"There's one major difference about them, Mister President. Western taxes paid for those facilities over the past 100 years. We do not feel that we appropriated anything that did not belong to us. Shall we talk about all the facilities in the eastern part of the country which westerners paid for also?" asked Jeffries in a very righteous tone of voice.
"Let's keep the channels open, Mister President. Nice talking to you," the US president hung up abruptly.
"Impudent ass," said Jeffries to himself.
"Patrician bastard," said the US leader softly.
The issue just discussed so unsuccessfully between the two men was of much more grave consequence to the US economy than to the NAU. The removal of the revenues coming from the western states had a profound impact on the US government. The years of deficit spending had built a house of cards out of governmental fiscal operations. Now the piper had to be paid. The US president would never admit it to Jeffries, but the US simply did not have the funds to repay the FICA trust funds. The monies had long since been used to pay for daily government expenditures.
In early summer, California and Arizona announced their intention to form a separate country, to secede from the US. This came as a shock to the President and Premier of the NAU. Both Tom Adams and Robert Jeffries had believed what Bill McKay had said, that California would be squeezed into asking for admission to the NAU. Jeffries and Adams scheduled a trip to California and Arizona to talk to leaders there. At first they were met with total indifference, But when Jeffries explained to them that the NAU would look favorably on their request for admission to the new country, the two states' leaders softened a bit.
"I didn't think you people wanted us in your country," said the Governor of Arizona. "We were not invited to the first convention nor were we sought after later."
"That is true. We didn't believe that you would be even remotely interested, mainly because so many of the residents of both states are from the east and midwest," answered Jeffries.
"But you could have asked. Who knows how differently things might have turned out. Now if we do enter, all the decisions have been made. The capital city has been chosen. The new government formed. We will have no effect on the course the country will take," commented the California Governor. "Now you leave us no choice but to go it alone or stay with the US. I'm not sure either choice is a good one."
"Then why not consider joining us?" asked Tom Adams. "There is an awful lot to do. And we can use all the talent and resources we can get."
"Including our very large tax base, Mister Premier?" asked the California Governor. "We provide as much taxes now as all your states put together, except Texas."
"As you know, in our federal system, the central government has no power to tax, but relies on the states for its revenue," explained Jeffries.
"I think we should discuss this internally and contact you before the middle of summer. We need to go to the people and test their sentiment. If polls show them in favor of joining you, then that is another matter," said the California Governor in conclusion. On the flight back to Seattle Jeffries turned to Tom Adams and said, "If I were a betting man, I would say that we will have two requests for admission to the NAU before the 4th of July. Oh, but that's not a national holiday any more, is it?" Both men laughed at that. "Do you know something, Tom? We don't even have a national anthem. We really need to adopt an anthem." Both men looked at each other as if to say "Well, you just can't think of everything."
Japan and the NAU signed a trade agreement in late April which both countries felt to be very favorable. The NAU would continue to supply oil,lumber and certain raw materials to Japan in return for Japan's pledge to ease import restrictions on beef. In addition, Japan would locate at least one auto production plant in Washington. That pact was followed by another trade agreement with China in which the Chinese would purchase over 700 million dollars worth of grains and sugar beets from the NAU if the NAU purchased 300 million dollars in clothing items from China.
It was now late June. The country had endured its first winter without major setbacks. It had negotiated five billion dollars in credit from the Germans and the International Bank of the UN. Because of the excellent fiscal policies followed by the new government, neither line of credit was ever drawn upon. This fact was not lost on the international community which was not sure how the new country would react fiscally.
All of the work on the foreign affairs front had been the product of Harold Browning's productive, prodigious mind. Browning, a pure scholar in the mold of a Thomas Jefferson, had spent his life in preparation for this confluence of time and events. He was the embodiment of Plato's model of the Philosopher-King. As a young man fresh out of college, at the tender age of twenty, he had spent a year teaching in China at Beijing University. He was among the first Americans to enter China after Nixon and Kissinger reopened the great country to the United States. As a Harvard graduate he had the necessary connections to be the first among the best in China. He had minored in Chinese Studies at Harvard; he spoke nearly flawless Mandarin Chinese. He had read Chinese history, had studied Chinese custom, geography and mind for over twenty of his forty-two years. When he traveled to China as Foreign Minister of the North American Union to negotiate trade pacts, he had greeted the Chinese Foreign Minister, Hong Zhang, in the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, "Ni hao ma, Hong Xiansheng? Hen gaoxing jiandao ni." How are you, Mister Hong? I am very pleased to meet you.
Hong Zhang was informed in advance that the new Foreign Minister would attempt to speak in Chinese, but he was made to smile broadly when Browning greeted him in that manner. Hong held out his hand in greeting and said, "Wo hen gaoxing jiandao ni, Browning Xiansheng. Ni shuo Zhongwen hen hao. Shao waiguoren neng shuo." I am happy to meet you, Mister Browning. You speak Chinese very well. Few foreigners(barbarians) can do so. The two sat and conversed for over twenty minutes in Chinese, which made the official translator for Hong a bit uneasy; he did not know whether to retire gracefully to another room or wait for Browning to ask for his help. In the Chinese manner he waited and blended into the background.
Hal Browning was gifted with the ability to learn languages, though he did not look upon his ability as a gift. He had often said to those who denied ability, "Come now, you learned your first foreign language at the age of two; surely you can have a go at another." It opened vistas to him that were seemingly denied to those who professed no such ability, the ability to read Latin, French and German in the original, with no need for translated works.
Like Plato, whom Browning admired and studied, and the Greeks of his time, he had a weakness---for young men. Browning often felt that he should have been born in ancient Greece, where the practice of boy love would be condoned with little more than a smile. But he was not; he lived in North America at the end of the twentieth century and he knew that it was a secret that he would have to take to his grave. He had never married, had never shown the slightest inclination to do so. Voters did not judge him on that count; they were far too impressed with his ability to govern to analyze too deeply why he remained a bachelor.
Tom Adams was in an increasingly good mood with every passing month. He received a call at his home near the end of June.
"Mister Premier, this is Jack Dearborn. I'm calling from the Denver airport. We believe that the plane carrying your wife and seven other passengers is lost somewhere over western Colorado."
"My God. What do you know for sure?" said Tom not knowing what else to ask.
"We know the plane filed a flight plan for Nevada and never reported in again after it left the Denver airport. It has been over 18 hours, sir. We're not hopeful. I'm terribly sorry."
"Very well. Will you call me directly, day or night when you have something definite? Do you think I should fly down there to see if there is anything I can do?"
"No sir, we're doing everything possible. We have the best air search people in the west. We can't do anything until daylight tomorrow, anyway. Why don't you try and get some
sleep tonight."
Tom was terribly stunned by that call. He was no longer in love with his wife; they were estranged. He had been seeing Theresa. But Susan was the mother of his children and the woman he had married thirty years ago. It would be a long, sleepless night, he thought. He made two calls to his two children to inform them of the possible tragedy.
Tom received a call at eight the next morning from Jack Dearborn. "Mister Premier, we found the plane. It was on the side of a mountain near the western border with Utah. Rescue teams got up there by helicopter, but there were no survivors. They will be bringing the bodies down this morning. I am very sorry I couldn't bring you good news."
Tom heaved a long sigh and simply said, "Thank you, Jack. I'll be coming down to Denver as soon as possible today."
Susan Richmond Adams was buried three days later in Denver. President Jeffries and the entire cabinet attended as a show of respect for Premier Thomas Adams. For those who knew of the estranged marriage between Tom and his wife, there was conjecture as to Tom's future plans. Theresa Winston also attended the funeral with Sam Brouchet, ostensibly out of respect for Tom Adams. After the funeral service Tom and Theresa were seen talking as they walked about the cemetery pointing out a gravestone here and there. All of Tom's family were buried here in the cemetery and many of his wife's.
Tom returned to the capital the same day of the funeral. He decided to take a few days off and fly to Idaho to visit an old friend, to do some horseback riding, perhaps even a little trout fishing. Only two security guards accompanied him and his trip was not announced to the press.
The twenty five mile trip from the airport to the Winston ranch was covered in less than 30 minutes. He saw Theresa waiting for him at the end of the driveway. She was wearing a simple blue dress, his favorite color. She waved as the Premier's car approached the house. Tom smiled even though he knew she could not see him.
Chapter XV
The End of the Beginning
The early summer greeted the new nation with a furnace like blast of hot air that endured for much of June and early July. Livestock in the High Plains quickly were distressed from lack of water and too dry grasses. Farmers in Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas watched as their spring plantings were killed by the scorching heat. Record high temperatures were set in Bismarck, Lincoln, Topeka and Wichita through much of the period. By the middle of July, the heat abated somewhat and rains replenished the arid grasslands and ponds. Those farmers who replanted their early crops were rewarded with a spurt of growth as the rains descended and the air cooled slightly.
The economy of the NAU, threatened by the brief drought, had shown a remarkable vitality from the inception of the government apparatus. Foreign financial watchers in Europe and around the Pacific Rim were impressed by the soundness of the government, the choice of the high level government leaders and career bureaucrats. Especially impressive were the efforts of Carol Osteen in the Treasury. She had laid a groundwork for sound government fiscal policies. She initially shied away from the creation of a new currency. The nation continued to use the American dollar as the currency of choice.
When pressed in the Legislative Assembly on the issue of defining a new currency she had said, "Money is one of those strange mechanisms which baffle and mystify mankind. We work for a month or a week then receive a little rectangular piece of paper, which we take to the bank. The bank takes the little piece of paper and gives us another little piece of paper, showing that we gave them a little piece of paper. Now we are able to go all over town and take things from people, by simply giving them a little piece of paper with our signatures on it, or showing them a piece of plastic with our name imprinted on it. We have come a long way since merchants placed a gold coin between their teeth and bit into it, checking it to be sure it was pure gold. The choice of a currency, a medium of exchange, is as much chauvinistic as it is logical. We could adopt Swiss currency, or German or NAU and people would still exchange little pieces of paper in exchange for goods or services. Money itself is hardly used anymore for commercial transactions. Plastic and paper are." The question of creating a new currency was deferred following the applause for her comments. But she later relented and, in a meeting with Premier Adams said, "I am today announcing the issuance of a new currency for the NAU, Mister Premier. I was wrong earlier when I took the position that we could indefinitely use American currency for our business affairs."
"What influenced you to come to that position, Carol?"
"Well, a couple of reasons. First, the American dollar is taking a beating on the world money trading centers. It has dropped about ten percent in the past two months. The main reason, though, is that a nation such as ours needs a currency which reflects its independence and self reliance. The countries we're trading with seem a little skeptical about our intentions while we use the dollar as our monetary unit."
"Carol, I have to admit that I'm relieved you've come to this decision. I was going to have to insist on it sooner or later. What about the decision to use gold as a backing for the currency? Are we in agreement about that?"
"Yes, I think the currency will have much more status if we back it at least ten or fifteen percent with a precious metal."
"Well, one advantage we have is the existence of the mints in Denver and San Francisco to produce the stuff. What about the figures on the face of the currency and coins. Any idea on that?"
"We've decided to let a commission work on that. We're going to ask for a lot of citizen input, maybe even a contest for artists to promote it."
"OK, Carol, run with it. You'll have to present this in the Assembly. It's your project, you know."
Angie Brett punched the third floor button on the elevator in the office building in Seattle. She was there to interview with C. T. Hodges concerning a job with his firm which had located a large branch office in the city. She walked out of the elevator and looked down the hallway for some sign which might indicate she was in the right place. C. T. Hodges saw her looking up and down the hallway and came to her rescue.
"I'll bet you're Angie Brett. You look a little lost."
"Yes I am.... Angie and lost. Are you Mister Hodges?"
"Yes, why don't you follow me. My office is just around this corner. How was your trip from Denver?"
"Oh, just fine, Mister Hodges. The weather was beautiful. I really enjoyed the trip. This is my first trip to the new capital." "Great, I know you're going to love it here." Angie looked at Hodges with a puzzled look on her face. "Does that mean I'm hired," she thought to herself.
"Angie, I've already checked out your references, one of whom as it turns out is Premier Adams. When someone comes to me with those kinds of references, I find it hard to turn them away. But you also have an impressive background in mainframe communications, networking and systems programming. You wouldn't really need Adams' endorsement, but I'm impressed that you know him. I understand you're dating his son."
"Yes, we're dating. We're actually engaged to be married, but we haven't set a date yet."
"Angie, I am in a position to offer you a job right now. All you have to do is tell me if you're interested. You already know about our contract with the government from the material I sent you. You know what we have to do and the time frame to do it. The only open question is salary."
"I am definitely interested, Mister Hodges. I read the material you sent pretty closely. I think my background with the American government will work in nicely with what you want to do. Also I don't mind traveling. You indicate there will be some of that."
"At first, mostly in the first six months. Once the network is shaken down, there should only be travel when you want to. Just to get out of the office once in a while. Can I turn your name into Personnel, then, at a starting salary of sixty thousand?"
"Yes, sir. That sounds great." Angie was more than pleased with the salary. She had only hinted at her salary requirements while talking to Hodges on the phone. He had already made up his mind to hire her, apparently, and did not w
ant money to be a problem. "I can start next week. It won't take long to get moved up here. Can someone here help me look for an apartment?"
"Oh, that won't be necessary, Angie. One of the perks is a unit in a condo I purchased last month. I think you'll like it. All you do is pay for the utilities." Angie's eyes widened with that naive look that was her charm. "Is this really happening," she thought to herself.
California and Arizona applied for admission into the NAU in late August. Robert Jeffries had missed the date but not the intentions of the two former states. Their admission was far from certain. Unlike the original states which were granted automatic inclusion, California's admission was debated in the Legislative Assembly for two days. There was some concern that it would become a bully in the new nation because of its large population and economic power. But as George Brazleton had expressed privately, "As long as Texas is in there, we won't let California push anyone around." His views reflected the attitude of most members of the Assembly, so California was granted admission on the 4th of September. Arizona had been admitted without debate as soon as application was made. Geographically, the puzzle was complete. The NAU stretched from the northernmost reaches to Mexico and from California to Kansas City. The former United States had effectively been cut in two.
But the United States had gained as much territory as they had lost, when Ontario applied for admission to the US in early summer. Ontario, the site of the Canadian capital Ottawa, was long oriented towards the US with its concentration of auto assembly plants in Windsor, across the lake from Detroit. Quebec was now completely shorn of its former connection with the old Canada. Canada as a nation simply ceased to exist. The eastern provinces attached themselves to the US during the summer, making the dissolution of Canada complete. The Northwest Territories and Yukon, with their minuscule population but highly strategic locations, became a part of the NAU when the original western provinces had joined.
The Second Declaration Page 21