The Pan-Angles: A Consideration of the Federation of the Seven English-Speaking NationsKennedy, Sinclair
History
The Pan-Angles: A Consideration of the Federation of the Seven English-Speaking Nations
Kennedy, Sinclair
Anglo-Saxon race; Great Britain -- Colonies; Great Britain -- Relations -- United States; United States -- Relations -- Great Britain
If the first steps to this "home rule all round" aimed at in the
present (1914) legislation regarding Ireland prove defective, in
that it concedes what is _not_ needed, and denies what _is_
needed, it is because the British Isles has not taken to heart
the inwardness of the federal idea. Lord Dunraven pointed this
out when he said that "there were only two principles on which
Home Rule could be founded--the Federal system or absolute
independence. The present Bill applied to neither and he could
recognize in it no basis of settlement."[198-1] In the following
resolution, he indicated how the question of "home rule all
round" should be attacked: ". . .'The best means of arriving at
a settlement by consent of the Irish political question and of
the constitutional difficulties connected with it, and of
securing the harmonious working of any system of self-government
in Ireland and the permanency of friendly relations between the
two islands is to be found in a convention, or conference,
representative of all nationalities and parties in the United
Kingdom, and . . . it is the duty of his Majesty's Government to
take the initiative in inviting such convention or
conference.'"[198-2] But the fact that a majority of the British
Parliament has gone so far as to advocate any form of Home Rule
is evidence of a sincere effort to meet the conditions of
Pan-Angle individualism where longest suppressed, {199} and thus
hasten the harmonious self-government of the British Isles.
Franklin, when he wrote to Shirley[199-1] in 1754 about the need
of colonial representation to the British Parliament in London,
may or may not have realized how far the gaining of that desire
would fail to satisfy. His plan would not have produced a
federal government for Pan-Angles. It would have created a
larger unitary government than then existed. There would not
have been co-ordinated spheres of governmental control. The
local affairs of Pennsylvania and England, of Scotland and New
York, would together have been in the hands of a Parliament
composed of representatives elected from the nation at large.
This would have been unacceptable to the people of England,
Pennsylvania, Scotland, and New York. They would have asked for
something more. A lesson can be drawn from this by those who
to-day urge Australian or Canadian representation in the present
British Isles Parliament. Such representation would subject
Britishers to outside control of their local problems, just as
to-day Englanders are affected by Irish representatives voting
on local problems of England. Conversely, it would mean a
continued interference in Australian and Canadian local problems
by the local representatives of the British Isles--the very
thing the peoples of the five new nations have already taken
appropriate steps to obviate. The Irish question demonstrates
that representation alone is not enough for Pan-Angles. The
Irish are more than {200} fairly represented in Parliament.
Still they clamour for more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account