Debate on The Broadcasting Regulation Act

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1918 · col. 10651

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

Bruno Fenn (Minister of the Interior): I beg to move the third reading of the Bill, and I shall be brief. The Bill gives the towns a duty and an officer to carry it out. The Ministry of the Interior has the forms ready. I read the material clause to the House. Licences are issued by the Ministry of the Interior for a fee of 884 marka. I ask the House to pass it.

Egon Brenn (The Ostrand; The Assembly Union): Mr. Speaker, The members for The Ostrand have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. 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 Bill says so in terms: Licences are issued by the Ministry of the Interior for a fee of 884 marka. 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. [The Line!]

Ernst Stanvo (The Osmoor; The Continuity Party): Mr. Speaker, The Continuity Party supports every measure that keeps the record whole and opposes every measure that does not. This one keeps it whole. The towns asked for it. The towns will pay for it. That is the usual arrangement and I do not quarrel with it. The members for The Osmoor have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. I shall vote against the Bill.

Konrad Ilgen (The Osmoor; The Reed Party): Sir, The people of The Osmoor 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 material provision is this: Licences are issued by the Ministry of the Interior for a fee of 884 marka. I ask the House to note 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 oppose the third reading. [Laughter.]

Ludwig Hallin (Westgau; The Assembly Union): Sir, My constituents in Westgau wrote to me about the Bill, all 3 of them, and they were against it until they read it. I ask the House to consider the tradesman who will have to comply with this. He has not been consulted; he has been notified. The material provision is this: Licences are issued by the Ministry of the Interior for a fee of 884 marka. 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 oppose the third reading. [Interruption.]

Tobias Hallin (The Ostrand; The Assembly Union): Mr. Speaker, The Union stands where it has always stood: for the towns, for the trade, and against any clause that begins with the word 'licence'. 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 people of The Ostrand will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. I shall vote against the Bill. [Hear, hear.]

Egon Sustel (The Sudmark; The Reed Party): Sir, The members for The Sudmark have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. 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. Drains, roads and lamps. The House will pass the Bill because the alternative is drains, roads and no lamps. I oppose the third reading. [Laughter.]

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

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 remaining Orders of the Day were deferred and the House rose.