Titanic Colony: Part 3

TITANIC COLONY

The old White Star Flag, which served as the flag of the Republic of Avalon from 1912 (Year 1) until 1914 (Year 3). 

Part 3: In Congress Assembled

May 21, 2276 (Year 364), Titanic City

            The government car headed east on Vault Street, all the way to Lowell Street on the east side of Manhattan Island. They passed the Security Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Colonial Office and the main campus of Avalonia University before Vault Street came to a dead end at the Memorial Dock, and the car turned north onto Lowell. The car passed shops and town houses, some of the oldest buildings in the city. About a mile and a half up from Vault, the car came to a stop at Andrew’s home, a three-story brick and wood townhouse that had been built over 100 years ago. Across the street was the river park, where parents were strolling with their children, a few elderly citizens were sitting around feeding the birds, and one young couple sitting on the ground having a picnic. Andrews got out of the car and walked up the steps into his home. He walked through the door to hear his two youngest children running down the stairs shouting “Daddy!” at the top of their lungs. His middle child, 10-year-old Margaret, reached him first, giving him a big hug. Her 4-year-old brother Edward was not far behind. He picked up Ed and walked into the parlor to the left of the main hall, where his wife was getting up from her seat.

            “It’s good to see you darling. How was your day?”

            “More and more reports. The Colonial Office wants to start on the next phase of expansions in New Albion and Atlantia, and they have to have Congress to give the go-ahead. Hopefully we’ll get through it by the end of the week.”

            “That’ll be good. You know my sister is considering going out to Atlantia. She wants to start fresh after the engagement to Robert fell apart.”

            “That’s definitely a fresh start. Life’s a little rough out in the new colonial expansion. Lots of wilderness still to tame.”

            “Sarah’s a tough girl. I think she can do it.”

            “Perhaps. Well if she does I wish her luck. Not something I’d want to do.”

            “I don’t know dad, it sounds kind of exciting to me.” Said James, Andrew’s 16-year-old son, his oldest. “Henry and I were talking about it today. If we don’t join the Navy for our two years of service after school, we may go to the Colonial Force.”

            “We’ll see about that. The men in this family have served faithfully in the Navy for generations. Would you really want to break that tradition?”

            “Well…when you put it that way….does make it harder to say no to the Navy. But I still think the Colonial Force would be more exciting.”

            “Thankfully that’s still two years away,” Andrew’s wife, Clara, piped in, defusing the situation. “Dinner should be ready soon. Why don’t you go and change clothes and we’ll eat darling.”

            “Okay, that sounds like a plan.” And with that, Andrews walked up the flight of stairs to the master bedroom and changed out of the suit he wore to work and into some more comfortable clothes to relax for the evening.

            At dinner, Andrews told his wife about the request from the Prime Minister.

            “Astor House? That’s the second event you’ve been invited to this year. Do you think the Prime Minister is planning on giving you some sort of political promotion?”

            “Clara I’ve considered that. It’s quite possible. Maybe a junior ministry appointment or something like that. But I’ve not heard anything official. Only time will tell.

            As dinner was finishing up, Maria, the housekeeper, came in to the room.

            “Mr. Andrews, there is a telephone call for you. It’s from Prime Minister Guggenheim.” This immediately got Andrews’ attention and he excused himself from the table to take the unexpected call.

            “Mr. Prime Minister, to what do I owe the honor of your call?”

            “Mr. Andrews, I apologize for interrupting your dinner. I assure you I’ll be brief. I need you to come by my office first thing tomorrow morning before you go the Congress building.”

            “Of course Mr. Prime Minister. I’d be happy to. I’ll have my driver bring me by Astor House first thing tomorrow. I should be in before 9 o’clock. Will that work?”

            “Yes that would be fine. See you then. Goodnight.

            “Goodnight, Mr. Prime Minister.” And with that the conversation ended. Andrews was deeply puzzled, and told his wife as much when she asked.

            “Who knows,” she said, “maybe some junior position has suddenly opened up. Or maybe he just needs your help introducing some new bill into Congress.”

            “Well I will find out tomorrow morning.”

April 25, 1912 (Year 1), Onboard the Titanic

It was just before 10:00 a.m. as Captain Smith walked into the First Class Lounge on A-Deck where the members of the Constitutional Assembly had gathered, Several of the recently elected delegates shook his hand and greeted him, including Margaret Brown, who had handily won the support of her peers and sent to the Assembly.

“Good morning Captain. Are you ready to make history today?”

“Why Mrs. Brown, I think we are about to do just that. If we are successful in making this settlement, I’m sure students hundreds of years from know will have to memorize this day and learn our names. Quite a strange feeling.”

“Yes I know exactly what you mean. I keep thinking about the Founding Fathers of the United States. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin. I wonder if they felt like this, if they knew what they were doing would go down in history.”

“Oh I don’t doubt your countrymen felt the same things we are now. And as the historical importance of the moment wasn’t lost on them, I don’t think it is lost on us either.”

“Well put Captain. Well put.”

Captain Smith made his rounds among the delegates, making a point to shake hands and greet each of the 40 members of the newly elected Constitutional Assembly. As the clock struck 10, the members of the Assembly found their seats, and the Captain made his way to the front of the center hall, opposite the main entrance, where a long table had been set up with seats facing the delegates for the Captain and his council. The captain was seated in the center. To his right were the senior officers: Chief Officer Henry Wilde, First Officer William Murdoch, Second Officer Charles Lightoller, Third Officer Herbert Pitman, Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, and Sixth officer James Moody. To his left were Thomas Andrews, J. J. Astor, Bruce Ismay, Benjamin Guggenheim, Archibald Butt, and Master-at-Arms Thomas King. The delegates were seated in four rows all facing the Captain’s Council, with five members of each constituency seated on either side of a central row. As everyone else sat, Captain Smith stood at his place and opened the meeting.

“Gentlemen, and ladies,” nodding to Margaret Brown and the 5 other women who were present among the representatives in the room, “As one of you told me when I arrived here this morning, we are here to make history today. Indeed, the actions we take over the next few weeks and months will greatly shape the lives of our descendants. This morning’s session is just the beginning. A chance for us to begin to chart our course. Together, I believe we can establish a nation based on the principles that we all cherish from our homelands. We must establish a nation that respects the freedoms and liberties of the individual, but also protects the needs of the whole. From this seed of 2,200 souls we must grow the future of mankind. So, without further pleasantries, I hereby declare open the first session of the Constitutional Assembly of the Titanic Colony.” Captain Smith received a robust applause from the delegates and his council, before continuing on with the business at hand.

“Our first order of business is to establish a few ground rules. I will serve as a non-voting speaker of this Assembly, only to vote in the case of a tie. The rest of you, including my Council, will each have one vote. An agenda will be drafted for each day by the Council and adopted by all delegates at the beginning of each day.” The captain went over procedures for voting and adding new material to the agenda before he finally turned the floor over to Mr. Andrews, who’d been elected as Chairman of the Captain’s Council, who presented the days agenda, which really had only one all encompassing item.

“Honored delegates, our agenda for today is really quite simple, but also quite broad. We must settle on a very basic outline of how we want to set up our future government. Not the details, but the overall layout. Do we want a president, a monarchy, a board of directors? Should we have a legislature? What about a court system? Once we decide on some of these broad generalities, we will break down our coming days to handle the specifics of our future constitution.

Now, on the council, there are two primary competitors for what we feel the most appropriate form of government should look like. I will allow my colleague Mr. Bruce Ismay to take the floor first to present one view, followed by Mr. Astor with the opposing view.” With that, Mr. Ismay stood up and addressed the Assembly. In his proposal, the Captain would be installed as the colony’s leader and there would be a small council of representatives to run the colony for the time being, with options to expand the council at a later date once things were more established. Several times Ismay stressed that this was to serve as a temporary measure until the colony was more settled and a more representative government could function properly.

After Ismay was seated, Astor made his own address. He supported keeping the Captain in place as head of state, but wanted to see an elected legislature making most of the decisions, perhaps adopting some sort of Westminster-style of governance where the legislature elected from it’s membership a head of government that would run the day-to-day aspects of the government.

Once these two views had been presented, the floor was open to debate. To no one’s surprise, the delegates from the crew and third class balked at Mr. Ismay’s proposal and strongly supported Mr. Astor’s proposal. In the Second Class and First Class, things were more mixed. By two o’clock, a motion to vote was made by Archibald Butt, and in a vote of 36-16, the so-called “Astor Plan” was approved. The government of the new colony would be governed by a legislature and executive.

May 22, 2276 (Year 364), Titanic City

            The morning commute to the Government Quarter went very quickly as Andrews sat in the back of the government car, headed to the Prime Minister’s residence at Astor House. The historic residence was on Captain Street, halfway between the Congress House and Edward Palace, on the west side of the street across from Colonial Park. With morning traffic, the drive took nearly half an hour from Andrews' townhouse on Lowe Street, putting Andrews at his destination just before 9 o’clock. The three-story brick building with white columns lining the street-facing front dominated that section of the street. Andrews’ car pulled up and the driver let him out, and said he would pull around back and park. Andrews approached the gate and gave the guard his identity card and told the man he had an appointment with the Prime Minister. The guard conferred with a registry in his guard post and, after seeing the Congressman’s name, allowed him entry. Up a short flight of stairs that led him to the porch underneath the portico, Andrews approached the front door that was opened by a porter.

            “Welcome to Astor House, Mr. Andrews. I’m Martin Andbrown, the Prime Minister’s secretary. He’s in the study, waiting on your arrival. Follow me.” Andrews followed Andbrown into the study. He mused momentarily about the secretary’s last name. In theory they were distant relatives. Andrews was a descendant of the second son of Thomas Andrews and Margret Brown-Andrews, Lionel. Andbrown would be a descendent of Thomas and Margaret’s third son, Samuel, who changed his last name as an adult to reflect both his father and mother’s last names. It seemed as though most people were distantly related, at least in Titanic City. With everyone descended from a mere 2,200 people, it was hard to avoid.

            Andrews’ musings ended there, as he entered the famed study of Astor House, the formal office of the Prime Minister of Avalon. The room was painted a pale blue, with several white bookshelves filled with a vast assortment of titles. The Prime Minister’s desk was built of luxurious dark oak, and dominated the room. Richard Guggenheim III, the thirty-fifth prime minister of the Republic, was sitting behind the desk and looked up as Andrews entered. He’s been in the office for four years, and looked likely to stay in office after the general election next year.

            “Mr. Andrews, thank you for joining me this morning on such short notice.”

            “My pleasure, Mr. Prime Minister. What is that you’d like to talk to me about this morning? I assume it’s something important since you had me come on relatively short notice like this.”

            “It is important, Mr. Andrews. You see, David Bracken, the Deputy Prime Minister, has tendered his resignation.”

            “Well, that is a surprise. And I’m sorry to hear that. Bracken is a good man.”

            “Yes, it is very unfortunate. Tomorrow, this will be announced publicly. And I intend to announce a cabinet reshuffle at that time as well. Interior Minister Samuel Deacon will be moving up to fill Bracken’s spot. And, I would like you to fill his.”

            “You want me to be the Interior Minister?” Andrews asked, surprised.

            “Yes. You’ve worked extensively with the interior ministry projects that have been passed through Congress, and you’ve done other work back in New Eire. I believe you’d be perfect for the job. And if you must know, I’d already planned on tapping you for the cabinet after the elections next year, but with Bracken’s resignation it seemed like the perfect opportunity to move that plan up.”

            “Well sir I am quite honored. Thank you very much for the offer.”

            “You’re welcome, Andrews. Will you accept?”

            “Yes, absolutely. I’d be happy to.”

            “Excellent. We will make the announcement here at noon tomorrow. I’ll see you then. Oh, and Andrews, this will mean you will be at the main celebration on Foundation Day later this week.”

May 25, 1912 (Year 1), Outside the Vault

            Captain Smith looked out at the crowd that had gathered outside the Vault. A stage had been assembled in front of the massive concrete structure on the center of Manhattan Island. The rest of the Captain’s Council sat on stage with Smith, and in the first row of the seated crowd the forty members of the Assembly waited for the ceremony to start. Behind the Assembly members, a vast majority of the passengers and crew were in waiting for the start of the ceremony. Behind those seated on the stage, the pennant flags of the White Star Line fluttered idly in the wind. Although it had been decided that the White Star flag would not serve as a permanent flag for the soon-to-be republic, the Council felt that it would be a good temporary stand in until a new flag could be created.

            Off in the distance, the Titanic’s whistle blasted long and loud, the signal that it was noon, and time for the ceremony to begin. Captain Smith rose from his seat and walked up to a podium set up on the stage. In the Vault, the Quartermaster had discovered an audio projection device so that all those assembled could hear the Captain and the other speakers. The Captain cleared his throat, and began to speak.

            “Ladies and Gentlemen of this brave new civilization. We are gathered here to mark the beginning of a brilliant new future. Over one month ago, we found ourselves upon the shores of a North America nigh unrecognizable to us all. We have been swept across time and space, something that none of us quite understand or can explain. We are here now, and that is all that matters. We must move forward and prepare for what lies ahead, and create a world suitable for our children and their children and many generations thereafter.

            Today, myself and my council and the forty representatives the people of this new nation elected will sign our new constitution into law. Today is birth of our new nation. From this day forward, we are no longer American or English, Canadian or French, European or Asian. From this day forward we are all citizens of the Republic of Avalon.” A great cheer and applause came up from the crowd as the Captain finished speaking. Following his remarks, the forty representatives of the Constitutional Assembly filed on stage and signed the Articles of Governance, followed by the Council, and finally Captain Smith.

            The document signed in to law that day would be a somewhat temporary system, with such a small population. Later on, the way the new Congress would be elected and how such representation would be proportioned would change as the population grew and spread out along the continent. The Captaincy became a permanent institution, a figurehead leader of the new Republic. The Prime Minister would be chosen from the members of the Assembly, and a cabinet would be appointed by the Prime Minister, all ruling in the name of the “High Captain.” While the High Captaincy isn’t a hereditary position, the custom will be adopted that the reigning High Captain will appoint their successor. 

Titanic Colony: Part 2

TITANIC COLONY

Manhattan Island as discovered by the Titanic on April 15, 1912/Year 1

Part 2: The Mandate

April 15, 1912 (Year 1), The Vault, Manhattan Island

“Greetings, and welcome to the Vault. I know, you are unsure what is going on and are probably thinking that what you are seeing looks like a ghost. I assure you it is not. What you are seeing is a projection of a recorded image. I am Rane Gerand, chief director of the Eternity Project. I know this will be hard for you to understand, but I am from the far future, from the year 3,924, to be in fact. And to be blunt, this could be the last year of human history. Our world has run out of further supplies of resources, and the people of Earth are fighting over what remains. The Eternity Project was created to find a way to save humanity. And we believe we have found it. The science I know will be beyond your understanding, but I will do my best to explain. The scientists of the Eternity Project have discovered the ability to travel through time, and also to travel between alternate worlds. We decided it would not be good to take people from our time, with our divisions and corruption, to try and start anew. No, what had to be done to save humanity was to bring people from our past and place them in a virgin world without any people on it, and allow these people to establish a new civilization, and set them up to be humanity’s last great home. We brought the Titanic and it’s passengers and crew here to be the beginnings of that new civilization. As I understand it from the sensors in this room, the Captain is not here at the moment. Please send for him, and I will explain in greater detail what all this Vault contains and what we have done to better prepare you for your new home.”

            With that, the image of the man disappeared. The men in the room looked around, first at where the image had been, and then at Officer Lowe.

            “Well men, lets head back to the dock. Looks like we need to send for the captain.”

April 16, 1912, Onboard the Titanic

            As dawn broke upon the horizon, the telephone rang on the bridge. It was the lookouts. The boat from the landing party had been spotted with about half the men that had left. Officer Murdoch went and woke the Captain and reported what the lookouts had seen.

            “Tell me when the men arrive. I want to know what they found.”

            “Aye sir. I will let you know the moment they are back on board.” And with that, Officer Murdoch returned back to the bridge.

            Within an hour and a half, the boat was tied up alongside the ship, and the 12 men and Officer Lowe were aboard. Lowe immediately reported to the bridge, and relayed what he had seen to the Captain and the rest of the assembled officers, along with Mr. Ismay and Mr. Andrews. When he was done, the men looked at Lowe and at each other, not sure exactly what to think. Captain Smith was the first to speak.

            “Well, it looks like I need to accompany Mr. Lowe back to the island.”

            “Sir, with no disrespect meant to Officer Lowe, this sounds ludicrous. While I think..” Mr. Ismay was interrupted suddenly by Lowe.

            “With all due respect Mr. Ismay, this is the truth. My men can vouch for what I’ve told you. No I can’t explain it, but I saw what I saw. And the image, whatever it was, some sort of machine, requested to see the Captain.”

            Smith, who had been focused in thought, spoke up. “I think Mr. Lowe is right. I don’t think he’s making something as outlandish sounding as this up, so I think I should go and see this for myself. Officer Lightoller will accompany me with Mr. Lowe and his men. Officer Wilde, you will be in command in my absence.”

            “Aye sir. Stay safe.”

            “Sir, what shall we tell the passengers? They are getting quite anxious,” Asked Officer Murdoch.

            “Tell them that we are still investigating the lights we spotted on the island, and as soon as we know anything of importance that we will relay it to them.” And with that, the captain began to follow Mr. Lowe and head towards the main elevators, so that he could head down to where the boat was tied up alongside the ship. 

            “But sir, what will they think of your absence? Won’t that be something that might cause concern?” Murdoch said before Smith had a chance to leave the bridge.

            Smith paused for a moment, then said, “Tell them that my officers want me to inspect something they found on the island that might be of use to us. The passengers, most of them, anyway, don’t know that this is likely Manhattan Island. For all they know, we’ve run off course and have found some deserted island. Let’s keep it that way for now.”

            “Aye sir. Will do.”

April 16, 1912, The Vault, Manhattan Island

            Lowe, Moody and Smith all walked through the door into the concrete structure, back into the chamber where the image of the man who called himself Rane Gerand had appeared. As they walked towards the console where the ghost-like image had come from, it reappeared.

            “Welcome, Captain Smith. As your officer no doubt told you, I am Rane Gerand, head of the Eternity Project.” The image of the man who claimed to be from the future quickly rehashed what it had already told Officer Lowe, then went on.

            “Inside this Vault, you will find all the necessary supplies and tools you will need to establish a thriving settlement. Bellow me now this machine is printing out a detailed list of all that we have stored for you, and instructions on how to access it. Captain, you must help your passengers and crew organize and build a new society. You are the future of humanity, our last hope of survival. We of the Eternity Project have done everything in our power to make sure this colony not only survives but thrives.

            Now, I know that our taking that Titanic and her passengers out of your own time and world and bring you all here may seem unfair. But what you do not know is that at the very moment we brought you here, the moment you all saw a bright flashing light engulf your ship, the Titanic was about to strike an ice berg. She would have sank in about two hours, and of the more than 2000 people aboard, only 700 would have survived. In a way, we saved you from your deaths. In addition, since over half of those onboard died originally, your sudden disappearance will not greatly affect world history. Your ship and those aboard her were the perfect candidates for this project.

            Now that you know the truth, and what we have given you, I challenge you Captain to guide these people, and help them build a better world than the one we plucked you from.” And with that, the image of Rane Gerand disappeared. Bellow the console itself was what looked like a book that had printed out from the machine. Lowe picked it up and handed it to the captain.

            “Well Gentlemen,” Smith began, “we should head back, and begin our plan of action. Like the man said, we will need to organize our passengers and crew and get to work.”

            “Get to work doing what exactly, sir?” Asked Moody.

            “Why, establishing a settlement. Were you not listening?”

            “Oh aye sir, I was. But you really believe what that…machine? Man? Thing…said?

            “Do you have a better explanation for why we are standing in a concrete vault on an otherwise deserted and untouched Manhattan Island, or how our ship suddenly arrived off the coast of North America when we still had at least two more days at sea ahead of us?” Moody stood there with his mouth slightly open, trying to come up with something. “I didn’t think so Mr. Moody. Now, lets head back to the ship and see what we can come up with.”

April 20, 1912, Aboard the Titanic

            Captain Smith looked out from the boat deck at the wilderness of Manhattan Island. In the distance, he could see the metal light beacon that stood above the Vault, where right now Officers Moody and Lowe were assisting Storekeeper John Foley in going over the supplies that were supposedly left by the mysterious people of the Eternity Project. They’d been going at it since the 17^th, when the Titanic, with the help of four automated tug boats, tied up to the dock that Lowe and Moody had discovered. If the list provided by the Eternity Project was correct, what lay in the storerooms of the Vault were staggering. Enough food to feed the passengers and crew for several years, and the supplies and equipment to build a basic settlement here on the island, the beginnings of a new civilization, just like the image of that man, Rane Gerand, had promised. The whole thing still felt overwhelming to Smith, but he was keeping calm and firm, to provide stability to the crew and to the passengers.

            The passengers….the situation that the Titanic’s people now found themselves in had been hard to explain to the 1,300 passengers aboard the ship. The idea that men somewhere in the far future had not only been able to travel through time, but be able to take the ship and her inhabitants to a “parallel world” was mind boggling. The news did little to calm their already anxious nerves. Most didn’t really believe the captain and his officers when they assembled the different groups of passengers by class and told them on the evening of the 16^th. However, especially for those passengers who had been to New York before, when the automated tugs came and guided the ship to it’s new dock, many of them recognized the shorelines enough for the reality to start to sink in.  One first class passenger, Mr. William Stead of London, had approached the captain afterwards and told him that the concept of multiple universes, or multiverses, was not totally foreign to him, that some of the readings he had done talked about such phenomenon. He promised to try and explain it to as many of his fellow passengers as he could. This was all welcome news to Smith.

            The captain entered the top of the Grand Staircase, headed down the ornate stairs to A Deck, and headed to the First Class Reading Room. There, Chief Officer Wilde, Master-at-Arms Thomas King, Mr. Ismay, Mr. Andrews, Colonel Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Major Archibald Butt had all gathered for a planning meeting. They had to come up with a plan of action for this new settlement, and the sooner they got going, the better.

            Upon entering, Smith was greeted by Officer Wilde. “Captain, good morning sir. I hope you had a pleasant night’s rest.”

            “I did, thank you Mr. Wilde. Good morning gentlemen. I hope we are all ready to get down to business. We have quite a task before us.”

            “That we do, Captain Smith,” said Mr. Guggenheim, “and I believe we are all ready to start. It appears all our fates now rest in what we decide to do these next few days and weeks.”

            “That it does Mr. Guggenheim. And I believe we are up to the challenge if we apply ourselves.” Said Colonel Astor.

            “Well then Gentlemen, let’s get to it.” Said the captain, and he motioned for the men to take their seats around the tables that had been arraigned to form one large conference table. The captain then set the agenda for the meeting.

            “Our Storekeeper, Mr. Foley, is working with Fifth Officer Lowe and Sixth Officer Moody to inventory the items in the Vault. They will hopefully be able to report to this Council tomorrow or the day after as to what all we have at our disposal. They have already taken some food out to make sure we keep the passengers and crew aboard fed. With that food we should be good for at least a week before we need to break into those provisions again.”

            “What about fuel for the ship? Is there coal in the Vault?” Asked Mr. Ismay.

            “Yes there is, and lorries to haul it to the dock. We should be good for a few more days, and Officer Boxhaul is working with the Boatswain to organize crews to start loading up the coal by then.”

            “Sir, what of our long-term plans? As I see it, we need to stop thinking of ourselves as passengers and crew of this ship, and instead all of us together as colonists in this new world.” This was Major Butt speaking.

            “I’ve been giving that some thought, Major Butt, and I’ve spoken about this some to Officer Wilde and to Mr. Andrews. We will need to set up a government of some sort to help organize the pas… the population of our new settlement. The authority of myself and my officers will not last indefinitely, and we need to start organizing such a government soon. Possibly preliminarily by the end of the week. I’ve also talked with Mr. Andrews about starting to plan out our new settlement before we start building anything. He is going through the passenger lists to see if we have any engineers, architects, or other specialists that could help plan out our settlement. We have accurate maps of the area from the Vault, so that will help a lot.”

            “That all sounds good Captain.” said Mr. Guggenheim. “I would say then, since we can’t make much more decisions about our supplies until Mr. Foley reports to us, and since Mr. Andrews is just now forming a settlement committee, our best course of action today would be to lay the groundwork for a meeting to start setting up a proper government.”

            “This does sound sensible to me as well Captain.” Colonel Astor said in agreement.

            “Well, I think we need to create a strong executive and executive administration. A legislature is all well and good but in this time of crisis it may be too cumber..” Mr. Ismay was interrupted by Mr. Andrews.

            “Mr. Ismay, I do not think it would be wise for this Council to set up the government. I think it would be best if we had a formal constitutional assembly and get people form all parts of society on this ship involved and come up with something we can all agree on.”

            “Sir, do you really think we need to include the crew and third class in this? After all those men and women aren’t exactly the types that make decisions in this sort of thing.” Said Officer Wilde.

            “I agree. That would just take too long. The lower classes would follow our lead.” Said Mr. Ismay.

            “No, no I think Mr. Andrews is right here,” objected Colonel Astor. “While it is fair to say that the members of the crew and the third class are not the people normally in leadership or in government at all, this is a whole new world. And while most people among the first class will be loath to admit it, in the back of their heads they are slowly realizing that their influence and supposed superiority evaporated when our ship was brought here. And it will only be a matter of time before the lower classes figure that out as well. If we try to dictate to them some form of autocratic government, I fear it would quickly backfire. We need to treat them like equals, as much as it might ruffle some feathers.”

            “I concur with Mr. Andrews and Colonel Astor.” Said Mr. Guggenheim.

            “Well gentlemen, let’s vote on it.” Said Captain Smith. “All in favor of holding a Constitutional Assembly with equal representation for all classes and the crew, say aye.” Smith, Andrews, Guggenheim, King and Butt all voted in favor, Ismay and Wilde opposed.  “Well, the majority is in favor. We will hammer out the details for this assembly and then announce our decision publicly this evening at dinner.”

            The rest of the morning, the 7 men discussed how the assembly would work. Ultimately, it was decided that there would be 10 representatives from each class, and 10 from the crew. The captain and his full council (consisting of the men present plus all the other officers, which had informally formed the day the ship had docked) would also be present, with the Captain presiding over the Assembly. They would meet on Thursday, April 25. They were unsure of just how the ten men would be chosen to serve at first, but Major Butt suggested grouping the passengers and crew by alphabet, and choosing representatives from those groups. They settled on this, and made the announcement that evening at dinner to all the passengers, and had the news told to the crew.

April 21, 1912, Onboard the Titanic

            The Captain’s Council, as it was now being called, had assembled in it’s usual meeting place in the First Class Reading Room and was about to hear a preliminary report on the supplies in the Vault from Officer Lowe and Storekeeper Foley when a knock came at the door. A steward entered the room.

            “Pardon me Captain, Gentlemen, but a Mrs. Molly Brown is outside, and she is most insistent that she speak to you all, and said she wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’ve asked her to leave but she wont.”

            The gentlemen looked around at each other. Some looked annoyed, others amused. Mr. Andrews chuckled slightly. The Captain looked at the steward and said, “Well, let her in. We’ll here what she has to say.” The steward nodded, and stepped outside, opening the door for Mrs. Brown.

            “Gentlemen, I do apologize for intruding like this. I know you are busy and have a lot to take care of, so I won’t take up too much of your time. I just have a question for you. Do you intend to allow women to be a part of this Assembly you are planning on having next week. You know, the one that you are having to write our constitution?”

            “My dear lady, you cannot be serious. Why would we need to let the women attend this assembly?” Asked Mr. Ismay.

            “Because we make up about a third of the population, that’s why. You’ve agreed to allow equal representation to all the classes that make up those aboard this ship. Why not allow women to represent as well?”

            “There is no precedent for this. Women do not vote in England or the United States. Why should they vote here?” Said Officer Wilde.

            “You’d be wrong there, Mr. Wilde. Women do vote in the United States. Six states in the union allow it, and more were on the way from what the press was saying before we arrived here. My home state of Colorado has had women suffrage for nearly twenty years. I see no reason why the women can’t vote and have women in the Assembly. To not do so would be doing a disservice to a vital section of our population. Now I’ve said what I’ve come to say. Just know, before you decide anything, that there are other ladies in the first class who agree, and I’m sure there are others in the other classes as well, and I intend to be very vocal about this issue, especially if you decide to ignore the ladies and their right to be heard. Thank you gentlemen, have a pleasant day.” With that, Mrs. Brown walked out of the Reading Room. The men looked at each other quietly for a moment, then began to discuss what they should do.

            That evening at dinner, it was announced that women would be allowed to vote in the Assembly elections, and that women could serve as delegates to the Constitutional Assembly. 

Time Traveling through Photography

Hello to all my readers. Work is still on going on the next update of Silent Night. As to when said update will be up for you to enjoy, all I can say right now is "soon, hopefully." Student teaching is definitely keeping me busy, but I have found some time to write, and it is my hope that I can get you the next update, and maybe some other articles and stories, posted for your enjoyment in the near future. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you this amazing gem I discovered the other day thanks to social media.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to look at the past "in living color," as the phrase goes? I for one have often said that I would love to travel back in time, not to change the past, but just for the opportunity to see it for myself in the bright and real hues that we are used to seeing in the every day. At best, we get a glimpse of the past through the dull (though sometimes quite artistic) limitations of black and white. And that's only for the past hundred years, 150 at best. Before that all we have are paintings, artistic representations of the past that don't always do reality justice. Well, the other day, I discovered the following two websites that present more than a dozen images taken in Paris between 1910 and 1940, all with a type of color photography that was actually copyrighted in 1903. I was amazed to see vivid, high quality photographs of Parisian street scenes from before the First World War, or the the Eiffel tower decorated and illuminated during the inter-war years in beautiful yellow and blue lights. There were pictures of the victory celebrations outside the Paris city hall in 1918, the building bedecked with the red-white-blue of the French tricolor flag. When you first see some of these pictures, you think, "surely these are snapshots taken from some movie set," because they look so life-like that you think it's impossible for them to be 100 years old. But then you really start looking and realize....these are the real deal.

So, without further adieu, here are the links. The first website just has the pictures all listed together, without any caption or information. The second website, where the first website borrowed the images from, posted these pictures individually as separate posts with date and locations, so it takes a bit longer to go through the posts, but there is more information for you.

website 1

website 2
(on this website, you'll have to click on the pictures to find out the place and date it was taken)

Enjoy!