Chapter 2466 Declaration Law

In the spring of 1626, the Fizen Kingdom urgently needed to formulate a new strategy to fundamentally quell the riots that originated in the colonies of the New World. However, what kind of strategy would this be?

The "hawks" in the upper and lower houses of parliament called for stricter control with more troops and a stronger fleet; the "doves" representatives believed that more concessions should be made to resolve certain specific conditions in the colony. grievances, such as those concerning taxes, customs, border disputes, and the Wild West.

The wisest strategy would have been to combine the two, using a "carrot and stick" policy to separate the "moderates" from the "radicals" in the colonies.

Given enough time, such an approach should be successful.

Unfortunately, the political climate in Fiji at that time did not allow Prime Minister North and his cabinet to adopt the above-mentioned prudent policies. Both the left and the right wings of the parliament exerted great pressure on them.

Mr. Wilkes, a representative of the left-wing "Justice Party", delivered a speech in the House of Commons, publicly expressing his sympathy for the colonies' resistance. Regarding the slogan "No Taxes Without Representation", he believed that a "patch" should be applied to Fiji and the colonies. Treat the colonies as electoral districts and allow the colonies to send representatives to the House of Commons as members.

Applying this "patch" will completely dispel the foundation of the slogan "no taxation without representation". Congress can better listen to the demands from the colonies, and follow the rules of procedure of the minority obeying the majority, even if the members of the colonial origin collectively vote No votes, local members of parliament can still cast an overwhelming majority of votes in favor, thus justifiably implementing the stamp duty bill in the colonies.

The initiative of Mr. Wilkes perfectly embodies the policy program of the "Piristas" - regarding the pursuit of social justice and equality as the highest ideal.

The PKR had a brief stint in power, but it was not successful. They are too demanding of social fairness, with too much idealism and romantic sentiment. Many policies introduced during the administration have good original intentions, but they cannot be implemented in a complex real environment, or become ridiculous during the implementation process. Walking the board, instead, created more social conflicts, and finally resigned sadly.

After that failure, the Justice Party learned a lesson to some extent. Mr. Wilkes was regarded as a more pragmatic figure in the opposition party. The plan he put forward seemed reasonable, but was unanimously opposed by the members of the "Party of Order".

The Kingdom of Fizen has dozens of overseas colonies, large and small. If the Jotunheimers are allowed to enter the Congress, other colonies will follow suit and demand the same rights. In the view of the members of the Party of Order, "Once this case is opened, there will be endless troubles." "!"

The population growth rate of Fizen’s native land has shown a decline, while the population size of the colonies is increasing rapidly. If this trend continues, the total population of the colonies will exceed that of the native land in a few years. If the local parliamentary election system is expanded to the colonies, the number of parliamentarians from the colonies will soon exceed that of native origin.

In this way, sooner or later, the House of Commons in Fijn will be controlled by representatives from the colonies, and when the interests of the native land and the colonies conflict, such as the recent "stamp duty" incident in Jotunheim, the House of Commons will become the representatives of the colonies to seek their own interests tools, local parliamentarians will be suppressed.

There are many upstarts of bourgeois origin among the PKR, who have made a fortune through overseas trade, plantation and slave trade, have close ties to the colonies, and can count on forming alliances with colonial representatives and then jointly governing.

The Party of Order are mostly landowners, squires, priests, and feudal nobles who were born in Fiji. The agricultural and animal husbandry output of their own manors is their main source of income, and they are increasingly impacted by cheap crops and meat from the New World. He has long held grudges against the slave owners in the colonies, and the core interests of the two sides are in conflict. Of course, he cannot accept the compromise proposed by Wilkes, and even denounces it face-to-face as "leading wolves into the house" and "concealing evil intentions"!

"Do we want to be free, or to be slaves in our colony?"

Sir Sir Hill, the veteran of the Party of Order, posed the above question during the parliamentary debate, which attracted applause and made Lord North feel uncomfortable.

Of course he could hear that Sir Hill's words were obviously condemning the Wilkes party, but the implication was a warning to himself.

The reason why Lord North was able to win the competition within the party and ascend to the throne of Prime Minister was inseparable from the support of Sir Hill, who is highly respected.

Now the Party of Order can't bear the tax resistance riot in Jotunheim. If he still looks forward and backward, and appears weak and deceitful, some people in the party may question whether he is worthy of the position of "Prime Minister".

In late February 1626, the Fijan Council made a strong response to the slogan "No Taxation Without Representation" and issued a "Colonial Declaration Act", declaring that the Fijan Council had "sacred and inviolable rights" in every inch of overseas colonies. full sovereignty over violations", and could "legislate for the colonies in every case".

As for the initiative put forward by the left-wing Wilkes camp to admit colonial representatives into the parliament, it was vetoed cleanly by the right-wing party of Order, who held the majority of seats in the parliament.

The Party of Order regarded the promulgation of the Declaration Act and the rejection of the "Wilkes Proposal" as a major victory for their party in the parliamentary struggle. Those royalists and neutrals who originally had deep feelings for the suzerain and looked forward to a peaceful settlement of disputes were the allies that the Fijin government should have striven for.

The promulgation of the "Declaration Act" made this group generally feel disillusioned. Many influential public figures were deeply hit by this, and angrily defected to the "radical" camp advocating independence. Joan was one of them.

Before the "Declaration Act" was promulgated, in all fairness, Joan did have good fantasies about the Fizen Council.

At a weekend salon at Custis's house, Joann makes her case to Rebecca.

The Holy Ashan Empire sold Midgard and Alfheim to the Kingdom of Fizen as a package, which certainly hurt the feelings of the subjects of the two places, but Joan had to admit——His Majesty the Emperor made a wise deal.

...

Historical material: "North American Declaration Act" (Declaration Act) ("A Brief History of the American Revolutionary War" [English] Stephen Conway)

In early 1766, the British Parliament passed the "American Declaratory Act", which specifically emphasized that Parliament had the right to legislate for the colonies "in any case".

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