The Sun SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1928. KEEPER OF THE KING’S CONSCIENCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 318, 31 March 1928, Page 8

The Sun SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1928. KEEPER OF THE KING’S CONSCIENCE

ANOTHER Scot has secured the position of Lord High Chancellor. The Rt. Hon. Sir Douglas Hogg, who served in the South African War with the 19th Lothian and Berwick Yeomanry, has succeeded the late Earl Cave, whose death, following so abruptly on his retirement a few days ago, deprives the Empire of a splendid representative of all that is best in British devotion to justice. It has been reff) rted from London that Sir Douglas Hogg’s acceptance of the responsible post caused surprise in the House of Commons, where a great career for him appeared in prospect. It is even suggested that he surrendered ambition out of loyal deference to his chief, Mr. Stanley Baldwin. If any sacrifice of future political fame were made, there does not seem to fee much cause for sympathy. The compensations are such as to assuage grief over the loss of personal ambition. The Lord High Chancellorship is the most lucrative office in the Empire, worth £IO,OOO a year, and a pension of £5,000 annually irrespective of the term of service. This is double the salary of the British Prime Minister. Moreover, the Lord Chancellor is the first official in the Kingdom and is also the traditional keeper of the King’s conscience—a sinecure under the Windsors. AVhat more could an ambitious Scot want? Of course, it says something exceptional for the ability and character of the lawyer-politician who merely has to enter in and take possession, with a delightful reluctance, of the richest prize in politics. But it is wonderful how so many of these grim men from over the Border calmly take the seats of the mighty in London and make great Englishmen “hewers of wood and drawers of water for their Caledonian masters.” And yet, and yet, a Scottish clergyman, as a member of the ll*hse of Commons, with “a bent for political argument” has devised a .legislative bill to give Scotland a measure of home rule! He does not realise that political union with “they English” has been more profitable to ambitious Scotsmen than were the old Border raids and reiving of cattle. In the past score of years at any rate Scotland has done well in the only political administrative position that yields £IO,OOO a year and a bonnie pension. After the record reign of the great Lord Halsbury in the lofty position of Lord High Chancellor—a period that must have exhausted the patience of many Sdots, to say little about the possibility of having broken the hearts of some of them—Scottish pleaders soon got into their gait and reached the best money. Covet not thy neighbour’s possessions may be a forbidding commandment in Caledonia, but it does not apply across the Border. So in turn the King’s conscience was kept admirably by Lord Loreburn, known best in politics as Bob Reid, by Viscount Haldane and, later, by Viscount Finlay and again by Viscount Haldane. For a time and longer than most people appreciated, Lord Birkenhead, alias “Galloper” Smith, had charge of the great seal which is affixed to Royal documents, hut nobody ever credited him with being keeper of the King’s conscience. India is now the noble earl’s mount, and a Royal Commission is now seeking to discover whether he rides a galloping horse or a distempered elephant. It may be true that Mr. Baldwin wanted the Earl of Birkenhead to go back to the woolsack, but it will be no less true that the Prime Minister will have no cause for regret at the appointment of Sir Douglas Hogg. The former Attorney-General has proved his merit and mettle in the hurly-burly of administrative polities, and can be depended upon to maintain the Lord Chancellorship in firm dignity and distinguished service. The new Chancellor is not altogether a lawyer. Before politics gripped him he learnt the ways of business as a sugar-cane grower in the West Indies and British Guiana, while for eight years he was a merchant in London. He has proved that there is sweetness in other things besides sugar-cane. Ten thousand pounds a year, and a certain pension of half as much, is surely a sugared morsel, even though it compels the consumer to let his ambition perish. The King’s conscience is still in the hands of a good keeper.