The North Coast times-eagle., June 20, 2000, Page 9, Image 9

PAGE 9
and fair exchange of sound rewards for honest labors long
endures and fills its individual citizens wth everlasting pride
and joyful spirit.
We further resolve that the tranquility of the state shall
not be an ephemeral condition unsupported by tangible factors
but shall be that condition guaranteed by the unfettered right
to work and receive just compensation, the right to livable
housing and all dignities of physical life, the means to as
advanced an education as possible, the access to scrupulously
honest mediums of public communication, the total integrity of
all public officials, and the absolute right to a physical, mental
and emotional environment that promotes peaceful and healthy
intercourse between the neighboring citizens, their communities
and national state
THE LAND AS PUBLIC TRUST
We hereby resolve that the lands of the United States
of America, its several states, municipalities, districts and
territories shall constitute the national physical heritage of all the
People Each citizen shall have the right to own or lease land in
accordance with those proper laws and ordinances promulgated
by the People But no individual or group of individuals shall be
permitted to use or cause the use of such lands to the detriment
of neighbors that in any way infringes upon their lives or well
being The ownership of land is a sacred trust shared with all
Americans and when an individual assumes the responsibility
for a specific portion of that public trust he/she may in no way
assume prerogatives of usage that transcend the public law and
well being. The separate and legal ownership of land in no way
establishes an autocracy of conduct that wuld allow activities
upon that portion to interfere, poison, pollute or in any way
adversely affect the citizens or adjacent land It is a continuing
responsibility of all the People to design and approve the usage
of land under the aegis of far-seeing plans that provide for an
integrated system of practical usage while maintaining perpet­
ually the conservation and enhancement of natural resources.
THE INSTRUMENT OF FISCAL EXCHANGE
MATT MAHURN
\Ne hereby resolve that the Congress of the United
States of America shall enact addendum to the Constitution
prohibiting the design, issuance or exchange of any instrument
denoting fiscal value that cannot be redeemed in equal face
value in either precious metal, land or other valuable tangible
asset. At no time shall the Government be allowed to print or
issue currency, bonds, notes or any instrument that would
tend to diminish or devalue the established rate of common
exchange between the citizens for services rendered or items
purchased The instrumentality of exchange in this Nation shall
be tangible evidence of the credibility of values assigned to
services and goods and cannot and shall not be cheapened
by governmental fiscal policy or action that extends the actual
value of currency beyond the actual value of tangible assets at
hand In view of the departure of this Nation from the historic
processes of a goods barter system and the institution of a
mutual currency, it is imperative that such currency be main­
tained with an inviolate stable value in order to preserve the
tranquility of American commerce and protect it from confusion
and disruption from either domestic or foreign interests
THE PROTECTION OF FREE ENTERPRISE
\Ne hereby resolve that the Congress of the United
States of America, or any other public officer, shall not propose
or enact, regulate or enforce any statute, law. ordinance or
regulation inhibiting the conduct of free enterprise in this Nation.
Congress shall, however, provide for continuing surveillance,
and the Department of Commerce shall enforce a continuing
system of regulation of pnvate commercial enterprise that
forbids the establishment of any monopoly controls of the
production of goods, exploitation of natural resources, or the
rendering of services The right of commercial management and
labor shall be equally protected and regulated and in no instance
shall the Government allow or condone the acts, operations,
activities or results thereof to infringe upon or inhibit the well
being of the general public. The right of each citizen to engage
in commercial activities or to seek employment shall never be
prohibited or infringed upon because of race, creed, sex, age,
or political inclination
Robert Stanley Need was the founding publisher of the original North Coast Times
Eagle, which was published in Wheeler, Oregon, from 1971 to 1976. He was a verbose
and extravagant writer. He wrote the 2nd Declaration of Independence when it looked like
his newspaper was about to die from financial malnutrition, which it persistently seemed
about to do from its birth, a common thread between the Old Bird and the Born Again
Bird, which was resurrected from a three year crypt 21 years ago on July 20, 1979.
The process of taxation must return to the direct sover­
eignty of the American citizen in compliance with the precepts of
the Declaration of 1776. No citizen shall be taxed without his/her
consent and therefore his/her assent to the responsibility of
taxation must be attested to through his/her approval of those
funds necessary for the conduct of Government and support of
the protection of the Nation
THE ILLEGALITY OF GENERAL WAR
We hereby resolve that the Congress of the United
States of America shall cause amendment of the Constitution
to prohibit the participation of this Nation in general warfare
other than explicit defense of the lands of the union, the several
states, municipalities, distncts and territories. Further, such
amendment shall prescribe that the President shall not be
empowered under any circumstances other than explicit national
emergency to deploy for a period of more than 14 days pending
formal deliberations of war by the Congress. A national emer­
gency shall only be a reasonable and specific assumption of
direct armed attack upon the United States or its possessions.
Military assistance of any type to any foreign nation shall only be
upon the consent of the Congress Only Congress may declare
and direct the conscription of citizens for national defense.
EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
THE DEMAND FOR EQUITABLE TAXATION
We hereby resolve that the Congress of the United
States of America shall neither propose nor enact, regulate
or enforce any statute, law, ordinance or regulation that allows
any officer of the Government, the several states, municipali­
ties, districts or territories to collect any tax on personal income,
annuities, properties, or other possessions, or on private comp­
anies, corporations or other organizations, that is unequally
assessed among the category taxed.
Further, it be resolved that the Congress and all other
governments of states, municipalities, districts and territories
shall establish an Annual Budget declaring the current and
proposed taxation and that such budget be submitted in proper
but accurate summary to the electorate for approval or rejection
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any state on
account of sex
The pretense that half the human race is unequal and
subordinate to the other half is a persistent malignancy It has
been chronic through history, especially in periods when muscle
and force held sensitivity and intelligence in thrall. Yet the need
to be equal and free is the most stubborn human hunger It has
taken centuries for women to emerge from the dominance of
their male counterparts — it took almost a century for American
women to gain the vote So it should be no surprise that the
Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S Constitution will not stay
dead
The ERA was last defeated on July 2. 1982. the date
the nation's forefathers declared themselves free from England's
tyranny and promised equality to "all men" in 1776 The ERA
failed even though it had support of 80% of the electorate
because of a handful of men in three state legislatures: five
other states which had initially approved the measure, rescinded
their votes Those who regard women as chattel celebrated and
pronounced the ERA dead
The ERA has been sent to the grave more than once in
almost 80 years since Alice Paul wrote the amendment in 1923
On July 14 1982. the same month as ERA'S failure to be ratified
on deadline and the same day celebrated as the beginning of
the French Revolution in 1789. fifty-one U S Senators and 201
Representatives co-sponsored the ERA in both houses of
Congress That attempt also failed
A national referendum would probably make the ERA
law within a few months Instead when, revived again — and it
will be — it must once more travel the tortuously long trail
through the states 38 states must ratify it. and even the most
optimistic believe it will take years
One possibility to encourage the process of making
the ERA a part of the Constitution is for women to vote all who
oppose it from office and support only candidates v4io endorse
it In the words of Susan B Anthony
There shall never be another season of silence until
women have the same rights men have on this green earth
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
We hereby resolve that this Republic & Union cannot
exist and that our personal liberty cannot endure unless we
now resolve to each and severally exercise our solemn
responsibilities as AMERICAN citizens. Unless we each
reestablish our individual responsibilities as segments of the
general sovereignty of the People of These United States we
shall abrogate the provisions of the First Declaration; we shall
abolish the protections of the Constitution; we shall dishonor
those who gave their lives in obtaining and sustaining our free­
dom for two hundred years; we shall diminish our treasures; we
shall engage in unjust wars: we shall further divide our peoples
with violent bigotry and hatreds: we shall fall subservient to the
tyranny of excessive bureaucracy; we shall allow our lands and
resources to be fouled to inhabitability and depletion; we shall
lose all social tranquility and fall into violent disorder; we shall
lose sight of justice and fall prey to increased inequality, leaving
a disorganized and powerless United States of Amenca, its
several states, municipalities, district and territories prostrate
before the evil dictates of the selfish within and the threat of
foreign domination from wthout.
OUR MANIFEST DESTINY
So. let us now highly and solemnly resolve that, as
our founding fathers declared their independence from foreign
tyranny and in the heat of armed rebellion fought to forge this
state as "man's last great hope for humanity." let us declare our
independence from the corrosive entanglements of this modem
era that threaten division among us and disillusion within our
state Two hundred years ago we were given a mandate that no
other peoples in the long span of history have ever been given.
The First Declaration summoned not only a handful of
colonists living along the eastern seaboard of North America,
but all men and women throughout the world, to throw off
tyranny forever, to establish their institutions solely upon the
precepts of Truth, and to bnng enduring Liberty to all humanity.
The shackles we once wore in slavery to kings have
been broken and replaced with the stronger bonds of brother­
hood that bind us. knowingly and unknowngly, to all living to
the very ends of the Earth As we were once called the Cradle
of Liberty, we must now turn to the building of the Temple of
Freedom
The founding fathers saw a manifest destiny opening
before the feet of free men and women who would dare the
terror and disappointments and yet fearlessly tread the dark
pathway of the future We have come so far and yet there is so
much farther to go Where our forefathers threw off despotism,
let us throw off ignorance: where they threw off chains of
slavery, let us throw off the shackles of hunger and fear; where
they threw off impenal mandates, let us throw off the dictates of
the selfish and corrupt As they fought to build a new and free
Nation, let us resolve now to build a new and free World.
- michael M c C usker
%
I
I