Victoria Beacon March Edition - The Census and Registration Act, Some Finer Details and How it Might Affect You

Clark Welling Independent Journalist

Back in October of 83 PÆ, an article ran in the St. Louis City of Light Lantern. It was the first real view that most people had of the Census and Registration Act. “If Act passes on November 1, Registration offices will operate in the Cities of Light at the Temporary Business Permit Bureau for any person holding a current TBP.

Officials for each city of light will conduct a survey of citizens to ensure that their information on file is accurate, and then the cities of light will add that information to the registration rolls.

For those without citizenship or business permits, registration offices will open in towns of more than 1000 people. People should proceed to the nearest such place to their usual residence and register there.

Except for citizens of a City of Light who currently reside in that city, all British subjects should report to the office in person and be prepared with information regarding their current and usual residences, business, and number of known living children under the age of 16. All people 16 and older must register themselves by the 28th of February, PAe 84 in order to receive government services, work, pay taxes, vote, obtain business permits, and a wide variety of other services. Those who are found unregistered or unable to pay back taxes owed will be relocated to education and work centers where they will be allowed to register themselves following repayment of any debts and passing of a British culture and government exam.

The measure will be voted on by the Parliaments of New England and Indian territory on November 1. Parliament leaders in Texas and Canada indicate that their governments will follow suit early next year if the measures pass.”

The Parliaments of the Dominion of New England and the Indian Territory voted the measure into being on November 1, even amongst great public outcry. Soon afterwards it was brought to the Parliaments of the Dominion of Texas and the New Mexico Territory. The Act did NOT pass in the New Mexico Territory Parliament. As the bastion of Duke Calder’s Supporters, it failed rather spectacularly.

A little bit of context on Duke Calder… (excerpt from Brant Calder, Nightman, Knight, and Noble, a biography by Jennifer Hunter.)

“Duke Sir Brant Calder was born a Nightman in the New Mexico Territory... Brant Calder became a physician and scientist using his extensive knowledge of life in the Nightlands to forward the understanding of the environment in a way it had never been done before. Through a series of events, he was able to cross the Navajo Nation Aester wall, becoming the first man in history to report on what was happening inside the Indian Nations. He became the unofficial ambassador between the British American government and those inside the Indian Nations having visited not only the Navajo Nation, but the Black Hills Nation and the Panther Nation.

He was knighted for this work. His technical skills as a physician and scientist were only matched by his skill as a diplomat. In the shark-infested waters of the parliaments of Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Texas, he never withdrew a single step from his position that all Nightmen had rights as citizens of the King, even going so far as to speak in both houses in London and New London on the subject. It was this that brought him to the eye of the King. Even though he was a knight, he'd still been born a commoner.

In an extraordinary step, the King put his name forward as the Earl of the New Mexico Territory. From that moment forward, Calder became the darling of New Mexico. When Duchess Foxfern was murdered, leaving the ducal throne in Texas empty, the King once again put him forward. Duke Brant Calder became the first American born Duke in history. He took Texas by storm, not only becoming wildly popular with the populace but with many in the parliaments of Texas, St. Louis and Philadelphia as well because of his stand against the status-quo in Texas. During his short tenure on the throne, Texas's stalled economy exploded to challenge the economic juggernaut of the Dominion of New England.”

Even with the influence that Duke Calder’s memory still has on the Dominion of Texas, there was too much weight behind getting the Act passed. However, his supporters did manage to get it modified before it passed. While the work camps and back taxes are out, the ability to incarcerate unregistered Nightmen for a period of time is still there.

However, if the incarceration period is two weeks, Robert is incarcerated in town A for two weeks, proceeds to town B, where the local constabulary has been warned by their counterparts in Town A. Robert is incarcerated again for two weeks. This could continue indefinitely. This form of harassment could not only rob the Nightman of liberty but also create a defacto back taxes situation if the local municipalities choose to force prisoners to "pay" for their food while incarcerated. Basically, while the work camps and back taxes are out, the ability to do nearly the same thing to "troublesome" Nightmen is still possible.

This reporter is concerned about the effect this might have on the factories of the Iron Triangle, whose primary workforce consists of Nightmen. Will the economic juggernaut fall prey to political machinations?

Meanwhile, our Lord George Taylor, who could not reason with the Parliament of New England, managed to make his case in the Dominion of Canada’s Parliament. Even with much debate, the Act failed in the Dominion of Canada, with only five of the possible forty-eight votes in favor.

With the other Dominions that passed the Act now calling for the military to help enforce it, all Dominion of Canada Military Personnel have been ordered to remain within the borders of Canada. This reporter is concerned about the impact this division of the military will have on the Empire. This is no longer happening behind closed doors and is rapidly becoming visible to the world at large.

It was a British Subject that shouted “Let fists fly against the Darkness and howl defiance at that which would subdue us! ENGLAND! Turn and FIGHT!” That those people left behind were still British Subjects. He vilified the Æster and characterized it as nothing more than a thief that Humanity had shrunk from like a whipped dog.

Yet, much to our shame we have lost sight of that. With all of the plots and intrigue, and the proof that someone manufactured HRF, the question must be stated. Who is acting against the British Empire and trying to drag its British American Subject into another Civil War? Who are we shrinking from like a whipped dog and letting them have their way without a fight?¤