812 



SWITZERLAND. 



312,000 francs; milk, 13.449,000 francs; color- 

 ing matters, 10,921,000 francs ; wool, 10,637,000 

 francs ; apparel, 10,60(5,000 francs ; hides and 

 skins, 7,874,000 francs. Of the exports, 14-8 per 

 cent, were 'pastoral and 85*2 percent, industrial 

 products, while of the imports 33'1 per cent, 

 were agricultural, 20-1 per cent, pastoral, 1-9 per 

 cent, forestry, 8'7 per cent, mining, and 36'2 per 

 cent, industrial products. 



Railroads. The Swiss railroads on July I, N 

 1890, had a total length of 3,156 kilometres, in- 

 cluding the St. Gothard line. They were owned 

 by about 15 companies, with the exception of 

 the Jura and Luzern line, passing through Bern, 

 which belongs to the canton of Bern. The cost 

 of construction up to the end of 1889 was 929,- 

 309.727 francs. The receipts for 1888 were 82,- 

 283,477 francs, and the expenses 43,850,883 francs. 

 The Federal Government adopted the policy of 

 obtaining possession of the railroads, and made 

 terms for the purchase of the Swiss Central line, 

 which were approved by the Assembly but re- 

 jected by the people in December, 1891. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The post-office in 

 1890 forwarded 76,497,000 domestic and 33.693,- 

 000 international letters, and 20,292,000 domes- 

 tic and 15,259,000 foreign circulars, and trans- 

 mitted in 3,019,000 domestic postal orders 345,- 

 416,000 francs, and in 682,000 foreign orders 

 39,972,000 francs. 



The state telegraph lines had in 1890 a total 

 length of 7,200 kilometres, with 18,238 kilome- 

 tres of wire. The number of dispatches for the 

 year was 3,824,040, of which 1.965,862 were in- 

 ternal, 1,219,653 international, 510,473 in transit, 

 and 128,052 connected with the service. The 

 receipts were 4,309,933 francs, and the expenses 

 3,909,859 francs. 



The Army. Every Swiss citizen, whether he 

 resides at home or abroad, must perform military 

 service or pay an exemption tax. The battalions 

 are always kept up to their full strength, and 

 progress is made constantly in order to enable the 

 republic to defend at need its neutrality. The 

 Aiiszug, or regular army, numbered 1.238 staff 

 and furloughed officers', 1,826 sanitary troops, 

 1,190 administrative troops, 106 battalions of in- 

 fantry numbering 97,721 officers and men, 48 

 squadrons of cavalry and 12 companies of scouts 

 numbering 3.004 officers and men, 60 batteries 

 of artillery numbering, with train, park, and 

 artillery of position, 18,032 officers and men, and 

 24 companies of engineers numbering 4.962 

 officers and men, making in all 127,973 men. 

 The Landwehr is organized likewise in 106 battal- 

 ions and 24 squadrons, and duplicates the forma- 

 tions of mountain and fortress artillery, park, 

 train, and engineers, but has only 8 instead of 

 48 field batteries. The numerical strength is re- 

 turned as 80,272 men, making a war effective of 

 208,245, not counting the newly organized Land- 

 sturm, which is estimated at 300,000 men. 



The Referendum and Legislative Initia- 

 tive. The referendum, as established in Switzer- 

 land, is the reference to the whole body of voters, 

 whether of the Confederation or of one of the 

 cantons, of enactments of their legislative bodies 

 for their acceptance or rejection. The referen- 

 dum is either compulsory or optional. It is 

 compulsory where the Constitution of a canton 

 requires that the legislative work of the Grand 



Council shall be submitted to the people for rati- 

 fication. In other cantons a certain number of 

 electors can demand that an act of the cantonal 

 Legislature shall be voted on by the whole 

 electorate, and on receiving their petition the 

 cantonal Government must lay it before the peo- 

 ple. Optional referendum, was established for 

 the Confederation in 1848 in regard to revisions 

 of the Constitution, and in 1874 it was extended 

 to other legislation. The Federal Chambers 

 may call for a popular vote on any measure that 

 they have passed, and a measure must be sub- 

 mitted to the people for confirmation or nullifica- 

 tion when 30,000 citizens sign a call for the ref- 

 erendum. A large proportion of the important 

 bills passed by the Chambers in recent years have 

 been vetoed by the people. In some instances 

 the motives for defeating the measures of the 

 Federal Assembly are not found solely in the 

 provisions of the bill that is attacked. The 

 Qltramontanes, who represent the bulk of the 

 Roman Catholics, constituting 40 per cent, of 

 the entire population, are interested in discredit- 

 ins: and upsetting the acts of the Assembly be- 

 cause the Radical majority has persistently dis- 

 regarded their protests and pursued an aggress- 

 ive policy toward the Church. The Protest- 

 ant Conservatives, who have also felt the effects 

 of the policy of secularization, have been the 

 allies of the Catholic clericals. The Radicals, 

 although still in the majority, are less powerful 

 than formerly. They have been compelled to 

 make peace with the Church by undoing some 

 acts committed by the Government during the 

 heat of the religious struggle. The religious 

 question has given way to social and political 

 movements, and the young democracy, consti- 

 tuting the Extreme Left of the Chamber, are at- 

 tracting many Radicals into their ranks. Their 

 platform is that of social reform, and they are in 

 favor of direct legislation by the people. The 

 Liberal Conservatives, representing the capitalist 

 class, form a small group in the Chamber, though 

 their power is felt in the country. The young 

 Democrats have been inclined to form an alliance 

 with the Ultramontanes. The latest demand of 

 the latter is that they should be represented in 

 the Federal Council, in which they have never 

 held a seat, notwithstanding their numerical 

 strength in the Assembly. The Catholic cantons 

 took the lead in demanding the referendum for 

 a bill granting retiring pensions to employes in 

 the post-office and other branches of the civil 

 service. The young Democrats joined in op- 

 posing the bill, which was annulled in the begin- 

 ning of April, 1891, by the crushing popular ma- 

 jority of 352,000 to 94,000 votes. The blow was 

 the more severe for the men now in power be- 

 cause the opposition was not directed against 

 the principle of the civil pensions, but against 

 provisions of the bill giving the authorities dis- 

 cretionary power to grant or withhold them. 

 Many Swiss statesmen are in favor of introduc- 

 ing the compulsory referendum at once as a 

 simpler and less troublesome procedure, since 

 the optional referendum has. come to be so fre- 

 quently exercised. 



On July 5, 1891, the Swiss people by a general 

 vote carried the principle of direct democratic 

 government still further by adopting a constitu- 

 tional amendment establishing the popular initia- 



