Back to the Republic/Chapter9
Chapter IX
A WORLD REPUBLIC
PROBLEMS in mathematics cannot be solved without first establishing the unit and then utilizing the four methods of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Just so you must have the standard form and the four elements of the republic to solve governmental problems.
You cannot construct a building without first providing the foundation and then erecting the four walls. The foundation corresponds in importance to the standard form, and the four walls of the building to the four elements of a republic.
The basis of the solar system is a standard form of planet, which is the sphere. From the mightiest suns to the smallest planets they are all spheres. The executive power keeps them in motion. The legislative power defines their courses. The judicial power holds them to their courses through the law of gravitation, and each sphere is guaranteed the inherent individual rights of space in which to rotate and freedom from collision with other suns or planets. The solar system is organized as a sphere of the related spheres of the universe.
We cannot have a world republic until we have a universal standard form of government, and when a world republic comes it will be the republic of the united republics of the world.
As soon as the world grasps the full meaning of the republic as a form of government its universal adoption will be as natural as the universal adoption of the other standards referred to in Chapter IV.
The institution of monogamous marriage was first evolved in some country, and when the world recognized that it was better than either polygamy or promiscuity, it met with almost universal adoption. The clock was first evolved in some country, and when the world recognized it as the best method of telling and recording time, it met with universal adoption. And likewise with the golden rule, the ten digits, the standards of weights and measures, etc.
It is to our everlasting glory that the republic was evolved in this country, and it is our supreme privilege and sacred duty to maintain it unimpaired and to spread the gospel of its sterling worth to all other nations of the world.
If the people of the United States of America should begin at once to adhere strictly and literally to the republic as the standard form of government in nation, State, county and city, we would then be in a position to give a clear, definite and constructive message to all countries of the world as follows:
We recommend that you substitute a republic for the form of government that you now have; not in the spirit of force, or threat, or hate, or revenge, or dictation, but rather in the spirit of Christ upon the cross when he said: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," or in the spirit of Lincoln during the dark hours of the republic when he said to those who would destroy it: "We are not enemies, but friends; we must not be enemies; though passion may have strained, it must not break the bonds of affection.
. . . With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on . . . to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
Alfred Tennyson had the great vision of a time when
"the war drums throb no longer
And the battle flags are furl'd,
In the parliament of man,
The federation of the world."
But he did not realize that the republic was the medium through which this inspired dream could come true.
For years a major portion of the people of the world have been ready for international peace, but no plan has been evolved for its successful achievement. The serious obstacle has been the difficulty of harmonizing the numerous and varied types of government into a great single purpose.
We have tried to solve the problem without first establishing the unit.
We have tried to build a world movement without first laying the foundation.
We have tried to unite governments without first having a standard form that would make them work in harmony.
A movement should be started at once to organize the world into from sixteen to twenty-five federal republics. There should be:
The republic of the United States of America,
The republic of the United States of G r e a t Britain,
The republic of the United States of Germany,
The republic of the United States of France,
The republic of the United States of Poland,
The republic of the United States of Russia,
The republic of the United States of Italy,
The republic of the United States of Scandinavia,
The republic of the United States of Spain,
The republic of the United States of Greece,
The republic of the United States of China,
The republic of the United States of Japan,
The republic of the United States of South America,
The republic of the United States of Asia,
The republic of the United States of Africa, and several others.
This would make possible the solution of the Home Rule question in Ireland because it would make Ireland a sovereign state of the United States of Great Britain just as Illinois is a sovereign State of the United States of America. It might solve the Alsace-Lorraine problem by making a portion of it a sovereign state of the United States of France and a portion of it a sovereign state of the United States of Germany. It would furnish the key to the solution of a number of difficult problems in the Balkans and in other territory that must soon come under grave consideration in working out the complex international situation.
All states and minor political divisions of the federal republics should be organized as republics.
With the governments of the world organized as republics, a constitutional convention composed of representatives of the various republics could be called. A world constitution could be framed that would provide (1) for a world executive and define his qualifications and powers, (2) for a world legislative body and define its qualifications and powers, (3) for a world judiciary and define its qualifications and powers, and (4) for certain inherent international rights.
A world republic could then be organized rather simply and almost automatically as follows: Provide (1) that an ex-president of one of the republics would be the world executive; (2) that the vice-presidents of the various republics would be the world legislative body (this would give them something to do and would encourage a more careful selection of vice-presidents); (3) that when an international controversy arose, one member of the supreme court from each republic not directly interested in the controversy would sit as the court to determine the rights of the republics in controversy, and (4) that the inherent international rights could be enforced through those three branches of the world republic.