The Julian Protectorate: The Menderes Emancipation
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On Asimikigir, the Menderes Corporation was becoming a major corporation.
Its power was due primarily to the large number of Vargr slaves it owned,
which comprised most of it labor force.  Unlike other slave-owning 
corporations, however, the Menderes Corporation made a strong effort to
ensure that its Vargr slaves were happy and well-treated, and felt that 
they were leading rewarding lives.

In -321, the Menderes family head, Karik Menderes, took the forward-looking
step of emancipating all of the Menderes Vargr, making them employees rather
than property.  Although done for economic reasons, the emancipation sparked
a Vargr Emancipation movement on Asimikigir that eventually resulted (in
-302) in the complete outlawing of slavery on Asimikigir.  The trend spread
quickly to other worlds, aided in part by the Menderes corporate attitude
that racism and business didn't mix.  Although the Menderes Corporation did
not actively advocate this point of view, and in fact would set aside these
attitudes where necessary to do business, the example that they set by merely
existing turned into a powerful force for change.  This resulted in increased
opportunity for lucrative dealings between Vargr and human.

The Menderes Corporation again took a forward-looking step in -275, when 
Tran Menderes broke the effective monopoly that Kudukara Lines, a human-owned
and -operated company from Gashikan, had on interstellar transport in the
area.  At the time, there were few worlds outside Gashikan that could build
starships - but in Meshan sector, there were Vargr that could and did build
them, and made an offer to carry Menderes goods off Asimikigir to other
worlds.

