SWITZERLAND n 45 



Commerce. The new Customs Tariff of 1906 resulted at first in a considerable unfavour- 

 able balance of trade, followed by an increase in 1907, and a new decrease in 1908. But 

 from 1909 onwards Switzerland has shared in the prosperity of international trade through- 

 out Europe. In 1910 the value of her exports was about 47,832,000 and in 1911 about 

 50,280,000, while in 1910 her imports were about 69,800,000 and in 1911 about 72,812,- 

 ooo, so that the excess of imports rose from 2,288,000 in 1910 to 2,448,000 in 1911. This 

 was due to the value of the increased imports of meat, oats, and other food stuffs. The 

 fair of 520,000 in the imports in 1911 from Great Britain was exactly balanced by an 

 equivalent in exports thither. Great Britain was in 1911 the best customer of Switzerland 

 next after Germany, though behind Germany, France, Italy, and Austria-Hungary as 

 regards the value of the goods imported into Switzerland. 



Finance. During 1902 to 1907 there was always a balance on the right side of the 

 Public Accounts, this balance rising as high as 503,000 in 1905. But 1908 and 1909 both 

 showed deficits. However, in 1910 there was again a surplus of 221,000 (the receipts 

 amounting to 6,674,000 as against an expenditure of 6,453,000). But in 1911 there was 

 again a deficit, though only of some 10,000, the receipts being 7,838,000 as against an 

 expenditure of 7,848,000. With the exception of about 500,000 annually the receipts 

 of the Federal Treasury are derived from three main sources Customs Duties, Post Office, 

 Telegraph and Telephone. But in these cases the Customs Duties alone show a constant 

 great surplus, so that they form the backbone of Federal finance. In 1908 these Customs 

 Duties were 2,810,000 (a slight falling off on the yield of 1907), but in 1909 amounted to 

 2,970,000, in 1910 to 3,320,000, and in 1911 to 3,230,000; the budget estimate for 

 1912 was only 3,191,000, but for 1913 rose to 3,312,000. Swiss statesmen are rather 

 uneasy at the fact that Federal finances depend so largely on a single source of revenue 

 always uncertain, and rendered still more uncertain by the approaching expiration of the 

 tariff treaties. Besides, the expenditure is always increasing, especially for the Army 

 (1,690,000 in 1910, and 1,790,000 in 1911), the incessant demand for Federal subventions 

 and the as yet unknown expenses of working the new Insurance Law. In 1911 the funded 

 debt of the Swiss Confederation was 4,686,000. 



In 1911 (Jan. i) the Swiss army numbered 211,567 men, of whom 69,513 were in the 

 Landwehr, and 142,054 in the Auszug. In 1910 27,487 young men presented themselves 

 as recruits, 19,460 of whom were "passed," the proportion (70 per cent) being the same as 

 in 1909, and higher than was the case before the regulations of 1905 (1905, 53 per cent, 1906, 

 55 per cent, 1907, 62 per cent, and 1908, 67 per cent). 



Politics. The triennial elections for the popularly elected house (the Nationalrath 

 or Conseil National) of the Swiss Parliament took place in the autumn of 1911, and 

 resulted (as has always been the case since the Federal Constitution came into force 

 in 1848) in giving an overwhelming majority to the Radicals. In consequence of 

 the new census the number of members (one for every 20,000 or fraction over 10,000 

 of the population, native born or foreigners) was increased from 167 to 189; of these 

 114 are Radicals, 38 Conservatives, 16 Social Democrats, 14 Centre (Liberal Conserva- 

 tive) and 7 Socialists. 



Edward Miiller, of Bern (b. 1848), colonel in the army, was elected the new 

 President of the Confederation on Dec. 12, 1912, by 184 votes out of 196; and Arthur 

 Hoffmann, of St. Gall (b. 1857), also a colonel, was elected Vice-President. Both are 

 Radicals in politics. 



In 1909-1912 there were two cases of a popular Vote or Referendum, though in 

 neither case one affecting the Federal Constitution. In 1910 a proposal (Initiative) 

 to introduce proportional representation into the elections for the Nationalrath 

 was defeated, though only by a majority of some 25,000 on a total poll of rather over 

 500,000 voters, while early in 1912 the Federal law as to insurance against sickness 

 and accidents was accepted by a majority of some 46,000 votes on a poll of 528,000. 

 Including 3 popular votes in 1908 (all affirmative), 2 being Amendments to the Constitu- 

 tion and i an Initiative prohibiting the manufacture or sale of absinthe, the statistics 

 as to the Federal Referendum from 1874 to the end of 1912 stand at 20 as to Con- 

 stitutional Amendments (14 accepted), 8 " Initiatives " (3 only accepted), and 31 as to 

 Federal laws (12 accepted) in all 59 polls of which 29 only were in the affirmative. 



Despite the check to proportional representation suffered through the defeat of 

 the Federal Referendum in 1910, it was accepted for cantonal legislatures by Lucerne 

 (1909) and St. Gall (1911), though rejected in 1911 by Zurich. But 9 cantons have 

 now adopted this plan (in 1891 Neuchatel and Ticino, in 1892 Geneva, in 1894 Zug, 



