SALE OF TITLES.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 February 1918, Page 8

SALE OF TITLES.

son;: Rrviolations. PRFMIEPi'S ''XO-PAYMENT" CERrii'ICATF. Earl Loreburn, in the House of Lords recently, moved his resolution requiring a declaration to hot]« the Sovereign and the people that honors are not sold. A friend lisul told him that five or six years ago he had been thr:'e times offered a baronetcy tor £2.'>,000 and a knighthood for £15,1100, the latter, quotatipn being reduced to .t 10.000, with a promise that the subscription would count for a future baronete*. He had heard of several such transaction-*. SPECIFIC CASES WITH AMOUNT?. Lord Selborne dealt with specific en see. He said lliat Sir J nines Gildea, secretary to the Soidiers' and Sailors' Families Association. had told him that be was oflercd £'25,000 by one person and CHI.00,) each by two others towards the funds of the association if lie would undertake to use his influence to obtain r. baronetcy or knighthood for each of the individuals concerned Sir James declined in have anything whatever to do with such transactions, with the insult that not a penny of the money went to the association. Another ease was tiiat of Mr. George ! Hoinian. who had been seven timaa, i .Mayor o! Lewes, Sussex, and bad done' much public work. At the end of his seventh mayoralty some of his friends interviewed the party Whip at headqua ters with a view of getting some honor for him. The Whip agreed that it was a clear case for an honor, but asked, "What ic lie prepared to give to my party funds?" Mr llolman said in no circumstance* would he contribute (o the party tunc'., and the Whip refused to carry the matter further without such a c tribution. AX APPLICANT IX THE "TRADE." Other case--, Lord Selbonrne said, had been forwarded to him by Sir George Kckewicli, formerly Permanent Secretary to the Education Department, and at one time member for Exeter. Sir George assured him that when he was in Parliament, nt the time when the Licensing Bill of the liberal Government was before the House, a friend of his, not unconnected with the "Trade," came to him and' said he wanted a knighthood. He waintroduced to the Whig, and was »/M there would be no difficulty about his request. The man was a Liberal, and a benefactor of the borough of which, he iiad been Mayor He was told there were two conditions lie would have to follow. The first was to abandon his opposition to the Licensing Bill, and the second was to subscribe ,tSOOO to the party fundi, The man agreed to these conditions, and his nanie appeared in the next' list of honors.

Earl Curzon vacated his contention that party contributions should not be n liar to honors. But tlie Government meant to sot tlieir face against the scandal* alleged. Still, the preamble to the resolution conveyed a serious implication on four living Prime Ministers. Lord l/oreburn had worr the mantle of impeccable virtue, but he reminded him of the. action taken by the Government of which lie was a member in 1911, when it was announced that the then Prime Minister had received the assent of the Sovereign to the creation of a large number of peers in order to override any possible opposition to the passage of the Parliament Bill. How could he have defended the individual appointments 111 t'hat case? PREMIER'S CERTIFICATE. The resolution was amended and finally adopted, without the preamble reflecting 011 Prime Ministers. This wag defeated by 48 votes to 34. The operative words of the resolution will be: "It is desirable that the Prime Minister. before recommending any person for any honor or dignity, should satisfy himself that no payment or expectation of payment, to nnv party or political fund is directly or indirectly associated with the grant or promise of such honor or dignity." •