FEDDAN 



Feddan. Modern Egyptian land 

 measure. The feddan is 1'038 

 acres, but in certain localities it is 

 equivalent to T127 acres, whilst 

 formerly it equalled as much as 

 1-266 acres. The measure is di- 

 vided into 24 kirats. 



Federalism (Lat. foedus, a 

 league). Form of government 

 generally distinguished from the 

 unitary organization of a state. The 

 federal form of government in- 

 volves limitations upon the power 

 of the central government of a 

 sovereign state, and fairly large 

 units of subordinate government. 

 Thus a federal state is distin- 

 guished from a confederation of 

 states in having a powerful, though 

 limited, central government ; and - 

 federal units are distinguished from 

 units of local government in being 

 large and controlling elements in 

 the governmental organism. 



Federation means either the 

 character of the government in a 

 federal state, or the political move- 

 ment towards decentralization ; 

 and thus it may be best explained 

 by reference to the practice of 

 federal governments. Such govern- 

 ments may be formed either by the 

 unification of diverse units, as in 

 Switzerland and the original United 

 States of North America, or by 

 decentralization of a single unit of 

 government, as in the case of the 

 Dominion of Canada. The federal 

 states of South and Central Amer- 

 ica vaguely reflect both methods 

 of formation. 



The subordinate elements in a 

 federation are sometimes called 

 states, as in N. and S. America, and 

 sometimes called by other names, as 

 cantons in Switzerland. The idea 

 of subordination, however, is not 

 quite adequate, for the distinction 

 between the functions of central 

 and non- central government in a 

 federal state is not one between a 

 superior and an inferior. The dis- 

 tinction is based on a division be- 

 tween equally important functions. 



The non-central governments 

 generally deal with industrial 

 issues of a localised character, with 

 education, with taxation or a 

 large part of it, with roads and 

 summary justice ; the central 

 governments deal with peace and 

 war, foreign or international affairs, 

 basic administration of justice, and 

 communication. Clearly the way 

 in which the functions are divided 

 must vary with the peculiar circum- 

 stances or the history of the people 

 concerned, and where there is an 

 increase of governmental functions 

 there may be disputes as to the 

 competence in particular issues of 

 the central and the non-central 

 governments. Thus the state of 

 California in U.S.A. may make the 



3104 



foreign policy of the central 

 government difficult by excluding 

 some Japanese. 



In the United Kingdom federal- 

 ism would involve the partial 

 separation of the old kingdoms and 

 the principality of Wales, with a 

 view to decentralizing some parts of 

 the administration ; and it is there- 

 fore connected with devolution. 

 The tendency in the great states of 

 modern times is towards federation 

 because of the separation between 

 a highly centralized machine of 

 government in a large population 

 from the necessary contact with 

 local differences. Thus, while in the 

 United Kingdom there is only one 

 Parliament and executive for about 

 fifty million persons, in the Scandi- 

 navian States there is a complete 

 organism of government for about 

 five million. The tendencies point 

 to changes of the older form of 

 federal government, e.g. in the 

 U.S.A., and to experiment in new 

 forms. See Devolution; Home 

 Rule ; Politics ; Sovereignty ; State. 



C. Delisle Burns 



Biolioijraphy. History of Federal 

 Government, E. A. Freeman, 1863 ; 

 The American Commonwealth, J. 

 Bryce, 1888; The Federal Solution, 

 J. A. Murray Macdonald, 1920. 



Federalists. American political 

 party formed in 1787. When the 

 thirteen British colonies of N. 

 America were recognized as an in- 

 dependent nation in 1783, the most 

 urgent problem before them was 

 the provision of a common central 

 government which at the same 

 time should not interfere with the 

 autonomy of the several states. 

 The practical result was that poli- 

 ticians were group'ed into two 

 parties with an indefinite line of 

 demarcation the Federalists, who 

 emphasised the necessity for 

 strengthening the authority of the 

 central government, and the anti- 

 Federalists, who emphasised the 

 rights of the individual states. 

 Since the individual interests of the 

 northern states clashed with the in- 

 dividual interests of the southern 

 states, while if representation rested 

 upon population and wealth the 

 north would dominate the central 

 government, the northern poli- 

 ticians became roughly identified 

 with the Federalists, the southern 

 with the anti-Federalists. 



Washington, as president, did 

 not wish to identify himself with a 

 party ; Hamilton, the leading 

 Federalist, and Jefferson, a promi- 

 nent an ti -Federalist, served under 

 him in the same government. But 

 at bottom the real question was 

 whether the interests of the N. 

 or those of the S. should pre- 

 dominate. The series of presidents 

 from Jefferson onwards were anti- 

 Federalists mainly a consequence 



FEEDER 



of want of solidarity among the 

 Federalists and of the popular anti- 

 British policy of the anti -Federalist 

 statesmen. The Federalist party 

 broke up and disappeared after the 

 " Hartford Convention," which was 

 held by the Federalist states of New 

 England in 1814, with the some- 

 what paradoxical aim of organiz- 

 ing defence against encroachments 

 upon the rights of the northern 

 states, while it was strongly sus- 

 pected of really aiming at the 

 separation of the New England 

 states. See United States : History. 

 Federated Malay States. Name 

 given to a federation of native 

 states under British protection in 

 the Malay Peninsula. There are 

 four of 'them Perak, Selangor, 

 Nigri Sembilan, and Pahang, and 

 the seat of government is at Kuala 

 Lumpur. The states have an area 

 of 27,500 sq. m. and a pop. of 

 about 1,000,000. Each state has its 

 own sultan and a British resident, 

 while over them is the British high 

 commissioner. Large quantities of 

 tin and gold are mined in these 

 states, and dense forests yield 

 valuable timber. See Nigri Sem- 

 bilan ; Pahang ; Perak ; Selangor. 

 Federation of British Indus- 

 tries. British organization of 

 manufacturer. Established in 1916 

 as a central organization of manu- 

 facturing interests, its main object 

 is to decide upon and carry into 

 effect a definite line of policy in re- 

 gard to various matters affecting 

 British industry. It seeks to ex- 

 pand and develop overseas trade 

 by means of ambassadors of com- 

 merce. It has a large membership, 

 representing millions of industrial 

 capital. It was incorporated by 

 royal charter in 1923. The head- 

 quarters are at 39, St. James's 

 Street, London, S.W. 



Fee. Payment made for ser- 

 vices, especially of a professional 

 kind. The fees of doctors, lawyers, 

 architects, and others are usually 

 settled by custom, although as re- 

 gards solicitors a maximum scale of 

 fees is fixed by the Law Society. 

 The fees of barristers, being origin- 

 ally honoraria, are not recoverable 

 in a court of law. Fees vary 

 very considerably, more especially 

 those of medical men and lawyers. 

 Those of architects, surveyors, and 

 the like are generally arranged on 

 a percentage basis. The charge 

 made for entrance to societies, 

 clubs, etc., also the right to sit at 

 examinations, is called a fee. 



Feeder. Main lead or conductor 

 from an electric generating station 

 which runs direct to a point or dis- 

 trict to be served without supplying 

 intermediate points. A positive 

 feeder is that connected to the posi- 

 tive terminal of the generator or 



