FEDERATION VERSUS FREEDOM 285
What is the size of this Indian Federation ?
Many people when they speak of the Indian Federation do not seem to realize what an enormous entity it is going to be—
| Col1 | Population | Area | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S.A. Germany Switzerland Canada Australia India | 122,775,040 67,000,000 466,400 10,376,786 6,629,839 352,837,778 | 2,973,773 208,780 15,976 3,729,665 2,974,581 1,808,679 | 48 States plus 1 Federal Dist. 25 22 9 6 162 |
The Indian Federation in point of area is 3/5th of U.S.A. and of Australia and half of Canada. It is 9 times of Germany and 120 times of Switzerland. In point of population it is 3 times of U.S.A., 5 times of Germany, 35 times of Canada, 58 times of Australia and 88 times of Switzerland. Measured by the Units which compose it, it is 3 times larger than U.S.A., 6½ times larger than Germany, 8 times larger than Switzerland, 18 times larger than Canada and 27 times larger than Australia. Thus the Indian Federation is not merely a big federation. It is really a monster among federations.
What is the source from which the Federation derives its Governmental Powers and Authority ?
Section 7 says that the executive authority of the Federation shall be exercised on behalf of His Majesty by the Governor-General. That means that the Authority of the Federation is derived from the Crown. In this respect the Indian Federation differs from the Federation in the U.S.A. In the U.S.A., the powers of the Federation are derived from the people. The people of the United States are the fountain from which the authority is derived. While it differs from the Federation in the U.S.A. the Indian Federation resembles the Federations in Australia and Canada. In Australia and Canada the source of the Authority for the Federal Government is also the Crown and Section 7 of the Government of India Act is analogous to section 61 of the Australian Act and section 9 of the Canadian Act. That the Indian Federation should differ in this respect from the American Federation and agree with the Canadian and Australian Federation is perfectly understandable. The United States is a republic while Canada and India are dominions of the Crown. In the former the source of all authority are the people. In the latter the source of all authority is the Crown.
From where does the Crown derive its authority ?
Such a question is unnecessary in the case of Canada and Australia, because the Crown is the ultimate source of all authority and