Post by Fleischmann on Apr 16, 2021 14:35:14 GMT
'My esteemed fellows, I must implore you to not give in to your base reactions to this topic. Whilst yes, it will require us to subsidise this action, our vassals and tenants can not afford to shoulder such a burden on their own, yet we must modernise the levies and the Harjisin.' spoke a representative from Narvik. The debate was now entering its third hour, with there being no clear indication as of yet as to whether or not the newly proposed Act for the Regulation and Standarisation of Men under Arms and the Revision of the Burden of Martial Duties would pass or fail. The reform of the levy system had been in the works for years now, with the Raikhsharjis pushing hard for it, but the issue remained as to how to finance some of the changes.
The new act would require every household to not only acquire a firelock, train with it, and have clothing considered suitable for campaigning, but also have it meet the standards set by their Landsharjis and submit them for inspection and themselves for evaluation on a yearly basis. This represented a financial burden too great to ask for most families and as such had become hotly contested. Originally, the opposition had tried to leverage it to stop the reform entirely, but that had not worked and those supporting it were now suggesting radical new additions, such as a government subsidy or tax exemption to allow families to buy their weapons and uniforms.
'We have no need for this aggressive military expansion and it flies in the face of our already established systems! We already have the allotments, why must we have every family armed when we already have one in five ready to do their duties? While I agree that the lack of standards and uniformity needs to be addressed, I just can not see the need for this. The little people should not be relied upon so heavily for our war-making and we should not begin marching down the path of centralisation and military rule, by making our Raikh into an extension of the Raikhsharjis. Let us maintain the allotment system, but take on the reforms I say. Moreover, I must point out that this would be highly irregular. Whilst I understand that this act would only be applicable to those families whose services are owed to the Raikh and the Hauhkuno, this would practically force the Landin to adopt similar legislation in order to not have their own armies dwarfed by that of the Raikh as a whole. This is a dangerous precedent to set.'
His last point seemed to have struck a cord with many, shifting the room ever so slightly in opposition of the current form of the act. The idea of the Raikhsharjis being enlarged rankled many feathers already, as the Flutt had its fair share of supporters here. The idea of the organisation being able to actually rival the Flutt and break free from the feudal structure which underpinned it was not a pleasant one for them, but they could not air such opinions openly. Whilst the Raikhsharjis had Meinitzmark and representatives here officially, the Hauhkunoleiksflutt was very much not legally allowed to politick here. The Raikhsgamotjing was supposed to administer it, not the other way around.
'Then I would like to suggest a compromise, one which should put your worries of the Raikh becoming a protectorate of our men in uniform to rest.' said a representative from Meinitzmark himself. 'Rather than passing the entire act as we normally would, I suggest we instead rewrite the requirement for all households to be armed so that the esteemed body of Raikhsgamotjing will have to renew that specific part of the act every seven years. If it is not renewed, then the requirement becomes inactive. If it is, then they must arm themselves appropriately. As for the matter of funding, I suggest we place a lien on the holdings of the Raikhsharjis and reallocate parts of their budget towards this initiative. Should they object to this, we can also add a clause allowing for the immediate nullification of the clause until such a time as they are able and willing to provide the necessary arms.'
As the representative sat back down, a few tried to raise new objections but his idea was solid and mollified many. The debate continued on for another hours before a break was called. The next week, the Raikhsgamotjing finished their deliberations and passed a modified version of the act, with the compromises set forth, a mixed system being implemented of the traditional allotments and the new requirements for all families.
The new act would require every household to not only acquire a firelock, train with it, and have clothing considered suitable for campaigning, but also have it meet the standards set by their Landsharjis and submit them for inspection and themselves for evaluation on a yearly basis. This represented a financial burden too great to ask for most families and as such had become hotly contested. Originally, the opposition had tried to leverage it to stop the reform entirely, but that had not worked and those supporting it were now suggesting radical new additions, such as a government subsidy or tax exemption to allow families to buy their weapons and uniforms.
'We have no need for this aggressive military expansion and it flies in the face of our already established systems! We already have the allotments, why must we have every family armed when we already have one in five ready to do their duties? While I agree that the lack of standards and uniformity needs to be addressed, I just can not see the need for this. The little people should not be relied upon so heavily for our war-making and we should not begin marching down the path of centralisation and military rule, by making our Raikh into an extension of the Raikhsharjis. Let us maintain the allotment system, but take on the reforms I say. Moreover, I must point out that this would be highly irregular. Whilst I understand that this act would only be applicable to those families whose services are owed to the Raikh and the Hauhkuno, this would practically force the Landin to adopt similar legislation in order to not have their own armies dwarfed by that of the Raikh as a whole. This is a dangerous precedent to set.'
His last point seemed to have struck a cord with many, shifting the room ever so slightly in opposition of the current form of the act. The idea of the Raikhsharjis being enlarged rankled many feathers already, as the Flutt had its fair share of supporters here. The idea of the organisation being able to actually rival the Flutt and break free from the feudal structure which underpinned it was not a pleasant one for them, but they could not air such opinions openly. Whilst the Raikhsharjis had Meinitzmark and representatives here officially, the Hauhkunoleiksflutt was very much not legally allowed to politick here. The Raikhsgamotjing was supposed to administer it, not the other way around.
'Then I would like to suggest a compromise, one which should put your worries of the Raikh becoming a protectorate of our men in uniform to rest.' said a representative from Meinitzmark himself. 'Rather than passing the entire act as we normally would, I suggest we instead rewrite the requirement for all households to be armed so that the esteemed body of Raikhsgamotjing will have to renew that specific part of the act every seven years. If it is not renewed, then the requirement becomes inactive. If it is, then they must arm themselves appropriately. As for the matter of funding, I suggest we place a lien on the holdings of the Raikhsharjis and reallocate parts of their budget towards this initiative. Should they object to this, we can also add a clause allowing for the immediate nullification of the clause until such a time as they are able and willing to provide the necessary arms.'
As the representative sat back down, a few tried to raise new objections but his idea was solid and mollified many. The debate continued on for another hours before a break was called. The next week, the Raikhsgamotjing finished their deliberations and passed a modified version of the act, with the compromises set forth, a mixed system being implemented of the traditional allotments and the new requirements for all families.
