Wednesday 27 August 2003
San Francisco, California
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To Governor Gray Davis and all of the candidates for Governor
of California in the upcoming election,
we, Benjamin Franklin
and Richard Henry Lee,
are pleased to propose:
[Mr. Franklin:]
Two centuries ago, in September, 1787, at the closing of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, I, Benjamin Franklin, spoke in favor of the ratification of the new constitution. In my speech, I included a warning:
In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults—if they are such;—because I think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.
I feared that the government created by this new constitution would "end in despotism" -- indeed that it could "only end in despotism".
My friend, Richard Henry Lee, was a leader of the Anti-Federalists, who opposed the ratification of the constitution.
[Mr. Lee:]
Thank you, Ben. Yes, we Anti-Federalists had many objections to the new constitution --
- the convention was supposed to revise the Articles of Confederation, not replace them
- the ratification procedure for the new constitution ignored the procedure for revisions in the Articles of Confederation (Article XIII)
- the new constitution created a consolidated national government, rather than a confederation of free and independent states
- the new constitution gave to Congress both the power of the purse (direct taxation) and the power of the sword (an army)
- the new constitution had no provision against having a "standing army in time of peace"
- the new constitution gave Congress control over the method of electing its own members
- and finally: the new constitution lacked a Bill of Rights
[Mr. Franklin:]
While we did get a Bill of Rights in the form of the first ten amendments to the constitution, this has not been sufficient to prevent the slide toward despotism in our beloved country.
We may debate today whether or not we Americans are currently in a state that may be called "despotism". However, both Mr. Lee and I believe that the trend is clear: the trend is toward despotism.
[Mr. Lee:]
Therefore, Mr. Franklin & I have come up with a plan that we hope will help our beloved country out of its current difficulties.
The plan involves the glorious and beautiful State of California, which has a history of innovation and creativity.
Today the attention of the world is on California with its upcoming election. Mr. Franklin and I call upon Governor Gray Davis and all of the candidates for Governor in the upcoming election to endorse and help implement the following "Anti-Federalist Plan for California":
An Anti-Federalist Plan for California
We propose that California decentralize to be a confederation of Counties, modelled upon the original confederation of States created by the Articles of Confederation:
- The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The State of California".
- Each County retains its freedom, sovereignty, independence, and right to secede.
- Each County shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the Counties, and while they act as members of the committee of the Counties.
- Each County shall be represented by a delegation of not less than two and not more than seven delegates.
- Delegates can be recalled or replaced by their respective Counties at any time.
- There is rotation in office: no delegate may serve more than three years out of any six.
- Each County has one vote, and all votes require consensus -- a unanimous affirmation -- in order to pass.
- The assets and liabilities of the existing State Government are distributed to the People and the Counties.
- Any alteration to these Articles of Confederation must be agreed to in the legislature of the State of California, and be afterwards confirmed by every County.
With this plan, the focus and power of government is shifted from the central government to the more local government.
We believe that this shift toward local governance would result in the many benefits to society that liberty is expected to bring.
[Mr. Franklin:]
Mr. Lee and I believe that the successful implementation of this plan of decentralization of California would greatly improve life in California, and also that it would set a marvelous example for the United States as a whole.
We therefore call upon Governor Gray Davis and all of the candidates for Governor in the upcoming election to endorse and help implement this plan for reform.
We thank you for your consideration.
