Declaration of Interdependence

Earlier I blogged about the Declaration of Interpedence signed by 124 U.S. Congressmen on behalf of the World Affairs Council to strengthen and promote the (treasonous) United Nations. In fact, there was an earlier version of that document produced in 1937 on a national scale amongst the Several States, to consolidate power and control at the federal level during the financial reorganization known to history as the Great Depression.

Quoting from Dan Meador:

The following Declaration of Intergovernmental Dependence was signed in Washington, D.C., by representatives of State and local governments on January 22, 1937. It is published on pages 143 & 144 in The Book of the States, 1937 edition, Volume II. This Declaration of Intergovernmental Dependence, along with versions signed in 1935 and 1976, laid the institutional foundation for what today is formally known as Cooperative Federalism (New York vs. United States, et al (1992) 505 U.S. __, 120 L.Ed.2d 120, 112 S.Ct. 2408), a system that employs a third, hidden government tier as the vehicle by which public servants of all stripes operate outside and beyond powers enumerated in applicable constitutions:

"Declaration of Interdependence of the Governments within the United States of America in Common Council Signed January 22, 1937, at Washington, D.C.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a nation to repair the fabric which unites its many agencies of government, and to restore the solidarity which is vital to orderly growth, it is the duty of responsible officials to define the need and to find a way to meet it.

A way does not come of itself. The maintenance of just and efficient government is as intricate, as arduous, and as imperative as any human endeavor. One hundred and fifty years ago our forefathers faced their necessity and formed a new union. They found a way.

And from that beginning in 1787 sprang history's finest example of the democratic form of government -- a government dedicated to the preservation of every man's endowment of life, liberty, and happiness.

Inevitable changes have come. The fundamental pattern of states united for the benefit of all the people remains the same as it was when the founding fathers wove it. But the far-flung tapestry of our many governments has stretched so taut that the fabric has weakened. The essential thread of coöperation too often is lacking.

Now, for the first time since the memorable day when the form of our Constitution was determined, official delegates of the states are gathered together with representatives of their local governments, as good neighbors, seeking to revive the original purpose -- "to form a more perfect union."

It was meant that the states, while creating a nation, should yet preserve their own sovereignties and a maximum of self-government. But now if the claim of states' rights is to prevail, it must be justified by a demonstration of states' competence. When our union was formed, there was no land transportation, nor any remote communication, except by the plodding foot of horse or man. But since that time our society has been revolutionized by the advent of transportation as swift as the wind and of communication more rapid than lightning. Our area has trebled. The number of our people has increased beyond belief.

How have our governments met their mutual problems brought by this modern era?

They have developed a "No Man's Land" of jurisdiction.

In thousands of instances their laws are in conflict, their practices are discordant, their regulations are antagonistic, and their policies are either competitive or repugnant to one another.

In taxation alone, scores of conflicts between federal and state laws exist.

The interstate criminal is a standing headline on Page One of every newspaper.

The forty-eight states pass laws on crime, labor, taxation, relief, corporations, parole, domestic relations, and other questions momentous to our social and economic system, with no thought of harmony. And this discord has been further stitched into our pattern of life by all other agencies possessing the power of legislation.

This is not as it should be.

The trend of federal-state projects, exemplified by social security, demands immediate action if those projects are to succeed completely.

All officials should conduct their own governments properly. But we hold that they must act with earnest regard also to the other units of government. The bonds of good will and the lines of communication which connect our many interdependent governments must be immeasurably strengthened.

Through established agencies of coöperation, through uniform and reciprocal laws and regulations, through compacts under the Constitution, through informal collaboration, and through all other means possible, our nation, our states, and our localities must fuse their activities with a new fervor of national unity.

We, therefore, as representatives of the officers of government here assembled, do solemnly pledge our loyal efforts to the accomplishment of such purposes.

As our forefathers by the Declaration of Independence affirmed their purpose to improve government for us, so do we by this Declaration of Interdependence affirm our purpose to improve government for our contemporaries and for our posterity."

More information available here:

Declaration of Inter-dependence