Paul Dussaussoy

Born January 6, 1860 in Dunkirk (Pas-de-Calais), died March 15, 1909 in Paris 16th.

Member of Parliament for Pas-de-Calais from 1893 to 1902 and from 1906 to 1909.

Descendant of a deputy of the July Monarchy, son of Paul Dussaussoy, deputy of Bonapartist tendency of the IIIrd Republic, Paul Dussaussoy belonged to a family of great industrialists of the Northern region. Lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Paris, he represented since 1889 the canton of Marquise at the General Council of Pas-de-Calais.

It was in the general legislative elections of August 20 and September 3, 1893 that he first ran for a seat as a deputy in the second constituency of Boulogne. It was a triangular election for both rounds of voting. In the first round, with 6,431 votes out of 17,406 voters, 5,387 going to the outgoing Republican deputy Boulanger-Bernet and 5,361 to the Socialist Delcluze, he won in the second round by 6,858 votes out of 18,070 voters, with Delcluze obtaining 5,846 and Boulanger-Bernet 5,294.

In 1918, largely in the lead in the first ballot on 8 May, with 7,799 votes out of 18,387 voters, against 4,918 in Delcluze, 3,217 in Villain and 2,319 in Letailleur, he was re-elected on 22 May, in the second ballot, with 8,430 votes against 8,007 in Delcluze out of 16,755 voters.

At the renewal of 1902, he will be defeated. Very largely at the head however at the first ballot, on April 27, with 8 105 votes out of 18 967 voters, against Mill 4 632 votes, Degay 3 117 and Delcluze 2 898, he is beaten of little, in favour of the withdrawals, at the ballot of May 11. Louis Mill won with 9,983 votes out of 19,374 voters, himself having collected only 9,239 votes, a difference of only 744 ballots.

He will take his revenge in 1906 but once again in the ballot. Still in the lead in the first round, on May 6, with 7,168 votes out of 20,212 voters, 5,385 for Degay, 4,032 for Boulanger and 2,467 for the obstinate Delcluze - whose perseverance would finally be rewarded after Dussaussoy's death - he was re-elected on May 20 with 10,877 votes out of 20,698 voters, against Degay who had 9,493 votes.

A "sincere supporter of the Republic", the program he proposed to his voters resolutely emphasizes social reforms. He would like to see the Senate elected by universal suffrage and the House elected by list vote with proportional representation; he also calls for "the abolition of the odious privilege of the distillers".

He was a member of the Liberal Action Group in the House and served on various committees, including the Navy Committee in 1898 and the Gaming Committee in 1907. Author of a bill of local interest (1894), he tabled another one aimed at making the unions capable of owning buildings and receiving donations (1895); his bill aimed at modifying the laws of 26 March 1891 and 15 July 1889 relating to recruitment was adopted by Parliament and became the law of 1 May 1897. In the same year, he introduced a draft regulatory resolution concerning the posting of speeches and a bill concerning exemptions from two years of military service for certain recruits. In 1898 he introduced a bill to change the electoral system of the Senate, in 1899 a second bill was introduced to change the electoral system of the Senate, in 1899 a second bill was introduced to change his proposal of the previous legislature on exemptions from military service, and in the same year a third bill was introduced to change the rules of procedure for decisions taken by the departmental councils of primary education ruling on disciplinary matters and for which he requested a declaration of urgency. During his third term, he tabled a bill to grant women the right to vote, but only in the elections for municipal councillors, district councillors and general councillors.

His speeches on the platform focused mainly on budgetary issues. He did not fail to intervene in the discussion of any of the budgets during his three terms in office, often for a long time, proposing amendments that met with varying degrees of success.  abolition of army controllers, Finance), 1900 (Finance, manufacture of matches, War, Navy), 1901 (Finance Act), 1902 (Commerce, Finance), 1907 (Agriculture, Justice, Fine Arts, Coins and Medals, War), 1908 (Posts and telephones), 1909 (Interior: Official Journals).

In addition, he defended from the rostrum the sailors and their families affected by the recent storms (1893, 1894) and the victims of storms and floods in the northern region (1894); he intervened in the discussion of an interpellation on the control of railway operations (1894), took an interest in the question of refrigerated meat, mutual aid societies, the 1900 Universal Exhibition (1896) and the posting of speeches in the House.

During the next legislature, he went to the gallery to discuss the bill to extend the operations of the National Accident Insurance Fund (1899); he also made himself heard on the exclusion from teaching of any individual affiliated with Freemasonry, over the 28-day period owed by sailors with four children, on the drinking regime, an intervention during which he unsuccessfully tabled an amendment against the distillers, whose privilege he considered scandalous (1900); two years later, he spoke about extending the benefit of article 23 of the law on recruitment to the students of the Arts et Métiers school in Lille, as well as the use of whitewash in public works. He also intervened on the urgency of a motion for a resolution to modify the rules of the Chamber on the subject of proxy voting and drafted an additional text to the Viviani - Coutant amnesty proposal (1902).

During his last term, he intervened less frequently. However, he spoke in 1907 on the Marcel Régnier bill concerning the regulation of gambling, tabled a reasoned agenda on Klotz's interpellation concerning the dismissal of the 1904 class; in 1908, in the discussion on income tax, he tabled an amendment concerning industrial, commercial and artisanal professions.

He died prematurely during his term of office, at the age of 49, in Paris, on March 15, 1909, after a short illness.

President Fernand Dubief, in the session of March 16, celebrated his memory by deploring the fact that death had taken him by surprise ***"in an age which still opened up before him the hope of long years of strength and useful work" and by specifying that he "brought to the financial debates a much appreciated competence."***