need to stimulate trade, not drive farmers away from our markets!”
“To stimulate trade, we must first take steps to stop unfair competition,” Timor said. “Former slaves who homestead outside our city walls and grow crops to feed the citizenry will be exempt from this tariff. In this way, they will be able to market their produce more cheaply than the fanners who bring in produce from the outlying areas. It will ensure a ready market for the homesteaders and add incentive for others to take part in the program. And the profits the homesteaders make will enable them to employ laborers, which will cut down on the ranks of beggars in the city.”
“What about the farmers who bring produce to our markets from the outlying areas?” asked Sadira.
“They shall have to settle for a lesser profit,” Timor said, “or else market their produce elsewhere.”
“They can simply choose to lower their prices enough to compete with locally grown produce,” Councilman Dargo said.
“If the tariff is sufficiently high, they shall find themselves unable to compete with the homesteaders,” Timor replied. “Besides, why should we concern ourselves with them? They have been growing fat from their profits in our marketplaces, and in the absence of local competition, they have been able to control the prices, which has driven up the cost of food here in the city. The tariff would not only stimulate crop production, it would bring about lower prices for produce, and thereby lower the price of meals at food stalls and at the city’s inns and taverns. That is something the people would certainly support.”
“The idea has merit,” said Sadira thoughtfully. “However, you neglect the fact that there is still not enough fertile land to go around:”
“There is more than enough to make the city self-sufficient in terms of farm-grown produce,” Timor said. “And it is only fitting that those who had the foresight and industriousness to take advantage of the program first receive the greater rewards. For those who have delayed in taking advantage of the program, there will still be jobs as laborers on the homestead farms, once they start to make a profit. Or else they can take advantage of our second proposal, which will create a new program to address the very issue you just raised.
“Under this new program,” Timor continued, “loans would be made from the city’s treasury, at a modest rate of interest, to anyone who will homestead in the valley for the purpose of raising herds for marketing in Tyr. These loans could be used to purchase beasts in our own markets that would serve to start the herds, and for those taking advantage of the program, there would be a one-time exemption from the market tax. They could then raise z’tals or kanks or crodlu for our army, bring them in to market here in Tyr, and use their profits to pay off their loans in reasonable installments. As with those who participate in the homestead plan, they would be exempted from the tariff and this would assure a ready market for their beasts.”
“But what is to prevent them from marketing their beasts elsewhere?” asked another council member.
“Absolutely nothing,” Timor replied, “except that it would be more convenient for them to market them in Tyr. The expense of driving their beasts to market elsewhere would eat into their profits, and they would be forced to compete with herdsmen from the outlying areas in the tablelands, who would be seeking other markets to avoid our tariff. And, as with the farmers, these herdsmen have driven up their prices due to lack of competition. This plan would serve to give a profitable livelihood to many of the former slaves, as well as lower the prices for meat animals and such to a more reasonable level. The herdsmen in the program would be making money, and the people of the city would be saving money. Everyone would be well pleased, and the new government would be lauded for the new prosperity.”
“Much as I hate to admit it,” Rikus said, “these proposals make a lot of sense, at least on the surface. However, what stops free citizens of Tyr from taking part in the programs and shutting out the former slaves?”
“What if they do?” Timor replied. “Our goal is to diminish the ranks of beggars, whether they be former slaves or not. If these programs reduce the number of beggars on our streets, or cut down on thievery by granting livelihoods to those driven to steal