Debate on The Road Traffic Act

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1904 · col. 9315

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

Josef Marrow (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 Bill provides as follows. Licences are issued by the Ministry of the Interior for a fee of 400 marka. The Bill is in the hands of the House.

Aurel Brenn (The Sudmark; The Continuity Party): Sir, The Sudmark has had a hard year. I say that not against the Bill but so that the Minister remembers it when the fees are fixed. 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 material provision is this: Licences are issued by the Ministry of the Interior for a fee of 400 marka. I ask the House to note 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. I shall vote against the Bill. [Interruption.]

Magnus Feldmann (The Ostrand; The Reed Party): Sir, The people of The Ostrand will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. The members for the reed districts will ask, as they always ask, what the Bill means for the harvest and the causeways. I have the Bill before me and the House has it before it. 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. [Interruption.]

Otto Gackhardt (The Capital District; The Assembly Union): Sir, I ask the House to consider the tradesman who will have to comply with this. He has not been consulted; he has been notified. Drains, roads and lamps. The House will pass the Bill because the alternative is drains, roads and no lamps. The people of The Capital District will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. I shall vote against the Bill. [Interruption.]

Ottmar Hallin (The Osmoor; 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. Drains, roads and lamps. The House will pass the Bill because the alternative is drains, roads and no lamps. The Osmoor has had a hard year. I say that not against the Bill but so that the Minister remembers it when the fees are fixed. I cannot vote for the Bill as it stands and I shall not.

Jorn Tarn (Kesselhöh; 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. Kesselhöh 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 material provision is this: Licences are issued by the Ministry of the Interior for a fee of 400 marka. I ask the House to note it. The Bill should pass and I shall vote for it.

Friedl Wendl (Norrfeld; The Assembly Union): Sir, My constituents in Norrfeld wrote to me about the Bill, all 5 of them, and they were against it until they read it. 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 clause is short and I shall not 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. My party will divide the House on the Bill. [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 declared the Ayes to have it and the Bill was passed.

The House proceeded to other business.