Debate on The Examinations (Amendment) Act

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1904 · col. 9331

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

Kurt Uhl (Minister of Education): I beg to move that the Bill be now read a third time and do pass. I am told the Bill is a small one. It is. Most Bills that concern children are. I ask the House to pass it.

Edvard Brenn (Westgau; The Assembly Union): Mr. Speaker, The members for Westgau have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. The liberty of the subject is a large phrase for a small Bill, but I use it, because the Bill is small and the liberty is not. The Bill says so in terms: Applies to children between 5 and 12. The schools will do what the Bill says, as they do what every Bill says, and the children will not notice. I cannot vote for the Bill as it stands and I shall not.

Jorn Moor (Norrfeld; The Assembly Union): Mr. Speaker, 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. 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 material provision is this: Applies to children between 5 and 12. I ask the House to note it. The Ministry's textbooks are the Ministry's and I have no observation to make on their contents. I oppose the third reading. [Shame.]

Hendrik Egge (The Osmoor; The Reed Party): Mr. Speaker, The people of The Osmoor will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. I ask the Minister one thing: does the Bill send an officer out to the farms, and if it does, who feeds him? The material provision is this: Applies to children between 5 and 12. I ask the House to note it. The Ministry's textbooks are the Ministry's and I have no observation to make on their contents. I support the Bill, with the reservation I have stated. [Laughter.]

Valter Hallin (The Sudmark; The Reed Party): Sir, The land pays for everything in the end. The Reed Party will vote as the land would vote if it could. I am for the schoolmasters, who are underpaid, and for the Bill, which does not pay them. The people of The Sudmark will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. We shall divide the House. [Interruption.]

Hendrik Dorn (Westgau; The Assembly Union): Sir, The liberty of the subject is a large phrase for a small Bill, but I use it, because the Bill is small and the liberty is not. I sit for Westgau. The clerks there are few and the roads are long, and any officer the Bill appoints will spend a week finding the houses. The schools will do what the Bill says, as they do what every Bill says, and the children will not notice. The Bill says so in terms: Applies to children between 5 and 12. I support the Bill, with the reservation I have stated.

Ludwig Dallnerer (Kesselhöh; The Continuity Party): Mr. Speaker, The members for Kesselhöh have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. Order and record. That is the whole of my party's programme and I do not apologise for its shortness. The clause is short and I shall not read it. The Ministry's textbooks are the Ministry's and I have no observation to make on their contents. My party will divide the House on the Bill.

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

The House proceeded to other business.