SWITZERLAND Switzerland. The republic of Switzerland is a confederation of twenty-two cantons, three being divided into half-cantons, situated Copyright 1892 in U.S. in the centre of Europe between by J. B. Lippincott France, Germany, Austria, and Company. Italy. The greatest length from east to west is 216 miles, the width from north to south being 137 miles; area, 15,981 sq. m. The population in 1850 was 2,392,740; in 1870, 2,669,147. The following table (arranged in alphabetical order) gives the results of the census of 1888. The German name is put first, followed by the French name in the German cantons, and conversely in the French ones. F. or G. or F.G. indicates that the language of the majority is French, or German, or both. When neither P. nor R.C. is appended, it is to be understood that the canton is partly Protestant and partly Catholic. 21 ever, no glaciers in eleven cantons. In the Central Alps the limit of perpetual snow varies from 9250 to 9020 feet. Geology. The geological structure, assisted by denudation, gives the country its picturesque character. In the south the chain of the Western and Central Alps consists of a series of crystalline masses lying south-west and north-east, covered on the northern slope by sedimentary rocks belonging to the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous formations. These coverings of sedimentary rocks are much folded, and overlap, forming limestone cliffs (Wetterhorn, Eiger, Jungfrau, &c.). To the north is the Jura range, a chain of regularly folded and anticlinal hills with longitudinal valleys often intersected by ravines. The wide plateau between the Jura and the Alps consists of tertiary deposits of sandstone and clay, partly lake and sea deposits; it is covered also by deposits of ancient glaciermoraines and gravels of the last glacial epoch. Few metallic deposits are to be found in Switzerland; those which exist cannot be worked owing to the irregularity of the veins. In Valais there are coal-formations metamorphosed into crystalline rocks, the coal being changed into anthracite of very irregular size. Salt is obtained in the 119,562 valley of the Rhine at Rheinfelden. See ALPS, JURA, &c. Pop. in 1888. 193,834 54,200 12,906 74,247 62,133 539,305 Area in sq. m. 106,738 Glarus (Fr. Glaris), G., P... Graubunden (Fr. Grisons), G.F Luzern (Fr. Lucerne), G., R.C. Neuchatel (Ger. Neuenburg), F St Gallen (Fr. St Gall), G. Schaffhausen (Fr. Schaff house), G., P.1501 114 Schwyz, G., R.C. 33,800 96,291 135,780 109,037 229,441 37,876 Climate. In a country where the height above the sea-level is from 646 feet-where the almond, the fig, and the olive ripen in the open air-to 15,217, the region of perpetual snow, there is great 50,396 variety in the climate. There is a variation of about 341 in the mean temperature; at Bellinzona it is 54 F.; at Geneva, 49°; Interlaken, 481°; at the Hospice on the Great St Bernard it falls to 30°, and on the Theodule Pass to 20°. 85,720 105,091 127,148 15,032 12,524 17,284 101,837 251,296 23,120 839,014 15,981 2,933,612 Surface. The area of Switzerland (15,981 sq. m., of which 11,443 are classed as 'productive' and 4538 as unproductive') is distributed over four river-basins-those of the Rhine, the Rhone, the Inn, and the Ticino, a tributary of the Po. The Confederation is bounded on the S. by a part of the main chain of the Eastern Alps, running from south-west to north-east, on the W. and NW. by the Jura, and on the N. by the Rhine. The Pennine Chain of the Alps lies to the south of the valley of the Rhone, on the north of which valley are the Bernese Alps extending from the Lake of Geneva to the Grimisel. East of the Bernese Alps is the St Gothard group, with its ramifications in the direction of Lucerne and Glarus. The Rhætian Alps are east of the Pennine Chain. A broad fertile plain extends from the Lake of Geneva to the Lake of Constance. The lowest level on Swiss territory is 646 feet on the banks of Lake Lugano; the highest is 15,217, the summit of Monte Rosa. Of the 4538 sq. m. of land classed as 'unproductive' 3229 are covered by rocks, moraine, &c., 711 by glaciers, 535 by lakes, and 63 by towns and villages. The largest lakes in Switzerland are those of Geneva and Constance; there are fifteen which cover an area of over 3 sq. m. each. There are numerous waterfalls, the highest (1002 feet) being the Staubbach in the Bernese Oberland. The Falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen are upwards of 80 feet in height, and have been called a 'miniature Niagara.' There are about 470 glaciers, the largest being the Gross Aletsch, 15 miles in length. In Valais a greater surface is covered by glaciers than in any other canton; there are, how Language. The population is composed of four distinct ethnical elements. The language of 71.3 per cent. of the population (2,092,479) is German; of 218 (637,710), French; of 5.3 (156,482), Italian; of 16 (46,941), Romansch or Ladin. Religion.-By the federal constitution liberty of conscience and belief is declared to be inviolable, and the free exercise of worship is guaranteed within the limits compatible with public order and decency. No bishopric can be established in Switzerland without the consent of the Confederation. There is no federal church, each canton has its own ecclesiastical constitution and organisation, and the majority of the citizens can dispose of the church funds (derived from a variety of sources) belonging to each canton. By the census of 1888, 1,724,869 (58.8 per cent.) are Protestants, 1,189,662 (405) are Catholics, 8384 (0:3) are Jews, and 10,697 (0-4) belong to other confessions. Constitution and Government.-The republic of Switzerland became a federal state (Bundestaat) in 1848 previously it consisted of a league of semi-independent states or cantons. The present constitution, based on laws passed in 1848 and revised in 1874, was constructed with the view of satisfying both cantonal and national elements, and is therefore essentially a work of compromise. It is the first constitution which was entirely the work of the Swiss without foreign influence, although its authors studied that of the United States. The political structure of Switzerland is built up in three tiers-the Commune, the Canton, and the Federal Assembly. In the communes all local matters are administered by two governing bodies-the Communal Assembly (which is purely legislative), composed of all male citizens who have attained the age of twenty, and the Communal Council, the executive of the former body, by whom it is elected. Each canton has its own constitution and local government. The constitutions of the several cantons vary considerably, but all are based on the principle of the absolute sovereignty of the people, subject to certain restrictions chiefly regarding military and legal matters imposed by the federal constitution: they are subject also to the ratification of the Confederation. In Uri, the two half-cantons of Appenzell, and in Glarus there still exists the ancient Landsgemeinde, an open-air gathering of all those possessing votes, who meet every spring to legislate on cantonal affairs. These cantons possess a representative power in their Landrath, and an executive power in the Regierungsrath. In other cantons the citizens elect representatives to the cantonal council from electoral districts. The citizen of a commune is ipso facto citizen of the canton in which his commune is situated, and therefore votes in the election of the cantonal council. In the majority of cantons this body choose from among their own number an executive, who superintend all cantonal affairs and the government of the communes; the members also transact business with the federal government and with that of other cantons. The supreme legislative authority of the Confederation is vested in a parliament of two chambers, the Council of the States (Ständerath) and the National Council (Nationalrath), which represent the supreme government of the country, under reserve of the referendum or vote of the people. The Council of the States consists of forty-four members, each canton having two representatives, and each halfcanton one. The regulations as to their election and duration of term of office differ in each canton. The National Council consists of 147 members, elected in each canton in the proportion of one deputy for every 20,000 of the population. The electoral districts cannot be made up of parts of different cantons, and are fixed by the Federal Assembly after every census; the election takes place once every three years. Every male who has attained the age of twenty and possesses the rights of citizenship according to the constitution of his canton, is entitled to vote, and any voter other than a clergyman or an official appointed by the Federal Council is eligible for election as a representative. The sum of 16s. a day is paid during session to the members of the Council of the States and the National Council. These two chambers each elect a president and vice-president, and meet at Berne at least twice a year in June and December, together forming the Federal Assembly. This body controls the general administration of the Confederation; they alone can declare war, make peace, or conclude treaties with foreign powers. The executive authority of the Federal Assembly is deputed to the Federal Council composed of seven members, elected for a period of three years and each receiving a salary of £480 per annum, except the president, who receives £540. No canton can have more than one citizen in this council; its duties are divided among seven departments, one member being charged with the direction of each. The president of the Federal Council, who is also president of the Confederation, is chosen annually at a united meeting of the Council of the States and the National Council from among the members of the Federal Council. The president and the vice-president (who is chosen at the same time) are elected for one year, and cannot be reelected within twelve months of the expiration of their term of office. Referendum and Initiative.-These are two political institutions peculiar to Switzerland, the furthest developments of democracy yet attained. In 1831 an article was introduced into the constitution of St Gall, declaring the sovereignty of the people, who have the right not only to pass their own laws, but also to veto them. This paved the way for the referendum, which has now spread throughout the whole Confederation, and by means of which all legislative acts passed in the Federal or Cantonal Assemblies may be referred to the people en masse. It is of two kinds, compulsory and optional, both as regards federal and cantonal matters. In those cantons where all laws adopted by the representative body of the canton must be submitted to the people it is compulsory; in those cantons where it may be demanded by a certain number of votes it is optional. With the exception of Freiburg, cantonal referendum exists in those cantons where there is no Landsgemeinde. In the majority of cantons 5000 signatures are required in order to obtain a referendum for cantonal laws. The compulsory referendum regarding federal legislation was established in 1848, but was then limited to the revision of the constitution. That of 1874 contains an article extending the exercise of the popular vote, when demanded by 30,000 citizens or eight cantons, to all laws and resolutions of a general nature passed by the Federal Assembly, this being the optional form of the federal referendum. Since the referendum was fully developed in 1874 it has been put in operation on an average once a year; the decisions have generally shown a conservative rather than a radical tendency on the part of the people. Initiative is the exercise of the right granted to voters to initiate proposals for the enactment of new laws or for the alteration or abolition of old ones. By this means the 'sovereign people' have always the power to bring forward the discussion of legislative matters, even in the event of their representatives in the government being unwilling to do so. Fifty thousand signatures are required to obtain the initiative regarding federal legislation, and in the majority of cantons 5000 for cantonal matters. Law and Justice.-With the exception of the Federal Bankruptcy Act, applicable throughout the whole of the Confederation, the procedure in civil and criminal matters varies in the different cantons. In the French cantons, with the exception of Geneva, the civil codes are based upon the Code Napoléon, while in the German cantons they differ considerably from each other, and are for the most part original. In Uri and Appenzell there exists not only a code, but customary laws, to which the court gives effect. In ten cantons representing twenty per cent. of the entire population capital punishment exists. By the federal constitution, no sentence of death can be pronounced for a political offence.' is Revenue and Expenditure. The revenue derived chiefly from the postal and telegraph services, the customs, powder manufactories, the tax for exemption from military service, and from the real property of the confederation; which together for some years past have produced an income of about £2,500,000. The estimated revenue for 1891 was £2,625,520, the expenditure being reckoned at £3,122,760; the deficit of £497,240 caused by the new armament of the troops and the construction of the fortifications on the St Gothard is covered by a federal loan (1889) of £1,000,000. The public debt in 1891 amounted to £2,166,000. There are two 3 per cent. loans of £240,000 (made in 1885) and of £2,760,000 (in 1890), the latter sum being invested in the shares of the largest Swiss railways, from which the Confederation obtains 43 per cent., and thus makes a certain profit. Each canton has its own budget of revenue and expenditure. The total cantonal debts do not exceed £11,096,400. The French metric system of money, &c. is in use throughout the Confederation. Army. The federal constitution forbids the maintenance of a standing army; still it declares |