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CLASSIFIED CONFISCATED PAMPHLET- AUTHORISED READERS ONLY
The high class consists of the factory owners, owners of important patents and their direct relatives. Usually, only the eldest heir, his spouse and their firstborn heir are counted to this class. They own the factories or will own them one day, and the whole family fortune is at their disposal. They undergo a rigid training for their destiny and are schooled in reading, writing, magic and other important matters, depending on the tastes of the heads of the family.They are rarely seen in their factories and don't mingle with less than the upper class; and even this might be rare in some cases. The high class considers itself an elite, important for the city and irreplaceable. Since many town officials are relatives and somewhat dependent on their good will, their influence is sometimes bigger than the importance of their factories might suggest. They are subject to only a few rules and laws of the city, and are the only ones 'important' enough to vote on them.
While in theory it is possible that one of the poor does so much for the city that, through his earned votes, he might become important enough to vote on rules that affect even the high class, this is practically impossible. Everything a poor person can do will grant him only a handful of votes at best, whereas simply owning a factory for a few months will generate enough votes to elevate someone to a status of importance. The high class is quite eager to use their votes in a most efficient way, so they rarely vote on things that won't affect them at all. This gives the lower classes some autonomy in issues that affect only them. Since changing labour conditions and the like is considered a more important decision, only a few of the lower classes are allowed to vote on them at all and are easily overruled by the sheer number of votes a single factory owner owns. Therefore, they rarely waste their votes on such issues at all and leave it to the higher classes.
The upper class has the least votes in comparison, but the most privileges. Since the secondary heirs rarely rise to enough importance to vote about their own class, they sometimes sell their votes to interested higher class members who want to influence lower class decisions without wasting their own more valuable votes. Others generate some considerable amount of votes by working as city officials. Their importance allows them to influence matters that affect the city as a whole, and they are often flattered and ultimately bought by the higher class, mostly of their own family, to vote in their interest. Those officials lead a relatively comfortable life, and some may gather enough wealth to invest in a factory, or to support an artist or inventor. Sometimes this investment pays off, and sometimes this is how the second branch of the family surpasses the first.