
[2859-2861  The Melanin Application]

While religion and exploration continued to dominate much of the
'50s, the Earth government was busy trying to make sure that all
the provisions of the "Great Compromise" were being enforced.
Chief among those, in the eyes of many of Earth's leaders, were
that dictatorships should be abolished wherever they existed.
Unfortunately, with the unpopularity of religion some three
decades earlier, nobody had given much through to the possibility
of religious dictatorships. One such government had erected
itself on Melanin, and was in 2859 applying for membership to the
Confederation as well as to the IPF Council. For the
Confederation, Melanin represented just another vote which would
help them keep control of the IPF, but to Earth, the very
existence of Melanin's "High-Pontifex" was something of a slap in
the face.

   In citing their case to the IPF Council, Earth made the point
that the supreme ruler of Melanin, though elected, was chosen
only by an assembly of Cardinals who were themselves elected by
the same body and which was not answerable to the public at
large. The system was a sort of self-perpetuating oligarchy, only
religious in nature, and which had originated during the 30's
when the Separatist Church on Bogelbrund decided it wanted to
move its headquarters offworld and entice its parishioners to
follow along as a sign of their faith.

   Unfortunately for Earth, the Church still had strong business
ties with Bogelbrund which was an influential world among the
Confederation voting bloc on the IPF Council. Hence, Earth's case
was dismissed, the Council explaining that although Melanin was
an oligarchy, it was no less democratic than the two-party
political system on Earth itself, which seemed to elect a
procession of party yes-men instead of true leaders, and that in
the final analysis, at least the "High-Pontifex" wasn't involved
in any tax-avoidance scandals, as was the U.N. Secretary General
of 2861.

   The biting sarcasm of the Council's ruling may have played a
factor in Earth's decision to veto Melanin's application for
membership, something the Earth leaders had never done before,
and which placed considerable strain on Terran/Confederation
relations.

