6i2 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



accordance witli a previously arranged table of redemptions. The 

 draft also provided tliat the accounts of the federal railroads should 

 be kept distinct from the other branches of administration, so that 

 the financial situation in respect to them could be exactly ascertained 

 at any time. Their net revenue should be employed, first, for the 

 payment of interest and the extinction of the railroad debt; thus 

 serving to supplement the annual returns and making possible a re- 

 duction of rates for transportation. 



It was provided that the management of the federal railroads 

 should constitute a special division of the federal administration, 

 and should be subject to the supervision and control of the federal 

 authorities; but when it came to arranging the details under this 

 category, the federal assembly made some important changes, which 

 were embodied in the law as it passed. 



To the federal assembly was reserved the power of examining and 

 approving the annual accounts on the reports of the management; 

 deciding, with the reservation of the referendum, concerning the 

 construction of new lines and the acquisition of existing ones. , ^ 



To the federal council was given authority to draft regulations 

 for the execution of the present law; to name twenty-five members 

 of the administrative council, the members of the general direction, 

 and the members of the arrondissement directories; to approve the 

 annual budget; and to present to the federal chambers the annual 

 accounts and the reports of the management, as well as propositions 

 relative to the constmction of new lines and the acquisition of exist- 

 ing ones; and to continue the exercise of functions already possessed 

 by it respecting private lines, so far as those functions are applicable 

 to the federal railroads. 



As special to the working of the railroads and with functions ex- 

 tending over the whole system, were instituted the administrative 

 council and the general direction; the administrative council to be 

 composed of fifty-five members appointed for three years: twenty- 

 five by the federal council, twenty-five by the cantons, and five 

 by the arrondissement councils — the federal council so to adjust 

 its nominations that agriculture, commerce, and industry should be 

 equitably represented in the body. This administrative council was 

 given the supervision of the whole administration of the railroads 

 and the functions of preparing the annual budget for submission to 

 the federal council; of examining the annual accounts and reports 

 of operation for submission to the federal council; of fixing rates, 

 classifying merchandise, and making regulations for the time 

 schedules; of satisfying all important agreements made with other 

 railroad enterprises; of preparing the plans for new lines, expensive 

 constructions, and the completion of important works in the system in 



