Magistrate (ETW building)
| Magistrate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category: | Government | ||||
| Form: | All | ||||
| Level: | 0 | ||||
| Turns to build: | 2 | ||||
| Building cost: | 500 | ||||
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| Enables | |||||
 Governor's Residence | |||||
The magistrate is, for common people, the government made flesh. There may be a monarch or president on the coinage, but it is the magistrate’s pronouncements that really matter!
Law and order are the basis of good, bad and indifferent government. Appointed as a judge for his local standing, the magistrate of a region often acts as an administrator, tax collector, thief-taker, leader in charitable good works, military recruiter and father figure to his community. A magistrate usually represents both the state and the landed classes. It is his task, as often as not, to protect the rights of property rather than of people, even when a republican regime is in power – liberty and equality are all very well, but the deserving rich need to be sure their wealth is safe!
Magistrates also often have the power to raise troops as formed units, and to send convicted men into the military as a punishment. The magistrate, therefore, becomes the first line of defence against the mob in times of disorder.