The Bear Flag Empire of California is a constitutional monarchy headed by His Imperial Majesty Norton I, Emperor of California. As of 1877 the Empire extends from the Pacific Ocean east to the Great Basin of the Unorganized Territories, and from the border with the Dominion of Canada south to the Gulf of California. Norton's domain also includes the Viceroyalty of Alaska and the lands of the "silver barons" of Arizona.
As of the 1870's the Empire is not subdivided into individual "states", but rather Imperial districts. There is no median level of government between the Imperial administration and municipal authorities.
Municipal government is left largely up to the locals. The Imperial government, however is much more structured.
The Imperial Government is
divided into three branches; Executive, Legislative and Judiciary.
The Executive Branch is made up of the Office of the Emperor
and the Council of State. The Legislative Branch is comprised
of the House of Peers, and the House of Representatives. The
Imperial Supreme Court is the sole organization of the Judiciary
Branch and handles all matters regarding constitutional law and
crimes committed outside municipal limits.
THE OFFICE OF THE EMPEROR
- Emperor
- -Hereditary monarchy
- -Suggests Legislation
- -Hereditary monarchy
The Emperor holds the positions of Executive Officer and Head of State, represents the Empire in international affairs and directs the Military Supreme Command. He holds the right of veto, suspension and line-item vetoes. He is assisted by a cabinet of Ministers, the Council of State, that he appoints and dismisses.
THE COUNCIL OF STATE
- Prime Minister
- -Head of Government. Superior of the ministries of state and the Imperial bureaucracy. Holds the right of suspension and line-item vetoes. Appointed and dismissed by the Emperor. Confirmed by the House of Peers.
- Lord Chancellor
- Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Minister of Internal Affairs
- Minister of Finance
- Minister of War
- First Lord of the Admiralty
- Minister of Commerce
- Minister of Indian Affairs
- Minister of Justice
- -Nominated by the Prime Minister, confirmed by the Houses of Parliament and appointed by the Emperor. (q.v. Ministries for details of their offices)
- -Head of Government. Superior of the ministries of state and the Imperial bureaucracy. Holds the right of suspension and line-item vetoes. Appointed and dismissed by the Emperor. Confirmed by the House of Peers.
The Council of State are
those Imperial Ministries and their Ministers that aid and advise
the Emperor in the administration of his duties. The Council
of State is the equivalent of the President's Cabinet in the United
States.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs*
- -Handles all relations with foreign nations. Administers embassies and consuls. NOTE: Does not handle affairs with the local indian population.
- Ministry of Finance*
- -Mints all money and administers all taxes and tariffs within the Empire.
- Ministry of Commerce*
- -Regulates trade.
- Admiralty*
- Royal Marine Corps
- -Administers the Imperial Navy and Royal Marine Corps.
- Ministry of War (War Office)*
- Department of the Army
- Department of the Aerial Service
- Department of the Army
- -Manages the Imperial Army and Aerial Service.
- Ministry of Justice*
- -Handles the Royal Californian Mounted Police. Prosecutes crimes against the State.
- Ministry of Internal Affairs (Home Office)*
- Oversees the management of the natural resources of the Empire.
- Ministry of Agriculture
- Administers and assists the agricultural economy of the Empire.
- Ministry of Transportation
- Supervises construction and maintenance of roads, railways and other methods of transportation.
- Ministry of Statistics, Calculations and Information
- Collects, collates and processes information from throughout the Empire.
- Postmaster General
- Oversees distribution of the mail.
- Ministry of Indian Affairs (Indian Office)*
- Handles relations with the internal populations of Indian tribes. NOTE: This does not include relations with the Twenty Nations Confederation.
*=denote Council of State members
DEPARTMENTS OF THE IMPERIAL MINISTRIES
Imperial Ministries and divided
into Departments, which in turn are divided into Bureaus. Agencies
may be formed by a Ministry to specialize in a certain topic,
these are usually permanent offices. Commissions serve the same
purpose as agencies, but are usually short standing offices, perhaps
around two years. Authorities are high offices established to
regulate an industry.
Examples:
- I. The Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs
- A. The Department of Public Safety
- II. The Imperial Ministry of the Exechequer
- A. The Department of the Treasurer
- B. The Department of the Treasury
- 1. The Bureau of Imperial Mints
- 2. The Secret Service
- C. The Department of Taxation
- 1. The Bureau of Revenue Collection
- 2. The Imperial Revenue Cutter Service
- III. The Imperial Ministry of Transportation
- A. The California Railway Authority
- B. The California Transit Authority
- IV. The Imperial Ministry of Statistics, Calculation and Information
- A. The Department of Engines
- 1. The Bureau of Steam Works
- B. The Department of Statistics
- C. The Department of Calculation
- D. The Department of Weights and Means
- E. The Department of Information
- 1. The Government Printing Office
- 2. The National Geographic Service
- F. The Department of the Census
- A. The Department of Engines
- V. The Imperial Ministry of War
- A. The Department of the Army
- 1. Army Headquarters - The Presidio, San Francisco
- 2. Department of the Quartermaster
- 3. Department of Infantry of the Line
- 4. Department of Scouts
- 5. Department of the Cavalry
- 6. Department of the Coastal Artillery
- 7. Department of the Signal Corps
- 8. Department of Ordnance
- a. The Bureau of Railroads and Transportation
- b. The Bureau of Topographical Services
- 10. Department of Army Intelligence
- 11. Department of Army Engineers
- a. The Corps of Royal Engineers
- b. The Corps of Royal Steam Engineers
- c. The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- B. The Department of the Aerial Service
- 1. Aerial Headquarters - Oakland
- C. The Department of the Army Reserve and National Guards
- A. The Department of the Army
THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS,CALCULATION AND INFORMATION
This Ministry (MSCI) is responsible for the management, upkeep and use of the Government's difference engines. It operates primarily out of the Steam House on Powell Street. The Steam House, itself, occupies an entire city block, across the street from it is its powerplant that provides steam through underground pipes to the Engines. The building is a huge structure resembling a train station, offices and located along the outside, while the "courtyard" is a great iron-roofed arch that houses the Government's Engines. Here one shall find the largest and most powerful Difference Engines in the City. Steam House is considered the Ministry's "Central Office", similar structures may be found in all the major cities.
Each office is connected to each other via great bundles of telegraph cables. These cables transmit messages in morse code, which are turned into punch cards at the receiving end. These messages are often requests for data stored at a particular engine site, or updates to an engine's databases. For this reason the MSCI is the greatest employer of telegraph operators in North America.
THE ROYAL CALIFORNIAN POSTAL SERVICE
The Royal Californian Postal Service was established in 1867. This service is directed by the Postmaster-General who is appointed by the Emperor. There are two postal rates for the Empire, domestic and foreign. Currently the price for domestic post is 10 cents and foreign post 15 cents.
THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT
The Imperial Parliament of
California is divided into two houses, the upper House of Peers
and the lower House of Representatives.
- THE HOUSE OF PEERS
- -Introduces and amends legislation, accepts or rejects legislation, approves most Imperial appointments and treaties. Presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who is nominated by the Emperor and confirmed by the House of Peers.
- -Peers are appointed to the House by one of three means: Imperial Appointees, appointed by the Emperor; Honor Appointees, appointed by the House of Representatives and the Hereditary Peerages. Hereditary peerages are by Imperial appointment and simple majority vote of the House of Representatives.
- -Peers are appointed to the House by one of three means: Imperial Appointees, appointed by the Emperor; Honor Appointees, appointed by the House of Representatives and the Hereditary Peerages. Hereditary peerages are by Imperial appointment and simple majority vote of the House of Representatives.
- THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- -Introduces, amends, accepts or rejects legislation, approves all tariffs, fines and excises and approves the annual Imperial Budget. May overrule the House of Peers by a three-quarters majority vote. Presided over by the President, who is elected by the House.
- -Representatives are elected at large within seven Imperial Districts - San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Virginia City, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle.
- -Each district elects nine Representatives based on popular vote, each citizen having one vote. Representatives serve three-year-terms with one third of the House up for reelection every year. There are no term limits, though an individual will be removed from office if convicted of a major offense.
- -Districts are population based. An area must have a population of at least 30,000 within a 100 mile radius (give or take) before it is considered an Imperial District and granted representation. It was not until the 1880's that population became a problem thus spawning the Organic Act of 1890 (q.v.)
- -The Viceroyalty of Alaska does not have elected representatives as it is a royal dominion and is therefore under direct rule of the Emperor.
- -Representatives are elected at large within seven Imperial Districts - San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Virginia City, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle.
- Imperial Supreme Court
- -Exercises the judicial review of Constitutional and legislative problems. Oversees and reviews cases and decisions of the Imperial Circuit Court Judges. The five justices, headed by the Lord Chief Justice are appointed by the Emperor for life and confirmed by the House of Peers.
- Imperial Circuit Court
- The Imperial Circuit Court tries all crimes committed outside municipal limits as well as all felony cases. The judges of the ICC also provide judicial services for those municipalities too small (or unwilling) to afford their own judges. The mentality being that everyone is entitled to a fair trial and if the city cannot provide a judge the ICC will.
THE GREAT SEAL OF STATE
The Great Seal of State for
the California Empire is that of a grizzly bear walking upon all
fours towards the left with a capital "N", surrounded
by a laurel wreath surmounted by a crown, above. Below the bear
is a banner which has the words "California Empire"
upon it, under that is the word "Eureka" and the date
1869.
The Imperial Parliament of
the Bear Flag Empire meets at Parliament Hall, which occupies
a triangular portion of land between Market, Larkin and McAllister
Streets. Construction began in 1871 and was completed in 1879.
THE EMPEROR AND THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT
The Emperor opens, or calls
Parliament into session, every January 18th of each year. It remains
in session until it petitions the Emperor to allow it to recess.
Parliament recesses twice, once in summer and again in winter.
The Emperor is constitutional bound to open Parliament, but may
dismiss Parliament at any time he wishes or may, on the advice
of the Prime Minister, call for new elections for the lower House.
On the other hand, Parliament may not recess without the Emperor's
permission and this has been a threat which Emperor Norton has
used to keep the Parliament from procrastinating of legislation.
When in recess the Governing of California rests solely with the
Emperor, the Prime Minister and the Imperial Ministries. An emergency
session of Congress maybe called by either the Emperor or the
Prime Minister.
Currently California is being governed under the terms of its fourth constitution. The first was draw up by the Californios who broke away from Mexico in 1835. The second was drafted by President Fremont and his cabinet in 1847, known as the "Fremont Constitution", it remained in effect until 1865 when it was abolished by President Norton.
President Norton, along with his many advisors, presented a new constitution to the National Legislature in late 1865. The centerpiece was a series of laws insisted upon by Norton, which have become known as the "Rights of Man". Women and people of all races, colors and creeds are given equal rights under the laws of California. The 1865 Constitution was immediately passed by the Legislature and has brought untold economic and social benefits to the nation.
In 1869 the grateful populace
of California officially proclaimed Norton Emperor of the Bear
Flag Empire. A new constitution was adopted, building upon the
strengths of the previous, which detailed the new offices and
powers of the newly created Imperial Government. His Majesty
included into the constitution that a constitutional convention
shall be held every ten years to up date the constitution if it
is deemed necessary.
A yearly capitation tax of 50 cents is leveled upon everyone. Individuals and businesses have a yearly income of over $2,000.00 are taxed an additional $20.00. The money raised, along with excise and import fees, etc., form the balance of the Imperial Budget. Taxation is handled by the Ministry of Finance's Department of Taxation.
Everyone residing within California prior to the Bear Flag Revolt and three years continual residence is a citizen of the Empire and responsible for paying the Imperial Tax. An individual must also be a registered citizen of the Empire in order to participate in any elections.
Like many other governments
the Bear Flag Empire issues citizen identity numbers and cards.
These ID numbers are usually issued at the registration of one's
birth certificate. It is a twelve digit sequence of both numbers
and letters. ex. xx-xxx-xxx-xxxx
Each Citizen's number and identity is stored throughout the nation in the great difference engines of the MCSI. When a birth certificate is filed or an individual becomes a citizen this information is stored at the MCSI office where it was filed until the time of census, which occurs every 5 years. At that time each of the MCSI offices throughout the nation are updated with these new records. This is done to both create redundant records in case of an accident and speed up search requests from individual offices.
This policy was instated in 1874 after an earthquake in Santa Monica cracked the foundation of the local MCSI office causing a rupture in the steam pipes that powered the engines. The resulting escape of scalding water reduced all of the office's punch cards to little more than pulp. Several years worth of records were destroyed. This accident also prompted the MCSI to change the punch card material from stiff paper board to celluloid, which did not break down so readily.