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Chapter 15: Alliance Government

24 July 1963

"Kalo, Bob. We finished our work quota for this period ahead of schedule, so we feel that the spare time can be used constructively in giving you information of various sorts.

"Today we will speak of Alliance Government.

"First, the present day Alliance consists of well over 5000 planets all over the galaxy, and several hundred more in other galaxies.

[Note: on October 10, 1988, ArKay said, "My message -- my lesson, if you will -- for this evening concerns the ways and means of the "United Worlds Alliance", of which Korendor is but one of almost 740,000 member planets." The count as of September 9, 2008 is 804,210 worlds. The huge increase between 1963 and 1988 is the result of several other very large interstellar unions allying with the Alliance under its banner, although remaining separate entities. This alone accounted for over 500,000 of the new member worlds. The rest were from intensive exploration and rapid expansion.

The "other galaxies" referred to are the two "Magellenic Clouds" and M-31. Since that was written, exploration of several of the "dwarf" galaxies that are Milky Way satellites (see the list on this web page) has been under way.]

"The Alliance, formed 629 years ago as a result of the First Conclave of Elder Masters, expanded from the original 150 worlds to its present state in a sort of geometric progression, joining a few per cendrol at first, then snowballing as more representatives were sent out to other worlds. About four years ago, our first operatives came in this direction to explore this system on a formal basis [Note: a pioneering group of Korendians came here centuries ago, but that is a matter for another contact], discovering when they did the advanced state of life on some of the local planets of this solar systems, namely Venus, Mars, Saturn and Pluto, which is inhabited under the surface. Venus and Mars have indigent life, and the others, except for your Earth, were populated by the Venusians and Martians.

[Note: the red text was IC. It indicates that their sophistication had improved remarkably.]

Earth, too, has life native to it, the third time around, I might add. Atlantis and Lemuria formed the first two. They blew themselves out of existence in wars, so we are informed by the Confederation.

"But we have deviated. Our topic was Alliance government, and so it shall be.

"The Alliance as a whole is governed by the World Central Committee, now located on the planet Arcturia. [Note: Alandra (aka Arcturia, a name given it by visitors to Earth to identify its location) is formally neutral. The Confederation also has headquarters there.] The Committee consists of two men from each of the Alliance planets. These men are elected by the inhabitants of their planets. Once elected, they are responsible only to the Alliance and the others of the Committee. While they represent their planet in the committee, they are not obliged to vote as their planet wishes, especially if such a vote would not be in the interest of the Alliance, or would be detrimental to any other world or worlds. Neither are they obliged to favor their in own world at the expense of others.

"Their purpose is to legislate for the entire Alliance, to act upon matters of interstellar importance brought to them, and to enlist new members in the Alliance. They are responsible to no group, and their decisions are final, though anyone can by due procedure, question a decision if it seems to be unwise. This right has been evoked seven times since the Alliance came into being, and all seven times, the Committee has either revised their decision, or carefully explained some part of it of which the challenging parties were not aware. In each case all sides have been satisfied.

"The elected must be either Masters or the planets' equivalent; they are elected by popular vote; they must be natives of the planet; they must have held the Master's status for the equivalent of twenty cendrols.

"The term of office is until the individual wishes to retire, otherwise for life. There is a section of the Committee's Code that allows a majority vote to impeach a member if such becomes necessary, which it never has.

"The Council of Worlds, second only to the Committee, is composed of ten individuals elected by each planet's inhabitants to serve in the Council, which is composed of 50 planets in proximity to each other, forming what are called Sub-Units. These 500 men are elected for terms of 25 cendrols, must be natives of the planets they represent, and must have been Masters at least ten cendrols. Like their counterparts in the Committee, they are not under control of their planets once elected.

"Their purpose is to carry out legislation and decisions of the Committee; to explain these to the worlds in their Sub-Unit; to act upon and legislate concerning matters not deemed sufficient for attention by the Committee, or which can be handled by the Council rather then the Committee. Any case involving two or more Sub-Units is automatically under the Committee's jurisdiction.

"Each world has its own Control Division, which serves to legislate for the individual planet and relays the rulings of the higher bodies to the populace.

"Then, of course, we come to the individual citizens, who are the real governing body in the Alliance. We would have it no other way.

"Next, we have two major organizations under the Committee. The first, of which this ship and its crew are a part, is called New Worlds Development Associates. The NWDA's purpose is to enlist new Alliance worlds, to aid in development of those not quite ready, and to do as we are doing here on Earth now, to assist planets in scientific, cultural, and ethical growth.

"NWDA is financed, if such be the word [Note: the Alliance uses a system very similar to New World Economics] by the Committee. All operations are subject to the Committee. Whatever we do must be sanctioned by them, and if more than ordinarily allowed by the Code of Non-Intervention, also by the Conclave of Masters. In rare cases such as Earth, a ruling is required by the Conclave of High or Elder Masters, depending on one's personal preference in titles.

"All ships are donated by the manufacturers, by custom more than by necessity, as it is considered a great service to make such a donation. The fittings for the ship and crew are usually provided by their planet of origin, as a good-will gesture. Also by custom, the crews of any ship are all from the same planet as the ship, and the discovery and enlistment of a planet to the Alliance is credited to the planet, making for friendly competition between planets, and indirectly resulting in a more efficient operation.

"We of this group are competing with a similar group in the galaxy M-31 for the top position. What with the other planets in this system, we have gained an initial lead on them, but getting Earth to our credit will give us a psychological advantage second to nothing else since the Alliance began. Your planet is becoming a Premium Planet among us of NWDA, because any group that can get you to change your ways and enter the Alliance will gain incalculable prestige. It would be wonderful if you were to help us out a bit.

"The other group under the WCC is called the Guardian Patrol. This is the quasi-military police force of the Alliance. Their function is the protection of the Alliance planets from hostile forces; keeping order within the Alliance; investigation in the same manner as your FBI; and at the request of individual planets, policing of the planets. If crime should occur, the Guardians are authorized to do whatever is necessary to bring the offenders to justice. In such a case, no planetary sovereignty will prevent the Guardians from arresting the criminal, unlike on Earth, where no prisoner or criminal can be taken from one nation to another without formal extradition documents and other such nonsense.

"In the Alliance, when a crime is committed, for example, on Korendor, and the offender skips off to Arcturia, the Guardians have every right to move in, capture the criminal and bring him before the appropriate board for trial.

"This has one exception: if an individual commits a crime, then returns to his home world, a permit is obtained from that world's Control Division to bring the prisoner back to the planet where be committed the crime to stand trial.

"But enough unpleasantness. Crime has been virtually nonexistent since that law was put into effect 610 years ago. This absence of crime is due in part to the abundance provided by the Universal Economics system, which is essentially the same as a system proposed by one of your leaders in the Saucer Movement. Adoption of this system on your world will eliminate 95% of the crime on your world, and should be seriously considered by anyone sincerely interested in peace and plenty. We will discuss this system as used in the Alliance in our contact concerning commerce, business and industry.

"To end this treatise, one more body will be described. I briefly mentioned it earlier. That is the Conclave, either of Masters or of High or Elder Masters. In the first instance, all Masters are invited, both Elder and otherwise. This is for general policy decisions in matters not covered by the Committee, and concerns that are more ethical and moral than legal, which is the realm of the WCC.

"It is the Conclave that decides whether actions taken by the NWDA, for instance, would be infringing upon, injurious to or inconsiderate of the natural rights of a planet and its people, after the Committee had sanctioned it according to the Alliance laws in a legal capacity.

"There are some things which are perfectly legal which we would not undertake without being certain beyond doubt that no alternative exists. Then again, there are things that the Conclave would endorse that are a violation of Alliance laws, such as moving in on a planet and leading the inhabitants into light in person. Such is the case with Earth. However, the Committee has decided that it would encroach upon your free choice and cannot permit it, as much as they would like to allow it.

"That, in essence, is the structure of our government in the Alliance. In our opinion, it would be to the advantage of you of Earth if you were to adopt a One-World government controlling all nations, but in the end under the control of individuals. We picture the United Nations as a basis. You can do as you will, however. We only suggest.

"For now, Bob, va i luce. Sendorr-Lar of the Legal Department is clearing for today."


Text proofread and edited for typographical errors and improved wording 20080909.



© 2008 Robert P. Renaud -- all rights reserved