718 



TELEGEAPHS ON THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT. 



Council (the executive consisting of seven mem- 

 bers), for the year 1868-'69, Dr. Jacob Dubs, 

 of Zurich; Vice-President, Emil Welti, of Ar- 

 govia. The Council of States consists of 44 

 members, two for each canton ; President, in 

 1868, A. 0. Aeppli, of St. Gall. The National 

 Council consists of 128 members, elected for 

 the term of three years; President elected 

 July 6, 1867, for one year, Simon Kaiser, of 

 Solothurn. The expenditures of the Confed- 

 eration, in 1867, were 19,572,989 francs ; the 

 receipts, 19,781,961 ; surplus of receipts, 208,- 

 971. For the budget for 1867, the expendi- 

 tures were estimated at 19,809,000 francs ; the 

 receipts at 20,173,000; surplus of receipts, 

 364,000. The regular army consists of 87,730 

 men ; the reserves, of 49,765 ; the landwehr, of 

 65,359 men : total, 202,854. 



The whole of the southeastern, or as it may 

 be termed the Alpine half of Switzerland, suf- 

 fered in 1868 from the most terrible floods 

 which had taken place since 1834. If a line be 

 drawn from the Lake of Constance, in the north- 

 east, to the Col de Balme, in the southwest, it 

 will divide Switzerland into two nearly equal 

 portions, and scarcely a canton within the east 

 of these divisions escaped without great damage. 

 The cantons which suffered most terribly were 

 those of Tessin, Grisons, and St. Gall, the St. 

 Gothard Splugen and St. Bernhardin routes were 

 rendered impassable. Twenty-seven lives were 

 lost in the St. Gothard Pass, besides horses, 



and wagons fall of merchandise. It is stated 

 that on the three routes upward of eighty 

 persons perished. In the village of Loderio 

 alone no less than fifty deaths occurred. The 

 cantons of Uri and Valais likewise did not es- 

 cape. From TTnterwalden it was reported that 

 heavy rains carried away several large bridges. 

 In Tessin alone the damage was estimated at 

 40,000 sterling. 



In January, 1868, a popular vote was taken 

 in the canton of Zurich upon the question of 

 the revision of the Constitution. The revision 

 by the Constitutional Council was decided upon 

 by 47,776 votes to 10,057. In April, the peo- 

 ple of the canton of Thurgan also decided by a 

 large majority in favor of a revision of the Con- 

 stitution. The people of Neufchatel, on the 

 contrary, decided in March 'against a constitu- 

 tional revision. 



On the 22d of July a treaty of commerce be- 

 tween Switzerland and Italy was signed. 



A considerable excitement existed in the 

 Catholic districts of the canton of Berne, ow- 

 ing to the prohibition by the authorities of 

 education being conducted by Catholio nuns. 

 A part of the population threatened to secede 

 from the canton of Berne and to annex them- 

 selves to France. 



In August the Federal Council made an offi- 

 cial declaration to the effect that Switzerland 

 would reject any proposals, if made, for a mili- 

 tary or commercial alliance with France. 



TELEGRAPHS ON THE EUROPEAN 

 CONTINENT. A number of highly-impor- 

 tant treaties were concluded, in the course of 

 the year 1868, between most of the govern- 

 ments of the states of Continental Europe, for 

 the purpose of extending, cheapening, and pop- 

 ularizing telegraphic correspondence between 

 their respective countries. The most impor- 

 tant of these telegraph treaties were those con- 

 cluded between Prussia and the rest of the 

 states belonging to the North-German Confed- 

 eration, on one hand, and Austria, Bavaria, 

 Wurtemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt, on 

 the other, and by which the so-called German- 

 Austrian Telegraph Union (Deutsch-osterrei- 

 cTiiscJier Telegraphenvereiri) was organized; 

 and those concluded between this German- 

 Austrian Telegraph Union and the Govern- 

 ments of France, Belgium, Holland, Switzer- 

 land, Italy, Russia, Sweden, and Nor way, Den- 

 nark, Turkey, and Spain. 



The following are the most important and 

 interesting points agreed upon in these-treaties, 

 which have added largely to the business of 

 the telegraph lines in and between all of the 

 above-mentioned countries, removed many of 

 the^obstacles which had heretofore impeded the 

 rapidity and regularity of telegraphic corre- 



spondence on the European Continent, and 

 proved highly beneficial to the interests of in- 

 ternational commerce and industry. In the 

 States belonging to the German- Austrian Tele- 

 graph Union, there have been established three 

 so-called zones, in accordance with which the 

 rates of the telegraphic dispatches are calcu- 

 lated. In the first zone, that is to say, in a cir- 

 cuit of ten geographical miles, telegrams con- 

 taining from one to twenty words cost eight 

 groschen ; for every additional ten words, four 

 groschen more are charged. In the second 

 zone, that is to say in a circuit of forty-five 

 geographical miles, dispatches containing from 

 one to twenty words cost sixteen groschen, and 

 eight groschen are charged for every ten addi- 

 tional words. In the third zone, dispatches 

 sent to all points within the boundaries of the 

 states belonging to the German- Austrian Tel- 

 egraph Union, at a distance of upward of forty- 

 five geographical miles, and containing from 

 one to twenty words, cost twenty-four gro- 

 schen, and twelve groschen are charged for 

 every additional ten words. 



Telegrams may be sent to all places to which 

 the telegraph lines extend, either fully, or at 

 least in part ; in the latter case, the dispatches 

 are forwarded from the last station to the 



