A Charter for the Commonwealth

by Richard F. Weyand

  “That’s a good point. Where to, then?”

  “Just take them back to Jablonka with you. That’ll be the capital anyway, right? So they didn’t return right home, they’re at the capital. So what? No foul there.”

  The Charter Debate

  The Charter was complete. After six months of hard work, the conference recessed for four weeks’ vacation before reconvening to consider “any remaining business.”

  Ansen sent the Charter to Westlake via the fast courier ships.

  Three weeks later, Westlake and Orlov sat in Westlake’s office in the Planetary Governor’s Mansion.

  “What do you think, Georgy?”

  “It’s brilliant, Jim. More than that, it’s exquisite. They’ve managed to avoid every historical mistake in governance I can think of.”

  “I guess that’s what you get if you put a liberal sprinkling of history professors in the conference.”

  “Apparently so. What about you? What do you think?”

  “Oh, I agree with you. I guess I’m in a bit of a state of shock. I can’t find a single thing I would change. And there’s a lot of things in there I didn’t think of.”

  “Ansen also requested a list of planets that conferees shouldn’t return to right away. He thinks they should come here to Jablonka, since it’s the capital.”

  “Oh, I agree. Kodu, for one. That’s Andrews’ son-in-law. There’s maybe a dozen planets where it’s definitely unsafe for them to go back right away, until things get sorted out. I’ll send him a list.”

  “And I guess I should book passage from there to here for them as well.”

  “Makes sense to me. And I’ll get a reply to Ansen. Then we can start drawing up letters to our families on Earth.”

  Mehta banged the gavel three times.

  “The conference will come to order.”

  Conversations died down and everyone took their seats. On the Monday after four weeks of vacation, things were going slower this morning than usual.

  “The chair will now consider any unfinished business.”

  “Here,” Mazur called out.

  “Mr. Mazur.”

  Mazur walked up to one of the two lecterns in the well and looked up at Mehta.

  “You have the floor, Mr. Mazur.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman.

  “Madam Chairman, distinguished colleagues.

  “I move we modify the Charter to name ourselves the Council and declare the Commonwealth in effect.”

  “Second!” Guadalupe Rivera screamed out over the roar that erupted among the delegates.

  “Debate!” a dozen delegates shouted.

  “Counter!” Gerald Ansen shouted.

  Mehta let the general bedlam continue for about five minutes before gaveling for order.

  “The conference will be in order.”

  It took another couple of minutes for things to die down enough for her to have much success.

  “The conference will be in order. Thank you. Mr. Mazur, your motion has been seconded, and there is a call for debate and counter. How would you proceed?”

  “I would make an opening statement, Madam Chairman, and then yield the floor to debate and counter. I would also reserve my right to a closing statement.”

  “Very well. Mr. Mazur, your opening statement.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman.”

  Mazur straightened his papers on the lectern and took a drink of water before beginning.

  “Madam Chairman, distinguished colleagues.

  “We have for six months met in conference to consider the matter of how the colonies might rule themselves once the break with Earth comes. For we know this break is inevitable. Historically inevitable. Sociologically inevitable. Economically inevitable. There is no precedent in history for a stable colonial relationship. Were this one such, it would, in human history, be the first.

  “We also know, absent something like the structure detailed with care in this Charter, the costs in blood and treasure of that break are unknown and unknowable, and further the governance that emerges after that break has terrible odds of producing anything like the sort of situation we would all prefer. The likelihood of a technology-driven tyranny dreary enough to rival the most ghastly historical precedent is high.

  “We know these things to be true. It is why we are here. We have labored these six months to produce this Charter. Further, we labored the prior three years in correspondence to prepare for this conference. More, most of us have labored all our lives to develop the knowledge and understanding that prepared us for this task. For me, personally, it has been the labor of over half a century to arrive at this point, right here, right now.

  “And now we can grasp that architecture of freedom we have designed with our own hands and minds, and bear it forward for our planets, for our people, for our children, to a bright future.

  “Or we can simply go home.

  “I am not prepared to do that. I am not prepared to walk away from what is our best chance at a glorious future of freedom.

  “If not us, my friends, then who?

  “If not now, when?”

  Mazur organized his papers during the applause from some delegates, buzzing conversation from others. He turned to Mehta.

  “Madam Chairman, I yield and reserve.”

  Mazur stepped down and returned to his seat.

  “Thank you, Mr. Mazur. There were multiple calls for debate. I’ll give you a few minutes to decide if you can pick one as your speaker, or if you will need multiple speakers. Everyone who called debate, please meet over here.”

  Mehta pointed to the well on her right. Ansen already stood at the lectern to her left for counter. A dozen delegates, almost twenty percent of the conference, met in the corner and held a sometimes animated conversation for several minutes. Gradually most of them returned to their seats, leaving only Roman Chrzanowski and Jane Paxton.

  “Madam Chairman.”

  “Mr. Chrzanowski.”

  “Madam Chairman, we believe two speakers will be able to cover our points in debate, myself and Ms. Paxton. I will speak first.”

  “Very well, Mr. Chrzanowski. Your opening statement.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman.”

  Paxton returned to her seat for the moment, and Chrzanowski advanced to the lectern.

  “Madam Chairman, distinguished colleagues.

  “My objection to Mr. Mazur’s proposal is not an objection to his ideas. It is not an objection to his words. My objection is that his speech – indeed, the Charter itself – is only ideas, only words. And words and ideas will not be enough when the Earth navy shows up to lay claim to what they think is rightfully theirs.

  “We are sixty-six people. Even Doma’s police force would have little trouble rounding us up in short order if it came to that. And Earth’s Navy has hundreds of warships. We have no means to defend against that, no countervailing forces to deploy. They would snuff out our fledgling commonwealth like a candle.

  “We have a dream, yes. But without the means to defend that dream, to defend that Charter, we are better off continuing to work toward that dream than losing it entirely.”

  Chrzanowski nodded to Mehta.

  “Thank you, Mr. Chrzanowski. Mr. Ansen, your opening statement.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman. With your indulgence, Madam Chairman, my opening statement is in the form of a video.”

  “Is there an objection, Mr. Chrzanowski?”

  “No objection, Madam Chairman.”

  “You may proceed, Mr. Ansen.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman.”

  Ansen nodded to Kusunoki, who entered commands into her comp. The room lights went down to half, and the video Ansen had shown Mazur five weeks before played out on the large display at the front of the room. Mehta watched the video on the display built into the chairman’s podium.

  There were some reactions from the delegates to various parts of the video, but nothing like the reaction to the last frame, as shi
p name after ship name appeared on the screen. As the screen faded and the lights came up, the conference was abuzz with conversation.

  Mehta let this carry on for several minutes before she gaveled for order. She looked to Ansen, and he nodded.

  “The conference will come to order. Thank you, Mr. Ansen. Mr. Chrzanowski, the floor is open for debate.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman. Mr. Ansen, I have to ask you, how many of those ships, of that group of names at the end, how many of those exist?”

  “All of them. All seventy of them.”

  The conference dissolved into disorder again. Mehta let the conversations carry on for a couple of minutes before gaveling for order.

  “Mr. Chrzanowski, the floor is still open for debate.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman. Mr. Ansen, I am at a loss. We, the Commonwealth – our side, if you will – have a navy of seventy battleships?”

  “Yes, Mr. Chrzanowski. The Orlov Group and other mining companies have been purchasing large freighters and converting them to battleships, in systems across the Commonwealth, for four years. Their crews, for the time being all Orlov Group employees, have been training for two years. Those activities and this conference, which the Orlov Group sponsored, were timed to conclude simultaneously.”

  Mehta let animated discussion in the audience go for a couple of minutes before gaveling for order. She nodded to Chrzanowski.

  “Mr. Ansen, why would Stepan Orlov, of all people, want to fund what amounts to a revolution against himself and the other ruling families of Earth.”

  “I don’t know anything about Stepan Orlov, Mr. Chrzanowski. What I do know is that his son, Georgy Orlov, who is based on Jablonka and has been for fifteen years, has funded this navy and this conference. I also know that the younger Orlov and Jablonka Planetary Governor Westlake are very much aware the current colonial relationship with Earth is not stable, and will likely end in violence and tyranny if steps are not taken.

  “As to motives, it is much easier to run a profitable business under a classical liberal regime than under a totalitarian one. Or perhaps it is simpler than that. Perhaps our esteemed colleagues in the universities of Earth have done a better job of educating these young men in classical liberal Enlightenment values than their parents ever expected, or even desired.”

  “Back to my original topic. Mr. Anson, is it not true the Earth has many more than seventy warships?”

  “That is true, Mr. Chrzanowski. Earth has on the order of three hundred frigates, light warships used primarily for the enforcement of commerce rules against unarmed freighters. The Earth Navy has nothing that can stand up to a Commonwealth battleship, even with a heavy advantage in numbers.”

  Chrzanowski looked to his supporters in the audience, back to Ansen, and considered for several seconds.

  “Madam Chairman, I withdraw my objection to the proposal.”

  The audience reaction was mixed to that, though the applause well outweighed the grumbling.

  “Ms. Paxton.”

  Jane Paxton walked up to the empty lectern as Chrzanowski returned to his seat.

  “Ms. Paxton, your opening statement.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman.

  “Madam Chairman, distinguished colleagues.

  “My concern with this proposal is one of propriety and authority.

  “Let us assume for the moment we adopt this measure, and even, with the use of our newly-revealed navy, we prevail. By what measure are we anything other than one ruling clique replacing another? What is our authority? What is our right?

  “Clearly, many people will be better off under our planned structure. Just as surely, some will be worse off. There is seldom any change in the affairs of men that is one hundred percent positive. What right then do we sixty-six have to select one system over the other for the governance of our fellow men?

  “Yes, yes, we believe this is a better structure, granting more rights and freedoms to more people, and it better comports with our Enlightenment values. But parse that sentence again. ‘We believe.’ ‘Our Enlightenment values.’

  “And to what extent are we even sticking to our Enlightenment values, to our own Charter, if we abrogate its powers to ourselves, by declaring ourselves to be the Council in violation of the Charter itself? As merely one example, the Charter requires the Council to be made up of three delegates from each planet, not two.

  “Further, what administrative experience to run such a government do we sixty-six have? Academics all. And given how popular our Enlightenment ideals are even within our own academic milieu, most of us have never even headed our own departments.”

  Amid the ensuing chuckles, Paxton nodded to Mehta.

  “Mr. Ansen, your opening statement.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman.

  “Madam Chairman, distinguished colleagues.

  “Mr. Mazur’s proposal is we modify the Charter to name ourselves the transitional Council. That action would not thus be outside the Charter, but internal to it. Such transitional language is often required in such an instance.

  “With regard to three delegates from each planet as the Charter specifies for the Council, rather than the two delegates each planet has here at this conference, I agree. But there is already one delegate named and in place for each Commonwealth planet. The planetary governors have been named – by Earth, granted – as the authority on each planet under the current regime. Adding the members of this conference to the existing authority of the thirty-three planetary governors, we arrive at the Charter-specified Council of ninety-nine.

  “The Commonwealth can thus be seen not as a replacement of the current governance structure with another, but as an outgrowth from and enhancement of the current governance structure.

  “Finally, the admitted weakness of this body in administrative background is much bolstered by naming to the Council the planetary governors, administrators all.”

  Ansen nodded to Mehta.

  “Ms. Paxton, the floor is open for debate.”

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman. Mr. Ansen, do you seriously propose to put the planetary governors, the very symbols of Earth’s domination of the colony planets, on the Commonwealth Council?”

  “Of course. Ms. Paxton, transitions are always the most troublesome time for endeavors such as ours. The planetary governors already command the police forces, which not only maintain the regime but protect against all the common crimes – murder, theft, and the like. Those police are generally recruited locally. Why would we not still want such police protections from locally recruited citizens?”

  “And police suppression of civil rights, Mr. Ansen?”

  “Is now illegal under the Charter, Ms. Paxton. My argument has always been not with the administrators who enforce Earth’s decrees, but with those decrees themselves. We all will swear new oaths, as required by the Charter, to preserve, protect, and defend the people and planets of the Commonwealth.”

  “And if a planetary governor refuses such oath, Mr. Ansen?”

  “Why then, he cannot be seated, Ms. Paxton.”

  “And if they swear such oath, and, forsworn, attempt to undermine the Charter and return the Commonwealth to Earth domination, Mr. Ansen?”

  “Then they will be outvoted in Council, Ms. Paxton.”

  “Madam Chairman, I maintain my objection absent enabling language for the original proposal.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Paxton, Mr. Ansen. Mr. Mazur, your closing statement.”

  Paxton returned to her seat and Mazur took the lectern.

  “Thank you, Madam Chairman.

  “Madam Chairman, distinguished colleagues.

  “We have a Charter, as fine a structure for enlightened governance as the finest Enlightenment minds of these thirty-three planets can construct. We have a Navy, the most powerful navy in space, to defend that Charter and those planets. And so I repeat my questions to you from earlier.

  “If not us, my friends, then who?

  “If not now, when
?”

  Mazur grabbed up his notes and returned to his seat.

  “Thank you, Mr. Mazur. Mr. Mazur, Mr. Chrzanowski, Ms. Paxton, and Mr. Ansen, could you approach the chair, please?”

  The four speakers on the proposal came up to the chairman’s podium and they had an off-record conversation. The four speakers then returned to their seats, and Mehta addressed the conference.

  “My fellow delegates.

  “The proposal before us is of such moment it deserves consideration and debate appropriate to its consequence. I am therefore exercising the chairman’s prerogative to restructure the proceedings somewhat on this matter.

  “We will stand in recess until Wednesday morning. For the rest of today and all of tomorrow, I would urge the delegates to discuss these matters among yourselves. Seek out today’s speakers for any additional information you require. Work on enabling language for the proposal discussed here today. Such language might be included in a new article at the end of the agreed document, titled Transition Process or some such.

  “And on Wednesday morning, we will begin to hear motions and debates on the enabling language and such other proposals as you might make.

  “I am also reminded that this conference’s deliberations are confidential, and that in particular encompasses the contents of the video we saw today and certain conclusions one can draw from it.

  “In the meantime, Mr. Mazur’s motion of today remains tabled. Perhaps a vote on it will be the final approval vote required once all the enabling language and transitional measures are acted upon.

  “Mr. Mazur, Mr. Chrzanowski, Ms. Paxton, Mr. Ansen, do I hear any objections.”

  “No objection, Madam Chairman.”

  “We are in recess until Wednesday morning.”

  The Council

  It took over two weeks to debate proposed language, consider all amendments, and pass the individual steps required to come to a final vote. It was Thursday morning of the second last week of the Westlake Conference before Patryk Mazur’s proposal came back up for a vote.