SWITZERLAND. 



758 



population, see "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 

 1883.) 



The following cities contained over 40,000 

 inhabitants : Geneva, 50,043, with suburbs 68,- 

 320; Zurich, 25,102, with suburbs 75,956; 

 Basel, 61,399 ; Bern, 44,087. 



Finances. The total receipts in 1883 amount- 

 ed to 50,456,136 francs. The revenue from 

 taxes on capital and lands was 675,674, from 

 the interest .on invested capital and subven- 

 tions 205,741, from customs 20,121,994, from 

 the post-office 15,254,796, from telegraphs 

 2,692,675, from the powder monopoly 595,137, 

 from the mint, including new coinage issues, 

 6,054,481, from the Federal stud 194,074, from 

 war materials 1,021,271, from the laboratory, 

 etc., 1,761,922, from the military administra- 

 tion 1,636,347, from the various departments 

 240,532, unforeseen 1,492 francs. 



The total expenditures were 50,033,764 

 francs in amount, of which 1,869,167 francs 

 were for interest and payments of capital, 

 774,235 for general administrative expenses, 

 5,504,239 for the departments, 13,714,080 for 

 the army, 1,636,127 for the customs service, 

 14,008,973 for the post-office, 2,334,491 for 

 telegraph aud telephone service, 507,712 for 

 the powder manufacture, 6,054,481 for the 

 mint, 501,850 for the polytechnic school, 183,- 

 215 for the stud, 1,011,956 for war materials, 

 1,682,960 for the laboratory, etc., 137,824 for 

 railroads, and 112,454 unforeseen. 



The expenditures for 1884 were fixed in the 

 budget at 45,193,000, and the revenue at 45,- 

 128,000 francs, the budget for 1885 makes 

 the total income 45,972,000 and the expendi- 

 tures 46,050,000 francs. The supplementary 

 credits are likely to swell the deficit to 600,- 

 000 francs. The Federal expenditures are 

 larger under the new laws and requirements 

 than the normal revenue. 



The general assets of the Confederation are 

 44,457,923 francs in amount, and special funds 

 7,858,271, making the sum of 52,316,194 francs. 

 The public loans amount to 35,594,236 francs. 

 The assets above this amount, and the currency 

 reserve and coupons due were 16,721,958 francs 

 on the 31st of December, 1883. 



The total receipts of the cantons in 1876 

 amounted to 39,743,726 francs, the expendi- 

 tures to 44,103,073 francs, their total assets to 

 456,267,202 francs, their debts to 252,793,373. 



Commerce. The custom -house authorities take 

 account only of the quantities of most of the 

 exports and imports. The imports of articles 

 free of duty in 1883 were 2,949,723 metric 

 quintals, the exports 717,322 ; the imports of 

 articles of food, drink, groceries, and tobacco 

 5,873,693 quintals, exports 484,220; imports 

 of animals and animal products 95,758, exports 

 63,315 quintals; imports of earth and minerals 

 592,506, exports 205,658 quintals; imports of 

 textile materials, straw, rubber, etc., 543,317, 

 exports 347,582 quintals; imports of wood and 

 manufactures thereof 1,833,085, exports 178,- 

 059 quintals ; imports of glass and crockery 

 VOL. xxiv. 48 A 



313,015, exports 121,236 quintals; imports of 

 paper, books, art objects, etc., 52,689, exports 

 41,601 quintals; imports of hardware, etc., 

 44,543, exports 24,731 quintals; imports of 

 drugs, dyes, and chemicals 839,498, exports 



222.076 quintals; imports of gums, plants, 

 etc., 7,488,218, exports 329,510 quintals; total 

 imports of articles taxed by weight 21,710,629 

 quintals, total exports 3,048,346. The value 

 imported of cars, machines, and other articles 

 paying ad valorem duties was 1,515,828 francs. 

 The value of timber and charcoal exported 

 was 7,764,821 francs. The number of head 

 of cattle imported was 254,548, exported 120,- 

 431. The imports of goods of the first cate- 

 gory from Germany were 13,089,578 quintals, 

 from France 5,726,984, from Austria 1,794,673, 

 from Italy 1.099,394 ; the exports to Germany 

 1,294,862, to France 1,142,345, to Italy 334,- 

 581, to Austria 276,558 quintals. 



Railroads. The length of railroads in opera- 

 tion at the close of 1882 was 2,829 kilometres, 

 their capitalized value 1,030,053,389 francs, the 

 cost of construction 943,918,419 francs, the 

 receipts in 1882, 69,445,665 francs, the ex- 

 penses 35,917,699 francs. 



The PosW)ffice. The number of letters and 

 cards forwarded in 1883 was 86,137,285, 58,- 



029.077 internal and 28,108,208 internation- 

 al. The number of passengers transported in 

 the mail-coaches was 751,008. The receipts 

 amounted to 15,254,796 francs, the expenses 

 to 14,008,973 francs. 



Telegraphs. The length of lines belonging 

 to the state at the end of 1883 was 6,832 kilo- 

 metres, of wires 16,554. The number of in- 

 ternal messages was 1,750,045, of foreign mes- 

 sages 836,038, the receipts 2,511,462, expenses 

 2,334,491 francs. 



The Army. The Federal army is composed 

 of the regular army, or Bundesauszug, made 

 up of young men between twenty and thirty- 

 two years of age, and the Landwehr, which 

 comprises all between thirty-two and forty- 

 four years of age. The effective on Jan. 1, 

 1884, of the regular army was 113,638 offi- 

 cers and men and the Landwehr 88,136. 



Elections. In the election for the National 

 Council, held Oct. 26, most of the sitting mem- 

 bers were re-elected, and the proportion of the 

 parties remained the same, notwithstanding 

 the success of the Conservatives and Ultra- 

 montanes in securing a majority in various 

 referendums during the preceding two years. 

 All the members of the Federal Council re- 

 tained their seats in the Assembly. The Lib- 

 erals and Radicals have about double the num- 

 ber of votes in the Assembly possessed by the 

 Conservatives and Clericals. The election of 

 the Federal Council took place Dec. 5. All 

 the members were re-elected. Dr. K. Schenk, 

 of Canton Bern, the Vice-President in 1884, 

 succeeded in the regular routine to the Presi- 

 dency. Dr. A. Deucher, of Tburgau, was 

 elected Vice-President, F. Ringier was again 

 chosen Chancellor ; and G. Olgiati, the previ- 



