OOC: Gosh darn it, those bills were so close to passing! Really, the amendment was hardly 40 votes away! Fry, how do we know when this 'legislative session' is about to end? And more importantly, how can we tell the passage of time in the game world? For example, you often say 1914 is upon us, or that a legislative session has ended or that some months have passed, but in reality, we simply have no idea how much time is passing as we debate! I was planning on introducing a bill to help the economy after this bill and amendment were either shot down or passed. Thing is, I was waiting for them to either pass or for voting to be ended by the Chancellor, neither of which happened, and now all of a sudden the legislative session is ended.
In summary, I think we just need some way for you to update daily, or set up some sort of structure where each day in real life debating on topics in this thread equals X amount of time in the game, as well as explaining just how long in game these legislative sessions are, and perhaps putting this world into a bit of perspective for us. The polls you do to give us the issues and the issues you give us through newspaper clippings like krupp are all well and good, and I really like that spin on things. But I feel when the issue 'economy' is mentioned, we should be given some idea about what exactly is the state of the economy. We can't all be historians of WW1 era Germany, and even if we were, pinpointing the things in the economy (such as textile industries, steel industries, farming, prices, unemployment) that we need to address is next to impossible.
I don't wish to complain, but I really do like this game, and I just think it needs a slight bit more structure for us to be effective.
IC: (The following is the speech delivered by Graf Von Urlich, via a national radio broadcast, and in person as he campaigns across the country to urban and rural areas alike.)
Fire, destruction, devastation, ruin. Unemployment, anarchy, chaos. A society in chains, a government torn apart, and a proud country in shambles. A harvest that spoils, an industry that goes bankrupt, a city that starves, and a government that is powerless to stop it. THIS is what you vote for, THIS is what you plead for, THIS is what you pray for, when you vote and plead and pray for the Social democrats. They won't give you success. They won't give you prosperity. They will only give you Ruin, Chaos, Anarchy, DEVASTATION.
The social democrats will have us go back to the days of the Holy Roman Empire, when all of Germany was merely a collection of power hungry princes that bickered among themselves. We have come a long way since then. Frederick the Great of Prussia. Bismarck of the German Empire. Our current Kaiser, William II. All great men. All heroes of the German Empire, whether they were part of it at the time or not. And it has all culminated to this point, to today, where our entire future is at risk. The futures of your sons and daughters. The futures of the German peoples. The futures of the German Empire. The fate of Europe. For make no mistake, we are the pre eminent power in Europe! Our fate is died to the lifeblood, to the breathing and to the beating heart of Europe itself!
But also make no mistake, that a knife is being held at the throat of Europe, and a sword is inches from the heart of the German Empire. The Social Democrats are worse than a virus that flows through the veins of our proud empire, they are an enemy, both internal and external. They threaten everything this Empire stands for, they threaten our ability to protect and care for YOU, the peoples of Germany. They threaten Germany itself! They threaten peace! They threaten that son you cherish and that daughter you love!
THEY are the reason this past legislative session has seen no clear answer to YOUR demands, the demands of the people, whether it be peasant or nobleman, shopkeeper or factory owner, man or woman, German or Jewish, Polish or Swiss. I myself, personally with the full backing of my party the German Reich landed our time and skills to strengthening you, the people and the Empire, by proposing an amendment to the constitution and a bill to further strength our navy. Afterwards, the plan was to introduce a bill to stimulate the economy and have the common German continue to raise ever higher than those other Europeans that only seek to emulate our great country! But you see, those bills were never passed, that economic plan never proposed. The social democrats blocked every attempt of ours to get funding to our military so that you should know you are safe in your beds, that the Fatherland, the VATERLAND is looking out for you! They were vicious in their scheming and plotting. They threaten to consume Germany, unless you do something about it.
The German Reich is different, but then the same can be said for the National Liberals, or the Conservative Party. What makes the German Reich party any different? You see, its the name that says it all. The other parties display an ideology. They show off their fancy plans that they never enact, they boast about what they wish to do.
But not the German Reich. I may not lead the party, I may not be the most experienced in the Reichstag, but I know my fair share. That fair share of knowledge includes the fact that WE, the German REICH were the ones that proposed and wrote 50% of the bills discussed and voted upon in the last session! We tried our utmost, and indeed, many a Patriotic member of the Empire joined us in our valiant effort, to see bills passed and the German Empire bettered. But the social democrats, the enemy, was not having it. They blocked every attempt, voted down and bullied other members of the Reichstag in order to see no action was passed. You see, they think not of their country and its well being, but of themselves and the power they wish to wield! they are tricking you my fellow Germans! They wish you to think they care for you, but they only want office.
The German Reich is different. We are different because we are not named for an ideology, but for the country that we labor hard to protect and represent! We represent the German Reich altogether, in all its unity and glory! And I promise you, on my word, on my honor as a soldier and representative of the Volk, and on the graves of my long line of ancestors within the great country which is Germany, that I will ENSURE that the German Reich is in good hands. I will ENSURE that things get done, and that you are well cared for in the capital of Berlin! Trust me, for I have served this country and you and your brothers and sisters my entire life, whether in the military or the government, and I shall not let you down. Vote for the German Reich, please, before I am reduced to begging in front of you.
I will not see this country fall to the Social Democrats. They are systematically destroying everything the German Peoples hold dear, and I will not let them control this country so they may continue to wreak havoc and bring ruin to this great land!
(*Use my wealth as a Graf (equal to Count or Earl) to make sure that in the less wealthier regions I may speak in, that good food is served in good amounts to those who need it. And in those regions where they are not so poor or the people are too numerous to be fed properly, make a small donation to a local church or other charity and publicize it in my speech to the greatest extent possible.*)