Show HOME RULE IN THE ISLE OF MAN the example of the isle of man where tue tile people have for centuries enjoyed peace peaceable atle possession of home rolle bale is generally overlooked by politicians who wao are interested in the solution of tile the irish problem here in mid channel between great britain and ireland we have a veritable im cerium in imperio irn perio managing its own affairs in its own way with so little ostentation and bustle that its very existence seems to have been forgotten by its neigh DO ars while there have been many changes in the supreme sovereignty of the island its rulers have been in succession feudatory to the kings of norway scotland and england it has preserved its ancient constitution practically unaltered athe iThe local legislature commonly called the can be traced at least as tar far bick back as the early part of the tenth century the three estates are the sovereign the governor and council and the hoube of keys in 1406 henry IV granted the we ise to sir john stanley and his bis heirs subject to the service of rendering two falcons as homage to the king of england for the time beiner on the occasion of his bis coronation or ona tion the stanley dynasty continued for over three centuries and anatoe the sovereigns sovereign i of that house styled themselves kings of man and the isles until the reign of the second earl who assumed the title of lord on tile the death of james the tenth earl of derby tile the isle of man passed into the the possession of tile the then duke of athole and in 1765 an act 5 geo ill III c au 26 was passed whereby for the sum of the sovereign rights of the island were surrendered to the crown of england and inalienably vested in the king and his bis successors since the Re vestment as manxman term it in 1765 the isle has continued to be governed as ag before the Sove sovereign reiga of ea england having merely been substituted as the first estate in the leisla legislature for tile the lormer former local kings or lords the insular govern government ment constituted as we h have ave described describe ed has the most ample legislative authority but it has been held that an act of the imperial parliament extends to the isle of man if it be specially named this was laid down in 1523 1623 in a case which is cited in I 1 cokes institutes respecting ann the countess of derby and widow of the filth king of alan of the house of stanley for dower in tile the island it appears that the decision was against the countess on the ground that the isle of manawas man was not part of the realm of england and was not governed by english law and only when anen expressly stated could an act of parliament apply to it sir james gell gel the 1 manx attorney general has bas pointed hinted 1 out that the legal foundation foundation rl for r the application of imperial acts to the isle of of man was always disputed by manx jurists before 1765 but bat that period the parliament of england has assumed the power of heirls latigu with respect to the customs revenue the post office the harbours harbourt har bours and the army and navy of 01 tile the composition of the court some explanation may be desirable it includes the three branches of the legislative power of the island the governor the council and the house of bf keys the council may be said to consist of the local dignitaries in church and state the governor presides ez ex officio and the other members are the bishop of the diocese the archdeacon the vicar iGen cral the clerk of the rolls the two De emsters the principal judges the attorney general and the re beiver general the kouse house of keys is the popularly elected representative Cha chamber tuber its history dates from a period long anterior to that of the house of commons if 11 the assembly of rs parliament in be regarded as the first formation of that th ai body the keys were anciently styled the worthiest men tin lin the land 11 and we may presume that they still deserve that glorious designation like their neighbors in what they are plaid to term thead jacent islands manxman have not been Et fr angers rangers to reform yet their changes in a democratic direction have not been uniform with the advances made in this country the house of keys is elected for seven years unless earlier dissolved by the governor and as all ministerial crises seldom occur in the isle oi of man toe the instances must be rare indeed where a coup may cut sho ahoi it tits its career it is probably lue clue to the knowledge that they ibey enjoy this security of tenure that the keys calah pursue the even tenure of their waif way and are in some measure able to disregard the cla nor ul of those inose who desire the exhibition of a mure more active spirit of reform A property properly qu qualification i 1 still essential to we luc 11 bers of the house ant aud tinder the aate manx reform act wat ot 1881 a voter fiust be the owner or tenant of real estate of ea 1 a bear ear value or a lodger ocell occupy p ini im 1 pix r HUMS fit ines of the andua value of CJU U qixiu bunot i tiie me qualification i ilum ia flod women wolden are re admitted as voi vo wr i tink 1 vs is to extend aliu qualification to femmes alo al o bul lul t itic it cou council licit bring being opposed po to it tiiu lart r hou u vas oo 00 ilg d to accept the te compto inise effected by y the provision ui it the act as it stands in order to lo obtain an ai of the principle of dentale sutera stiff rago at the same saine tune tinte aliey h ey rt carded curded d a protest a against the partial exclusion of women as voters that the manx reformers reformer are nt na y yet t satisfied is evick nt front the fact that the islanders are at the present moment in lu the throes of an ag agitation gita for a readjustment of political cf power in the shape of 0 of seats A striking analogy is indeed observable in tile the history of dative government on both tades of the channel that home rule has ben be n beneficial in its application to 0 o tue the I 1 ilic of man it would seem impossible to deny mr gladstone during daring his visit in 1878 expressed his bis interest in the simplicity of stasys its system of land tenure and remarked that its laws jaws were very perfect in many re in this ancient country he added were all the elements of a comfortable for table political and social existence small as I 1 its ts geographical status might beit be it was remarkable as possessing within itself institutions which provided it with a complete system of government under which the inhabitants appeared to progress and prosper nearly a hundred years ago gov anor shaw asserted the f freedom of the manx legislature in vi vigorous orous language u to maintain 61 this aa deace e e he said is held to be a first d duly ti of every manxman and its ite competence to all acts of in internal concern and in these being governed and regulated by laws of their own making with tile the assent of their most gracious sovereign justly constitute the chief or highest pride of all his Maje manx subjects and the privilege which with bl but ut life they would wish to forego they dread therefore and must ever dread the interference in it their internal con concerns or er even a precedent being made for such interference from any other legislature on earth even the british which though known to be ee generous nerous in the extreme yet et from misrepresentation and thence misconception el cep tion is still within the possibility of being hesss or more un unjust pall mall gazette |