Ifei-H'ir of lieiricirs, 1 1 11 fi 1. 



LEADING ARTICLES. 



%: 



WHAi SWITZERLAND HAS DONE. 



One of the articles in the special 

 Swiss number of Nord mid Slid gives 

 an account of the International Bureaux 

 at Berne. 



Dr. Emil Frey, the writer, explains 

 that there are four international bureaux 

 which have their seats in the federal 

 capital of Switzerland at the jjresent 

 time. The oldest, the Telegraphic 

 Union, dates from 1865. It was 

 founded by twenty States at Paris, and 

 to-day forty-nine States belong to it, 

 practically all the States of the civilised 

 -world, except the United States, Canada, 

 Mexico, China, and some of the repub- 

 lics of Central and South America. 



The next, perhaps the most important 

 and certainly the most ])opular, is th° 

 Postal Union, founded in 1S74, while 

 the Bureau at Berne was o])ened on Sep- 

 tember 15th, 1875. The chief jiromoter 

 of the Postal Union was the German 

 Postmaster-Cieneral von Stephan. I'o 

 this Union belong all the countries of 

 the civilised world except Abyssinia, 

 Afghanistan, China, and Morocco. 

 Congresses have been held at Lisl)on 

 A'^ienna, Washington, and Rome, and 

 man\' reforms ha\e l^een carried out. 



Director Ruffy is of opinion that the day 

 is not far distant when the penny post 

 will be universal throughout the world. 



The Patents and Trade Marks Union 

 was founded in Paris in 1883 by twenty- 

 two States. In 1886, Cop\'rights, or the 

 protection of " Intellectual Property," 

 was included. 



The youngest of the L'nions is the 

 Union of International Railways, its 

 birthplace being in Switzerland. After 

 several conferences at Berne an agree- 

 ment was arrived at which came into 

 force in 1893. .Sixteen States are said 

 to belong to it. 



In the same review Dr. Albert Gobat, 

 discussing some of the efforts which 

 have been made to bring about inter- 

 national peace, says the idea of univer- 

 sal peace had its beginnings in .Switzer- 

 land. In 1830 the first Peace Society 

 was founded by Count de Sellon at 

 Geneva, with the view of carrying on a 

 (ampaign m the cause of peace. A 

 Peace Congress was held in London in 

 1843, and since then there have been 

 many congresses, while the number of 

 oeace societies has become so large that 

 it would be almost impossible to enu- 

 merate them. 



THE OPENING OF THE PALACE OF PEACE AT THE HAGUE. 

 Qneen Wilhelmina, the Prince Consort, and the Queen Mother are seated in the Centre. 



[I'hoto. hy Van Ditinar, liottcrdam. 



