The Powers of the King.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 38, 18 September 1902, Page 3

The Powers of the King.

It is popularly supposed that a constitutional monaroh is very much restricted in hiß powers, and that practically his aations are controlled by his Ministers, but this is evidently a great mistake if the •tatements contained in a recent work quoted by the Boston Pilot are correoi. ' Nowhere (say» the authority in question) is it set down in black and white what kings may do and what they may not. Such momentous things are left to work out themselves and somehow they work out all right. The powers of Ministers are defined and confined, and an M.P. knows exactly what he may do and whai he may not do. But the Crown ia its own interpreter and it would be within the strictly legal interpretation of the prerogative of the Crown to bring about a revolution for which the history of England has no parallel. It may seem incredible, but it is peifectly true that Edward VII. might shatter the empire without breaking any law. The First Lord of the Admiralty would be amazed if he read in tomorrow's papers that the King had sold every ship in the nary but the King would violate no part of the constitution by so doing He has supreme command of our naval forces, and could dispose of every British vessel and every British gnn. He might make somebody a present of the whole of our naval stores, and he could of course, disband the navy completely, throwing a hundred thousand men out of employment. The King could dismiss every officer non-com missioned officer, and man in the army, from Lord Roberts downward, and could discharge practically all the civil servants in the kingdom. In time of war the King is absolute. In case of invasion or sudden insurrection, he could demand that every ablebodied man should take up arms, could call out the militia, and could seize all ships. He has the power to cancel the acts and orders of generals, and to exercise supreme control over the forces on land or sea. He could make war with any country and bring peace at any prioe. He is, of course, the supreme power known to the law. He oaa do no wrong. He is the head of the Church, appointing all bishops and during the vacancy of any see he represents the bishop of that see and has the temporal powers of a bishop. He is present, according to law, in every court of justice, and can pardon nearly all prisoners. He is in Parliament, according to the same law at all times, and can refuse to sign any Bill passed by either Houie. He can confer any title on any subject, and no eubjeot can legally decline it. King Edward could mark his coronation by making every man and woman in the land a baronet or a marohioness. He can appoint any person to any office of authority ; nobody has any right to refnse being Prime Minister if called upon to be so by the King. No act of government can be complete without him. He is head of the State, head of the legislature, head of the Church, head of the army, head of the navy. He alone can make money, or order it to be made, and he can make sovereigns of lead and give them the stamp'of the royal mint. He can break every treaty, dismiss •very ambassador, and recall every British representative from the capitals of Europe. But there are limits even to the theoretical powers of the King. He could sell the navy, but he could not spend a single penny of public money without the consent of Parliament. He cannot create any new office with fees attaohed to it. He can pardon nearly all offenders, but he has no power to remit the sentence of a prisoner guilty of a certain form of Sabbath-breaking. He cannot issue any proclamation oontrary to law, nor a proclamation whioh would injure the community — such, for instance, as the exemption of a whole town from service on j uries. Though he can call every man to arms to resist invasion, he cannot compel any civilian to leave the country. Though he may pardon a prisoner after sentence, he cannot prevent the sentence being passed ; and though he may set aside the judgment of the judges — except for contempt of courthe may not interfere with them in the course of their duties on the benoh, and he cannot dismiss them. Neither can he interfere in an act of private as opposed to public wrong. He oannot, as some of his ancestors could, exclude any man from the House of Commons, nor can he exempt any one from the operation of ordinary law. In time of war there is practically n« limit to the power of the King, but in time of peace he could not hand over one inoh of British territory to foreign sway. He is the only man in the kingdom who cannot arreßt a criminal. Ai the King can do no wrong, he is above all law, and no action can be taken against him, therefore, if he breaks the law. It follows that if the King made an arrest, and the prisoner proved to be innooent, no action for false imprisonment oould be taken against the sovereign. The King, therefore, oannot make an arrest. The extraordinary powers of the Crown, however, need not alarm us, neither need the King trouble about his limitations. It is the idea, not the statute-book, whioh governs us, and the idea is exactly what we ourselves make it. It is the idea in the long ru», wkiek kolds tof ether f oar hundred millions of the humaa raoe.'