Debate on The Sunday Observance Act

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1904 · col. 9275

The Speaker: The Order of the Day is the third reading of the Bill. The Minister has the floor.

Karl Hirsch (Minister of Justice): I beg to move that the Bill be now read a third time and do pass. The Ministry of Justice has consulted the courts. The judges have no objection to the Bill and one of them has read it. The printed Bill says it better than I can: Penalty on conviction: a fine of 400 marka or 13 months. I commend the Bill to the House.

Roderik Hallin (Norrfeld; The Reed Party): Sir, The members for the reed districts will ask, as they always ask, what the Bill means for the harvest and the causeways. The courts have asked for the Bill and the courts should have it. My constituents in Norrfeld wrote to me about the Bill, all 6 of them, and they were against it until they read it. I cannot vote for the Bill as it stands and I shall not. [The Line!]

Ivo Fenn (The Sudmark; The Assembly Union): Mr. Speaker, I sit for The Sudmark. The clerks there are few and the roads are long, and any officer the Bill appoints will spend a week finding the houses. 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 clause is short and I shall not read it. I have no quarrel with the Bill except that it comes twenty years late. We shall divide the House. [Hear, hear.]

Gregor Brenn (Norrfeld; The Reed Party): Mr. Speaker, The land pays for everything in the end. The Reed Party will vote as the land would vote if it could. The people of Norrfeld 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 schedule is plain enough. Comes into force on 1 January 1905. I cannot vote for the Bill as it stands and I shall not.

Werner Maler (The Capital District; The Continuity Party): Mr. Speaker, The members for The Capital District have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. The Bill is in order. The Clerk has entered it. The Ministry of Chronology has seen it. I do not see what more the House requires. I read the clause. Comes into force on 1 January 1905. The courts have asked for the Bill and the courts should have it. We shall divide the House. [Laughter.]

Tomas Moor (The Sudmark; The Assembly Union): Sir, 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 members for The Sudmark have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. I have no quarrel with the Bill except that it comes twenty years late. The Bill says so in terms: Penalty on conviction: a fine of 400 marka or 13 months. My party will divide the House on the Bill. [Interruption.]

Bertil Lenz (The Capital District; The Assembly Union): 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. The Union has no quarrel with the purpose of the Bill; its quarrel is with the fee, and with the officer who will collect it. The clause is short and I shall not read it. The courts have asked for the Bill and the courts should have it. The Bill should pass and I shall vote for it.

The Minister replied briefly. The fee was as printed; the officer was as printed; the House had the Bill and could read it.

The question being put, a division was called for, and the members went to the lobbies.

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

The House adjourned at ten in the forenoon.