Debate on An Act for the Better Licensing of Vagrancy

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1854 · col. 4784

The Speaker: The question before the House is that the Bill be now read a third time and do pass. I call the Minister.

Ottmar Hallin (Minister of Justice): I beg to move the third reading of the Bill, and I shall be brief. The Ministry of Justice has consulted the courts. The judges have no objection to the Bill and one of them has read it. The Bill provides as follows. Penalty on conviction: a fine of 1250 marka or 17 months. I move.

Tomas Brenn (Westgau; The Assembly Union): Mr. Speaker, Sir, The Union stands where it has always stood: for the towns, for the trade, and against any clause that begins with the word 'licence'. The people of Westgau will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. The penalty is severe. The offence is common. The House may draw its own conclusion. The Bill says so in terms: Penalty on conviction: a fine of 1250 marka or 17 months. The Bill should pass and I shall vote for it. [Cries of 'Order'.]

Albrecht Brenn (The Ostrand; The Continuity Party): Mr. Speaker, I have read the Bill for what it does to the record, which is the only reading that matters, and it does nothing to the record. The courts have asked for the Bill and the courts should have it. I sit for The Ostrand. The clerks there are few and the roads are long, and any officer the Bill appoints will spend a week finding the houses. I oppose the third reading. [Hear, hear, from the Ministerial benches.]

Piet Hallin (The Sudmark; The Reed Party): Mr. Speaker, The members for the reed districts will ask, as they always ask, what the Bill means for the harvest and the causeways. The penalty is severe. The offence is common. The House may draw its own conclusion. The members for The Sudmark have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. I oppose the third reading. [Hear, hear, from the Ministerial benches.]

The Minister thanked the House for a short debate and asked for a short division.

The Speaker put the question. The Ayes were challenged and the House divided.

The Speaker declared the Ayes to have it and the Bill was passed.

The House adjourned at the rising of the court.