SWITZERLAND. 



657 



ciations for the relief of pauperism. It will 

 also assist private efforts which have for their 

 objects the education of pauper children or the 

 care of the sick and helpless. The railroads 

 are to be worked under the inspection of 

 the state, and, should fresh lines be judged 

 necessary, the canton is to bear part of 

 the expense of their construction in districts 

 too poor to support the total outlay. A 

 cantonal bank is to be established under 

 Government auspices, and lastly the contin- 

 gent of recruits furnished to the federal army 

 is to be wholly equipped and armed at the 

 expense of the canton. "What are called 

 "the rights of the people" are carefully de- 

 fined and guaranteed by the new constitu- 

 tion. Every citizen has the right of peti- 

 tioning the Grand Council to promulgate, 

 modify, or abrogate any law. If one-third of 

 the Grand Council approves the petition, it is 

 to be submitted to the vote of the canton. In 

 the same manner, any demand emanating from 

 5,000 citizens is to be at once submitted to 

 the popular vote, unless the Grand Council 

 adopts it of its own free will. By the side of 

 the right of petition the old right of the refe- 

 rendum is revived and reiuvigorated. Twice 

 a year, in the spring and autumn and oftener 

 if necessary the whole body of the people is 

 to be convoked to approve or annul any funda- 

 mental changes in the Constitution, any new 

 laws or concordats, agreed upon by the Grand 

 Council. N"o decision of this executive body 

 on such matters is valid until ratified by the 

 people. Thirty days before each General As- 

 sembly every citizen is to be furnished with a 

 copy of all the laws to be voted. The people 

 are to vote yea or nay, and the absolute ma- 

 jority decides. The people have further the 

 right of a limited veto upon the minor acts of 

 the Grand Council for example, in deciding 

 upon any work or undertaking the cost of 

 which will exceed 250,000 francs (10,000), or 

 create an annual charge on the budget of more 

 than 20,000 francs (800). Last of all, the ex- 

 ecutive body in the State is to consist of seven 

 members, directly chosen by the entire canton 

 voting as a single electoral college. In like 

 manner, and at the same time, and for the 

 same term of three years, the two deputies 

 who shall represent the canton in the Federal 

 Diet are to be elected. Such is the constitu- 

 tion adopted by the canton of Zurich. Already 

 Thurgau has adopted an almost identical con- 

 stitution by 11,681 votes against 6,741 ; Lucerne, 

 by 8,600 against 4,200; and Saint Gall, which 

 stands in many respects next to Zurich in im- 

 portance, by a still larger majority. 



Two international Congresses were held, in 

 1869, in Switzerland the International Labor 

 Congress at Basle, and the Peace Congress 

 at Lausanne. These bodies almost invaria- 

 bly unite in denouncing the present system of 

 " bloated armaments " and crushing war taxa- 

 tion, which is producing so much misery and 

 poverty throughout Christendom. The bur- 

 VOL. ix. 42. A 



dens of war, we are told, have become intol- 

 erable. Millions of soldiers are being main- 

 tained, and must be supported by the indus- 

 trious classes, a large proportion of whose 

 strongest helpers are withdrawn by conscrip- 

 tion or enlistment. Hence the weight of tax- 

 ation and hard labor is falling heavily even on 

 weak women and poor girls. For example, 

 one of the complaints latterly raised against 

 the present system has come from the female 

 spinners of Lyons and Anduze. These wretched 

 women have been compelled to earn their live- 

 lihood by working sixteen hours a day (and 

 for the pittance of one shilling). They have 

 at length struck for a change; but, with a 

 remarkable patience and moderation, only de- 

 mand that their working-hours should begin 

 at five and end at seven. Of course the women 

 of France must work (and exceedingly hard) 

 as long as the present law continues, which 

 renders every man above twenty-one years of 

 age liable to conscription, and enacts a mini- 

 mum annual draft of 160,000 soldiers. Further, 

 these are prohibited from marriage. The con- 

 sequent vice and distress brought upon the 

 cities and families of France are incalculable. 

 The first act of the Labor Congress of Basle 

 was to elect a president and to nominate the 

 various bureaux, to each of which was con- 

 fided the duty of drawing up a general report, 

 framed upon the instructions given to the del- 

 egates, on each of the five questions set down 

 for discussion. These questions were landed 

 property and land tenure; the rights of in- 

 heritance ; mutual credit, and how far it can 

 be employed by the working-classes in their 

 struggle for emancipation; compulsory and 

 thorough education ; the use of trade unions 

 in defending the workman's interests. The 

 president chosen by the Congress was M. 

 Jung, a Swiss watchmaker, residing in London, 

 who speaks each of the three languages in use 

 at the meetings with equal facility. The task 

 which fell to the lot of the president was not 

 of the lightest, and M. Jung displayed a tact 

 and firmness which entered largely into the 

 success of the proceedings. Among the most 

 notable of the reports were those of Marseilles, 

 where the sailors have formed themselves into 

 a trade union; and from Lyons, where the 

 women have adopted a similar course. In 

 Spain, the progress of trade-unionism has been 

 more rapid than elsewhere upward of 195 

 unions, with 25,000 members, exist. The Span- 

 ish workmen appear to be in favor of a federal 

 republic, including Portugal as well as Spain, 

 and they advocate the abolition of all property 

 in the soil by individuals, and gratuitous and 

 complete education for all. The committee 

 appointed to consider the land question was un- 

 able to agree on a report, and two were there- 

 fore presented one advocating that the soil 

 should be vested in individuals or associations, 

 and the other that the land should be the in- 

 alienable property of the village or parish, to 

 be cultivated for the benefit of the community. 



