pro-

vided a common form of oath to which the Dominion Governments had agreed.