Chancellor

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

in ancient times a petty officer stationed at the fence of , court to introduce such functionaries as were enbars or lattice-work in a lawtitled to pass inside. The Lord Chancellor of England was originally the king's chief secretary, to whom petitions were referred, whence he was called referendarius. This title subsequently gave place to chancellor, first occurs, according to , which Selden in English history about A. D. 920. Being generally an ecclesiastic, he became keeper of the king's conscience. Having to express the sovereign's views in cases appealed to him from the courts of law, he gradually acquired a great legal standing himself, and finally developed into the potent personage now denomfully the Lord High Chancellor. He is inated the Lord Chancellor, or more now the highest judicial functionary in the kingdom; he is keeper of the great seal; he presides in the House of Lords, of which he is prolocutor; he is a cabinet vy councillor; presides minister and privy san in what was the Court of Chancery (once spelled chancelry), but is now the Chancery Division of the Supreme Court; appoints all justices of the peace kingdom; is the general throughout the the guardian of all infants, idiots, and lunatics; visitor of the hospitals and colleges of royal foundation; and patron of all livings under a specified value. He goes out with the ministry of which he is a member. The Chancellor of the Exchequer of England is, properly, the under-treasurer of the exchequer, the head treasurership being held, not by an individua ual , but by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. The chancellor has, however, a very powerful voice in connection with the exchequer. He must be in the House of Commons, and may be its leader, and also Prime Minister. The Chancellor of the former German Empire was an officer, the extent of whose power and influence had never been exactly defined. In modern Germany since the unification of the German Empire the office was made illustrious by its association with the name of Bismarck, the first to hold that position under the new régime. In general terms it may be stated that the German Chancellor was an executive of very great powers, being at once the adviser and prime minister of the Emperor. He combined the functions of one of the American department secretaries with those of the promoter and originator of political policy. The new constitution of the German republic provides that the Chancellor shall be appointed and dismissed by the President, and shall suggest to the latter the appointment or dismissal of the other cabinet ministers. The Chancellor, however, under the new constitution, needs the confidence of the Reichstag for the fulfillment of his office and must withdraw in the event that the Reichstag by explicit resolution withholds its confidence. The Chancellor shall preside in the government administration and shall conduct its affairs in accordance with an order of business which shall be determined by the administration and approved by the President of the Republic. He shall determine the line of policy and shall assume responsibility therefore to the Reichstag.