Debate on An Act for the Better Inspection of Public Health

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1861 · col. 5426

The Speaker: Order. The Minister will move the third reading.

Josef Hallin (Minister of the Interior): I beg to move that the Bill be now read a third time and do pass. 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 500 inhabitants must appoint an officer under this Act. I commend the Bill to the House.

Ottmar Marsch (The Sudmark; 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. An officer under the Act: the phrase appears in every Bill from the Interior and means a man with a book and a bicycle. My constituents in The Sudmark wrote to me about the Bill, all 3 of them, and they were against it until they read it. I cannot vote for the Bill as it stands and I shall not.

Ottmar Voss (Kesselhöh; The Assembly Union): Mr. Speaker, Sir, The members for Kesselhöh have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. Every Bill of this kind adds a form, a fee and a clerk. The Assembly Union would like, once in a session, to pass a Bill that removes one. The Bill says so in terms: Every town above 500 inhabitants must appoint an officer under this Act. The towns asked for it. The towns will pay for it. That is the usual arrangement and I do not quarrel with it. I support the Bill, with the reservation I have stated. [The Line!]

Hendrik Meitzmar (The Capital District; The Continuity Party): Sir, My constituents in The Capital District wrote to me about the Bill, all 3 of them, and they were against it until they read it. Order and record. That is the whole of my party's programme and I do not apologise for its shortness. The Bill says so in terms: Every town above 500 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. The Bill should pass and I shall vote for it. [Hear, hear, from the Ministerial benches.]

Ivo Totenn (Norrfeld; The Continuity Party): Mr. Speaker, Nothing in the Bill disturbs the record. The Continuity Party asks only that the register be kept as it has always been kept. My constituents in Norrfeld wrote to me about the Bill, all 6 of them, and they were against it until they read it. An officer under the Act: the phrase appears in every Bill from the Interior and means a man with a book and a bicycle. The material provision is this: Every town above 500 inhabitants must appoint an officer under this Act. I ask the House to note it. I oppose the third reading. [The Line!]

Ansel Kolm (Norrfeld; The Reed Party): Sir, Norrfeld 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 members for the reed districts will ask, as they always ask, what the Bill means for the harvest and the causeways. The clause is short and I shall not read it. Drains, roads and lamps. The House will pass the Bill because the alternative is drains, roads and no lamps. We shall divide the House. [Shame.]

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: The Ayes have it. The Bill is passed and will go to the Grand Chancellor for assent.

The House adjourned shortly after noon.