DOI 10.60531/INSIGHTOUT.2024.2.10| DENK: LIGHTS AND SHADOWS_ INSIGHTOUT 2(2024) 69Like the seweragesystem, the construction of thewater supply systemwas one of the mostimportant municipalprojects.electoral group or political party. Thus, for thefirst time, women could both vote and be elected. What were their activities on the counciland to what extent did women influence thebuilding of modern infrastructure in NovéMěsto na Moravě?Based on a study of sources1, it can be concluded that they did not make much use of thisacquired right.Of the total number of representatives(one hundred) elected from1918 to 1938, only four women became members of the council. Eachof them spent only one term on thecouncil.Management of the townThe newly established Czechoslovak Republic adopted the Austrian legal system and organisationof public administration. The administration of municipal property remained within the self-governingcompetence of municipalities. During this period,elections were held under universal, equal, directand secret suffrage. Every Czechoslovak citizen whohad reached the age of 21 and had lived in the municipality for at least three months was entitled tovote. Citizens who met these criteria were includedin the voters’ lists, published by the municipal authorities before each election. At the same time, according to the electoral law these citizens were obligedto participate in the elections and had to accept theeventual results of those elections.Every Czechoslovak citizen who had reached the ageof 26 and had lived in the municipality for at leastone year also had the right to be elected. In order tobe eligible for passive suffrage, they had to be placed on the approved candidate list of a particularThe minutes of the council meetings reveal that theywere not very active and did not have much influence on the running of the town and the building of itsmodern infrastructure.Next, let us turn to the problems small towns facedin their effort to build modern infrastructure, usingmunicipal projects related to urban sanitation as anexample. The post-war period is characterised notonly by the deepening social and economic crisiscaused by the First World War, but also by the progressive disruption of municipal finances, with currency devaluation penalising creditors and favouringdebtors. Deficit budgets and mounting municipaldebt became common practice. Municipal revenuesat this time were not high enough for municipalitiesto be able to repay all the debts they had incurredduring the war. In this context, Karel Maier notes thatimmediately after the end of the war, it was commonfor municipal surcharges to be in the hundreds of percent, ranging from 300 to 600%, mainly to compensate for the significant drop in other revenues,1SOkA Žďár, AM Nové Město, 765/373,Municipal elections1886–1942.
