Sons of Liberty

No 7

July 21, 1994

"Whereas by an Address presented to his Majesty by both Houses of Parliament in February last, the American Colonies are declared to be in a State of actual Rebellion, we conceive that all Laws and Commissions confirmed by, or derived from the Authority of the King or Parliament, are annulled and vacated, and the former civil Constitution of these Colonies for the present wholly suspended. To provide in some Degree for the Exigencies of the County in the present alarming Period, we deem it proper and necessary to pass the following Resolves, viz."

So reads the introductory paragraph of the RESOLVES ADOPTED IN CHARLOTTE TOWN, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, MAY 31, 1775, by its Committee of Safety. Understanding that the Committees were formed as secondary forums because the entity created by the Crown was also controlled by the Crown, we can see that the people were dissatisfied with the imposition of authoritarian rules with it"s foundations far away in England. Those governing by British authority were bound to principles and laws established by rulers rather than the people themselves. Even prior to the adoption of the Mecklenburg Resolve, most communities had established their Committees to represent the interests of the people, not of the Crown.

Within many of the Committees were subcommittees formed to deal with issues of importance. The relevancy of those specifics may not apply in our current world and state of affairs, yet to model contemporary committees to address the issues of today might be warranted.

Recently, in working with one community to establish a Committee, we developed the following list of committees from which they would begin to establish viability in their organization. The Committee of Safety would be comprised of the following committees:

1. Executive Committee
2. Committee of the Whole
3. Ways and Means Committee
4. Historical Research Committee
5. Contemporary Research Committee
6. Political/Judicial Advocacy Committee
7. Political/Judicial Evaluation Committee
8. Public Affairs Committee

The idea, in a desire to be truly republican in nature, was that members of the Committee, all of whom would be members of the Committee of the Whole, would join no more than one of the remaining committees, with the exception of the Executive. Then, within each of the committees an election of a spokesman would be made. A desire to elect comprehensive thinkers rather than outspoken advocates (like politicians) would be encouraged. Those elected would then constitute the Executive Committee which in turn would select it"s chairman. Membership in only one of the lesser committees was limited to allow the greatest degree of productivity. If any members assigned a task were unable to complete said task without good cause, he would be possibly subject to removal from the committee rather than allow glorification at the risk of productivity.

Issues submitted to the Executive Committee would be directed to the appropriate lesser committee. The lesser committee would evaluate and determine if they were the appropriate committee. They would then determine whether the issue warranted the application of the resources and would return this recommendation to the Executive Committee for assignment or rejection. If assigned, the issue would be evaluated by the assigned committee and reported back in a timely manner to the Executive for consideration by the Committee of the Whole.

Briefly evaluating the responsibilities of the lesser committees, Ways and Means would be assigned the responsibility of determining fund raising activities or means as well as provide for material and equipment necessary for the conducting of business of the Committee. Historical Research would be consistent, and supportive, of many activities being conducted by the researchers currently exposing our true heritage and law. Many existing organizations might encourage their membership to participate in this committee. Contemporary Research would attempt to sort out information regarding issues of the day, such as Weaver and Waco, and any other matter of importance to the community, investigating to establish credible information and weed out misinformation. Political/Judicial Advocacy would be the pre-election group that would evaluate and determine desirability of candidates and/or issues to be included on the ballot.

The Political/Judicial Evaluations committee would evaluate the activities of those currently in office, or even the local media. Their evaluations and reports would be the foundation for an accurate evaluation of the status of our relationship with the government which rules from Washington, D. C. Any investigation by this committee should result in a complete and thorough report to the Executive Committee. It would then be submitted to the Committee of the Whole which then would leave no doubt that the person identified was in violation of the Constitution or Nature"s Law, regardless of how those actions related to statutory law. If the statutory law did not exist, would the person investigated be considered, perhaps, guilty of a crime against the Constitution or Nature? The information developed in this committee should be disseminated to the entire community, by whatever means necessary, so as to educate more than just the membership of the Committee. The Public Affairs Committee would take on the task of dissemination of information, as directed by the Executive Committee, to the membership, the community, the press and other Committees.

The Executive Committee would be charged with the overall conduct of the Committee and would appoint Ad Hoc committees when issues developed that were of a temporary nature. The Executive Committee would also charge the militia should circumstances ever require that the militia be called into active duty. The Committee acts as the Mind and gives direction to the Body (the militia).

There are some things that are worth giving for,
and the cause we have chosen is such.
If you give any less than necessary,
All that is not given is lost.

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