Debate on The Sealed Archive Regulation Act

Official report · Assembly of SchwartzistanSession 1918 · col. 10675

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

Willem Sarpeten (Minister of Chronology): I beg to move the third reading of the Bill, and I shall be brief. The Ministry of Chronology has examined the Bill and finds it in order. The calendar is not touched; the licence is. The printed Bill says it better than I can: Administered by the Ministry of Chronology. I move.

Egon Brenn (The Ostrand; The Assembly Union): Sir, 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 members for The Ostrand have met and are of one mind on the Bill, which does not happen often. The calendar is the calendar. The licence is a small thing to ask of a clockmaker, and the clockmakers have said so themselves. I read the clause. Offences under this Act are tried before the Court of Chronological Offences. I support the Bill, with the reservation I have stated. [Interruption.]

Ernst Stanvo (The Osmoor; The Continuity Party): 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. 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 have no observation on the reckoning of years, which is the Ministry's business and not mine. I read the clause. Offences under this Act are tried before the Court of Chronological Offences. I shall vote against the Bill. [Interruption.]

Konrad Ilgen (The Osmoor; The Reed Party): Mr. Speaker, In The Osmoor, which I have the honour to sit for, the Bill will be read at the market cross and understood by half. I speak for the farms. A Bill that does not touch the farms is a Bill I can vote for with an easy mind; a Bill that does had better say so. The material provision is this: Administered by the Ministry of Chronology. I ask the House to note it. The Bill concerns dates, and the House does not argue about dates. It passes Bills about them. I shall vote against the Bill. [Laughter.]

Ludwig Hallin (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. The Bill concerns dates, and the House does not argue about dates. It passes Bills about them. The people of Westgau will ask what it costs them, and I should like to be able to tell them. I support the Bill, with the reservation I have stated. [The Line!]

Tobias Hallin (The Ostrand; 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 have no observation on the reckoning of years, which is the Ministry's business and not mine. The Ostrand 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. [Interruption.]

Egon Sustel (The Sudmark; The Reed Party): Sir, In The Sudmark, which I have the honour to sit for, the Bill will be read at the market cross and understood by half. 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 calendar is the calendar. The licence is a small thing to ask of a clockmaker, and the clockmakers have said so themselves. The Bill should pass and I shall vote for it. [Laughter.]

Ernst Stanvo (The Osmoor; The Continuity Party): Sir, The member opposite used the word 'irregular'. I have the Bill here and I have the register here and I find nothing irregular in either. I sit down. [Interruption.]

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 tellers reported the numbers to the Chair. The Speaker declared the Bill passed.

The House proceeded to other business.