Bits and bobs

Overview

The price of Bourse seats appears to be dropping. In 386YE, Bron Mordssen paid 405 thrones for the rights to the Canterspire Circle, a year later it went to Arlais of The Silent Tide for 260 thrones. It's just one data point, but it's one of many. During the Winter Solstice, the Senate voted to decrease the guerdon to 150 thrones. Rumour has it that the prices of mithril, weirwood, and white granite - which have at times approached five thrones a wain - are dropping. Two seasons ago, large numbers of wains were sold to the Autumn realm, and now they're not buying either... Meanwhile the profiteers from the Sarcophan Delves are "offering" to underpin the price at the unappealing rate of two thrones a wain.

Fortunately, any suggestion that the Empire might be experiencing economic headwinds haven't dissuaded the Imperial Senate from commissioning five new armies in the last two seasons. So thus far, rumours of monetary hardship aren't impacting the Military Council, but wise heads are beginning to wonder how much longer the Imperial military can be insulated from these problems. Assuming the the Senate really is struggling to raise funds, of course.

A number of concerned League citizens, such as Else Van Temeschwar (the accountant responsible for proposing the tolls on the Blood Red Roads) and Laurencio di Sarvos (an economist who produces analysis of the Imperial economy) have written to the Constitutional Court to enquire about possible legal actions that could be taken to address what they see as the problem. Most recently the Vigilance Assembly has become alert to the problem, demanding more information on the matter be published.

The Master of the Mint

The Imperial Senate could give the Master of the Mint to publish compiled reports of the information they receive That would icrease the upkeep of the title by five thrones a season

Each season, the Master of the Imperial Mint receives detailed information from the Civil Service regarding the state of the Imperial treasury. The reports don't include itemised lists of everything ring coming in and out of the treasury, but it does include a breakdown of all major income and expenditure along with forecasts for the future. The title is offered by auction to League citizens at the Spring Equinox. Despite the fact that it is the only Bourse seat which doesn't produce an income, it does sell for a substantial amount, peaking at 86 thrones in 384YE.

Those sums are a reflection of the power the seat wields. Few Masters of the Mint have ever become Throne, but there have been few successful Thrones who have not had relied on a close working relationship with the Mint. The information at their disposal is crucial for ensuring good management of the Imperial treasury. The judgement of Brother Geoffrey Orchard seems Vigilant - but it might disrupt the delicate relationship between the Throne and the Mint and perhaps more importantly any reduction of their status is likely to diminish the amount League citizens are prepared to pay the Senate for the position.

None-the-less there is one way that a relatively simple change could be made, that might give the Assembly access to the information they desire. The reports produced at the property of the Master of the Mint, but the Imperial Senate could grant the Master the power to instruct the civil service to publish a summary of the reports they receive after each summit. It would increase the upkeep of the position by five thrones, but that might be a small price to pay for ambassadors and senators to have ready access to the information.

Whether they wanted to publish that season's summary or not would be a decision for the Master of the Mint each season. If they chose to disseminate the information then the summary of taxation and expenditure would be widely available across the Empire in the weeks after the summit had concluded.

The Prognosticators Office

Any ways to raise taxation identified in an appraisal would be controversial or expensive The choice of prognosticator would be vital in determing the character of any response

The Imperial Constitution guarantees the Prosperity and Liberty of its citizens and sets the level of taxation that each citizen is subject to if they own their own property. As a result, it is not possible for the Imperial Senate to raise taxation. They can levy tolls on the use of infrastructure like ports and roads and similar - but they can't do much more than that. Tariffs on foreign trade are one of the few areas where the Senate can raise taxation if they wish, but in recent times the Senate have removed almost all duties from many of it's important trading partners, trading diplomatic benefits for a loss of tax revenues.

Given these constraints, it would be easy to imagine that there is little the Senate could do to increase tax revenues for the Imperial treasury, but that isn't completely true. Numerous opportunities have been accompanied by increases in the tax revenue for a territory because of the associated boom in trade and commerce in the region, such as the proposal to build a grand lodge for the Golden Pryamid in Maraeve.

An appraisal would be one way to identify more opportunities of this kind. Of course anything the the prognosticators office discover is likely to be either controversial or expensive. If there was an easy, cheap way to raise taxation, the Senate would have done it centuries ago. If the Empire's finances are as parlous as some suggest, then it might be difficult to find the means for long term investments that won't show a return for years.

Still a suitably worded appraisal would be bound to turn up at least one opportunity to raise taxation. The more focussed an appraisal is, such as the one carried out on Sermersuaq, the easier it is to ensure that every possible opportunity has been discovered, which could provide more options. Whatever happened, the choice of prognosticator would be essential. For example Lutomysla Niegoslava would likely look at what deals the Empire might could with the Autumn realm or how ritual magic might be applied to the problem, while Naomi of Virtue's Rest would focus on what changes to relations with mortal groups might yield more money.

Legal Changes

As mentioned, the Imperial Senate can't change the rate of taxation, but there are other measures they could take to increase revenue, especially from the Bourse. Following enquires from Laurencio Di Sarvos, the Constitutional Court have confirmed that there are legal steps the Senate could take that might benefit the Imperial treasury

Bourse Seats

The Imperial Senate could use a motion to relinquish every single national Bourse seat The Speaker would raise an administrative Senate motion to re-allocate all available Bourse seats as either Imperial or national If that motion failed, the office of the Speaker would raise an administrative Senate motion for each position in an order determined by the Master of the Mint Any Imperial seat would be auctioned via the Bourse the next time it was appointed The motion could be vetoed by the national assembly of any nation giving up a Bourse seat

The Senate could use a single motion to relinquish every single national Bourse seat in the Empire. Those seats would then be raised for allocation by the civil service in a subsequent session. The office of Speaker would raise an administrative motion to reallocate all the the available Bourse seats - as either Imperial or national. If that motion failed, the Speaker would raise individual motions to allocate each seat in turn. The office of Speaker would take advice from the Master of the Mint to determine the running order of these subsequent motions. Any seats that were made Imperial would be auctioned to the highest bidder the next time they came up for election, and the funds would be given to the Senate.

While it might seem convenient to use a single motion to achieve this, the weakness is that relinquishment can be vetoed by the national assembly of the nation whose asset is being relinquished. In this case, that would mean any national assembly from an affected nation could veto the motion and the whole thing would be struck down. A more focussed motion - such as one to relinquish all mithril bourse seats - would also be possible but would face the same threat of veto.

Relinquishment is also a constitutional vote, meaning that not only would it require a two-thirds majority of the senators (whether or not the individual is present), but it would also require ratification by the Throne.

Ministries

The widespread expansion of ministries is likely to have contributed to the drop in Bourse prices The Senate could abrogate every single ministry with a single Senate motion The Senate could instruct the civil service to freeze every ministry with a single Senate motion

The Imperial Senate has commissioned a large number of ministries in recent years. These are likely to have contributed to a reduction in the market value of wains, especially the ministries such as the Cinderpath Exchange which allow citizens to purchase white granite and the like. It is easy to imagine that that would cause a fall in the auction prices of Bourse seats.

The Imperial Senate could use a single Senate motion to abrogate every single ministry. The impact of this would be wide-reaching with the civil service moving quickly to disestablish the relevant commissions. Any unnecessary infrastructure would be removed, so there would be no upkeep, but that means that it would not automatically be possible to restore a ministry later. If the Senate ever decided they wanted to recreate a ministry, they would have to completely rebuild it, assuming such a thing was even possible given that many ministries hinge on opportunities related to foreign powers, special interest groups, or unique magical occurrences.

The alternative would be pausing the operation of all ministries. That would be expensive; the civil service would need to upkeep any facilities that weren't in use (normally such costs are paid for by the regular running of the commission). That would mean an upkeep of 2 thrones per ministry every season they were inoperable. However, it would mean that the Senate could use a single Senate motion to restore all these ministries at a future date if they decided that the price of wains had stabilised.

One alternative might be to try and build more ministries that the Empire could use to sell resources for cold hard coin, as advocated by Ophelia Sangianeo di Tassato in her recent judgement in the League Assembly. That would be difficult however - it's not something that will happen simply because League priests are calling for it - at the very least it would need an appropriately worded appraisal to find any opportunities to do this kind of thing or extensive diplomacy with foreign powers.

Sinecures

The Imperial Senate could use a senate motion to change every tenured sinecure to be elected by public auction in the Bourse It would be possible to exclude those sinecures that would be rendered inoperable by this change

One estimate provided by Laurencio di Sarvos, claims there are seventy-two tenured sinecures that bring in approximately four hundred thrones of assorted wealth into Anvil each season. If these were all appointed by Bourse auction, that would be eighteen additional auctions each season. If each auction produce two or three thrones - it would be a significant boost to the Imperial treasury.

There are some flaws with this plan - most notably there are some sinecures where the income they provide is dependent on the method of election. Changing the method of appointment would be legal, but would remove the benefits of the title, rendering the change useless. A well-worded Senate motion could exclude these sinecures.

Perhaps a bigger problem is that many sinecures were funded by citizens who regard the resulting commission as their personal asset. There is no legal basis for this assumption - the law is absolutely clear that the commission is the property of the Empire and the title-holder is simply a citizen appointed to be responsible for it. But there is no doubt that citizens who have benefitted from the mistaken belief that a sinecure is their personal property are likely to be vocally opposed to any suggestion that it be allocated in a way that benefits the Empire.

Civil Servants

Gerard La Salle has indicated that he will make himself available to answer questions to citizens in the Senate chamber between 18:30 and 19:00 on Saturday The Senate chamber is booked by Senator Miaren for an economics forum from 18:00 - 19:30 Saturday

The Senator for Miaren has booked the Senate chamber for an economics forum they are hosting from 6pm to 7:30pm on Saturday evening at the next summit. Gerard La Salle has indicated that he would like to attend the forum for thirty minutes from 6:30 til 7, if the senator would welcome his presence there. His intention is simply to make himself available to the senator and their guests should they have any questions for the Imperial auditor. If the Senator would rather avoid the distraction, or the forum doesn't have any questions or need of the auditors help, then Gerard will depart early.

Further Reading

Sinecure Ministry Tally of the Votes Auction of the Seats