Wharf Springs

Wharf Springs

Flag of Wharf Springs
Motto: "Burying Government Secrets Since 1482!"
No Map Available
Region	18 Beech Grove
Capital	Formica Woodtops
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	President Edward Bernard
Population	1bn-1.5bn
Currency	The Coffee Jar
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The Federation of Wharf Springs is the largest nation in the 18 Beech Grove region.

History

Wharf Springs was founded in 1947 when the Four Fathers Who Were Our Fore Fathers (FFWWOFF) left numerous Scandinavian nations to colonise a hefty chunk of land reclaimed next to the South Pacific region, known to the locals as 18 Beech Grove. The FFWWOFF were the winners of a competition in Scandinavia to find the most liberal people in the history of the world - stupidly left-wing. Only they thought they had "won". They had in fact been part of a government plot to eliminate a significant amount of the left-wingers who had infested Scandinavia from the beginning. It's all those dark nights. It addles the brain, don't you know?

The 5 million liberals arrived, and decided immediately that a government must be formed in the model of True Liberalism. They tried to consult the people as often as possible, but realised that to grow by 1 million population per year, they'd have to do a lot of bonking.

And So It Was Thus. The Liberals Bred Like Rabbits!

No Government in the real sense of the world was established until population hit around 50 million people. From that point, the people decided that some form of population control was in order. It is a remarkable fact that the first establishment of a democracy was merely in order to set up a centrally-planned system of condom production and distribution.

From that point onwards, the government slowly started to encroach into more areas of society, like every Good Government should. The liberal ways were slowly sacrificed for more and more intrusion. But the people remained Liberal, and their World Was Good.

Only their economy was not. The country grew at a slower rate, but the economy crashed as continued expansion of government responsibilites resulted in higher and higher tax rates. The economic contraction was such that several Western states, previously colonised by the people of Wharf Springs, led a successful attempt at secession to form The Confederacy of Induced Capitalism.

The shockwave of the "Lemon Divorce" delivered a fatal blow to the economy that never recovered leading to a lurch from recession to recession. The average tax rate reached 99%, when finally, in a fit of rage, second-term and current President Edward Bernard suddenly snapped and declared the nation had to undergo serious economic liberalisation by mirroring the ways of their former colony, using their policy known as Grahamonomics.

Four generations had passed since the FFWWOFF first settled. The people were now more liberal than ever, and their ways had been deeply embedded into the psyche of the people. Unsurprisingly, there is currently deep opposition to the new economic-hardline policies that the administration is implementing. The success of these policies is almost beyond question: the tax rate has been slashed to below 20%, and the economy is booming. However, poor and underfunded social policy has left the country in the grip of a permanent crime wave.

Wharf Springs and Time Measurement

Upon the arrival of the FFWWOFF they devised a new system of time measuring Earth Vibrations since 1947 - the foundation of the nation. They chose to use the section symbol - § - to denote it. The current year is §205.

Politics

The politics of Wharf Springs are currently in a severely damaged state. Current President Bernard, in a tax cutting measure, decreed in §204, just days before the next presidential elections, that the system of elective democracy was "highly inefficient" and the costs were simply not justified in terms of outputs.

Bernard suspended all elections indefinitely, and continues to rule to this day. There is considerable disquiet within the nation over the destruction of everything that Wharf Springs was founded upon, and most commentators have noted that the Four Fathers Who Were Our Fore Fathers would be turning in their graves if they were not cremated when they died.

The nation was founded as a strong federation with the separation of powers firmly stressed. While the three branches of government are still in position in the new dictatorship, the President has assumed much influence over the two other branches. The Executive is dominated by a President who has the choice whether or not to form a Cabinet to advise him. The Cabinet used to have to be approved by the nation in a referendum, but since the suspension of elections, this is no longer required. This allows the President complete control over his/her government.

The Legislature remains in place but it is severely weakened. Since elections were suspended the composition of the newly renamed House of Tenants (the two House bicameral system being abolished by the President shortly after) has remained static. The President twisted arms and bribed members to pass a law which states that as members die off the President is able to appoint their replacement. Otherwise, the House is largely unchanged. It still calls for the return of Wharf Springs' democracy, but there is enough corruption amongst members to ensure that the President is not defeated on important tax-lowering legislation.

The 28 federal states of Wharf Springs have also been temporarily suspended in order to ensure that all centrally passed legislation is dutifully implemented.

The Judiciary is perhaps the most addled part of the new Government. The Constitution of Wharf Springs is still in place, but since an unfortunate incident that wiped out the entire judiciary on a cruise to Santa Fe, the newly appointed judges of the nation have been much less willing to strike down government legislation. Judges are appointed for six § terms and cannot be re-appointed.

Current Political Strife

As previously mentioned, the nation is in crisis since the President effectively seized control of the machinery of government. The President is currently operating with a two-person Cabinet, comprising himself, and the Professor the Lord Clamp of Lemona. Lord Clamp was invited to the nation some years ago to assist the President in lowering the tax rates, and he has since been co-opted into government.

There are movements to restore democracy to Wharf Springs, including the recently formed Freedom Luvvies, who were going to hold alternative elections in an attempt to return to the normal traditions of the state. However, the architects of this group were assassinated in a high profile killing orchestrated by Lord Clamp himself, on the orders of the President. Lord Clamp was said to have used many hockey sticks and snooker cues as effective weapons in the incident.

Nevertheless, there are still underground movements that keep applying pressure on the government to bring back elections. It is unclear what Bernard's motives are, and when taxes are finally abolished (as seems to be the current trend) it is rumoured that he may still step aside to return the country to normality.

Recent Presidential Election Results

§200 (Most Recent)

§196 (Previous but one)

First Round

Second Round

Recent Events in Wharf Springs

See the separate page: Recent events in Wharf Springs