(Curator's Note: This is a transcript of a speech given by Davit Gottfried Wilhelm Heth von Melvaunt, who had just been re-elected for a second term as a Councilor of Cordor during the latter half of 105AR.)
On behalf of my fellow Councilors, Officials, and Citizens of the City of Cordor, I pray for both our gracious Lord, Patrician Havelock Vetinari, and the Spirit of the City, Cordoria Herself. I pray that they are hale, and full of blessings for the efforts of the Curia Patricii, the efforts of Her dutiful executors of State, and the efforts of the many and varied people who make up this most glorious Pax Cordoria. This I do for the present term of Lord Vetinari's Advisory Council, elected for the year of 105-106AR. Cordor Prevails.
My fellow Councilors, it will come as no surprise when I say that the term of 104-105AR can only really be described as "highly mixed". The Sharps becoming a vassal-state of Cordor, and its subsequent revocation, resulted in a number of grievous wounds on part of combatants involved. Physical wounds may heal, but the scars remain.
The constant back and forth over the Magistracy was something of a mistake also, with the keen lens of hindsight serving us well as we suffer yet another, highly precedented theft of the Cordorian treasury. Should the culprit be apprehended, I hope that the returning office of Magistrate will look most unkindly on that enemy of the people, though I fear they may have already gotten away with it, as has happened so many times in the past. On that note, I offer particular thanks to those Citizens who donated some of their own private funds to the benefit of the State, though I will address how that sort of thing will, I hope, be unnecessary in the rest of my speech today.
Regardless, the City still stands. Resource prices throughout the year remained at a particular high. Ties with Wharftown remained strong, with Mayor Steinblad frequently communicating with both myself and Minister Silveroak on issues of trade and security. Our masons can rest a little easier at night without wondering where our next source of stone will come from. Taxes dipped below ten per-cent for the first time in quite a while, and the first seeds of real and lasting law reform were sown. Against a dramatic backdrop of Underdark warfare and late-game coffer-swindling these may seem like fleeting rays of sunshine, but they are valued all the more for it.
With the last Council year behind us, I will now move on to the one ahead, and delineate my aims within this government for the coming term. There are three main points I wish to address this year.
First, and perhaps least, I wish to place Cordor on-par with the great regional powers and city-states of the mainland, and make the day-to-day running of the City a machine to be proud of, and not simply a slap-dash beast that just "gets on with it". To that end, I will propose in the coming meetings to re-do the divisions and ministries into more applicable terminology, replacing "Minister of Trade" with "His Lordship's Most High Treasurer", or "High Treasurer" for shorter reference, "Commander" with "Captain of the Guard", and so on and so forth. These minor alterations may seem pedantic or even pathetic, but strong traditions of state must be founded somewhere, and it's clear that this City's past isn't much of one to emulate in the present.
Furthermore, I wish to alter "Commerce & Culture" to the more all-encompassing "Great Offices of State"; into which will also be folded the presently vacant position of Council Secretary, or "Scribe to the Council", or if there is sufficient interest in the post, "Remembrancer to the Council"; an official City historian and loremaster in addition to the duties of the Scribe. Also, I intend to propose that the Captain of the Guard be Highly Encouraged to move the City Guard away from the pseudomilitaristic direction it has frequently taken, formalising it as a City Watch and investigative force, and to tone its colours down to something less aesthetically violent and more in keeping with its duties.
Secondly, and perhaps foremost on everyone's minds, I want to change the way the City handles Her coffers, with a full paradigm shift away from an all-encompassing fear of expenditure; that to spend it is to in-effect steal it since it means that "now someone actually has the money, how very very dare they, it's clearly nepotism". The philosophy of hoarding the treasury has served Cordor incredibly poorly for over fifty years, with the mere idea of treasury-theft being taken for granted and unsurprising to the rest of the isle writ large, a complete and utter national embarrassment. To that end, I would see that the present limit of two million be lowered to one million, and return resource prices to the record highs of last year, with the fullest cooperation with Minister Silveroak and his team. I also propose that upon achieving a balance of one million, the City scraps tax entirely until the treasury hits nine hundred thousand, with a frequent adjustment of tax rates to keep it "level", and to prevent simply dumping "excess cash" into poorly-audited, and opaque division accounts. This provides a real benefit and incentive to the merchants and property-owners of Cordor who contribute via taxation to this City.
It is my intention with this change in City philosophy that we will never again have a lucrative prize lying in our vaults waiting for some wayward individual to make away with this coin, while ensuring we still have a sizeable treasury to spend on projects beneficial to the City, and in case of emergency. Further in that direction, I would encourage the myriad employees and Citizens of this City to approach the Council with any and all projects - beneficial to Cordor and Her people - at this time and in the future that require lump investment to see to fruition. In this way I would secure economic security for the City in addition to a greater overall prosperity for Her people and Her projects, as more and more Cordorian coin is spent on Cordorian soil and for Cordorian gain - and not left to rot in vaults or the pockets of the next thieving bastard that comes along!
Thirdly, law reform. The seeds that I alluded to at the start of my speech will I hope, with the cooperation of my fellow Councilors, grow and be reaped by term's end. A simplification of the law codes and update or revocation of the City charters, as necessary, will result in a Cordor unmired by bureaucratic hell that is damned simpler to live and work in. While the laws and charters of ten, twenty, or fifty years ago may have worked then, they don't work now, and they don't help one bit in the long or short term.
With that all said and done, it is my great and genuine pleasure to serve a second consecutive year on Lord Vetinari's Advisory Council, and hereby conclude this State of the Pax, and invite my colleagues to return to the business of the City in Council Forum. Thank you for your attentiveness and patience.
Cordor Prevails.