THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8258, 11 October 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1906.

The treaty which regulates the marriage settlemont of the new Queen of Spain has revived an oldstanding grievance among oar fel-low-subjects "on the other side of the Tweed." The use of the words "the law of England" in the treaty caused the Scottish Patriotic Association to protest against the "misleading" and "erroneous" use of the term "England" instead of "Britain," and in reply to its protest ifc received the following communication from the Foreign Secretary:—"ln reply to your letter of the 22nd instant, 1 am directed by tne Seoretary of State to inform you that the newspaper extract enclosed therein correctly reproduces the text of Article 111. of the treaty concluded on May 7th, 1906, between the United Kingdom and Spain for the marriage of his Majesty the King of Spain with her Royal Highness Prinuess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, and that, in his opinion, the expression 'Law of England' in that artiole iei correctly used." This rather ourt mote did not mollify the patriotia Soots at all, aud a public meeting was summoned in Glasgow a few weeks ago to emphasise the represoßtatione of the Assooi-

ation. At this meeting a resolution condemning the use of the word "England" was unanimously adopted and waa ordered to be forwarded to ♦he Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary. The resolution urged that since England, as a separate kingdom, ceased to exist at the union with Scotlaud, and the succession to the throne of Britain was regulated by Artiole 11. of the Act of Union, the lorfeiture of rights of succession to the British tDrone can now only be legally carried out in terms of the Aot of Union and not according to the law of England, and the wording of the Spanish Royal Marriage Treaty is therefore erroneous and misleading. A high authority on Constitutional Law, who was afterwards consulted about the matter, gave it as his opinion that the language used in the treaty was strbtly oorreot. It is true, he said, that the Queen of Spain renounces her claims to the (Jrowu of "Great Britain," but she does so in accordance with English law. The Aufc of Union of 1707 provides that the succession to the Crown of Great Britain ahall be oon- , tinued in the terras of the Succession Aot of 1701, wiiioh whs passed six years before the two kingdoms were united. But even if it is technically correct to speak and write of "England" in oases of this sort, it would seem only courteous to adopt the wider title of "Britain."