Legal Matters

Later that day...

The Eucalyptus Grove Council was about to begin a meeting to make final plans for the Great Migration that was soon to take place. All had come to the meeting: Handy, Judge Grandaddy, Doctor Koala, Chashibu, Chosay, Tecky, Gruffy, Kashy, Claire, and of course, the Prestigious Koala King; the latter, quite befittingly, was the first to speak.

'I thank all the members of our Council for being here this evening. Let us begin by asking Grandaddy how the preparations for the move have been coming along.'

'Quite well, Sire. Handy and I have signed up twenty koalas as planned, to help assign the trees in Eucalyptus Grove. I do believe, however, that a Royal Decree might be in order, as far as this subject is concerned.'

'A Royal Decree? Of what nature?' the King inquired.

'Sire, despite the fact that we are doing everything we can to assure fairness in the assignment of trees, we nonetheless fear that some koalas might not be completely satisfied with their lot. Therefore, I would like to propose that you sign a decree, stating that it is your royal will that the koalas accept the decisions we make; that is, that they accept the trees assigned to them, and that they know that it is your desire that they do so; furthermore, that all koalas do whatever they can to make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone.'

'Hmmm, I suppose that such a decree would not be in conflict with any existing laws?' the monarch asked, now looking at Gruffy and Kashy, the two lawyers.

'Not at all Sire, as far as I can see,' Kashy opined.

'I beg to differ, Sire,' Gruffy spoke up, 'for such a decree could be construed as an attempt by our King to bend the will of the koalas, and thus as an assault on freedom of opinion, not to mention of choice.'

'Two lawyers, two opinions,' old Chosay scoffed. 'Why can't you fellows ever make things easy?'

'We're just trying to represent both points of view, that's all,' Gruffy defended himself and his other-minded colleague.

'Okay, there's only one way to settle this,' Grandaddy suggested. 'We'll take a vote on it. All koalas who feel that a royal decree of the nature previously explained is both appropriate and legal, please raise your hands. Oh, and Sire, I'm afraid you can't vote, since you will be the one signing the decree.'

'Yeah, and if you could vote, there would be a danger of having a stalemate, in case five are for it, and five against,' Chashibu added.

'I have no problem with that. You nine may decide the issue,' the King responded calmly.

Six hands went up, those of Handy, Kashy, Chashibu, Chosay, Doctor Koala, and Grandaddy.

'Now, all those against,' Grandaddy said; only Gruffy raised his hand.

'I see two of you chose not to vote,' Grandaddy noticed.

'That is our right, isn't it?' Claire asked for herself and Tecky.

'Yes, it is,' Grandaddy responded, 'but I would be interested in your reasons.'

'Well, after hearing both Kashy and Gruffy speak, I feel they both are right, in a way, so I'd rather not vote one way or the other,' Claire explained.

'I feel somewhat the same way, though my main reason is that I don't see the necessity of a Royal Decree,' Tecky added. 'I have faith that the koalas would, in general, act decently in this matter, and accept the trees given to them. It would only be a minority who wouldn't be content, and they should have the right to say so, in my opinion.'

'I understand,' Grandaddy responded. 'Nevertheless, the motion is accepted, by a vote of six in favor, one against, and two abstentions. Write that down, Wheezy.'

Wheezy, who had recently been hired by the council as its official secretary, though only on a temporary basis – that is, until the migration began – obediently noted the results in the Council's official Book of Records.

'This being the case,' the Judge continued, 'I would like to present the decree to our King for signing. I prepared it myself this afternoon. Your Majesty…'

The Prestigious Koala King took the document and began to read:

'I, the Prestigious Koala King, of Koalaville, and soon to be King of Eucalyptus Grove as well, and therefore Sovereign of the two groves that comprise the eastern region of Southern Koalaland, including the adjoining fields, and of all the forest area north of the two aforementioned areas, and being the legitimate Monarch of said territories due to the faith placed in me by the citizens over whom I reign, and from them having received my royal authority, do hereby decree, that all the koalas who will soon make the move from Koalaville to Eucalyptus Grove (this being the totality of the koalas who are now residents of Koalaville, since our lawmakers have decided that the migration is to be made by all of us, without exception), should accept without complaint, whining, anger, dissatisfaction, frustration, or any other negative emotion, the trees which are assigned to them by the agents whom we have designated, whose decisions have been approved by myself, as well as by our Council; furthermore, that if any koala should nonetheless feel any of the aforesaid unpleasant emotions, that he or she not express them publicly, but that he/she confine the expression of such feelings to the circle of his/her intimate acquaintances, in order not to sow the seeds of discontent among others, so that the transition from Koalaville to Eucalyptus Grove, which we designate as the 'Great Migration', may be accomplished with the utmost of ease. May our Great Migration be the beginning of a new, better, more productive, and happier life for all of our citizens. Signed this second day of the first week of spring, in the first year of the reign of your… Prestigious Koala King '

'My, I must say, Grandaddy, you sure can write long sentences!' the King laughed. 'But I think it sounds pretty good, if I do say so myself. If everyone agrees that the wording is appropriate, I will proceed to sign.'

'Hmmm, not that I wish to protest,' Gruffy gave his opinion, 'but that would seem to be a muzzling of free speech, a right guaranteed in our Book of Laws.'

'I cannot disagree with that, Gruffy,' Grandaddy responded, 'yet it is for the good of the grand undertaking that is soon to take place. I would say that this is a case where the rights of the individual must be subordinated to the good of the entire population. And since a majority has already accepted the decree…'

'Oh, I know, I just wanted to get in my two berries' worth. It's my duty to say what I think about such important matters, though of course, I promise that I will support the measure wholeheartedly once the King has signed.'

'Fine. Your Majesty, here is the ink bottle and pen,' Grandaddy pushed a little jar across the table towards the monarch, then handed him a feather pen. The King took the pen, dipped it into the ink, and signed.

'It is now official,' Grandaddy announced. 'Any questions?'

'As a matter of fact, I do have a question,' Handy began. 'Suppose some koala doesn't respect the decree, and goes around complaining because he isn't satisfied with his new tree. Should I arrest him, or what?'

The other councilmembers looked at each other, speechless at first.

'Hmm, that is a good question,' Claire said. 'Are we really going to arrest and punish koalas just because they complained? Somehow that doesn't seem right.'

'Hey, the law is the law,' Kashy, the Grove's prosecutor, stated. 'It is the will of the King that nobody complain, so if somebody does, he – or she – will have to be punished in some way. A fine, perhaps, or a week of community service.'

'Hah! That Mayor Koala over in Koalatown would have a field day if we did that!' Gruffy exclaimed. 'He'd say that even though there are a lot of problems in his grove, at least they have free speech. We'd look really oppressive by comparison.'

'May I make a suggestion?' the King asked modestly.

'Oh, of course, your Majesty,' Grandaddy replied, slightly bowing his head in reverence.

'Should any koala not be satisfied, he or she may come directly to me. I declare my willingness to talk to anyone who is not happy with his tree.'

'Hmm, Sire, that could be problematic. They might see it as a sign of weakness,' Kashy observed.

'Wait a minute. I think it's a great idea,' Chashibu disagreed. 'The very fact that a koala would be received by the King himself would greatly impress him.

'...and so would probably shut him up,' old Chosay added.

'Yes, psychologically, that could have just the right effect,' Doctor Koala added. 'I like the idea. Besides, you never know, mistakes could be made, and maybe a koala really does get a raw deal with his new tree. In such a case, the King could always see to it that another tree was assigned to him. After all, there are more than enough trees over there in Eucalyptus Grove, and many won't be inhabited anyway.'

'Good point, Doctor,' the King agreed. 'And of course, if I see that a koala is justified in complaining, I will see to it that he or she is given another tree.'

'Well, then, I guess everything is settled. Gruffy, do you have any other concerns you would like to share with us?' the Judge asked.

'Oh, uh, I suppose that if the King is willing to deal with things on an individual basis, things should turn out to be fair in the end. I still have my problems with accepting the limitations on free speech, but all in all, I guess I can accept the situation.'

'Yeah, and after all,' Tecky, the successful businesskoala, spoke up, 'we shouldn't assume there will be a lot of problems. All of the koalas I've spoken with are delighted to be moving to a better grove. I really don't think we'll have a lot of complaints, except maybe for a few older ones who are set in their ways.'

'Speaking of whom, I know one of those myself,' said Handy. 'I believe most of you know Scuzzy.'

'Oh yeah, Scuzzy, I haven't seen that old geezer in a while,' Chosay laughed. 'I can imagine he might complain!'

'Yes, he says that he's lived in Koalaville all his life, and has no desire whatsoever to move anywhere,' Handy explained. 'What should we do with such cases? We can't simply leave a few koalas over here in Koalaville when we move. It would be too dangerous for them.'

'No doubt about it,' Doctor Koala concurred. 'How about if I talk to Scuzzy? Maybe I can talk some sense into him.'

'The way I know you, Doctor, you'll use some of that 'psychology' of yours to trick him into changing his mind,' Claire smiled. 'In the end, you'll have him believing that the Great Migration was his idea from the very beginning!'

The other councilmembers all laughed at her remark, and Doctor Koala could not disagree with her.

'Well, you just let me do things my way. I'll talk to old Scuzzy tomorrow, and to anybody else who may have their doubts, and I'll bet you all a hundred walnuts that in the end, they'll all be rarin' to go!'

'I won't take that bet, Doc,' Grandaddy laughed. 'As contrary as you can be at times, I've often seen that when you want something, you can be a real slick talker!'

'It's called persuasiveness, Judge,' Doctor Koala retorted with a smug smile, as the others chuckled.

'I believe the next issue is already clear, but just to be sure,' the King said, 'the Great Migration will officially begin one week from today, on the second day of the second week of spring, correct?' As this matter had been decided among them during an earlier meeting (though not officially), all agreed.

'Yes, all the koalas have heard about it, though it might be good to declare that nobody should make the move before that date,' Chashibu recommended, 'and perhaps a date should be set by which everyone should have already moved. After all, some koalas are so slow that they might take months to get around to moving.'

'Excellent point,' Doctor Koala agreed. 'Any suggestions as to how long we should give them to move?'

'Well, it would seem to me,' Tecky joined in, 'that the move should not be made by all koalas at once. Too hard to control – there might be chaos. Since we now have such a fine map of our new grove, which neatly divides all parts into sectors geographically, may I suggest that we instruct the koalas to move sector by sector?'

'How do you mean?' Handy asked.

'Well, for example, the first day of the migration would be the beginning of the move for those koalas living in the northwest. Naturally, we wouldn't want those in the east to move first, since they'd have to traverse the western part of Koalaville, and if the koalas in the west are still there, there could be conflicts. So it would be logical to first have those in the west move, then those in the east,' Tecky explained.

'My, that is a clever idea,' Claire praised him. 'So you mean that we could, for instance, have those in the northwest start moving on one day, then those in the southwest the next, followed by those in the northeast and southeast?'

'Exactly, Claire,' Tecky replied. 'It would be the best way to avoid problems.'

'Or even better: why don't we give each group three days to make the move, instead of only one?' Claire added. 'It might not be realistic to expect all the koalas in a sector to be able to move on a single day.'

'Yes, Claire, that is a good idea,' the King agreed. 'Besides, we wouldn't have to limit them to a three-day timetable, either. We can tell them that they should move within a three-day period, if they are able to do so. But I would recommend that the final date should be later than three days, just in case some need more time.'

'Right, Sire,' Doctor Koala concurred. 'Nory, the carpenter koala, for example. He has all that furniture, parts of tree houses, and his wood supply to move. He'll probably need as much as a week.'

'True, and there are others who for one reason or another need more time,' Gruffy agreed.

'I would say that the starting date should be viewed as fixed; in other words, that no-one should be allowed to move before the date assigned to their sector, but that the final date should be flexible, and be seen merely as a general guideline. Since most koalas are anxious to make the move, they will no doubt do so as soon as they can, yet if others need more time, there's no need for us to pressure them.'

'Yes, I think we can all agree on that. True, there may be exceptions: those koalas that are reticent about the whole idea, and that even our good Doctor can't convince,' Grandaddy said, smiling at his physician friend. 'But we can always deal with these on an individual basis.'

'Oh yes, I do like these plans,' the King stated enthusiastically. 'I think we are well prepared for the migration.'

'If I may speak not only for myself, but also for the other females in the grove,' Claire began, 'I would like to say that we are really excited about the move. We females tend to value luxury more than you males, and the thought of moving over to Eucalyptus Grove simply thrills all of us!'

'Excellent! Here's one case where the females won't cause any problems for us!' old Chashibu joked, at which all the males broke out in laughter, though the Prestigious Koala King, wanting to seem impartial, tried to keep a straight face.

'Well,' Claire responded cleverly, 'I could go into all the cases where you males cause us problems, but if I did, we'd be here till tomorrow morning.'

'Touché!' Gruffy remarked with a smile, and a twinkle in his eye.