724: 



SWITZERLAND. 



went to the United States. In 1894 the emigration 

 was 3.849 ; in 1893, 6,177 ; in 1892, 7,835 ; in 1891, 

 7,516. The population of Zurich in 1896 was 149,- 

 081 ; of Basel, 88,853 ; of Geneva, 80,782 ; of Bern, 

 the seat of Government, 48,678. Popular education 

 in Switzerland is encouraged and developed in a re- 

 markable degree. There were in 1893 679 infant 

 schools, with 816 teachers and 29,432 pupils : 8.391 

 primary schools, with 9,478 teachers and 469,820 

 pupils ; 485 secondary schools, with 1,465 teachers 

 and 31,871 pupils ; 30 preparatory schools, with 717 

 teachers and 8,531 pupils ; 38 normal schools, with 

 362 teachers and 7,049 pupils. Food and clothing 

 are provided gratuitously for children in elemen- 

 tary schools who live at a distance. In cantons where 

 the population is mixed Protestant and Roman 

 Catholic, religious instruction is given at stated 

 hours, and children whose parents desire them to 

 receive only a secular education may absent them- 

 selves. In Protestant cantons Roman Catholic chil- 

 dren receive instruction in the elements of Christi- 

 anity with their Protestant schoolmates until they 

 reach the age when their own pastors prepare them 

 for confirmation. The professional and industrial 

 schools number 174, with 7,049 students, and in the 

 7 universities there were 431 professors and 3,108 

 students in 1895, exclusive of 634 attendants at lec- 

 tures who are not candidates for degrees. These 

 latter are for the most part women. Of the regular 

 students 1,334 were foreigners. 



Finances. The Federal revenue for 1895 was 

 81,005,586 francs, of which 43,279,276 francs came 

 from customs, 25,791,435 francs from posts, 6,093,- 

 447 francs from telegraphs and telephones, 429,035 

 francs from railroads, 185.N34 francs from bank 

 notes. 175,202 francs from industry and agriculture, 

 2,338,178 francs from military arsenals, 6,884 francs 

 from justice and police, 367,542 francs from the po- 

 litical department, 51.881 francs from the general 

 administration, 519,261 francs from real property, 

 and 1,712,219 francs from invested capital. The to- 

 tal expenditures were 76,402,631 francs, of which 

 4,276,596 francs were for interest and sinking fund 

 of the debt, 1,071,080 francs for general administra- 

 tion, 1,003,900 francs for the political department, 

 9,372,716 francs for the interior. 183,140 francs for 

 justice and police, 23,012,361 francs for military 

 affairs. 4,008,962 francs for finance and custom-, 

 3,228,358 francs for industry and agriculture, 30,- 

 210,161 francs for posts and railroads, and 35.357 

 for unforeseen expenses. The Federal debt on Jan. 

 1, 1896. amounted to 80,963,467 francs and the pro- 

 ductive capital of the Government to 164,852.901! 

 francs, including 20,052,722 francs of special funds. 



Commerce. The imports of merchandise in 1895 

 were valued at 915,856,000 francs, and exports at 

 663.260,000 francs. The imports of specie were 64,- 

 264,000 francs; exports, 41,068,000 francs. The 

 principal imports were : Silk, 130,600.000 francs ; 

 cereals and flour, 88,900,000 francs; animals, 76,- 

 300,000 francs; woolens, 44,600,000 francs: coal, 

 41,300,000 francs ; wine, 32,500,000 francs ; cotton, 

 32,400,000 francs ; chemicals, 30,300,000 francs ; cot- 

 ton goods, 29,300,000 francs ; iron, 26,200,000 francs ; 

 machines and carriages, 23,800,000 francs ; timber, 

 17,800,000 francs; iron goods, 17.600,000 francs; 

 sugar, 17,000,000 francs ; coffee, 16,900,000 francs ; 

 leather, 13,500,000 francs ; barley, malt, and hops, 

 13,100,000 francs ; wool, 11,300,000 francs ; books, 

 9,600,000 francs ; silks, 9,100,000 francs. The values 

 of the chief exports were : Silks, 135,100,000 francs ; 

 cottons, 111,800,000 francs; watches, 90.000.1)00 

 francs: raw silk, 40,300.000 francs; cheese, 37,700,- 

 000 francs ; silk yarn, 34,900,000 francs ; machinery 

 and carriages, 26,200,000 francs ; chemical products, 

 22,100,000 francs: milk, 18.900,000 francs; cotton 

 yarn, 18,200,000 francs ; animals, 14,400,000 francs ; 



straw goods, 10.600,000 francs ; woolen yarn, 9,700,- 

 000 francs : hides, 8,500,000 francs. 



Articles of food and drink constituted 22'8 per 

 cent, of the imports and 9'7 per cent, of the exports 

 in 1895 ; animals, 10'3 per cent, of the imports and 

 2'4 per cent, of the exports ; raw materials, 40 - 2 per 

 cent, of the imports and 9'6 percent, of the exports; 

 manufactured products. 26'7 per cent, of the imports 

 and 78'3 per cent, of the exports. 



The commerce in 1895 is shown in the following 

 table, giving the values in francs : 



Communications. The railroads on Jan. 1, 

 1895, had a length of 2,218 miles. The post office 

 in 1895 carried 83,351,000 internal and 35.6o3.ooo 

 international letters. 21,352,000 internal and 9,745.- 

 000 international postal cards, 26,744,000 internal 

 and 19.914.000 international newspapers and circu- 

 lars, and 4,169,000 internal and 847,000 international 

 money orders of the values of 457,501,000 and 38,- 

 311,000 francs. The length of the Government 

 telegraph lines in 1895 was 4,442 miles, with 12,502 

 miles of wire. The number of dispatches was 3,949,- 

 904, of which 1,810,338 were internal, 1,442,117 in- 

 ternational, 554.957 in transit, and 140,492 official. 



Public Affairs. A National Exhibition illus- 

 trating all branches of Swiss trade and industry was 

 opened at Geneva on May 1 and remained open till 

 Oct. 15. In connection with it a number of con- 

 gresses were held, and there was a series of interna- 

 tional games. Toward the end of July riotous la- 

 bor disturbances directed against the employment 

 of Italians occurred at Zurich, in consequence of 

 which several thousand Italian workmen were con- 

 strained to return to Italy. The eighteenth Inter- 

 national Congress on Literary and Artistic Copy- 

 right was opened in Bern on Aug. 22, in the same 

 building where the first Congress was convened on 

 the initiative of the Swiss Federal Council. The 

 congress resolved to take steps to secure the speedy 

 ratification of the results of the Paris conference of 

 1896 and obtain in the different states, particularly 

 in Germany and Great Britain, a reform of the ex- 

 isting copyright laws. The congress adopted a 

 resolution in favor of giving the same protection to 

 newspaper articles as to other literature. In the 

 Swiss National Council irritation was manifested in 

 a debate held in June in regard to the treatment 

 the Swiss Confederation had received from the 

 United States Government in the matter of the Swiss 

 proposal that the two governments should enter 

 into a covenant to refer to arbitration all disputes 

 arising between them. The United States Govern- 

 ment when the proposal was first made, in 1882, had 

 received it with expressions of satisfaction, but in 

 the course of the years that had since elapsed the 

 Federal Council has endeavored without result to 

 induce the Washington Government to move in the 

 matter and Swiss ministers have repeatedly urged the 

 United States authorities to enter into negotiations 

 for an arbitration treaty, with no better success. 



