[From The Manx Quarterly, #10, 1911]

Cobwebs of Manx Government Blown Away.

A Paper read at the Douglas Progressive Debating Society by Mr. S. Norris.

It is with some timidity that I venture to examine the cobwebs which cling to the Manx Constitution. But with the approach of Spring, to say nothing of the winds which have recently swept through this antiquated structure, it is both opportune and fitting that we should use the long broom, even if we do not apply a coat of paint and a whitewash brush to the edifice.

A casual investigation reveals quite a number of cobwebs on the fabric, and a closer observation shows that they may be divided broadly into two kinds-ancient and modern cobwebs. Some of the former are hanging only by a few threads, and will probably come to the ground after a little breeze; but among some of the most recent additions a more energetic operation may be required.

Among the dusty and somewhat mutilated specimens, I notice first a group which claims that the Isle of Man has had Home Rule for a thousand years, since the clays, we are told, of King Orry; that the House of Keys is older than the House of Commons; that it is, in fact, the mother of the mother, and, therefore, the grandmother of parliaments; that the Keys were, in a word, elected by free manhood suffrage in the middle of the ninth century, and ruled supreme in this Iand of Home Rule long before the British House of commons was thought about, to say nothing of actually coming into existance.

Now, it seems a pity, especially when we know that it was seriously proposed a years ago to erect a statue of him in his own image, to hear that King Orry is a myth. That we have no record of who he was, when or if ever he ruled, where and how he died, and where he is buried, although more than one place claims to rest his bones. That the House of Keys, with all those elaborate details of its powers and mode of election, etc., of a thousand years ago is equally mythical. The earliest record we have of the Keys, and the earliest mention of King Orry is not in the middle of the ninth century, but is dated 1422, being the well - known declaration made in answer to an inquiry from Sir John Stanley, beginning :-

" This is the Constitution of old time the which we have given in our day. . . . We give for law that there was never 24 Keys in certainty, since they were first that were called Taxiaxi, those were 24 Freeholders, viz., 8 in the out-isles and 16 in your Land of Man, and that was in King Orrye's days; but since they have not been in certainty. . . And without the Lord's will, none of the 24 Keys to be."

Nothing here, as you will see, about manhood suffrage, popular election, and the Mother of Parliaments. On the contrary, the Keys themselves declare in the earliest record extant, that if the Lord of the Isle objected, none of the Keys could act, and that, we know, remained practically the case till the abolition of the self-elected Keys in 1866.

King Orry, anyone will observe, was only a tradition in 1422. The Keys of that day evidently knew nothing about him except the name; they knew less about him than what we in the twentieth century know of them in the fifteenth, because we have some evidence of their existence. They had none of his. There was no written law or constitution of the Island at that time, for the Keys in 1422 declare " And as to the writing of laws, there was never any written since King Orrye's days but in the time of Michaell Blundell, that we have knowledge of." The fact is that they had no knowledge of any written laws, as we have no laws written by, or anything else done, either by King Orry or Michael Blundell.

Another antiquated cobweb is that every year for a thousand years all new Manx laws have been promulgated from Tynwald Hill. The fact is that as a part of the Legislature, the Tynwald ceremony is a very modern institution. As we first see it, and for 150 years afterwards-that is, till the middle of the sixteenth century -the Tynwald Court was held not to make new laws, but to declare the existing common law where in doubt; and particularly and mainly to try and sentence criminals. The Keys first acted, and are more than once described in the Statutes, so-called, as " jurymen," assisted by the Deemster, who was their foreman. The Tynwald was a Criminal Court, not a Legislature.

The study of these ancient cobwebs, however, though interesting, is not very profitable, and I shall, therefore, turn your attention at once to some of themore recent accumulations which obscure the Manx Constitution. I select at random the following:-

1 — The special position claimed on behalf of the King.

2 — The prerogatives claimed and the powers exercised by the Governor.

3 — The duties and position alleged to belong to members of the Legislative Council.

4 — The claim that the Island enjoys a system of Home Rule.

It is said that the King of England is not King of the Isle of Man, but that he occupies the position of the old Lords of the Isle. We are told there is no such title as King of Man, but that King George, in his monarchial capacity, is the Overlord of the Isle of Man; that in his personal capacity he is Lord of the Isle ; and that to him in that capacity every subject of the Island can of right claim personal access. This may sound very curious and instructive, and may serve the purpose for which the story is invented of providing an object on which to found a charming web, but it has no foundation either in Manx history or Constitutional law; on the contrary, it is not only without substance in fact, but it is a misleading, a hurtful, and a dangerous theory to propagate.

I think there can be no doubt, even on the clearest event of Manx history alone, that the King of England occupies precisely the same position and exercises the same powers and no more, in relation to his subjects in the Isle of Man, as to those in the rest of the United Kingdom. When Sir John Stanley, to go no further back, was granted the Isle of Man in the early part of the fifteenth century, he did not become King of Man. That position was retained by King Henry IV., to whom and to whose successors the Stanleys and all their descendants, right to the time of the Revestment, had to render at each coronation a pair of falcons in token of their allegiance to the British Crown. In the intervening years, to the period of the Revestment, the powers of the reigning British Sovereign had greatly changed -he had become what we call a Constitutional Monarch; the British Crown had become a limited monarchy, and these changes affected the King's position, privileges, and powers just as much in the isle of Man as in the rest of the kingdom. It is monstrous to say that King George occupies a limited monarchy in England, but is an absolute, uncontrolled, and supreme Monarch of a small Island in the centre of his kingdom. There is no fact in English or Manx history that will bear out that contention. Moreover, let me remind you that when the feudatory rights off the Athol family were bought back on behalf of the British Crown, they were not purchased by or on behalf of the King as a private individual; they were bought by the British Government of the day, through the Lords of the Treasury, and the money was paid not out of the private revenues of the King, but out of the Consolidated Funds of Great Britain -a fact which in itself sufficiently shows where the actual powers of sovereignty lie, namely, in the British Government, and, therefore, finally in the people themselves.

In one word, whatever rights the Sovereign of England may have in the Isle of Man, he must exercise within the limitations of the British Crown.

Before exempting those limitations, it is necessary, since they form part of the same subject, that we should look at the powers claimed and exercised, properly or improperly, by the Governor of the Isle of Man. His Excellency is often called the representative of his Majesty the King; and, again, the representative of the Crown. One often hears ascribed to the Governor in that capacity, and by implication, I think some recent Governors have claimed, powers and privileges contrary to the interests of the people at large. We hear of Crown rights, prerogatives, powers of veto, and so on; and have had these things drilled in so long and so often that many people in the Island believe that the Governor can quite rightly, so long as he chooses, interpose his will against that of the whole people. It seems to be felt and acknowledged by many people that the rights and prerogatives of the Crown are to be used in the interests of the Crown and against the community; that the existence of those rights implies antagonism to common rights and liberties of the nation, whereas the whole Intent and object of Crown rights and prerogative and veto having been lodged in one person alone is solely in order the more completely to carry out the will, and to secure the greater happiness and prosperity of the people at large.

One of the greatest writers on English Constitutional Law puts the matter thus " The prerogative of the Crown extends not to do any injury; it is created for the benefit of the people, and, therefore, cannot be exercised to their prejudice. . . In the exertion of those prerogatives which the law has given him, the King is irresistible and absolute, according to the forms of the Constitution. And yet, if the consequences of that exertion be manifestly to the grievance or dishonour of the kingdom, the Parliament will call his advisers to a just and severe account. For prerogative, consisting in the discretionary power of acting for the public good, where the positive laws are silent, if that discretionary power be abused to the public detriment, such prerogative is exerted in an unconstitutional manner." Again, this authority says that the King in foreign affairs acts " as the delegate or representative of his people. . . In domestic affairs he is the fountain of justice, the general conservator of the peace of the kingdom. By the fountain of justice, the law does not mean the author or original, but only the distributor. Justice is not derived from the Sovereign as from his free gift; but is the steward of the public to dispense it to whom it is DUE. He is not the spring but the reservoir." And the Constitution provides a proper counterpoise to the abuse of prerogative by rigorous punishments, not against the King, who, of course, can do no wrong, but against his advisers.

Now, I do not think there can be any doubt that while as a matter of courtesy and dignity we call the Governor of the Isle of Man the King's representative, 'his Excellency is in reality the joint representative of the British Government (i.e., in the last resort the British people), and in the sense I have here described, the representative of the people of the Isle of Man. He is the reservoir undoubtedly of many of the prerogatives placed, with the limitations stated, in the Sovereign of England; he can pardon offenders and reprieve even those committed on the capital charge; he has beyond question a veto on general legislation and on finance-a power the Sovereign of England possesses, but has never dared to exercise since the days of Queen Anne. Since 1707 the Crown veto has never been exercised by the English Sovereign on the advice of his ministers, who are responsible to Parliament, and Parliament is responsible to the people.

Yet his Excellency is now claiming another veto over and above that, and frequently uses it, by preventing a discussion of public questions in the Tynwald Court. There are many other things which the King's so-called representative does here which would be held improper and dangerous for the King to do-he presides and speaks in the Legislature; sits in the highest Criminal and Appellate Courts; and even exercises a deliberate and supreme voice over taxation and expenditure. Yet the most singular thing of all this is that the Governor not only claims and exercises all these Crown rights and prerogatives, but he claims, and often exercises them, without advisers; he claims in the King's name immunity for his actions, but the people, of many of whose privileges he is the sole repository, have no remedy against him for his mistakes.

We are told that no man can serve two masters, and I am afraid that the Governors of the Island have, more or less, and rather more in recent days, interpreted their commission solely as being the custodian of British power, and this power and interest they have construed as an antagonistic force to Insular interests. This attitude has been acquiesced in by us as a people, and connived at by certain privileged classes; but nothing could be further apart from the true functions and Dowers of a Governor. The King, the Crown, the British Government-in whatever character we personify the powers possessed by the Lieut.-Governor-has no interests, and can have no interests, at variance with the contentment and pros perity of the people. I go further, and say the Governor is not sent here to check or obstruct the will of the people as constitutionally expressed, but to give effect to that will; and that, like the king, he is not expected to have a contrary opinion of his own, and least of all should he have or express political views. He is sent here to ensure that law and order are maintained, and see, in regard to public finance, that we pay the .£10,000 a year to England, and interest and sinking fund on any loans raised under Imperial credit ; and this done, his sole duty is, I believe, expected to be to foster contentment and forward the progress and prosperity of the inhabitants.

The same idea, that they represent an outside, and, therefore, antagonistic, authority permeates the members of the Legislative Council, although, personally, I have never been able to ascertain on what fact in history, or law, or equity they base this extraordinary cobweb. The Attorney-General says he is his Majesty's Attorney-General, and denies that anyone in the Isle of Man has any claim upon his services; he claims to be the servant of the Crown alone. The late Receiver-General, and, as far as I know, the present Receiver-General, does not acknowledge any superior force in the Isle of Man, but regards himself solely as a representative of the Imperial Government. The Archdeacon and the Vicar-General owe their positions and presence as Mans legislators to the Bishop, and to his wishes, therefore, they naturally pay the greatest respect; while the Bishop himself sits there admittedly in the interests of one particular part of the Christian Church, and superior to any Insular authority. As to the Clerk of the Rolls and the two Deemsters, they occupy, as judges, a peculiar position. But it would sound altogether too ludicrous to call themselves his Majesty's Clerk of the Rolls and his Majesty's Deemsters, and thus we are spared the infliction; but the material fact remains that, when acting in their legislative and executive capacity as members of the Council, they do act and regard themselves as custodians and repositories of Crown interests, or an outside authority, having not merely an overruling, but of necessity an obstructive, destructive, and antagonistic power.

Now, I think there is nothing in the terms of the appointment of any member of the Legislative Council which gives them the right to regard themselves as the special representatives of the Crown, and as the embodiment and peculiar guardians of Crown rights, conflicting with commonwealth rights and interests. If we except the single duty of the Attorney-General — his Majesty's Attorney-General — in appearing as advocate for the Crown in cases before the law courts, there is no ordinary member of the Legislative Council, including the Attorney-General-H.M. ditto!-who in the remotest degree is placed there to safeguard the supposed interests of the Crown. Their duty and rights, not less than those of the Governor — and, if anything, more so — ,are, and must be, to give effect to the well-considered, deliberate, and undoubted demands of the people whose government they have been selected to assist in, and and paid for, the single outstanding consideration for them being : Will the proposals made reasonably lead to greater happiness, prosperity, and contentment of the people of this Island? If any set of proposals complies with that condition then the interests of the Crown are best served, best secured, and best maintained.

I now come to the biggest and flimsiest cobweb of all: that is, that under the present Manx Government we have a system of Home Rule. This web is covered with spiders who are addressing the flies in the good old style, and with the same well-known results. Ah! yes, it is the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy — for the blood-sucking spiders! And if the poor, innocent fly refuses to believe in the beauty and health-giving aspect of the parlour, he is told he will almost certainly incur the terrible disease of Annexititis, and possible death ; whereas, if he will only mount the winding stairs of Manx Home Rule, as it is now he can face certain death with equanimity in the paradise and clutches of the official spiders.

Let us look at this web at close quarters, for it is no sooner examined than it is shown to be a fraud upon our intelligence and our powers of observation. What is this system of Home Rule? A system wherein we are just playing at government; a system in which we are asked not merely to impose on outsiders, but to upon ourselves. An imitation, a mockery, .a sham! Like all well-regulated communities, we have two Houses of Parliament; one is entirely nominated by the Crown (or, in other words, the British Government in existence at the time vacancies occur) and the Bishop; the other House is elected by the people-the people in whom we are taught to believe resides the sovereign power of making and unmaking all laws. Both branches are supposed to have co-equal powers; but, as matter of fact, only one branch, the nominated Council, has the real power. Three are a quorum in this august body of nine officials nominated for life, and construing their position, as I have previously described, for passing or rejecting any legislation or taxation or expenditure proposed or accepted by the people's representatives From this nominated body alone the Governor must now choose his Executive, his advisers, if he chooses an Executive at all . Two of these mem-bers constitute such Executive. From the Governor alone, with or without them, it is claimed that all taxation and expenditure proposals must come. No appro-priations of revenue, it is said, must be made in the House of Keys; no salaries or standing charges must be discussed by the elected House; but it is oo.ntended and admitted that salaries may be increased and new charges on the revenue incurred by the Governor alone, in con-junction with his official Executive and the British Treasury. His Excellency, as I have said, is supposed to have an Execu-tive, but no one knows who these members are, and they are quite irresponsible to the people of the Island for any advice given, and for any misgovernment and injury resulting from their action or inaction. Even under these conditions, every proposal, whenever submitted, if submitted at all, must be carried by a clear majority of the House of Keys, viz., 13 members, before it can pass the Lower House; but two votes and the Governor's, or one-third of the membership of the Legislative Council, exercise an equal power in the Council.

But that is not all. Even after any proposal has been thus separately carried through each branch, before it obtains the force of law it must secure the signature of a majority of both branches, sitting together in the Tynwalld Court, but voting separately. Thus': in a body (the Tynwald Court) composed of 32 members (the Governor not counting here), if four members of the Legislative Council object, the whole thing is now lost! . Did anyone ever hear of a more ridiculous proposition or constitution than that the votes of four are stronger than the votes of 28? — and these four, bear in mind, are there for life and representing no one in the. community, but glory in the claim that they represent an outside, an antagonistic, and superior Power!

To talk about Home liule, popular election, household suffrage, an ancient ceremony, and Parliament extending through a thousand years, under circrnm-stances like these, is to talk the greatest nonsense ever imagined! To say, further, that it is Home Rule through the Home Office, as is sometimes said, is only to a slight extent nearer the truth. The Home Office knows too well the principles of Constitutional rule to attempt to dictate to the official members of the Legislature their course of action on the thousand and one things in our domestic affairs which come up, or which ought to come up, for action. The Home Office expects these official members to rule in accord with Insular public opinion and desires, wherever Imperial interests are not involved; but these officials do not, and will not, recognise the existence of any Manx public opinion on any subject, unless the object concerned suits their own ideas or interests. The Home Office not only does not interfere with our domestic affairs and the proceedings of our Legislature, but, as a matter of fact, they have no reason to do so, because, over and above all the checks and safeguards provided in this antediluvian constitution, they retain, and must retain, the veto exercisãble either through the Crown or through the Lieut.-Governor. But this veto of the Governor, we must bear in mind, is a Constitutional veto, to be exercised riot when and how he pleases, but clearly and unmistakably for the public benefit, and at the right time as well as in the right way. .

Such are a few of the cobwebs which cling to the Manx system of government. I might have brushed aside many more, which, with those described, are neither flattering to our pride nor creditable to our manhood. I might also have pointed the moral as well as adorned the tale, but with one or two redoubtable opponents I see present, there is no occasion for me to say anything more to stir their blood, than to do one thing, which I have not done in the whole course of this paper, to their evident surprise and disappointment, and that is to mention the blessed words-

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM.