ti-attputti (PUBLISHED DAILY). TtTESDAY, JULY 3, 1883.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5102, 3 July 1883, Page 2

Wanganui Herald. (PUBLISHED DAILY). TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1883.

ROYAL GOVERNORS.

When news is filtered through American channels, it should be'received with a certain amount of reserve. The Frisco Mail never contains a sensational item which ought not to deceive anyone. We are told that " The Duke of Albany's request to be appointed Governor-General of Canada, to succeed the Marquis of Lome, was supported by a personal invitation from the Queen that her son should have the position. Mr Gladstone refused, on the ground that the appointment would be a special favor to royalty. Besides, sending the Queen's son to Canada would be to invite some desperate action on the part of Irish Fenians in America." In reference to this story, it is highly improbable that the Duke of Albany ever made such a request, and it is still more improbable that the Queen should have solicited the appointment for her son, though it would not be contrary to the spirit of the constitution that the Sovereign should make a request of the kind. What makes the whole story apacryphal is the reason given by Mr Gladstone that he could not appoint the Duke " on the ground that the appointment would be a special favor to royalty." This would be no reason at all, for the Queen has a perfect right to make requests, and we know has again and again exercised her influence in the appointments of Bishops. Mr Gladstone has himself laid down the N constitutional principal on such matters in his essay — "Ban beyond Sea," and we know exactly the action he would take were such a request preferred. He or Lord Derby (the Colonial Secretary) would submit the matter to the Cabinet, with a statement of his opinions for and against, and the question would be discussed on public grounds, with perhaps a hint that the Queen would like the appointment made. If the Cabinet arrived at the conclusion that the appointment was not desirable, the reasons accordingly would be conveyed to the Queen, and she would at once yield to the advice of her Ministers. But such a disloyal reason for not making it, as the Queen requesting the appointment, would never enter the head of Mr Gladstone. The history of Cabinet action on many great occasions is before the world, and we know very accurately the line that would be taken by Queen and Cabinet in their relations to each other. It must be admitted that those who peruse the telegraphic news do not know sufficient of constitutional history to enable them to reject all the worthless stories that are in circulation. Nor does the other reason reßt on a better foundation — that "sending the Queen's son to Canada would be to invite some desperate action on the part of the Irish Fenians in America," Of all reasons, this would be the very last to be urged. The apostles of dynamite have been weighed, their power for mischief measured, and they have ceased to inspire terror. Koßsa is but an inflated wind bag, whose power for mischief has never been a millionth part of his capacity for extracting money from the dupes, who are ready to subscribe to a separate pro ject. The problem of finding employment for the descendents and relations of royalty will soon press for solution. If it should be found that they are going to fill all the best offices, the question will quickly become a burning one at the elections, and reasons very different from those assigned in the American telegrams will be found for passing a " self-denying ordinance."