Subsequent developments also proved that the central government's functions had not completely spun out of control.
Congress convened an emergency session and passed a martial law bill, declaring a state of national emergency. All social institutions were to shift to a wartime footing, and all large gatherings and entertainment activities were to be restricted.
Remember, this had been passed by Congress, not ordered unilaterally by the president, which gave it considerable legitimacy. That was very important!
At this point, how much authority the Earth Central Government's decrees still held over the various planets was debatable. But it was moving to see the government take this stance. Even if nothing else, at least the Solar System had taken on some semblance of a wartime footing.
Of course, during the very first month of the war, the Defense Committee had already issued mobilization orders across the various star regions, providing the Outer Ring Theater with millions of new recruits and more than four hundred support warships. Yet it had taken a full year of war for the national economy and social life to officially begin shifting to a wartime footing.
We couldn't sneer that this was "a mobilization that came too late." The point was, having this attitude mattered.
Moreover, even after imposing martial law and beginning mobilization, the Blue Star Commonwealth still hadn't formally declared war on the Empire. Perhaps the senators and the president had simply forgotten.
Then again, hadn't the Empire on the other side also refrained from declaring war?
As for the Defense Committee, its chairman, Maxwell, had fallen ill from overwork and could only recuperate in the hospital. The Presidential Palace obviously couldn't dismiss the old man, so it simply had Vice Chairman Peggs, who was in charge of personnel, serve as acting chairman and temporarily take