734 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



SWITZERLAND. 



useless and had the war vessels cleared for ac- 

 tion, and that military measures of a similar 

 kind were secretly taken by Admiral Koren in 

 1893. An address to the King demanding a 

 guarantee for the constitutional freedom and 

 independence of the country was adopted by 62 

 votes to 49. The Storthing, on the strength of 

 a rumor that the Crown Prince had threatened 

 an armed invasion of Norway, suspended his 

 civil list until the Prime Minister denied in his 

 behalf the threatening language. It voted for 

 the joint consular service of the 2 kingdoms pro- 

 visional estimates only sufficient to last till Jan. 

 1, 1895. in the expectation of creating an inde- 

 pendent Norwegian consular service by that 

 time. The session was prolonged far beyond 

 the usual time for separating, almost to the eve 

 of the elections. While rejecting the proffered 

 alliance of the growing Socialist party for fear 

 of estranging the farmers, the Radicals voted an 

 indemnity to some workmen who had been dis- 

 charged by the Government on what were al- 

 leged to be political grounds. A bill enacting 

 greater penalties against recalcitrant witnesses 

 was vetoed by the King, as well as the bill in- 

 troducing changes in the consular and diplo- 

 matic service. 



The electoral campaign was one of unex- 

 ampled bitterness. The elections were held on 

 Aug. 13 in the north, on Sept. 17 in the central 

 and western provinces, and on Oct. 12 and Nov. 

 12 in southern Norway. The Conservatives in 

 their election addresses pleaded for fresh nego- 

 tiations and a compromise. Their programme 

 was complete equality in the Union and a com- 

 mon Minister for Foreign Affairs, either Nor- 

 wegian or Swedish, and responsible for both 

 countries, together with furtherance of agricul- 

 ture and trade, modern labor laws, including 

 compensation for accidents and legislation in 

 behalf of the aged and incapable ; abolition of 

 direct taxation, fresh legislation against intem- 

 perance, and taxes and suffrage for absent sail- 

 ors. The Radicals did not sweep the country 

 as they expected. Many farmers voted with the 

 Conservatives, not on account of their subser- 

 viency to Sweden, but through repugnance to 

 the socialistic tendencies of the Radicals. The 

 result was a drawn battle. The Radicals who 

 were elected were the extreme representatives 

 of the party, but there were not quite as many 

 of them as there were in the last Storthing. 

 The new Storthing consists of 59 Radicals and 

 55 Conservatives. 



The Liquor Laws. The Storthing in the 

 session of 1894 made some important alterations 

 in the liquor laws. The principle of intrusting 

 the liquor trade to a public company in each 

 district and vesting completely in the company 

 the licensing authority was confirmed and ex- 

 tended. Instead of turning over a large share 

 of the profits to the locul authorities, as has 

 been done, and thus tempting them to promote 

 the traffic, only 15 per cent, of the profits goes 

 to the treasury of the commune, 20 per cent, 

 must be distributed by the company, after de- 

 ducting the legal rate of interest on its capital 

 among temperance and other charitable institu- 

 tions, and 65 per cent, is paid over to the state 

 to form a special fund, which is expected to be 

 devoted to th^ creation of old-age pensions. 



SWITZERLAND, a federal republic in cen- 

 tral Europe, consisting of 22 cantons, 3 of which 

 are divided each into 2 republics. The Federal 

 Assembly is composed of the National Council, 

 consisting of 147 members, elected for three 

 years by direct suffrage, and the Council of 

 States, in which each canton is represented by 2 

 members, chosen in some by direct popular suf- 

 frage, and by the cantonal Legislature in others. 

 These 2 bodies chose 7 Swiss citizens to serve for 

 three years in the Federal Council, which is the 

 chief executive authority of the confederation, 

 and every year, in December, the Federal Assem- 

 bly elects * one of these councilors to preside 

 over its deliberations and act as the representa- 

 tive head of the confederation. The Vice-Presi- 

 dent, who is elected at the same time as the 

 President, is by custom the one who is chosen to 

 succeed him in the following year. The follow- 

 ing citizens were the members of the Federal 

 Council in 1894 : President, Emil Frey, of Basel- 

 Land, Chief of the Military Department; Vice- 

 President and Chief of the Department of Posts 

 and Railroads, J. Zemp, of Lucerne ; Justice and 

 Police, E. Ruffy, of Vaud; Foreign Affairs and 

 Commerce, A. Lachenal, of Geneva; Finance 

 and Customs, W. Hauser, of Zurich; Industry 

 and Agriculture, A. Deucher, of Thurgau ; In- 

 terior, Dr. K. Schenk, of Bern. J. Zemp, on 

 Dec. 13, 1894, was elected President for 1895, 

 being the first ultramontane to hold that office. 

 A. Lachenal was elected Vice-President. 



Area and Population. The area of Switzer- 

 land is 15,976 square miles. The population i 

 1888 was 2,917,754. The number of marriaj 

 in 1893 was 21,884, and in 1892 the same ; 

 number of births was 88,099, against 86,265 ; the 

 number of deaths was 64,272, against 60,318: 

 excess of births, 23,827, against 25,947. The 

 number of emigrants was 6,177 in 1893. The 

 population of Zurich in 1894 was 119,706; of Ge- 

 neva, 77.444 ; of Basel, 77,686 ; of Bern, 47,974. 



Finances. The receipts of the Federal treas- 

 ury for 1893 were 78,226,526 francs, of which 

 37,'378,517 francs came from customs, 26,158,893 

 francs from the post office, 4,584,112 francs from 

 telegraphs and telephones, 3,547,043 francs from 

 the military arsenals, powder works, etc., 2,373,- 

 691 francs from the mint, 939,522 francs from in- 

 vested capital, 420,070 francs from real property, 

 and the remainder from the departments. 

 total expenditures were 86,301,439 francs, 

 which 32,320,076 francs were for the Militai 

 Department, 24,769,447 francs for the post offh 

 7.271,378 francs for finance and customs, 7,009,- 

 457 francs for the Department of the Interior, 

 including 5,471,974 francs for construction, 

 5,376,875 francs for the telegraph and telephone 

 service, and 4,764.997 francs for interest and 

 sinking fund of the debt. The active assets of 

 the Federal Government on Jan. 1, 1894, 

 amounted to 113,188,371 francs, including 17,- 

 332.568 francs of special funds. The Federal 

 liabilities amounted to 64,546,831 francs, paying 

 mostly 3| per cent, interest. 



Commerce. The value of the special cor 

 merce in 1893 was 827,522,000 francs for im- 

 ports and 646,451,000 francs for exports. The 

 imports of precious metals were 44,879,000 francs, 

 and the exports 48,696.000 francs. The heaviest 

 imports were: Silk, 133,400,000 francs; grain and 



