1899.28

Amendement-Kuyper op de Ongevallenwet.

Leiden, D. Donner 1899. 102 pp., 24cm.—ƒ0.50.

This brochure contains the text of the draft legislation “Wettelijke verzekering van werklieden tegen geldelijke gevolgen van ongevallen in bepaalde bedrijven” [Lawful assurance of laborers against the financial consequences of accidents in certain occupations], which also includes the amendments approved by the Second Chamber prior to June 6 (pp. [5]–35). Printed next (pp. [37]–78) is the “Toelichting op het amendement voorgesteld onder 16.17 der zitting 1898–1899” [Account of the amendment presented under 16.17 of the 1898–1899 session] (see Bijlagen van het verslag der handelingen van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 1898–1899, 6.1), in which Kuyper deals with the objections he received in response to the amendment he submitted on June 15, 1899 (see 1899.05). The third and final item (pp. [79]–102) is the so-called “Kuyper amendment” or “big amendment.” The altered form of this amendment (see Bijlagen, 1899–1900, 6.2, pp. 17–24) replaced 16.17 from the Bijlagen, 1898–1899 (pp. 121–129).

Kuyper’s principal objections against the draft legislation as submitted were directed against the complicated and costly bureaucratic centralization to which the scheme would have led. The draft bill would also have imposed unreasonably high financial burdens on employers and ended all private initiatives in affected spheres. Kuyper wanted a decentralized plan that would enable employers either to bear financial liabilities themselves or to transfer them to private organizations. A part of the implementation of the law would thus have to be handed over to yet-to-be-established industrial insurance boards. From a procedural perspective, this amendment was treated by the Second Chamber almost in the same way as was the draft legislation. See also 1899.30.

On the authorship and on an analysis of the procedures concerning the Kuyper amendment, see the dissertation of W. de Vries Wzn. (1970.03).