The Hastings Standard Published Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1897. THE PERIPATETIC PREMIERS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 365, 6 July 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1897. THE PERIPATETIC PREMIERS.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

To-morrow tbe Colonial Premiers will lunch with the Queen ; but before they are indulged in that honor they will be sworn in with due ceremony as Privy Councillors. To those who have been fearful le-st Mr Seddon should exceed the titular bounds set by a self-sufficient democracy the announcement tliat a Privy Councillorship and not a knighthood was to ba bis Jubilee honor will be extremely satisfied. The institution of the Privy Council dates back to feudal times ; but since then it has undergone many modifications but has always been a coveted honor, conferring rank, precedence, and titular dignity. The duties of a Privy Councillor are dedefined by the oath of office as follows 1. To advise the Queen to the best of his cunning and discretion. 2. To advise for the Queen's honor and good of the public without partiality through affection, love, need, doubt or dread. 3. To keep the Queen's counsel secret. 4. To avoid corruption. 5. To help and strengthen the execution of what shall be resolved. 6. To withstand all persons who would attempt the contrary. 7. To observe, keep, and do all that a true counsellor ought to do to his sovereign. A Privy Councillor must be a natural born subject of Great Britain, and it is now understood that no members atteud tne deliberations of the Council except those who are specially summoned. It is a distinction that is seldom conferred, and it is only quite recently that colonials have been selected for the honor. The first recipient outside the United Kingdom was Sir John Macdonald, the Premier of Canada. Then came Mr W. B. Dalley of New South Wales, w T ho was chiefly responsible for the idea of sending colonial troops to the Soudan. Then came Mr Cecil Rhodes, the Napoleon of South Africa. Sir John Thompson, Premier of Canada, was the next to receive the honor, and the circumstances attending his swearing in were most tragic. Sir John was seized with illness just as he was about to sit down to lunch and expired in about half an hour. The suddenness of his death was a great shock to the Queen, and it is to be hoped Her Majesty will not suffer in the same way to-morrow. After Sir John Thompson came Sir Alfred Stephen, of New South Wales, who was followed by the veteran Sir George Grey, who received his honor soon after his arrival in London. Oh the 22nd January last Chief Justice Way of South Australia was called to the Council, and now comes the wholesale elevation of the colonial Premiers. It is fortunate that such honor was at the disposal of the Imperial Government:, for by it they are able to placate the title-dis-crediting colonial democrat?, while at the same time conferring upon the Frewiers a higher distinction than

Knighthood. The honor must not be confounded with a " title." The recipient is entitled to be called " Eight Honorable," but the practice appears to be to omit even this, and address the Privy Councillor as " Mister." Knighthood, as we know, is very different, for it carries the title of Sir and Lady. Those who hold up their hands with democratic horror at Knighthood will chiefly swallow a Privy Councillor, and yet the latter is a greater distinction, because Privy Councillors take precedence next after Knights of the Garter. There is a strand of inconsistency in this, for surely if it is derogatory to accept a Knighthood it must be more so to accept a distinction which ranks above that. Both are empty honors, but the less important one is more high sounding and impressive than the other. Why a colonial and a subject of Great Britain should be barred by the wail of democracy against accepting a titular distinction passes comprehension, except, on the hypothesis that the reiterated " Sir " and " Lady " engenders a feeling of jealously. It is a spurious democracy that takes this aggressive attitude, for it is natural for every man to seek honor or title and so obtain something that others do not possess but would like to own. There are no titles in America, but there are more Generals, Colonels, and Captains than there are piivate soldiers ; and the democratic Yankee clings to his military title like a barnacle to a ship's bottom. We feel sure that had not Mr Seddon considered that he was bound to respect the prevailing stupid prejudice against Knighthool he could have been Sir Richard as well as Privy Councillor. This double distinction has been conferred upon the Premier of Canada. We do not think it is necessary to go into ecstacies about the Privy Councillorship conferred upon Mr Seddon as* to whether he deserves the distinction or not. The question of merit has not entered into the matter at all ; it was simply Mr Seddon's luck to be Premier of New Zealand, and as the chief citizen of the colony he has been honored. He is entitled to our congratulations for his remarkably good luck.