ries of the _Commission of Inquiry_,
published in 1921. And it had actually, though imperfectly, been in
operation for another great industry since 1896 in the Council of
Agriculture.

What, then, are these Functional (or Vocational or Occupational) Councils
for which provision is made, and on what political or social conception do
they rest? One need not travel outside the present draft Constitution to
discover the need for them. For in this Constitution, as in most
constitutions, the people are, outside this one Article, considered in
only two of the three relations that go to make up their lives, and which
therefore constitute the complete life of the Nation. All the persons of
the State are considered either as individuals or as citizens. But these
two descriptions do not exhaust their lives. In addition to being
individuals and citizens they are also workers in some craft, industry,
trade or profession. Indeed, it is seldom they have time to be
individuals, and it is seldom they are reminded that they are citizens.
For good or for ill, these are only occasional parts of their lives. But
they are never permitted to forget the parts they are required to play in
the social and economic life of the Nation.

The Constitution establishes their rights as individuals putting these
rights beyond the reach of interference either of those who make or those
who execute the law. It also establishes their rights as citizens,
certifies the manner of their action as citizens, and derives all
authority in the State from those rights and actions. But these are only
the lesser, however supremely important, parts of our lives. The greater
part of our days is, for each of us, packed with the thoughts are cares of
our functional lives. We are more frequently, in the intake and output of
our lives, blacksmiths or architects, or whatever else, than we are
individuals or citizens. Have we not rights and duties there too, both for
ourselves and to the Nation; and should not the Constitution make
provision for this, the larger part of our lives, as well as for the
lesser parts? Can provision be said to have been completely made either
for our own lives or for the interplay that constitutes the life of the
Nation if this aspect be neglected?

We are faced at once with a difficulty. Seeing that we have the experience
of it, it is easy to perceive how we can be represented in the State as
citizens. How can we be represented in the State in re