Debate on The Water Supply Act

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1854 · col. 4812

The Speaker: The House will come to order. The Bill stands for its third reading. The Minister.

Casimir Tautmann (Minister of the Interior): I beg to move the third reading of the Bill, and I shall be brief. The town councils have asked for the Bill by their clerks. The Ministry has drafted it as the councils asked, and shortened it. The printed Bill says it better than I can: Every town above 1000 inhabitants must appoint an officer under this Act. I commend the Bill to the House.

Ulrik Dahlmann (Norrfeld; The Assembly Union): Sir, In Norrfeld, which I have the honour to sit for, the Bill will be read at the market cross and understood by half. 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 material provision is this: Every town above 1000 inhabitants must appoint an officer under this Act. I ask the House to note it. Drains, roads and lamps. The House will pass the Bill because the alternative is drains, roads and no lamps. I shall vote against the Bill.

Casimir Voss (The Ostrand; The Reed Party): Mr. Speaker, The people of The Ostrand will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. The Reed Party has read the Bill with the harvest in mind. The harvest is late this year and the causeways are under water in two districts. The Bill says so in terms: Every town above 1000 inhabitants must appoint an officer under this Act. Drains, roads and lamps. The House will pass the Bill because the alternative is drains, roads and no lamps. I shall vote against the Bill. [Hear, hear.]

Tomas Kessler (Westgau; The Continuity Party): Mr. Speaker, Sir, 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. Westgau has had a hard year. I say that not against the Bill but so that the Minister remembers it when the fees are fixed. The towns asked for it. The towns will pay for it. That is the usual arrangement and I do not quarrel with it. The Bill says so in terms: Every town above 1000 inhabitants must appoint an officer under this Act. I support the Bill, with the reservation I have stated. [Shame.]

The Minister, in reply, said that the points raised were answered in the printed Bill and that the Ministry would consider the rest.

The Speaker: The question is that the Bill be now read a third time and do pass. As many as are of that opinion say Aye. [Ayes.] Of the contrary, No. [Noes.] A division was claimed.

The tellers reported the numbers to the Chair. The Speaker declared the Bill passed.

The House adjourned shortly after noon.