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
That something more desired by all
Pan-Angles is local autonomy.
To representation in a central legislature must be added the
local control of local questions so dear to Pan-Angle
individualism. This is what federalism accomplishes.[200-1] "Our
Federal system is the only form of popular government that would
be possible in a country like ours, with an enormous territory
and 100,000,000 population. . . . But for this safety valve by
which people of one State can have such State government as they
choose, we would never be able to keep the union of all the
people so harmonious as we now have."[200-2] "The growth of the
United States has widened political horizons. It has proved that
immense territorial extent is not incompatible, under modern
conditions, with that representative system of popular
government which had its birth and development in England, and
its most notable adaptation in America. It has shown that the
spread of a nation over vast areas, including widely-separated
states with diverse interests, need not prevent it from becoming
strongly bound together in a political organism which combines
{201} the advantages of national greatness and unity of purpose
with jealously guarded freedom of local self-government."[201-1]
The indefinite governmental relationships between the Britannic
nations are to-day satisfactory to no one. Britannic closer
union forms the thesis of much writing and speech making and the
subject of much earnest study.[201-2] That the demands of the
situation can be met adequately only by federation seems evident
to many. This thought is thus expressed by Milner: "If, as I
fervently hope, the present loose association of the
self-governing states of the Empire grows in time into a regular
partnership, it can only be, as it seems to me, by the
development of a new organ of government representative of them
all, and dealing exclusively with matters of common interest. It
would only heighten confusion to bring representatives of the
Dominions into the House of Commons. And if, as I think everyone
would admit, it is impracticable to bring them into the House of
Commons, they would certainly say, 'Thank you for nothing' if we
were to offer them a few seats in the House of Lords."[201-3]
Mr. Winston Churchill continued in his speech at Dundee: "I tell
you further that that system when erected and established will
in itself be only the forerunner and nucleus of a general scheme
of Imperial federation which will gather together in {202} one
indissoluble circle the British people here and beyond the
seas."[202-1] Rhodes wrote over twenty years ago: "I will
frankly add that my interest in the Irish question has been
heightened by the fact that in it I see the possibility of the
commencement of changes which will eventually mould and weld
together all parts of the British Empire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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