THE TRAFFIC IN TITLES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 303, 20 December 1913, Page 17

THE TRAFFIC IN TITLES.

HEAVY TARIFF IN ENGLAND.

CHEAPER ON THE CONTINENT

Even ia Great Britain titles can be purchased for cash. It is no secret that birth ■the great political parties ore prepared to secure recognition for men who subscribe liberally to party funds. There Is, at the present time, an M.P. who has never distinguished himself In the House by speeches (for he seldom speaks), but who, nevertheless, possesses a Title. Asked by ■a friend on one occasion in a smoklngroom at St. Stephen's what he had done to earn the honour, he drew his questioner aside, and smilingly patted his pocket. But for a British title a man must pay heavily. A quarter of a million was the price which, according to a fearless politician not in Parliament, was paid in connection with a comparatively recent creation o£ a peer of the realm. Sir George Kekewi.-h. a LiDeral member and former secretary of the Education Board, declared at a recent public meeting that there was a regular tariff for the purchase of honours. He said the tariff was: A knighthood, foO.000: a baronetcy, £05.000; a peerage. £SO,OOO. The sums go into the party funds. Sir George, who Is joined with other public men In a campaign for clean government, says he knows of actual Instances where these figures ■have been paid for honours, which on their faces looked like spontaneous signals of the Royal approval. The revelations have created a great sensation. Not long ago the following advertisement appeared in the columns of a' London morning daily:— "POEEIGN TITLE OF BARON.— -*- Opportunity to Purchase above; highest references required. We do not reflect la any way upon the genuineness or otherwise of that transaction. There is no doubt, however, that a large number of people in various parts of Europe are using titles to which they have no right by birth, or as a reward for public service. Some of these are purchased for cash, but a good many worthless titles are assumed without payment. It Is estimated that at least 120 British subjects are the holders of foreign titles, acquired In an honourable way, although they are not recognised in this country as conferring any privilege or precedence. Lord Nelson, for example, is Duke of Bronte, and Lord Dundonald is a marquess in Brazil. BOGrS TITLES. Scores of men and women, however, use worthless titles unblus-hingly, and nowadays it Is the rule rather than the exception for them to be adopted without even the authority of a dubious piece of parchment. A few weeks ago a well-known French writer produced a book in which he poured scorn upon some of the spurious noblesse of modern Paris. Some of these aristocrats derive their titles from agents of the Vatican, in return for liberal contributions to [ the Papal exchequer. Thus a well-to-do tradesman In the Riviera, eight years ago, blossomed out Into a duke. Another plebeian bought up a ruined castle iv Luxembourg, and on the strength of it claims the same rank. A Mr. and Mrs. , with the authority of the Vatican, describe themselves as Prince aud Princess

de , although the Republican Government do not, of course, admit their right to the title so far as the French nobility Is concerned. Scores of such Instances might be mentioned, and in addition to them it would not be difficult to compile a still longer list of "noblemen" flaunting their self-assumed titles ■in French society w-ho have not even this questionable right. They have calmly changed their name sometimes by giving it a respectable air by adding "de," aud sometimes by annexing that of a family of ancient lineage which has died out. The last Napoleon, it is said, was always readily sell the title of a baron for a mere £liiO. and under the Republic there was a time ■when the Legion of Honour was bartered by the then President's son-in-law. But all this has changed, and the coveted riband is to-day as much above reproach as the Victoria Cross has always been. THE GERMAN WAY. It is fair to -the German Emperor to say that, ever since the Franco-Prussian war, the Imperial Government has steadily held itself aloof from the sale of decorations, and people who assume titles to which they have no right are liable -to very vigorous prosecuiion. When a title of nobility is conferred, the fees paid to the Chancellery are six times as much as those paid for peerages of equal rank in Great Britain, and it is said that Prince Bismarck never took up the dukedom conferred upon him by his grateful emperor for the simple reason that he did not wish to part with the fees. Whether the petty kings and grand dukes of the Fatheriand are as much above suspicion iv these matters is a point upon which I should have some doubt. Certainly the sovereign of one of the German kingdoms used to drive a bargain now and then when he was travelling in other'parts of the Continent, but his successor has not followed his example, and since the end of the last century most of the European Courts have become far more conservative, or have found that the demand is not so keen as it used to be. DUKEDOMS FOX £SOO. If one may believe the dealers, there are Italian dukes now living who came by their titles for a cash payment of fSOO, and others who sport the knightly dignity of the Isabella la Cattolica of Spain in virtue of having paid £300 cash down. But the foreigner who should proceed to Madrid or Kome in the hope of picking up a patent of nobility would meet with the same treatment as an American if he walked into St. James' Palace and asked the net price of a British earldom. Now and then an impecunious holder of an ancient pedigree in Italy or in Eastern Europe is tempted to dispose of his ancestral estates -to a parvenu, and does not object to part with his title, which Is thWe and then assumed by the pun-haser. Almost Invariably the transaction is ignored by the sovereign, but this does not prevent the new noble from using the title in Paris or at Monte Carlo. Still, .in the haunts of luxury, tradesmen are nowadays too wily to be Imposed upon by a mere title as such, and the swell criminal has learned, to his cost, that the mere assumption of a high-sounding name is a disadvantage. People who use bogus titles are, as a general rule, more fool than knave, and the most they can hope for Is c dubious hour of social triumph.