SWITZERLAND. 



707 



Kuril; Minister of Public Works. P. Nilsoii; 

 Minister of Worship ami Public Instruction, 

 Prof. A.C. Bang ; Minister of the Interior, .1. II. 

 P. Thome ; Minuter of Justice, Prof. G. F. i 

 rup; Minister of National Defense, ('apt. C. W. 

 K. I'.. <>ls-on; Minister of State, in Stockholm, 

 G. W. W. Gram. The Storthing passed a vote of 

 want of confidence in the new ministers by 68 

 v-ie- against 51. The King had first asked the 

 President of the Storthing and other members 

 of the majority to form a ministry, and only ap- 

 pealed to Stangwhen they refused. He was for- 

 bidden by the Const it ut ion to dissolve the Stor- 

 thing, which had nearly two years still to last. 

 Premier Stang declared that he and his col- 

 leagues had accepted office to extricate the 

 country from the predicament of having no 

 Government, and not to influence the final de- 

 cision of the consular question. The Storthing, 

 which voted an annual allowance of 6,000 kroner 

 to Steen in recognition of his patriotic services, 

 reduced the civil li*t, passed a bill to remove the 

 insignia of the Union from the Norwegian na- 

 tional flag, resolved to withhold supplies for the 

 joint consular service from Jan. 1, 1895, and 

 stopped the salaries of the ministers. 



SWITZERLAND, a federal republic in cen- 

 tral Europe. The Federal Assembly is com- 

 posed of the Nationalrath, consisting of 147 

 members elected for three years by direct popu- 

 lar suffrage, and the Standerath, to which each 

 of the 22 cantons sends 2 delegates. The execu- 

 tive power of the federation is vested in the 

 Federal Council, consisting of 7 members elected 

 by the Federal Assembly for three years. The 

 Federal Council in 1893 was composed of the 

 following members : President and Chief of the 

 Interior Department. Dr. K. Schenk, of Bern ; 

 V ice-President and Chief of the Military Depart- 

 ment, E. Frey, of Basel ; Foreign Affairs De- 

 partment, A. Luchenal, of Geneva ; Department 

 of Justice and Police, vacant after the death of 

 L. Ruchonnet, of Vaud ; Department of Finance 

 and Customs, W. Hauser, of Zurich; Depart- 

 ment of Industry and Agriculture, A. Deucher, 

 of Thurgau; Department of Posts and Rail- 

 roads, J. Zemp, of Luzern ; Chancellor of the 

 Confederation, G. Ringier. Col. Emil Frey was 

 elected on Dec. 14 President of the Confedera- 

 tion for 1894. 



Area and Population. The area of Switzer- 

 land is 15,976 square miles. The population at 

 the census of 1888 was 2,917.754. divided into 

 1,417,574 males and 1.500,180 females. There 

 were 1,716,548 Protestants, 1,183,828 Catholics, 

 8,069 Israelites, and 9.309 of other creeds. The 

 Grerman-flpeaking population numbered 2,083,- 

 097, while (534,613 spoke French, 155,130 Italian. 

 38,357 Romance, and 6,557 other tongues. The 

 number of marriages in 1891 was 21,264; of 

 births, 86.721; of deaths, 64,308 ; excess of births. 

 22,413. The number of emigrants in IS'.cj \vas 

 7.835, of whom 7,342 emigrated to the United 

 States. The population of Zurich in 1893 was 

 103,271 ; of Geneva, 78,777; of Basel, 75,114; of 

 I'ern. the seat of government, 47,620. 



Finances. The receipts of the Federal 

 Government in 1SU2 amounted to 92.5(54.995 

 francs, of which 36.032.73S francs were from 

 customs. 26.231.725 francs from the post-office. 

 20,919,473 francs from the arsenals, powder 



works, etc., 4,628,146 francs from telegraphs and 

 telephones, 2.093,327 francs f r ,,m the mint, 1,000,- 

 152 francs from capital in vested, and the rest 

 fi-.iin the various department-. The total ex- 

 penditure was 102.N50.802 francs, of which 52,- 

 M francs were for military purpo-e-, in- 

 cluding the manufacture of arms, powder, etc., 

 29,316,097 francs for the postal and telegraph 

 service, 6.15().r,i;6 francs for financial ana cus- 

 toms administration, 6,lS6.s:7 francs for build- 

 ings, and 3,167.719 francs for the Federal debt. 

 The debts amounted to 64,188,423 francs, and the 

 assets of the Government to 115,467,735 francs. 



Commerce. The value of the special imports 

 of merchandise in 1892 was 869,987,000 francs, 

 and of the domestic exports 657,649,000 francs. 

 The imports of precious metals were 43,176,000 

 francs, and the exports 30,371,000 francs. The 

 imports of silk amounted to 134,800,000 francs ; 

 of grain and flour, 105,800,000 francs ; of woolen 

 thread and cloth, 44,600,000 francs; of chem- 

 icals, 38,300,000 francs; of animals, 37,800,000 

 francs ; of wine, 34,900,000 francs ; of coal, 33,- 

 200,000 francs; of cotton, 30,200,000 francs. 

 The exports of silk goods amounted to 135,200,- 

 000 francs; of cotton goods, 112,900,000 francs; 

 of watches, 88,800,000 francs; of raw silk, 40.- 

 100,000 francs ; of cheese, 38,500.000 francs ; of 

 spun silk, 34,600,000 francs; of machines and 

 carriages. 21,700,000 francs; of chemical prod- 

 ucts, 18,100,000 francs. 



Communications. The railroads in 1892 had 

 a length of 2,105 miles. The post-office in 1892 

 forwarded 77,182,000 domestic and 18,595,000 

 international letters, not including those re- 

 ceived, 14,577,000 domestic and 4,297.000 inter- 

 national postals, and 22.573,000 domestic and 

 6,827,000 international circulars. The Govern- 

 ment telegraphs in 1892 had a total length of 

 4.545 miles, with 12,060 miles of wire. The 

 number of dispatches was 8,766,354, of which 

 1.236,992 were foreign. 



The Army. The effective of the army at the 

 beginning of 1893 was 181,424 men 'in the 

 Auszug and 81.485 in the Landwehr. The 

 troops are organized in 4 army corps attached to 

 as many districts. 



Politics and Legislation. The referendum 

 has been recently extended so as to give the 

 people the power of initiating as well as vetoing 

 legislation. This right was used in 1893 to en- 

 act a measure that dismayed and disgusted the 

 Radicals, who were the authors of the change in 

 the Federal Constitution. The Society for the 

 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals started an 

 agitation in favor of prohibiting the Jewish 

 manner of slaughtering animals for food by- 

 bleeding them before they are dead, and the 

 diets of Bern, Aargau, and other cantons passed 

 laws forbidding this form of slaughter. The 

 .lews appealed to the Federal Government to 

 protect their religious liberties. The cantonal 

 governments were enjoined to expunge the laws. 

 They heeded not the demand, and meanwhile 

 the society called for a general referendum, and 

 the people, whose race prejudices had been 

 kindled by the anti-Semitic movement, caught 

 up the cry. petitioned fora referendum wit 

 !.")! signatures, and prohibited by a popular 

 vote, taken on Aug. 2l>. the observance of the 

 Talmudic rules for butchering. Taught by this 



