:sity of California

 
 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION
 
 THE EXAMPLE OF 
 SWITZERLAND 
 
 BY 
 
 FELIX BONJOUR 
 
 FORMER PRESIDENT OF SWISS NATIONAL COUNCIL 
 
 NEW YORK | 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 Copyright, 1920, by 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE majority of those who study the social 
 phenomena and the fluctuations of public opinion 
 resulting from the present war, agree in predict- 
 ing a considerable advance for the democratic 
 idea. This advance will not consist merely in 
 certain electoral reforms which governments will 
 be forced to concede while the war still continues. 
 Almost everywhere it is felt that a more exten- 
 sive and more energetic participation in the po- 
 litical life and government of the nations by the 
 democracies of those nations will be one of the 
 means of preventing a recurrence of catastrophes 
 such as those which have laid waste a portion of 
 the globe for four years. An Hungarian noble- 
 man, Count Karolyi, wrote to his electors a few 
 days ago: "The necessary preliminary to the 
 possibility of peace is the democratization of the 
 States, which would, as a result of this, be in 
 opposition to imperialistic excesses." 1 
 
 1 Since these lines were written, in August, 1918, unexpected 
 events in the theater of war have precipitated this movement. 
 It is almost unnecessary to call to remembrance the turn which 
 the democratization of the Central Powers has taken within 
 recent times. 
 
 v 
 
 2033415
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 There is, therefore, a peculiar interest, at this 
 juncture, in surveying the institutions of those 
 countries which in our own time have carried 
 farthest the application of the democratic idea. 
 In this, without doubt, Switzerland leads the 
 way. The practice of direct democracy has been 
 extended there to an extraordinary degree, and 
 the end is not yet. The aim of this little book is 
 to describe the mechanism of the democratic in- 
 stitutions peculiar to Switzerland and to explain 
 the effects of those institutions. It is not intended 
 to be either a scientific treatise of law or a collec- 
 tion of sensational disclosures. During the last 
 'few years, more than at any other time, our demo- 
 cratic institutions have been examined, both in 
 Switzerland and in other countries, by acute and 
 well qualified students. But up to the present 
 there has perhaps been no book in French giving 
 a comprehensive view of the subject, which was 
 written for readers other than politicians and 
 jurists which might be of interest even outside our 
 own country. Although these pages are intended 
 in the first instance for students of political move- 
 ments or fbr those who play an active part in 
 them, the author cherishes a hope that they will 
 be read by others who do not come within either 
 of these categories. This hope has led him to 
 give to his work a character likely to render it
 
 PREFACE vii 
 
 acceptable to those who usually find little to at- 
 tract them in questions of constitutional law. 
 
 I have just said that Switzerland was in the 
 vanguard of democratic evolution. That is con- 
 sequent upon her origin, her traditions and the 
 distinctly democratic nature of the groups which 
 founded the Swiss Confederation. It is the re- 
 sult, too, of her federal organization. There is 
 not one democracy in Switzerland; there are as 
 many democracies as there are cantons and demi- 
 cantons. The twenty-five more or less autono- 
 mous states which comprise the Confederation and 
 this Confederation itself are political laboratories, 
 always at work. They are all so many small 
 nations animated by a ceaseless desire to perfect 
 their political organization and to develop their 
 democratic institutions. Politically Switzerland 
 offers a picture almost as varied in its character as 
 it does physically. All forms of popular govern- 
 ment are, or have been, practiced in Switzerland, 
 and the results of all of them can be studied there 
 at the present time. The cantons borrow one 
 from another those forms of government which 
 appear to succeed best. When some new institu- 
 tion has. worked well in the majority of the can- 
 tons, the Confederation, in its turn, adopts it and 
 applies it in its own peculiar province. This was 
 what happened in the case of democratic insti-
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 tutions. It was the cantons that imposed them 
 upon the Confederation. 
 
 Since it is the federative organization of Swit- 
 zerland which has permitted this democratic 
 growth, it seems appropriate to begin with a dis- 
 cussion of the Swiss form of federalism.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE v 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND . i 
 
 II. THE EVOLUTION OF DEMOCRACY IN 
 
 SWITZERLAND ....... 23 
 
 III. THE LANDSGEMEINDE . ... . . . 40 
 
 IV. THE REFERENDUM 74 
 
 V. THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM . 92 
 
 VI. THE POPULAR INITIATIVE . . . . 116 
 
 VII. THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE . . 131 
 
 VIII. THE ELECTION OF THE GOVERNMENT AND 
 
 OFFICIALS BY THE PEOPLE . . . 144 
 
 IX. DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES AND THE 
 
 CHURCHES 159 
 
 X. COMPULSORY VOTING AND WOMAN SUF- 
 FRAGE 1 74 
 
 XI. PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION . . 180 
 
 XII. DEMOCRACY IN THE ARMY AND MAIN- 
 TENANCE OF NEUTRALITY .... 191 
 
 XIII. THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN SWIT- 
 ZERLAND 201 
 
 APPENDIX 215 
 
 INDEX 221
 
 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION
 
 REAL DEMOCRACY IN 
 OPERATION 
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 
 
 SWITZERLAND is a federal Republic consisting 
 of twenty-five states, cantons or demi-cantons, 
 which for a long time enjoyed almost absolute 
 sovereignty, but which, especially since 1848, 
 gradually ceded a large part of their sovereign 
 rights to the people of the Confederation as a 
 whole. Before 1848, the federal bond was weak, 
 the central government almost non-existent. The 
 central power was exercised by a Diet, in which 
 all the cantons were represented equally. The 
 members of the Diet could make decisions only 
 in accordance with their instructions from the can- 
 tons or after referring the questions to them. 
 The Constitution of 1848 the first permanent 
 Constitution worthy of the name that Switzerland 
 ever had involved a noteworthy change. After 
 the example of the United States, two Chambers
 
 2 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 were created, of which one, the National Council, 
 represented the people, and the other, the Council 
 of States, composed roughly on the model of the 
 old Diet, but without referendum and without in- 
 structions for its members, represented the can- 
 tons. The two Chambers elected jointly a cen- 
 tral executive authority the Federal Council. 
 Customs and posts were transferred from the can- 
 tons to the federal government. A single system 
 of weights and measures was introduced. There 
 was a Federal Court, which, however, was not 
 permanent, and a federal army made up of con- 
 tingents from the cantons. The Confederation 
 alone had the right of representing Switzerland 
 in foreign affairs. The constitutions of the can- 
 tons were subject to ratification by the Chambers. 
 The Constitution of 1874 added still further 
 to the functions of the central authority at the 
 expense of cantonal sovereignty, and a similar ten- 
 dency may be traced in nearly all the minor 
 changes which were subsequently adopted. The 
 Federal Tribunal was made permanent. The 
 greater part of the law was unified. The adminis- 
 tration of the army was entrusted to the Confed- 
 eration. The rights of the individual, in particu- 
 lar liberty of conscience and of belief and liberty 
 of commerce and of industry, were guaranteed by 
 the Confederation and placed under the protec-
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 3 
 
 tion of the Federal Council and the Federal Tri- 
 bunal. The principal railways were nationalized. 
 Popular rights, such as the referendum upon legis- 
 lation, already in operation in the majority of the 
 cantons, were introduced in their turn into the 
 Confederation and conferred fresh powers upon 
 the Swiss people. 
 
 This new federal State evidently differs widely 
 from the old one. There is federalism and fed- 
 eralism. That which Switzerland practices to-day 
 is of a decidedly diluted character. The federal- 
 ists of the early nineteenth century would have 
 held it in abhorrence. But in the process of time 
 absolute doctrines must perforce undergo modifi- 
 cations which would have seemed beyond the 
 range of possibility when they were first promul- 
 gated. 
 
 There has been much discussion among high 
 legal authorities upon the question whether, after 
 so many encroachments, the sovereignty of the 
 cantons still exists. A sovereign power is one 
 which prevails over all others. Can there be two 
 sovereign powers, or is there now in Switzerland 
 but one true sovereignty, that of the Confedera- 
 tion? Can the term sovereignty be properly ap- 
 plied to a cantonal autonomy which is continually 
 shrinking like the wild ass's skin of Balzac's fa- 
 mous novel? To these questions it is replied that
 
 4 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 sovereignty can be divided: Confederation and 
 cantons are alike sovereign in the particular 
 spheres assigned to them by the Constitution. I 
 leave to others the task of fathoming a problem of 
 purely theoretical interest, and confine myself to 
 stating that the Constitution declares the cantons 
 to be sovereign wherever they have not delegated 
 their powers to the Confederation. But, as I 
 have just shown, this sovereignty is gradually di- 
 minishing, and at the present moment it cuts a 
 poor figure beside that of the Confederation. 
 
 The advantages of the federal form of govern- 
 ment are well known. In L'Esprit des Lois, 
 Montesquieu gives a celebrated definition, from 
 which I quote the following passages: 
 
 "If a republic is small, it is destroyed by a 
 foreign power; if it is great, it is destroyed by in- 
 ternal weakness. . . . 
 
 "It appears that in the end men would have 
 been obliged to live always under the rule of a 
 single person, if they had not devised a form of 
 constitution which combines all the internal advan- 
 tages of a republic with the external strength of a 
 monarchy. I refer to the federal republic. This 
 form of government is an agreement by which 
 several political units consent to become citizens 
 of a greater State, which they wish to bring into 
 being. It is a society of societies; and the new
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 5 
 
 society thus created can enlarge itself by including 
 additional members. . . . This type of republic 
 is able not only to resist external oppression, but 
 also to preserve its greatness without internal cor- 
 ruption. The form of this society anticipates all 
 objections. . . . Composed .of small republics, 
 the federal State enjoys the goodwill of the gov- 
 ernments of all its constituent members ; while as 
 for foreign powers it possesses, by reason of the 
 strength derived from unity, all the advantages of 
 the great monarchies. . . ." 
 
 For Montesquieu, the aim of the federal State 
 is above all to maintain the existence of small 
 States by means of a league enabling them to 
 resist foreign ambition. In our time the con- 
 ception of federalism has widened. That of 
 Montesquieu applies rather to the Confederation 
 of States which existed in Switzerland before 
 1848 than to the federal Constitution (Bundes- 
 staat) which exists there at the present day. I 
 quote from another French writer, P. J. Buchez, 
 who was president of the Constituent Assembly of 
 1848, a passage which emphasizes the difference 
 clearly: "The essential characteristic of the fed- 
 eral State, which distinguishes it sharply from the 
 simple Confederation, is the existence of a regu- 
 larly constituted, permanent government. ... It 
 is also distinguished by the extension of the cen-
 
 6 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tral government's sphere of action. This consists 
 no longer merely in combining the forces of all in 
 defense of individual members, in guaranteeing 
 autonomy to each State, and finally in maintaining 
 peace in the last resort between, confederate 
 States; it consists also in guaranteeing the per- 
 sonal and political rights of citizens in every State, 
 and in imposing duties both upon the States them- 
 selves and upon the citizens." 
 
 The Swiss federal State goes beyond the defini- 
 tion given by Buchez. Besides the objects speci- 
 fied, the second article of the Constitution men- 
 tions the furtherance of common prosperity, and 
 thus adds to the purpose of the central authority 
 the realization of political, economic and social 
 progress, which is beyond the scope of the cantons 
 oil account of their small size. 
 
 No one has spoken upon federalism with 
 greater acumen than J. Dubs, of Zurich, a mem- 
 ber of the Federal Council before 1872 and one 
 of the few German-Swiss statesmen of our time 
 who have given their adhesion to the principle. 
 I have more than one quotation to make in this 
 chapter; but this one, I believe, is particularly rele- 
 vant, coming, as it does, from a man who for many 
 years played a brilliant part in the political affairs 
 both of his canton and of the Confederation. 
 "The federal State," wrote Dubs in his Manuel
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 7 
 
 de Drolt public, "combines two things which used 
 to appear incompatible, the unity of national 
 power and the maintenance of the widest indi- 
 vidual liberty. In a great unitary State, the first 
 of these elements often develops more effectively, 
 but the necessary complement of such a political 
 system is a stricter general order in all spheres, 
 supported by an army, a police force, and bureau- 
 cratic institutions which leave little freedom to the 
 individual and can only grant any true measure 
 of liberty at the risk of its degenerating into li- 
 cense. In the small cantonal State, on the other 
 hand, the individual life of localities, districts and 
 persons and their individual liberty have the 
 fullest scope for free development. Within its 
 narrow boundaries, this State fosters in us an 
 appreciation for well-ordered administration and 
 forms enlightened citizens, honest workmen, and 
 a people acting disinterestedly for the common 
 good. Survey the countries of the world; you may 
 find elsewhere greater political achievements, but 
 assuredly in no country will you meet so many 
 good citizens of independent opinions and sound 
 practical judgment; nowhere so great a number 
 of public men who succeed in fulfilling their func- 
 tions in minor spheres with dignity and skill; no- 
 where so large a proportion of persons who, out- 
 side their daily round interest themselves so keenly
 
 8 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 in the welfare and in the difficulties of their fel- 
 low citizens, who take so cordial a share in all 
 their country's rejoicings and display so active a 
 sympathy in all public misfortunes. ... It is to 
 the small cantonal State that we owe the posses- 
 sion of this rich treasure; in it we have a school 
 for our political life. ..." 
 
 One thing is certain; no form of constitution 
 is more appropriate for our country than the 
 federal. With his penetrating glance, Bonaparte 
 had no difficulty in discerning it when the one and 
 indivisible Republic imposed on Switzerland in 
 1798 had ended in lamentable failure. His Act 
 of Mediation restored federalism. In the audience 
 which he gave at St. Cloud on the i2th December, 
 1803, to the Swiss delegates who had come to col- 
 laborate in the drafting of this Act, the First 
 Consul explained with remarkable force the mo- 
 tives which must rally them in favor of federal- 
 ism. "The more I reflect on the nature of your 
 country and on the diversity of your constituent 
 elements," he told them, "the more I am con- 
 vinced of the impossibility of subjecting it to a 
 uniform system; everything leads you towards 
 federalism. Consider, for example, the difference 
 between your mountaineers and your townspeople. 
 Would you wish to compel the democratic cantons 
 to live under the same government as the towns,
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 9 
 
 or on the other hand would you dream of intro- 
 ducing pure democracy into the latter, into Bern, 
 for instance? The unitary system requires for its 
 maintenance a permanent armed force, which 
 would have to be paid, and your finances could not 
 support the burden except by heavy taxation. 
 Your people does not like taxation. . . . You are 
 not in a position to establish a central govern- 
 ment. Lucky circumstances have placed me at 
 the head of the French Government, but I con- 
 sider myself incapable of governing the Swiss. 
 Already you have difficulty in finding a president 
 (Landammann). If he comes from Zurich, the 
 people of Bern are dissatisfied, and vice versa; 
 if you elect a Protestant, the Catholics will oppose. 
 And when you had found everything to meet your 
 desires, if I happened to make some demand upon 
 the central government, it would have to grant 
 it to me. If, however, I have to address myself 
 to an isolated canton, each one declares the matter 
 outside its competence; the Diet has to be sum- 
 moned this takes two months and the storm 
 passes. I am speaking to you as if I were a 
 Swiss myself. In small States, the federal system 
 confers unquestionable advantages. I myself 
 come from a mountainous country. I know the 
 spirit which inspires your countrymen; no unity, 
 no troops, no finances, no diplomatic representa-
 
 10 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tives in other States. Switzerland has to confine 
 itself to the good administration of its domestic 
 affairs; its pride must be in the triple equality of 
 canton with canton, of the townspeople one with 
 another, and of the towns with the country, and 
 for the rest it must rely upon the friendship of 
 France." 
 
 The federal theory of Napoleon was in con- 
 formity with his plan of keeping a weak Switzer- 
 land in dependence on a powerful France. At the 
 present day, contrary to the prediction of the First 
 Consul, Switzerland possesses a central govern- 
 ment, an army, a diplomatic service and a debt 
 which the mobilization of troops necessitated by 
 the war of 1914-18 has increased tenfold; but 
 there is much truth in what the Mediator said in 
 relation to the Switzerland of his time, and it 
 remains true that in a country so lacking in any 
 kind of uniformity as Switzerland, with its dif- 
 ferences of race, language, religion, habits and 
 occupations, some type of federalism is a neces- 
 sity. So diverse a population requires not a single 
 political system, but institutions which take the 
 widest possible account of these multifarious dif- 
 ferences and leave a broad measure of liberty to 
 all. 
 
 During the last thirty years, a tendency towards 
 centralization manifested itself in Switzerland so
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND n 
 
 pronouncedly that the country might easily have 
 found itself transformed into a unitary State. 
 There appears now to be a slight reaction, and it 
 seems to be better appreciated that in renouncing 
 federalism root and branch the loss in union and 
 internal strength would exceed any conceivable 
 gain in material advancement. A short time ago 
 an eminent professor of Zurich University, M. 
 Fr. Fleiner, demonstrated conclusively that fed- 
 eralism is an essential condition for the existence 
 of Switzerland, and that it would be a grave mis- 
 take to despoil the cantons of all power and sup- 
 press their entire political life. "In the Swiss fed- 
 eral State," wrote the Zurich professor, "the de- 
 fense of federalist ideas has resulted, from the 
 point of view of politics, in protecting the Catholic 
 minority against the Liberal and Protestant ma- 
 jority, and also in protecting the French and 
 Italian minority against the German-speaking ma- 
 jority." Although the Confederation has pro- 
 vided effective guarantees for the personal rights 
 of Swiss citizens, the cantons form the basis pf 
 the country and its democracy, and from them the 
 Confederation has borrowed institutions which 
 give a large measure of direct control to the 
 people. M. Fleiner recalls Jacob Burkhardt's 
 happy remark: "The small State exists to provide 
 one spot upon the earth where members of as
 
 many nations as possible may be citizens in the 
 complete sense of the word." The preservation 
 of this civic culture is, indeed, one of the chief 
 services which the cantons perform for themselves 
 and for the Confederation of which they form 
 part. Furthermore, the federal Constitution en- 
 shrines the principle that German, French and 
 Italian are the national languages of the Con- 
 federation. Now, the fact that, in Western 
 Switzerland and in the Ticino district the French 
 and Italian elements are definitely and perma- 
 nently incorporated in cantons, enables them to 
 erect a barrier of public law against German, 
 which is a far better safeguard for these two 
 languages and civilizations than any they could 
 hope to enjoy in a unitary State. Switzerland, it 
 must be remembered, is compensated for the 
 smallness of her territory by the diversity of her 
 spiritual characteristics and the richness of her 
 three cultures, each of which, through the can- 
 tons, is guaranteed representation in the federal 
 political institutions. 
 
 M. Fleiner concludes that, although the two 
 terms centralization and federalism are almost 
 invariably used in antithesis in modern discus- 
 sions, they are discovered upon closer examination 
 to be complementary to each other; and that the 
 prosperity and progress of the Confederation de-
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 13 
 
 pend upon their working together in harmony. 
 Tfiis conclusion appears sound. National con- 
 sciousness is a necessity; but cantonal conscious- 
 ness, too, has a useful part to play, so long as it 
 does not degenerate into selfishness and paro- 
 chialism. 
 
 The Vaudois writer, Eugene Rambert, gave a 
 very happy definition of this aim of Swiss feder- 
 alism: "A German majority tolerating a French 
 minority, a Protestant majority tolerating a Cath- 
 olic minority, a certain number of relatively strong 
 and populous States sailing with the vanguard 
 down the stream of modern life, tolerating the 
 slowness of the old pastoral democracies where 
 centuries are but as years that is the mission im- 
 posed by Nature upon Switzerland." Very appo- 
 site, too, is the formula of M. P. Seippel, who says 
 that the national ideal of Switzerland is to light 
 the path for the nations of the world by proving 
 that it is possible to weld into a free and fruitful 
 unity diverse races, diverse languages and diverse 
 "cultures." . 
 
 The division of sovereign powers between the 
 Confederation and the cantons constitutes the 
 principal difficulty of the federal system as it 
 exists in Switzerland to-day. The Swiss system 
 is unique in that the sphere of the central author- 
 ity and that of the cantons are not separated into
 
 14 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 water-tight compartments, as, for example, in the 
 United States. There are certain sections of the 
 administration which have been entirely central- 
 ized and in which the Confederation enjoys the 
 sole control of a staff of officials and workmen; 
 the customs and postal service are examples. In 
 others such as civil law the Confederation 
 legislates, but the cantons organize the courts and 
 appoint the judges, who, at least in the first in- 
 stance, administer the law. For the execution of 
 very many federal laws, the military laws among 
 others, the Confederation has no agents of its own 
 and makes use of the officials of the cantons, which 
 are to this extent placed in a subordinate position 
 in relation to the federal authority. Elsewhere, 
 notably in elementary and secondary education, 
 direct taxation, relief of the poor, local organiza- 
 tion and the bulk of public works, the sovereignty 
 of the cantons has remained almost intact. Op- 
 portunities for friction are not lacking, but in 
 normal times any difficulties which may arise are 
 overcome with little effort. 
 
 Of late, the competence of the Confederation 
 has increased to such an extent that the federal- 
 ists, fearful of soon witnessing th complete tri- 
 umph of the unitary system, have on several oc- 
 casions sounded an alarm. The extension of fed- 
 eral powers was not brought about by theoretical
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 15 
 
 considerations. It sprang from the necessities of 
 the situation and nearly always corresponded with 
 undisputable public interests. Every time the 
 question of centralizing anything or making any- 
 thing uniform is raised in Switzerland, good argu- 
 ments are discovered in abundance. The centra- 
 lization of military training explained itself. That 
 of law, especially of law relating to commerce, 
 was imposed in the name of very urgent needs. 
 Twenty-five systems of civil law in a country of 
 less than four million inhabitants created numer- 
 ous complications and hindered intercourse be- 
 tween citizens of different cantons. The recent war 
 demonstrated the great value of the National 
 Bank and of a uniform issue of banknotes. The 
 nationalization of the railways was demanded for 
 weighty reasons ranging from military defense to 
 the development of the system and the services it 
 was called upon to render. In the domain of hy- 
 draulic power, where streams and rivers simply 
 ignore the boundaries of cantons, federal legisla- 
 tion was a necessity. Food control could not stop 
 at cantonal boundaries without running the risk 
 of evasion at every turn. For the purpose of 
 patent laws, the protection of forests and public 
 insurance, the sphere of action of the canton was 
 seen to be inadequate. And so forth. But where 
 will it end? According to the extreme partisans
 
 16 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 of centralization, there is no end. The last rem- 
 nants of military administration in the cantons, 
 judicial organization and procedure would all be 
 centralized; the Confederation would interfere in 
 elementary education, in the relief of the poor, 
 and in the affairs of local authorities within the 
 canton; it would levy a direct tax; it would create 
 a federal police, etc. The slope is extremely slip- 
 pery; one step is all that is required. 
 
 Buchez, whom I quoted just now, foresaw this 
 evolution. "It appears," wrote he, "that the es- 
 tablishment of a permanent and regularly consti- 
 tuted central authority, which in a word forms the 
 government, must surely involve the transforma- 
 tion of a Confederation of States into a federal 
 State and of a federation into a unitary State ; that 
 is to say, it must involve the conversion of States 
 which at first are completely independent into 
 united States, and then of the latter into mere 
 provinces, or in other words into local adminis- 
 trative authorities enjoying simply the kind of 
 autonomy requisite for the free and efficient dis- 
 charge of public business. A government is neces- 
 sarily an institution of progress. However mod- 
 erate it may desire to be, whatever suspicions 
 it may entertain about its own tendencies, which 
 are to increase its power incessantly, nevertheless 
 it will go forward. It will act, and when its
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 17 
 
 activity is not absorbed by foreign affairs, it will 
 have to exercise firmness in domestic matters. 
 ... It will be the representative of some idea or 
 of some doctrine whose triumph it will strive to 
 achieve. Thus it will inaugurate the work of uni- 
 fication, and in the end by gradual stages it will 
 fashion a single State out of a number of States 
 or a single people out of a number of peoples, as 
 the case may be. . . ." 
 
 But then what becomes of the benefits of 
 federalism and of the political life of the can- 
 tons? There is something contradictory here: 
 every State is urged forward, pursuing its aims 
 and extending its activities, while at the same time, 
 for the maintenance of some degree of federal- 
 ism, the Confederation must call a halt at a given 
 moment and voluntarily renounce all further en- 
 largement of its powers. 
 
 Louis Ruchonnet, one of the most remarkable 
 statesmen produced by the French part of Swit- 
 zerland, used to say that whatever the Confedera- 
 tion could undertake better than the cantons 
 should be ceded to the Confederation, and what- 
 ever the cantons could undertake better than the 
 Confederation should be left to them. The prin- 
 ciple is sound but rather elastic. There are cases 
 in which differences of opinion will arise upon the 
 expediency of its application, and also upon the
 
 i8 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 results of the activity of the respective authori- 
 ties. The Protestant cantons would raise no ob- 
 jection to the interference of the Confederation 
 in elementary education. The Catholic cantons 
 and the French-speaking cantons, however, would 
 oppose it energetically. In addition, most meas- 
 ures of a centralizing character unfortunately 
 result in increasing the number of officials, 
 strengthening the bureaucracy and adding to the 
 class of citizens who, owing to their almost exclu- 
 sive dependence on the central authority, are in- 
 capacitated from appreciating any needs other 
 than their own. This consequence was illustrated 
 quite recently in the alacrity with which federal 
 officials have accepted the idea of the permanent 
 imposition of a direct federal tax, the introduc- 
 tion of which would be one of the most serious 
 infringements of the privileges still enjoyed by the 
 cantons. 
 
 Happily for federalism, the centralizing ten- 
 dency is confronted with obstacles, the impor- 
 tance of which is not to be despised. Among these 
 is the referendum which on more than one occa- 
 sion has scotched premature attempts in the direc- 
 tion of centralization. I shall deal fully with 
 this in a later chapter. Every amendment of the 
 Constitution requires a majority of votes both in 
 the whole country and in a majority of cantons.
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 19 
 
 This provides an effective safeguard against ex- 
 cessive centralization. Although the Catholics 
 are mainly concerned for the protection of their 
 schools and the confessional, they have combined 
 more than once with the French-speaking minority 
 to administer a check to inopportune centraliza- 
 tion. These two minorities, for example, suc- 
 ceeded in 1872 in defeating a constitution which 
 was of too centralizing a character for the time. 
 Another check and the one which ought to be 
 the strongest is the realization of the advan- 
 tages derived from the political life of the cantons 
 and of the risks incurred by an over-rapid cen- 
 tralization which might shatter the internal har- 
 mony of the country. 
 
 A Zurich historian, M. Nabholz, lectured re- 
 cently on the struggle in favor of centralization in 
 Swiss institutions from 1291 to 1848. After 
 showing the triumph of extreme federalism in the 
 origin of the Constitution and the resultant obsta- 
 cles to its logical development for centuries on 
 end, he comes to the conclusion that the majority 
 of the Swiss people, in exercising within the fed- 
 eral State the power of imposing laws upon a 
 minority, must be conscious of the danger involved 
 in an ever greater extension of the competence of 
 the federal authority at the expense of the can- 
 tons. Its duty, he urges, is by its own exertions
 
 20 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 and good judgment to prevent modern Switzer- 
 land from following in the footsteps of the fed- 
 eral Switzerland of former times; let her beware 
 of narrow doctrinairism and of applying the domi- 
 nant principle in extreme cases. Along that path 
 lies the risk of stifling the characteristic activities 
 of the people and ultimately the very disaster to 
 which she was brought by a narrow and exagger- 
 ated federalism. 
 
 Nothing could be more to the point. 
 
 If I were asked to suggest a suitable policy, I 
 should say that for a new centralization or unifi- 
 cation to be justifiable it must be unquestionably 
 indispensable and it must serve some obvious na- 
 tional interest. The federal idea should pre- 
 dominate in doubtful cases. Moreover, one must 
 be careful not to outrun public opinion, or, as E. 
 Rambert said, not to exceed the degree of cen- 
 tralization or unification compatible with the 
 spirit of the age. "Some measures of centraliza- 
 tion which have made their appearance prema- 
 turely have been carried twenty, thirty or forty 
 years after their first rejection. If progress is to 
 be generally acceptable, it must be slow and free, 
 and the people must have time to adapt them- 
 selves to the new order. The less the Confedera- 
 tion develops into a bureaucracy, the more chance 
 it will have of escaping unpopularity and resist-
 
 FEDERALISM IN SWITZERLAND 21 
 
 ance. Whenever it can make use of the cantonal 
 organization, it should do so, even at the cost of 
 some inconvenience. Finally, it must shun like the 
 Devil anything which might be construed as an at- 
 tack upon that precious equality of the national 
 languages which is one of the very foundations of 
 our union." M. Virgile Rossel summed up ex- 
 actly the guiding principle of a sound federal 
 policy when he wrote in a recent article in La Bib- 
 liotheque Universelle: "Every act of centraliza- 
 tion which is not ruled by the supreme aims of the 
 State saps the strength of true equality among the 
 races, and excites distrust and bitterness fatal to 
 federal goodwill. Switzerland loses in union what 
 she gains in unity." 
 
 Evidently the federal or federative State is a 
 somewhat complicated institution in which the 
 statesman can succeed only by means of compro- 
 mise. Nevertheless I consider it the political sys- 
 tem of the future. Many great countries seem to 
 be tending towards a federative organization. It 
 is so with the British Empire; it may be so with 
 Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Balkan States. 
 At the moment, the Swiss Confederation the 
 oldest of all and the United States of America 
 represent the completest types of this political or- 
 ganization. They are, and have long been, free 
 and democratic Confederations. While Switzer-
 
 22 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 land is a federative State, she is also pre-eminently 
 a democratic State. I shall examine later the dem- 
 ocratic features which are so strongly marked in 
 its institutions. And here I will end a chapter 
 which Sterne would have called the chapter of 
 quotations.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 
 
 IF there is one principle upon which all the 
 people of Switzerland are agreed, it is the prin- 
 ciple of popular sovereignty. Mountaineers of 
 Uri, embroiderers of St. Gall, wealthy manufac- 
 turers of Zurich, agriculturists of Bern and Vaud, 
 watchmakers of Neuchatel, financiers of Basel and 
 Geneva, Liberals, Radicals and Socialists, Catho- 
 lics and Protestants alike all of them, divided as 
 their opinions are upon so many questions, admit 
 to-day that sovereignty rests with the people, and 
 that a democratic system is the most suitable of 
 all for Switzerland. It was not always thus 
 throughout Switzerland; but democracy flourished 
 at the dawn of Swiss history, and, after a partial 
 eclipse which in some cantons lasted for centuries, 
 it flourishes again at the present stage of the coun- 
 try's historical and political evolution. It would 
 seem as if republicanism and democracy were in 
 the air we breathe, and that our lofty mountains 
 have inspired in our people that spirit of inde- 
 pendence in which they have so rarely been found 
 
 23
 
 24 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 wanting. This characteristic was prominent as 
 early as the time of the Helvetii, on the occasion 
 when their chief, Orgetorix, took his own life 
 rather than suffer execution because the people 
 suspected him of aspiring to the position of king. 
 Later, at the end of the thirteenth century, when 
 the mountaineers and peasants of Uri, Schwyz, 
 and Unterwalden banded together in a defensive 
 alliance against the ambitions and oppressions of 
 the house of Hapsburg, the institution known as 
 the Landsgemeinde was already in existence in 
 their land. In the Landsgemeinde the freemen 
 of the community made their own laws. In the 
 thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Lands- 
 gemeinde, with more or less extensive powers, is 
 found not only in Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, 
 but also in Zug, Glarus, Appenzell, Urseren, Ein- 
 siedeln, Engelberg, Hasli, and Obersimmenthal, 
 in Toggenburg, Bellinzone, in the Blenio valley, 
 as well as in the lands of the Archbishopric of 
 Basel, situated among the Jura Alps. The Lands- 
 gemeinde of Toggenburg numbered up to 10,000 
 participants. 
 
 Historians connect the Landsgemeinde with the 
 analogous institution of the Germanic folkmoot; 
 but whereas the latter gradually declined and lost 
 its prerogatives, the Swiss communities succeeded 
 in consolidating and extending theirs. The Swiss
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 25 
 
 Landsgemeinden became autonomous courts of 
 justice and assemblies in which laws were passed 
 and all the important business of the State trans- 
 acted. They were even thrown open to those 
 hitherto excluded on account of their inferior legal 
 status. It is extremely interesting to trace the 
 development of this democratic institution from 
 that time to the present, when it still exists, at 
 least in the primitive cantons, with many of the 
 powers which it formerly exercised. Of the course 
 of this democratic evolution in the various can- 
 tons, great and small, I can here give only a short 
 summary. Those readers who require fuller de- 
 tails will find them in the book by M. Th. Curti on 
 popular legislation in Switzerland. 1 Moreover, 
 in my rapid survey of the outstanding features of 
 the subject, I shall follow M. Curti's treatment. 
 The city-republic of Bern had no Landsge- 
 meinde, but during the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- 
 turies we see it recognizing to some extent the 
 principle of popular sovereignty by adopting a 
 method of consulting the people similar to that 
 which to-day we call the referendum. At the time 
 of the religious strife of the sixteenth century, 
 highly important questions concerning the enlist- 
 ment of mercenary troops, alliances with foreign 
 States, the celibacy of priests and the different ar- 
 
 1 Translated into French by M. J. Ronjat.
 
 26 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tides of faith, were decided by the majority of the 
 people. The voting took place in the open air on 
 the public spaces of each ward, often under the 
 direction of the members of the Council. Usually 
 from the age of fourteen, every man took part, 
 and the function of the Councilors was to see 
 that no qualified person failed to vote. The re- 
 sults for the whole State of Bern were calculated 
 by counting the votes by wards; each ward, 
 whether its inhabitants numbered 100 or 1,000 
 counted the same. It was by this very system, 
 known as the "Plus," that the manors in Vaud 
 belonging jointly to Bern and Freiburg, had to 
 make their choice between Catholicism and Prot- 
 estantism. The "plus" resulted in the adoption 
 of Protestantism by the district of Orbe and the 
 retention of Catholicism in Echallens. But when 
 the patricians of Bern felt strong enough, they 
 ceased to have recourse to the referendum and 
 themselves assumed the sovereign power without 
 restriction. From 1653 until the nineteenth cen- 
 tury the people of Bern were consulted no more. 
 
 In Valais, too, there existed a kind of referen- 
 dum, the federal character of which is easily ex- 
 plained by the internal diversity of the country. 
 Twice a year, in December and May, representa- 
 tives of the seven dizains or districts met in Coun- 
 cil together in the episcopal castle of Majorie at
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 27 
 
 Sion. There they made decisions ad referendum, 
 that is to say, subject to ratification by their com- 
 patriots. The voting power of the dizains was 
 equal. Institutions providing for the consultation 
 of the people existed also in Grisons and Zurich. 
 Unfortunately, at Zurich as at Bern and else- 
 where, oligarchic intrigues got the better of these 
 popular rights and substituted for them the almost 
 unlimited domination of the urban artistocracy. 
 
 At Geneva the power of legislation belonged 
 to the whole body of citizens on the general Coun- 
 cil. No discussion was permitted, and the votes 
 were taken individually and orally by the officials 
 deputed to record them. The aristocracy of 
 Geneva labored unceasingly to restrict this privi- 
 lege, which intrepid citizens defended with a pas- 
 sion which in 1707 cost a lawyer, named Fatio, 
 and a number of others their lives. One of the 
 upholders of the rights of the people, Jacques 
 Barthelemy Micheli, was degraded from the no- 
 bility and deprived of all his property. He was 
 condemned to death, but his life was spared and 
 he remained for eighteen years a prisoner in the 
 hands of the oligarchy of Bern. Micheli was one 
 of the harbingers of modern Swiss democracy. 
 He urged the adoption of the popular initiative 
 and desired that the people should enjoy facilities 
 for expressing approval or disapproval of the de-
 
 28 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 cisions of the Council. These efforts were not in 
 vain. In 1738, through the mediation of France, 
 Zurich and Bern, the people of Geneva received 
 a constitution which restored to the general coun- 
 cil the power of legislation, that is, the power to 
 accept or reject proposals for new laws or amend- 
 ments to existing laws. To these champions and 
 martyrs of the cause of popular sovereignty must 
 be added the name of Henzi, a citizen of Bern, 
 executed in 1749 for attempting the overthrow 
 of the Bernese aristocracy. He left a memoir in 
 which he demanded that the governing body 
 should be elected by the people ; that laws should 
 merely be drafted by that body and always sub- 
 mitted to the general assembly of the people for 
 approval or rejection. It is not good to be in 
 advance of one's age, even in regard to constitu- 
 tional rights which were accepted almost without 
 question in earlier ages. 
 
 It would be inexcusable to proceed with the 
 story of Swiss democracy without some reference 
 to the famous eighteenth-century writer whose 
 works, after exerting an enormous influence on the 
 French Revolution, have become, as it were, the 
 gospel of modern democracy. In his Central 
 Social, published in 1762, Jean Jacques Rousseau 
 proclaimed and defended brilliantly the principle 
 of popular sovereignty, the theory and practice of
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 29 
 
 which he illustrated from the history of the 
 ancient world and of Geneva. With strictly logi- 
 cal reasoning, he declared himself against every 
 kind of popular representation in the making of 
 laws. For Rousseau legislation must be the ex- 
 pression of the general will. The latter includes 
 all particular wills without exception. The right 
 is the same for everybody. This general will can- 
 not be alienated, and representation is a form of 
 alienation. A representative is a person or collec- 
 tion of persons which the nation substitutes for 
 itself to act for it and to which it assigns all its 
 powers. But, under this system, the nation is free 
 only upon the day of the election, after which 
 it is at the mercy of its representative. This 
 amounts to at least a temporary alienation of na- 
 tional liberty. The nation, he contended, may 
 quite properly have commissaries, mandatories or 
 officials provided that their mandate is specific 
 and revocable and their responsibility effectively 
 determined; it may not have representatives who 
 substitute their will for its own. As for the prac- 
 tical difficulty of gathering together the entire 
 people in large countries to pass laws, Rousseau 
 did not solve it. Instead of going on to consider 
 the referendum and initiative, he concluded that 
 the sovereign people cannot continue to exercise 
 its powers unless the State is very small.
 
 30 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 It was left to the French Revolution to attempt 
 the first practical application of Rousseau's theo- 
 ries of popular sovereignty, and then to contem- 
 porary Switzerland to work them out thoroughly 
 and methodically. An early experiment with the 
 principle was made in France when the Consti- 
 tution of 1793 was submitted to the people and 
 accepted in the towns and departments which 
 were not occupied by the enemy by 1,601,918 
 votes to 11,610. This was the first occasion on 
 which voting took place over a wide area. The 
 Constitution gave to the people the right to pro- 
 test against laws proposed by the representative 
 body; with this "veto" I shall deal later in con- 
 nection with St. Gall. This Constitution, how- 
 ever, remained a dead letter. The doctrine of the 
 famous revolutionary theorist, Gracchus Babceuf 
 and his following, received no better consideration 
 from the makers of constitutions. This school in- 
 sisted that legislators should confine themselves to 
 drafting the laws, which were to be submitted to 
 the people in what they called assemblies of sov- 
 ereignty. They also desired to confer upon the peo- 
 ple the right of proposing new laws and repealing 
 old ones, i.e., the popular initiative so frequently 
 made use of in Switzerland for over fifty years. 
 
 The ephemeral unitary Constitution of the 
 20th May, 1802, although it scarcely came into
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 31 
 
 operation, forms an epoch in the history of the 
 rights of the people in Switzerland. It was the 
 first to be submitted to a popular vote. Thus 
 it marks the introduction of the referendum on 
 constitutional questions. This Constitution was 
 drafted by a number of influential leaders and 
 submitted to a vote of all citizens over twenty 
 years of age. The vote took place locally; voters 
 were given four days in which to record their ac- 
 ceptance or rejection in the official registers. The 
 votes of those who abstained were counted as in 
 favor of acceptance. It was to this provision that 
 the Constitution owed its adoption. 72,453 citi- 
 zens replied in its favor, and 92,423 against it; 
 167,172 abstained from voting. 
 
 The early part of the nineteenth century was 
 not favorable to popular rights. In a number of 
 cantons the conservative and aristocratic parties 
 had regained the upper hand, and many Liberals, 
 disgusted by the excesses of the French Revolu- 
 tion, were inclined to see in the representative sys- 
 tem the ne plus ultra of democracy and the means 
 of assuring the ascendency of the most enlightened 
 in the sphere of legislation. The revolution of 
 1830 was required to give fresh motive power to 
 the democratic idea. Under inspiration from 
 France, many cantons revised their constitutions, 
 adopted universal suffrage in place of a narrow
 
 32 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 electoral qualification, proclaimed equal rights for 
 town and country, freedom of the press, freedom 
 of industry, etc. The initiative in legislation was 
 no longer monopolized by governments, but 
 shared by them with the Grand Councils. 
 
 In 1831 the system of popular legislation scored 
 a decisive success with the institution of the veto 
 in the canton of St. Gall. This veto, an imperfect 
 and complicated form of the referendum, was 
 applicable to all proposals affecting civil or crim- 
 inal law, to treaties, and to general measures of 
 finance and administration. Laws came into op- 
 eration 45 days after their promulgation unless 
 the people refused to accept them. This refusal 
 was brought about in the following way. Fifty 
 citizens of a commune could requisition the hold- 
 ing of a meeting of the commune. If at this meet- 
 ing the proposal obtained a majority, all the citi- 
 zens of the commune, including those who had 
 voted against it, were counted as in favor of accep- 
 tance. If on the contrary there .were a majority 
 against the proposal, only those who had voted 
 against it were counted as opposing it. Those 
 who did not attend the meeting, were counted as 
 in favor. When, in the whole of the canton, the 
 number of votes against the proposal reached a 
 majority of the electorate, the proposal was re- 
 jected.
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 33 
 
 This veto was instituted, with some variations, 
 in. 1832 in Basel-Stadt and in 1841 at Lucerne. 
 Valais also introduced it into its Constitution in 
 1839, and later in 1844 in a form approximating 
 more closely to the referendum: the citizens 
 decided, in their primary assemblies, upon laws, 
 military capitulations, financial resolutions and 
 conditions of the grant of citizenship. 
 
 In 1845 the canton of Vaud took a decisive 
 step in the direction of immediate democracy after 
 a revolution which substituted a Radical for a 
 Liberal government. After long discussions in 
 which opinion turned in favor from the veto to 
 the optional referendum and then again to the 
 initiative, the Constituent Assembly adopted the 
 proposal of Louis Henri Delarageaz which 
 established for the first time in Swiss cantons 
 having a representative system of government 
 the constitutional and legislative initiative in 
 the widest conceivable form. The general as- 
 semblies of the communes were empowered to 
 vote upon "any proposal" which was submitted 
 to them by the Great Council acting spontaneously 
 or on the demand of 8,000 citizens. Any changes 
 in the Constitution were compulsorily submitted 
 to a popular vote. Thus 8,000 citizens were able 
 to place before the whole electorate not only all 
 laws and decisions emanating from the Great
 
 34 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 Council, but also constitutional, legislative or ad- 
 ministrative provisions of every kind which they 
 cared to formulate themselves; the popular vote 
 was of right. With one bound the canton of Vaud 
 leaped to the extreme limit of the right of popular 
 initiative. Its great neighbor, the canton of 
 Bern, adopted the optional referendum in 1846 
 and so restored to its Constitution the right 
 which the Bernese aristocracy of the sixteenth 
 century had succeeded in confiscating. 
 
 Progress realized in cantonal institutions often 
 passes after some years into federal institutions. 
 The federal Constitution of 1848 provided that 
 amendments should be subject to a compulsory 
 referendum. Henceforward the Constitution 
 could be altered at any time if required by the 
 Chambers or by 50,000 citizens to be submitted 
 to a vote of the people and of the cantons. 
 
 After 1848 direct legislation by the people now 
 gained and now lost ground, but the setbacks were 
 the less frequent. Shortly after 1848, the can- 
 tons of Zug and Schwyz abolished their Lands- 
 gemein'de and adopted in its place the referendum 
 together with the initiative upon constitutional 
 questions. Other Landsgemeinden lost some of 
 their powers. Valais, where constitutional legis- 
 lation seems highly unstable, adopted representa- 
 tive institutions. But in Thurgau the veto was
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 35 
 
 instituted in 1849 and in Schaffhausen in 1852, 
 while in 1852 Valais again adopted a referendum 
 confined to financial questions and at the same 
 time gave to 6,000 citizens the right of initiative 
 in constitutional matters. In the same year 
 Aargau accorded to 5,000 citizens the initiative in 
 general legislation and to 6,000 citizens the ini- 
 tiative for obtaining a total or partial revision of 
 the Constitution. In 1858, after finally shaking 
 itself free from the domination of the King of 
 Prussia, Neuchatel retained its representative in- 
 stitutions with the addition of a referendum upon 
 any loan or financial engagement exceeding 
 500,000 francs and upon any change in the basis 
 of the organization of the Church. In 1861 
 Vaud reduced to 6,000 the number of signatures 
 required for the initiative and decided that every 
 loan of a million francs or more should be com- 
 pulsorily subject to a vote of the people. 
 
 A fresh advance was made in 1863 by the 
 demi-canton of Basel-Land. The veto and the 
 referendum upon legislation had hitherto been 
 optional. Basel-Land introduced the compulsory 
 referendum. All laws and decisions of general 
 application voted by the Great Council had to be 
 submitted to the people thirty days at the earliest 
 after their publication in the official gazette. 
 
 The zenith of the movement was reached in
 
 36 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 1869 in the canton of Zurich, governed at that 
 time by a progressive party which included many 
 able men but had called forth the denunciations 
 of its opponents by a tendency to degenerate into 
 cliques and to exhibit that contempt for popular 
 aspirations which was one of the causes of its 
 downfall. The opposing party, which had taken 
 the title of "democratic," obtained a strong 
 majority in the Constituent Assembly and drew up 
 a Constitution in which are to be found all the 
 popular rights which since then have been adopted 
 by the other cantons. Sovereignty was taken from 
 the Great Council, which had been practically all- 
 powerful, and restored to the people. Popular 
 election was extended with but few exceptions to 
 all political, administrative and judicial authori- 
 ties. The Constitution recognized the right of the 
 people to take its share in legislation by means of 
 the compulsory referendum and the initiative. 
 Few subjects were exempt from the compulsory 
 referendum, and the initiative appeared in the 
 threefold form of a legislative proposal supported 
 by 5,000 citizens, a resolution presented by 5,000 
 citizens, or a petition addressed to the Great 
 Council of the canton by a private individual or a 
 public authority and supported by one-third of the 
 members of the Council. 
 
 The reforms carried out at Zurich had an im-
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 37 
 
 mediate influence upon the canton of Thurgau, 
 which completed the revision of its Constitution 
 some months even before Zurich, adopted the 
 compulsory referendum operating twice a year and 
 the initiative in a form permitting 2,500 citizens 
 to requisition the making or the amendment of a 
 law or a decree. In the same year the canton of 
 Bern introduced a compulsory referendum apply- 
 ing to all laws and to resolutions of the Great 
 Council resulting in the expenditure of 500,000 
 francs upon any one object. The people of Bern 
 were unable to make up their minds to accept 
 the initiative, but Solothurn adopted it in a form 
 almost identical with that of Thurgau. A year 
 later, Aargau joined the ranks of the cantons 
 having a compulsory referendum. In 1869 the 
 optional referendum was introduced at Lucerne 
 and extended to financial decisions involving an 
 annual expenditure of at least 20,000 francs or 
 an extraordinary expenditure of at least 200,000 
 francs. 
 
 It was during this period that the right of re- 
 call, as applied to the Great Council or the gov- 
 ernment or both, first came to the fore. It was 
 introduced in 1852 in the cantons of Aargau and 
 Schaffhausen, from which it passed to several 
 other cantons. The number of citizens needed for 
 requisitioning a vote upon the question of the re-
 
 38 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 call of the Councils varied from 1,000 to 6,000. 
 
 At the time of the revision of the Constitution 
 in 1872 and 1874 it was natural for the partisans 
 of popular rights to endeavor to have such pro- 
 visions inserted in the federal Constitution, in 
 which they existed only since 1848 in the form of 
 a limited constitutional referendum. They en- 
 countered stubborn opposition from the federal- 
 ists, who were anxious about the effects which the 
 development of legislative functions by the Swiss 
 people considered as a whole might have upon 
 cantonal sovereignty. Ultimately, article 89 of 
 the Constitution as revised in 1874 established an 
 optional referendum upon federal laws and de- 
 crees of general application (German: allgemein 
 verbindlich) and not of an urgent character. Ex- 
 perience was to show that this elastic formula left 
 very considerable scope for arbitrary action on the 
 part of the federal Chambers. It was interpreted 
 as excluding a popular vote on financial credits, 
 loans, military credits, subsidies for river im- 
 provements, etc. 
 
 Finally, in 1891, by a partial revision of the 
 Constitution originating in the Chambers and rati- 
 fied by a majority of the people and of the can- 
 tons, the right of the people to demand the par- 
 tial, and not merely the total, revision of the 
 federal Constitution, was inserted in the latter.
 
 DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 39 
 
 The signatures of 50,000 electors were sufficient 
 to challenge a vote of the people either on the 
 general question or on the text of the proposal 
 presented by the petitioners. 
 
 From that date, the flood of popular legislation 
 has not ceased to rise. Apart from the canton 
 of Freiburg, the last stronghold of representative 
 democracy where the rights of the people are 
 restricted practically to the election of the Great 
 Council and to the total or partial revision of the 
 Constitution, all the cantons enjoy at the present 
 day the referendum upon constitutional changes 
 and legislative proposals in either the compulsory 
 or the optional form, as well as the initiative; 
 and there are now only two Valais and Freiburg 
 in which the State Council (the executive 
 power) is still elected by the Great Council. It is 
 clear that since the beginning of the nineteenth 
 century the extension of popular rights has pur- 
 sued its course slowly at the outset, but constantly 
 and almost uninterruptedly. If exception is made 
 of the abolition of two Landsgemeinden, there has 
 been scarcely any retrogression save upon second- 
 ary points. In the end the movement has af- 
 fected all the cantons, the French-speaking as 
 much as the German-speaking. At this stage I 
 am concerned only to establish the fact; I shall 
 deal later with its causes and effects.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 
 
 AN account of the form which democracy takes 
 in Switzerland would be incomplete without some 
 consideration of the ancient institution known as 
 Landsgemeinden. These political assemblies, 
 comprising the whole of the citizens of the State, 
 have no parallel in Europe. With one interrup- 
 tion of a few years following the French invasion 
 of 1789, they have been in existence for more than 
 six centuries, and in almost all their essential 
 features they remain just as they were at the 
 dawn of Swiss freedom. In his Alpes suisses, 
 Eugene Rambert has made a very thorough study 
 of this institution. He has been present at many 
 Landsgemeinden, consulted the original docu- 
 ments and questioned the people most competent 
 to supply information. From many points of 
 view, he has said the last word on the subject, and 
 I shall borrow largely from his work in the pages 
 which follow. 
 
 The Landsgemeinden are the offspring of the 
 medieval communes, of those free communities 
 
 40
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 41 
 
 which valiantly maintained their struggle for ex- 
 istence in the midst of unbridled selfishness. 
 Switzerland is the only country in Europe where 
 they have given rise to free and lasting political 
 institutions. The Landsgemeinde is all that re- 
 mains of the vast organization of federated so- 
 cieties of which we catch a glimpse in the Middle 
 Ages. The commune of olden days, grown now 
 to the dignity of a canton, comes to life again in 
 the solemn assembly deliberating under the vault 
 of heaven. 
 
 Rambert divides the history of the Landsge- 
 meinden into two periods: first, what he calls 
 the early period, extending from primitive times 
 to the collapse of the old Confederation, and then 
 the modern period, the duration of which is rather 
 more than a century. 
 
 The first Landsgemeinde of which there is any 
 definite record occurred towards the end of the 
 thirteenth century, in 1294. Assembled in their 
 Landsgemeinde, the people of Schwyz pledged 
 themselves upon oath to maintain certain prescrip- 
 tive rights touching taxation and the alienation of 
 landed property. There is every reason to believe 
 that Uri and Unterwalden also possessed regu- 
 larly organized Landsgemeinden looking upon 
 themselves as sovereign. The pact which sealed 
 the independence of primitive Switzerland in 1291
 
 42 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 was concluded by the men of the valley of Uri, 
 the "community" of the valley of Schwyz and the 
 "community" of the men of Entremonts in the 
 lower valley. Doubtless this pact was ratified by 
 the assemblies of the people. The separation of 
 Unterwalden into Obwalden and Nidwalden was 
 admittedly decided in the Landsgemeinde in the 
 middle of the twelfth century. The communities 
 of Gersau, Urseren and Zug would not have been 
 formed without the example and assistance of the 
 Forest Cantons. That of Zug was their work. 
 Those of Glarus and Appenzell imitated them 
 freely. In this way there sprang up in medieval 
 times quite a colony of free democracies in the 
 full sense of the terms. They possessed regularly 
 constituted governments, and wielded powers 
 which shortly became almost absolute, but which, 
 nevertheless, was very likely to be exercised prop- 
 erly, if it is true that the interest of the majority 
 coincides more often with the interest of all than 
 with that of an aristocracy or a monarch. But 
 pure democracy, like every other form of govern- 
 ment, is subject to the inherent laws of its exist- 
 ence, which it may not violate without falling into 
 decay. An easy clue to these is provided by the 
 history of this institution. 
 
 The Landsgemeinden of 1315 are accepted as 
 the first of the series of sovereign Landsgemein-
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 43 
 
 den. From the very origin of these assemblies, 
 their conservative character and the importance 
 which they attached to certain traditional forms 
 are apparent. The Landsgemeinden, which are 
 the soul of pure democracy, have changed but 
 little. The earliest probably fulfilled the func- 
 tions of a court of justice. In passing judgment, 
 they began to lay down rules, define custom and 
 interfere in current affairs. The Council, sitting 
 beside them, does not appear in the formula of 
 treaties of alliance till 1352. In the towns, at Lu- 
 cerne, Zurich, and Bern, it is the Council which 
 provides the motive power and forms the corner- 
 stone of the constitution; in the rural cantons, 
 on the other hand, everything springs from the 
 community, and the Council is merely an adminis- 
 trative machine, the need for which is slowly felt 
 as affairs increase in complexity. 
 
 The age of admission to the Landsgemeinde 
 was at first fourteen years. The oath of alle- 
 giance used to be administered at the age of four- 
 teen, and the obligation to give military service 
 in the defense of the country probably began at 
 the same time. In the fifteenth century, the ma- 
 jority of cantons raised the age to sixteen; but 
 it is certain that in 1291 and 1315 children of 
 fourteen voted with their fathers and grand- 
 fathers and took their place by hundreds in the
 
 44 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 ranks of the founders of Swiss independence. It 
 is estimated that during this period the Lands- 
 gemeinde of Schwyz and Uri counted a maximum 
 attendance of 1,600 and 1,000 respectively. Ob- 
 walden and Nidwalden together would give a sub- 
 stantially higher figure. 
 
 Attendance at the principal Landsgemeinde, 
 that held in May, was compulsory for all citizens. 
 This Landsgemeinde, which was invariably in- 
 vested with a certain pomp, was often followed 
 by a supplementary meeting or Nachgemeinde, 
 extraordinary assemblies without ceremonial in 
 which the people disposed of matters which 
 could not be settled in May or which arose since 
 then. The circular form of meeting (German: 
 Ring) seems to have been chosen instinctively 
 from the very earliest times. The chief magis- 
 trate of the locality, the Landammann, took his 
 seat on a platform in the center. The Lands- 
 gemeinde always opened with a religious cere- 
 mony and an address by the Landammann. 
 
 Originally, the fidelity of the people to their 
 chief, the Landammann, was remarkable. Chosen 
 from the most respected families of the country, 
 the Landammann carries the mind back to the 
 dynasties of shepherd-kings. Harmony between 
 the people and their chiefs, concentration of all 
 power in the hands of the assembled people, cus-
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 45 
 
 torn taking the place of laws, great simplicity in 
 political procedure and machinery such are the 
 essential features of the Landsgemeinden of heroic 
 times. 
 
 Decay came with the abandonment of the mod- 
 est, straightforward and noble policy of those 
 times. The military successes of the Confederate 
 States led to treaties with foreign powers, "capitu- 
 lations" by which they undertook to supply mer- 
 cenary troops. From that time foreign ambassa- 
 dors sought to bribe influential chiefs with gold; 
 votes were bought; corruption spread throughout 
 public life. The Confederates prided themselves 
 on the price which was given for the co-operation 
 of their troops. They surrounded the May Lands- 
 gemeinde with a new pomp. The ceremonial was 
 fixed. For the opening of the Landsgemeinde, 
 a platoon of troops was called out. The 
 principal magistrate and the members of the 
 Council formed a procession W(hich, headed by 
 minor dignitaries, in full uniform, proceeded ma- 
 jestically towards the appointed spot. The Land- 
 ammann opened the Landsgemeinde with an ad- 
 dress, not very different from a speech from the 
 throne, in which he reviewed European happen- 
 ings. 
 
 As there were no rules of procedure in the 
 Landsgemeinde, laws were passed against those
 
 46 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 who attempted to create a disturbance. The first 
 law against interrupters was placed on record in 
 1525 at Appenzell. It condemned them to a fine 
 of one livre and ejection from the Ring. Shortly 
 afterwards rules of a similar character be- 
 came general. At Schwyz, the interrupter was re- 
 quired to ask pardon from God and the magis- 
 trates. At Stans, he was obliged to kneel down 
 in the middle of the Ring and repeat the Pater- 
 noster and Ave Maria five times. But the most 
 serious difficulties arose over the control of dis- 
 cussion. Upon this point the necessity for rules 
 was felt soonest and the greatest trouble experi- 
 enced in framing any. The constant preoccupa- 
 tion of the magistrates, and especially of the 
 Landammann who had the responsibility of pre- 
 siding, was to provide against confused discus- 
 sions, perplexing intricacy and thoughtless deci- 
 sions; that of the people was to maintain its lib- 
 erty intact. The one sought to limit the right 
 of individual initiative of the members of the 
 Landsgemeinde ; they desired that every proposal 
 should be first submitted to the Council a certain 
 number of days or weeks beforehand. The other 
 insisted upon the right of everyone to present at 
 any time whatever proposals he thought fit. In 
 some Landsgemeinden the authoritarian principle 
 was established without a struggle. This was the
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 47 
 
 case at Appenzell-Ausserrhoden, where every pro- 
 posal by an individual must without exception be 
 submitted to the Council. In other cases, at Stans 
 for example, the people defended their freedom 
 of initiative with desperation. 
 
 In 1738 a citizen of Appenzell so far forgot 
 himself as to bring forward without warning in the 
 Landsgemeinde an individual motion upon a ques- 
 tion of finance. He was immediately stripped of 
 his sword and placed in the pillory with a bit in 
 his mouth and a board above his head bearing 
 the word "Rebel." At Stans, on the other hand, 
 the conflict between the Landsgemeinde and the 
 Council upon this point continued until 1700, in 
 which year it was solemnly decided to allow every- 
 one to propose "anything that be not contrary to 
 the glory of God or to the honor and advantage 
 of the fatherland," a formula which was sup- 
 pressed in the following year because the magis- 
 trates seemed to take advantage of it to restrict 
 individual liberty. 
 
 In some cantons the Landammann used to be 
 re-elected from year to year, the people remain- 
 ing faithful to the same chief magistrate for 
 twenty or thirty years (a similar occurrence might 
 still be found to-day) , while Nidwalden had a law 
 by which anyone who proposed the re-election of 
 the retiring Landammann was declared forsworn,
 
 48 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 and condemned to pay a fine of one thousand 
 florins. This provision made room for a curious 
 combination by which four citizens were appointed 
 Landammann for life and one of them chosen to 
 take office each year. In most Landsgemeinden, 
 the huissier, whose function was originally that 
 of judge, acted as provisional president of the 
 assembly. 
 
 The power of the Landsgemeinden increased 
 considerably when they succeeded in depriving the 
 Landammanner of the exclusive right of convoca- 
 tion. Thereafter they considered themselves ab- 
 solutely sovereign in law and in fact. They no 
 longer recognized any sphere in which the State 
 was debarred from action. "The Landsge- 
 meinde," ran a declaration carried at Stans on 
 the loth July, 1712, "must be sovereign in the 
 land. It makes and unmakes without conditions, 
 and if anyone denies that the Landsgemeinde is 
 the first and sovereign authority in the country, 
 let him be outlawed and a price of 100 ducats 
 placed upon his head." A far cry, indeed, from 
 the modest terms of the pact of 1291 ! 
 
 The completeness of the confusion of powers 
 would make Montesquieu and his school shudder. 
 The Landsgemeinden do not confine themselves to 
 promulgating laws, declaring war, concluding 
 peace, authorizing recruiting, deciding all matters
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 49 
 
 touching subject lands, coining money, having 
 roads constructed, granting or refusing naturaliza- 
 tion, passing accounts, and exercising in short all 
 the privileges of the superior legislative authority. 
 In addition, they practice the right of interpella- 
 tion; they act as judge in great political trials; 
 they even bring within their jurisdiction certain 
 civil cases ; they sentence to a fine, to imprisonment 
 and to death; they enjoy the prerogative of par- 
 don ; they tax food and wine, fix maximum prices, 
 just like the Federal Council of 1918; in a word, 
 they do whatever it pleases them to do, up to the 
 point at which a certain separation, at any rate 
 in judicial matters, is introduced. It is realized 
 that judgments should be pronounced by a special 
 body, and criminal cases pass from the Lands- 
 gemeinde to the Council or to an ad hoc tribunal. 
 It was left till the present century to push separa- 
 tion still farther, and to establish in the cantons 
 possessing a Landsgemeinde a distribution of 
 powers which is not widely different from that pre- 
 vailing in other cantons. 
 
 The military "capitulations" and the corrup- 
 tion in which they resulted caused iniquitous judg- 
 ments to be pronounced by the Landsgemeinden, 
 during the period when faction, the venality of 
 voters, and the lavish distribution of wine, prom-
 
 50 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 ises and money in the taverns produced the most 
 deplorable effects. 
 
 The old Confederation of the Thirteen Can- 
 tons, that which came to an end in 1798, included 
 eleven Landsgemeinden, those of Appenzell- 
 Ausserrhoden, Appenzell, Gersau, Catholic 
 Innerrhoden, Glarus, Protestant Glarus, Nid- 
 walden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Uri, Urseren and 
 Zug. In Switzerland to-day there are only six. 
 Gersau and Urseren were rather assemblies of 
 communes than Landsgemeiden proper. The two 
 Landsgemeinden of Glarus coalesced in 1836. 
 The Landsgemeinde of Schwyz disappeared, the 
 victim of its own excesses, after disorder and 
 party strife of an extreme violence lasting from 
 1830 to 1847. Upon the dissolution of the Son- 
 derbund, Schwyz had perforce to capitulate and 
 allow the liberal opposition to gain power and 
 vote a new Constitution in which it was agreed 
 to dispense with the cantonal Landsgemeinde in 
 any shape or form. 
 
 Such then, in broadest outline, was the history 
 of the Landsgemeinden from the heroic period 
 until their decay. Abolished in 1798, when a Re- 
 public one and indivisible was imposed upon Swit- 
 zerland, they were re-established in 1803 by the 
 Act of Mediation granted to Switzerland by 
 Bonaparte. When the partisans of the represen-
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 51 
 
 tative system raised objections on the score of the 
 disorder attending the discussions of the Lands- 
 gemeinden, the First Consul remarked that it was 
 easy to remedy that by binding each Landsge- 
 meiride to deal with nothing outside the official 
 agenda. This principle was adopted everywhere, 
 notably at Stans, where the authorities had for so 
 long sought to establish it, and at Glarus, where 
 every citizen still had the right to propose what- 
 ever he thought fit, as soon as the official busi- 
 ness was disposed of. 
 
 With the downfall of Napoleon, the democratic 
 cantons were again master in their own house and 
 the Landsgemeinden reacted to the change. Nev- 
 ertheless, they reverted to their old practices only 
 in part. The old-fashioned ceremonial was cut 
 down. At Glarus there were abolished, one after 
 the other, the wearing of swords, the three-cor- 
 nered hat, the cloak of officials, and the custom 
 by which all the bands and fifers of the canton 
 marched at the head of the procession. 
 
 The profoundest change occurred after 1848, 
 when all the cantons were obliged to bring their 
 institutions into harmony with the principles of the 
 federal Constitution and have them approved by 
 the Chambers. Before 1798, the cantons which 
 possessed a Landsgemeinde had no systematic 
 constitution, but simply a Landbuch, a collection
 
 52 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 of laws and decrees which was revised from time 
 to time. Uri and Nidwalden remained faithful to 
 the system of unwritten Constitutions until 1850. 
 To-day the Landsgemeinden no longer enjoy un- 
 limited sovereignty. The citizens are subject to a 
 law imposed by themselves, and obtaining sanction 
 from a federal authority, from which redress may 
 be obtained in the event of their violating it. 
 Both in law and in fact, the old democracies have 
 ceased, very much to their own advantage, to be 
 absolute governments. Hence followed a whole 
 series of changes in law and practice. The age of 
 qualification for voting in the Landsgemeinde was 
 raised from 14 or 16 years to 18 or 20. Nid- 
 walden had to give up its four Landammanner ap- 
 pointed for life and be satisfied with two, ap- 
 pointed for six years and holding office alternately. 
 The "tribunal of blood," composed of all citizens 
 over 30 years of age, gave way to a criminal court 
 consisting of the ordinary court of law and the 
 Council. The powers of the Landsgemeinde are 
 formally defined. It is now only the superior 
 elective and legislative authority a position of no 
 mean importance. Appointment by lot and the 
 exercise of political functions passed away, while 
 bribery and corrupt practices came to an end 
 simultaneously with the military capitulations and 
 the suppression of subject territories.
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 53 
 
 In Rambert's study of the Landsgemeinde will 
 be found a multitude of other curious details. 
 The following account will perhaps be of inter- 
 est to my readers. He is speaking of a Lands- 
 gemeinde of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden held at 
 Trogen : 
 
 "This Landsgemeinde is by far the biggest. It 
 numbers up to ten or eleven thousand members. 
 Anyone who without valid excuse fails to attend 
 is liable to a fine. . . . There are processions 
 along all the main roads. Everyone is in his Sun- 
 day clothes, black hat, black coat, black breeches 
 literally everyone, even the peasants and the 
 very poorest. In olden days they used to carry 
 real swords; some, a mere handful, do so still. 
 Most have just a military saber or a hunting knife. 
 It is the badge of full citizenship. . . . 
 
 "At the moment when the Landammann 
 emerges from the town-hall the Landsgemeinde 
 uncovers, and where were 10,000 hats appear 
 10,000 human skulls, a sea of heads. . . . The 
 coldest and most phlegmatic of men are moved 
 like the rest. One fears to breathe. This is a 
 people, not a tribal concourse as at Stans or Sar- 
 nen; it is a true people, showing its respect with 
 single-minded sincerity. 
 
 "When votes are taken the people respond with 
 wonderful unity. Whether they vote for or
 
 54 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 against, by the thousand or by the ten thousand, 
 they raise their hands as one man, throwing them 
 into the air palms open with an incredible quick- 
 ness. The strength of the parties is judged by 
 the effect of whiteness produced by the simul- 
 taneous lifting of all these hands. ... If there 
 is any doubt, the test is repeated. The Landam- 
 mann summons to the platform citizens from both 
 parties, and forms a commission of experts from 
 whose decision there is no appeal. . . . 
 
 ". . . At the close comes the taking of the 
 oath. This is the supreme moment. The cere- 
 mony is utterly overwhelming in its solemnity. 
 The oath is that of antiquity, all-compelling in its 
 power. The formula is read to the Landammann 
 who, with raised hand, replies in these terms: 'I 
 have fully understood what has been read to me. 
 I am resolved to keep it, truly and at all times, 
 faithfully and without fraud, as truly as I wish 
 and pray that God may sustain me.' When the 
 Landammann has sworn, he confronts the people 
 and administers the oath to them in their turn. 
 They must promise loyalty one to another. The 
 pledges are interdependent. Out of 10,000 citi- 
 zens there is not one who does not raise his hand, 
 not one who does not repeat the formula, sentence 
 by sentence, as it is read, slowly pronouncing every 
 word. The great sound which rises from this
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 55 
 
 motionless assembled multitude is perhaps the 
 most awe-inspiring that is given to man to hear 
 upon the earth. No sound of nature, neither 
 wind nor waves, no musical sound, not even the 
 great organ reverberating through the cathedral, 
 reaches the same intensity of religious awe. The 
 world of appearances has gone: there remains 
 only the true world, that of human consciousness 
 face to face with itself. The ceremony concluded, 
 the Landammann wishes everyone a safe journey 
 home, and terminates the meeting." 
 
 Opening the Landsgemeinde of Glarus in May, 
 1866, the Landammann Heer, who was later a 
 member of the Federal Council, expressed him- 
 self in these terms : 
 
 "Under the Landsgemeinde as we have it, this 
 day in eachyear when the citizens are called upon 
 to exercise their most sacred rights and discharge 
 their most sacred duties, is, indeed a day of toil, 
 and of toil by no means easy of accomplishment; 
 but at the same time it is the supreme festival of 
 our people. With high-minded feelings of joy 
 and pride, our country-folk gather here from the 
 mountains and the plains to take counsel together 
 for the prosperity of the country. Each one of 
 them feels that this is the people's day of honor, 
 the day when the opinion and judgment of the 
 least citizen and of the richest or most powerful
 
 56 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 are of the same worth, the day when equality 
 equality of rights for all becomes the com- 
 pletest and clearest of truths. 
 
 "Nowadays, in the cantons as in the Confedera- 
 tion, there is much talk of extending the rights 
 of the people, and the desire is easy to under- 
 stand; but what is intended by this phrase is but 
 a feeble shadow of what we in our Landsgemein- 
 den have possessed for centuries. Here public 
 officials and the people and representatives of the 
 most conflicting opinions and interests meet to- 
 gether with goodwill side by side; each has the 
 right to express his view but must allow others 
 to rebut it, and in the last resort, after hearing 
 both sides, the whole people decides. This is the 
 peculiar advantage of general assemblies, for 
 which there is not even an approximate compensa- 
 tion when the people is called upon to make its 
 decisions by splitting up into numerous small as- 
 semblies, each one of which is exposed to special, 
 and often exclusive, influences. 
 
 ". . . Let us not be led into error by the love 
 we bear towards our free institutions, our Lands- 
 gemeinden ; but let us rather make it our ambition 
 to prove to the world, or at least to our fellow- 
 citizens, that the spirit of our times, the spirit of 
 true progress and true humanity, may find accept- 
 ance also in this form of institution."
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 57 
 
 This eulogy of the Landsgemeinde is justified, 
 but, even in its present form it has its weaknesses 
 and disadvantages, like every political institution. 
 Obviously it cannot succeed except in small areas, 
 and there only provided a certain unity is attained. 
 Regional and political differences pushed to the 
 extreme formed the rock upon which that of 
 Schwyz came to grief. Its success depends in a 
 very great measure upon the political skill and 
 high character of those who direct it. They must 
 know how to manipulate these extremely suscep- 
 tible assemblies, how to deal with would-be dema- 
 gogues and how to steer them into the right path 
 without their suspecting it. If it is more or less 
 true that this amounts to government by a few 
 men forming a kind of aristocracy, the same might 
 be said of almost all political systems. Neces- 
 sarily, the collective will is in the last analysis the 
 resultant of a number of individual wills which 
 it influences or determines more or less strongly. 
 The Landsgemeinden are reproached for a ten- 
 dency towards political and religious intolerance, 
 and for going out of their way to obstruct the path 
 of progress. But here a distinction must be made. 
 The Landsgemeinde of Catholic cantons, the 
 mountainous or agricultural regions, are generally 
 inspired by a spirit of conservatism and loyalty to 
 tradition, which has frequently given justification
 
 58 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 for this criticism. The case is different with the 
 Landsgemeinden of the Protestant and industrial 
 cantons, Glarus and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden. 
 These cantons have contrived to follow a pro- 
 gressive policy and work out satisfactory solutions 
 of the complicated problems presented by modern 
 life in industrial districts, and have demonstrated 
 that the institution of the Landsgemeinde is en- 
 tirely compatible with the requirements of the 
 age. 
 
 To complete this historical sketch, it may be 
 useful to make a brief survey of the constitutions 
 now in force in those cantons which possess a 
 Landsgemeinde. The majority of these were re- 
 vised towards the end of the last century. 
 
 The Constitution of Uri, which dates from 
 1888, is preceded by the preamble: "In the name 
 of Almighty God, the people of the canton of Uri 
 establishes the following cantonal Constitution in 
 virtue of the right of free determination inherited 
 from its ancestors through a space of more than 
 five centuries." 
 
 The first article states that the canton of Uri 
 is a sovereign canton, within the limits fixed by 
 the Federal Constitution, and that its institutions 
 are democratic. Sovereignty resides in the people, 
 which passes its own laws and Constitution and 
 elects its own magistrates.
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 59 
 
 The section dealing with the rights and duties 
 of citizenship lays down that participation in the 
 Landsgemeinde and in the assemblies of the com- 
 munes is a civic duty. Voting is by show of hands, 
 but the communes have the power to introduce the 
 secret ballot. The acceptance of offices conferred 
 by the Landrat (Great Council) and by the as- 
 semblies of communes and corporations is com- , 
 pulsory for two legal terms. 
 
 Any enfranchised citizen or group of citizens 
 has the right to submit proposals to the Lands- 
 gemeinde. In the case of amendments to the Con- 
 stitution, fifty signatures are required. All ordi- 
 nances and all resolutions of a general scope 
 passed by the Landrat must be submitted to the 
 Landsgemeinde if demanded by not less than 
 twenty citizens. In principle, public functions are 
 unpaid. 
 
 Article 6, which defines the powers of authori- 
 ties, asserts that the Landsgemeinde is the sover- 
 eign legislative authority of the canton. Its or- 
 dinary meeting is on the first Sunday in May, but 
 special meetings are held whenever either it or 
 the Landrat decides, or when demanded by 150 
 citizens. The Landammann presides. The 
 Landrat draws up the list of subjects for discus- 
 sion, as well as the time and place of special meet- 
 ings. Justice and the public weal, and not des-
 
 60 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 potism or the power of the strongest, must prevail 
 in the Landsgemeinde, declares section 50. And 
 Article 51 adds that if anyone considers his pri- 
 vate rights infringed by a decision of the Lands- 
 gemeinde, he may have recourse to the ordinary 
 courts, which are to hear the evidence and decide 
 conscientiously between the people and the plain- 
 tiff. But he is required to have his objection en- 
 tered upon the records of the Landsgemeinde and 
 to take proceedings within a month. 
 
 Article 52 enumerates the powers of the 
 Landsgemeinde as follows: (a) the total or par- 
 tial revision of the Constitution; (&) the right to 
 make all laws and to decide upon proposals 
 brought forward by means of the popular initia- 
 tive; (c) the voting of taxes and loans; (d) the 
 renunciation of important cantonal rights and the 
 concession of privileges; (e) the granting of citi- 
 zenship; (/) the creation of new offices at a fixed 
 salary, and the fixing of the remuneration of the 
 officials and servants whom it elects; (g] the elec- 
 tion of the members of the government (Re- 
 gierungsrat), which is partially renewed every 
 other year; that of the Landammann and his depu- 
 ties for a term of one year; that of members of 
 the Council of States, of members and deputies 
 of the higher Court, the criminal court and the 
 local courts subject to. partial renewal every other
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 61 
 
 year, of the attorney-general and the huissiers. 
 The Constitution of Obwalden confers practi- 
 cally the same powers upon the Landsgemeinde, 
 but it states them more precisely. It provides in 
 Article 26 that the Landsgemeinde may delegate 
 to the Great Council (Kantonsrat) the right of en- 
 acting laws. As it is highly important in the de- 
 limitation of the respective powers of the Lands- 
 gemeinde and the Great Council to determine the 
 significance of the word "law," it gives this defini- 
 tion : any legislative proposal affecting in any gen- 
 eral and lasting manner administration, justice or 
 the rights and duties of individuals, public corpor- 
 ations, communes or the State. In Article 26 it 
 recognizes the right of any elector to present to 
 the Landammann before January first in each 
 year proposals for the enactment, amendment or 
 repeal of ordinances, provided that they are 
 within the competence of the Landsgemeinde and 
 do not infringe Federal law. These proposals are 
 transmitted to the Landsgemeinde, exception 
 being made, however, of ordinances relating to 
 State undertakings of an economic character 
 which have to be conducted upon a commercial 
 basis. If these proposals involve no breach of the 
 Federal and cantonal Constitutions or of private 
 rights, and are not directed against injunctions 
 or judgments delivered by other authorities within
 
 62 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 the limits of their competence, they must be sub- 
 mitted to the next meeting of the Landsgemeinde, 
 together with the opinion of the Great Council. 
 If the latter recommends rejection, the originator 
 of the proposal has, the right to withdraw it. If 
 it approves, he is required to support it in person 
 in the Landsgemeinde. Should he not put in an 
 appearance, his absence is equivalent to a with- 
 drawal of the proposal. When the time comes to 
 decide, the Landsgemeinde can vote only upon the 
 specific proposal or upon a counter-proposal sub- 
 mitted by the Great Council. 
 
 I give the article almost in its entirety in order 
 to show the distance between this minute limita- 
 tion of the right of initiative in the Landsgemeinde 
 and the wellnigh complete liberty of former days. 
 
 The Great Council at Obwalden drafts and 
 moves resolutions submitted to the Landsgemeinde 
 by it or the local governing body. A certain num- 
 ber of nominations are allotted to it. It appoints, 
 for example, the members of the higher court, the 
 education committee, the health committee and a 
 host of administrative officials. 
 
 The same Constitution contains highly detailed 
 provisions for the total or partial revision of the 
 Constitution, which can be requisitioned by 500 
 electors and submitted to the Landsgemeinde. 
 Nevertheless, upon the demand of the Great
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 63 
 
 Council or of 1,200 electors, questions relating to 
 the revision and the proposal itself must be voted 
 upon in the communes by secret ballot. 
 
 The counting of votes has always been a deli- 
 cate operation in cases when the issue is close. 
 Article 22 of the Constitution of Nidwalden pre- 
 scribes that voting is by show of hands, and the 
 result is declared by the cantonal huissier with the 
 help of two other huissiers nominated by the 
 government. In cases of especial importance, the 
 government is empowered to nominate two addi- 
 tional tellers from the Landrat. If, after two 
 trials, the tellers are still in doubt which side has 
 the majority, they proceed to count the voters 
 a comparatively easy process in the Landsge- 
 meinde of Nidwalden, which is one of the smallest. 
 
 In Nidwalden, non-cantonal affairs are dealt 
 with by assemblies composed of the electors of the 
 commune, and forming, according to their func- 
 tion, communes for the election of the Landrat, 
 ecclesiastical communes (parishes), educational 
 communes and poor-relief communes. Each parish 
 forms an ecclesiastical commune, which transacts 
 its business in a general assembly of all the ad- 
 herents of the same faith nearly the whole popu- 
 lation of Nidwalden is Roman Catholic or 
 through parish councils as intermediaries. The 
 general assembly passes the accounts of the parish,
 
 64 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 fixes the "church rate," and carries out the election 
 of incumbents, in accordance with its traditional 
 rights, and the election of the parish council. This 
 demi-canton is divided into eleven districts, each 
 of which possesses a communal assembly and a 
 council elected by the assembly (parish or muni- 
 cipal council). 
 
 The Landsgemeinde of Glarus is both one of 
 the most numerous and one of those in which dis- 
 cussion as well as voting takes place. The initia- 
 tive of the individual is elaborately regulated. 
 Every citizen is entitled to send proposals for 
 what is called the "Memorial." Subjects which 
 are not included in the "Memorial" cannot be de- 
 bated in the Landsgemeinde. Every year, in the 
 middle of December at latest, the government 
 publishes in the official gazette a notice inviting 
 electors or authorities who wish to bring proposals 
 before the Landsgemeinde to send them before 
 the end of the month, in writing, signed by the 
 author and accompanied by a reasoned statement 
 in support. These proposals are transmitted to 
 the Great Council or Landrat. Those which con- 
 tain nothing contrary to the cantonal or Federal 
 Constitution, and which are supported by at least 
 ten of the members present, are submitted to the 
 Landsgemeinde with the opinion of the Landrat 
 and, should occasion arise, of the government or
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 65 
 
 a competent committee. All proposals which do 
 not gain in the Landrat the ten votes required be- 
 fore that body considers them are included in the 
 "Memorial" under a special heading, but without ' 
 any message from the government. The Lands- 
 gemeinde deal with these forlorn hopes only if a 
 special resolution to that effect is carried, and even 
 then its decision merely rests between rejecting 
 them or asking the Landrat to report upon them 
 the following year. In this way waste of time is 
 avoided with idle proposals in an assembly in 
 which discussion only admits of short speeches, al- 
 ways to the point, with no digressions or rhetorical 
 flourishes. 
 
 The provisions concerning education and the 
 church are also not without interest. In the can- 
 ton of Glarus the educational communes are em- 
 powered to levy a capitation-tax and a property- 
 tax to meet their expenditure. The demi-canton 
 of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden regulates church af- 
 fairs as follows: Real estate applied to religious 
 purposes is the property of the commune, while 
 all other ecclesiatical property belongs to the 
 parish, which is guaranteed the right of use over 
 glebe lands. 
 
 Participation in the Landsgemeinde of Appen- 
 zell-Ausserrhoden is declared a civic duty up to the 
 age of sixty years. Anyone failing to attend the
 
 66 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 Landsgemeinde without valid excuse is punished 
 by a fine of ten francs. Among the powers of the 
 Landsgemeinde are the right of passing or reject- 
 ing laws, the right of decision upon the expendi- 
 ture of amounts exceeding 30,000 francs in one 
 sum of 10,000 francs annually, and the election 
 of the seven members of the government, of the 
 Landammann, of the eleven members of the su- 
 preme court and of the cantonal huissier. The 
 list of subjects to be discussed in the Lands- 
 gemeinde is drawn up by the Great Council 
 (Kantonsrat). It comprises proposals made by 
 the Council and accompanied by a message, and 
 those initiated by private individuals with the ar- 
 guments advanced by them in support. It is pub- 
 lished four weeks before the Landsgemeinde. 
 The latter votes, but does not discuss. Legisla- 
 tive proposals are drafted by the Great Council, 
 unless the Landsgemeinde decides to entrust the 
 matter to a special body. 
 
 The cantons in which pure democracy prevails 
 have, like the others, embodied in their constitu- 
 tions the same personal rights as are guaranteed 
 by the Federal Constitution, freedom of thought, 
 of worship, etc. The only one which makes any 
 formal reservations is that of Appenzell-Inner- 
 rhoden. In its third article it states that the 
 Catholic religion enjoys, as the religion of the
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 67 
 
 people, the protection and guarantee of the State, 
 and that "toleration" for other faiths is recog- 
 nized, together with freedom of worship for their 
 members within the limits of morality. The word 
 "toleration" instead of "right" is not in harmony 
 with the spirit of the Federal Constitution, and 
 savors a little of the times when Catholic Lands- 
 gemeinden practiced a policy of absolute exclusion 
 towards other religions. 
 
 To complete this sketch of the organization of 
 the political life of the cantons which still prac- 
 tice pure democracy, I shall here summarize 
 briefly the proceedings of the Landsgemeinden 
 held in April and May, 1919, in order to show 
 clearly how this characteristic institution works 
 in practice. 
 
 The canton of Uri recently passed through dif- 
 ficult times. In spite of all the precautions taken 
 in its Constitution and laws to prevent superfluous 
 expenditure, it became involved in a financial crisis 
 which brought it within an ace of ruin, and from 
 which it was rescued only by the aid of the Con- 
 federation. I hasten to say that the fault does 
 not rest with the Landsgemeinde. Just as other 
 cantons have their State Bank, which generally 
 renders good service and swells the revenues of 
 the canton, Uri has a cantonal Savings Bank, for 
 which it had undertaken unlimited responsibility.
 
 68 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 Thanks to the carelessness and imprudence of its 
 directors and officials, thanks also to the blind 
 confidence of certain members of the government 
 and their imperviousness to the warnings of the 
 opposition, this Bank had embarked upon risky 
 operations out of all proportion to the resources 
 of a canton of 20,000 inhabitants, and far re- 
 moved from the sphere of its normal activities 
 industrial enterprises, hotels, railways, etc. When 
 the crisis caused by the world war arose, the Bank 
 found itself unable to meet its obligations, and the 
 canton, one of the glorious cradles of Swiss in- 
 dependence, would have become bankrupt if the 
 Confederation had not granted it a loan of five 
 million francs. The Landsgemeinde of 1918 had 
 the satisfaction of recording an improvement in 
 the financial situation. Thanks to the sale of a 
 factory acquired by the Savings Bank, one million 
 was repaid to the Confederation, and the debt re- 
 duced to 4,045,000 francs, an enormous sum in- 
 deed for the canton, which is compelled in con- 
 sequence to tax itself heavily. The Lands- 
 gemeinde re-elected as Landammann the leader of 
 the Radical-Liberal opposition, which came into 
 power after the crash it had predicted. 
 
 The Landsgemeinde of Nidwalden, held at Wil, 
 close to Stans, experienced one of those gusts of 
 independence which occasionally upset the plans of
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 69 
 
 party leaders. The opening speech was lengthy, 
 runs the report from which these details are taken. 
 The Landammann praised the Pope, praised the 
 Federal Council, praised the Nidwalden troops 
 discharging their patriotic duty on the frontier, 
 paid a tribute to the memory of a recently de- 
 ceased magistrate and expressed to the cantonal 
 huissier the congratulations and thanks of the peo- 
 ple of Nidwalden on the occasion of the fiftieth 
 anniversary of his appointment. Passing from 
 praise to blame, the Landammann protested 
 against the abusive reproaches and ceaseless crit- 
 icisms leveled at authority during such difficult 
 times "criticisms which to-day appear to have 
 become one of the conditions of existence for ev- 
 ery good citizen." This rating seems to have 
 made an unfavorable impression on the Landsge- 
 meinde. When the time came to choose a mem- 
 ber of the government, the official candidate, 
 whose election was considered certain and who 
 was even supported by one of the opposition 
 leaders, was rejected in favor of an independent 
 agriculturist proposed by a private soldier in uni- 
 form. Although this citizen vigorously declined 
 to stand, he was elected by a two-thirds majority. 
 The budget was passed without dissent, but when 
 a popularly initiated proposal relating to the let- 
 ting out of fishing rights was reached, the govern-
 
 7 o 
 
 ment, which opposed it, was beaten ignominously. 
 The Landsgemeinde dispersed with the pleasant 
 feeling of having asserted itself, but the govern- 
 ment was most unhappy. 
 
 The Landsgemeinde of the other half of Unter- 
 walden, that of Obwalden, was still more exciting. 
 It took place at Sarnen, and attracted over 1,500 
 citizens. A lively opposition was raised to a pro- 
 posal for additional taxation. Demands were 
 made for a financial statement on more modern 
 principles, and the government was reproached 
 for taking no steps to turn the hydraulic resources 
 of the district to profit. The first vote was inde- 
 cisive. The huissiers announced an equality of 
 votes for acceptance and rejection, but on a second 
 trial, four huissiers believed there was a small ma- 
 jority for the proposal, while three others de- 
 clared it rejected. Whereupon, the president pro- 
 claimed the law adopted amid fierce protests by 
 the opposition, which demanded a count of votes 
 one by one. Now the law permits this method of 
 verification only after two successive votes have 
 been declared inconclusive. Which of the hus- 
 siers had estimated correctly? It is impossible to 
 say, but the dissatisfaction of the opposition was 
 so keen that a meeting of protest was held a few 
 days later at Alpnach, and demanded almost 
 unanimously the abolition of the ancient institu-
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 71 
 
 tion, the Landsgemeinde. A committee of fifteen 
 members was elected to initiate the measure. On 
 the 23rd February, 1919, the electors of Obwalden 
 voted by secret ballot upon the proposal initiated. 
 The Landsgemeinde was retained, but only by a 
 majority of 76 votes. Apparently it would suffice 
 to improve the methods of counting votes and to 
 declare that enumeration shall be of right when- 
 ever the ocular estimates of the huissiers are in 
 disagreement. 
 
 The Landsgemeinde of Appenzell-Ausser- 
 rhoden, at Trogen, numbered at least n,ooo. 
 Some years ago it was afflicted with a passion for 
 negation which made it the despair of the govern- 
 ing authorities. A schoolboy, whose master had 
 given him an essay on this institution, offered as 
 the best description: "The landsgemelnde elects 
 the cantonal huissier and rejects laws." But, in 
 1918, the Landsgemeinde displayed an attitude of 
 obsequiousness to all the wishes of the govern- 
 ment. After electing the members of the govern- 
 ment and confirming the appointment of the mem- 
 ber of the Council of States and the eleven mem- 
 bers of the superior court, it accepted all the pro- 
 posals put before it, including a law providing that 
 during the next thirteen years the surplus realized 
 by the cantonal insurance department should be 
 set aside for a scheme of insurance against old
 
 72 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 age and disablement, a law increasing the State 
 contribution for the payment of teachers, and an 
 extraordinary "war" tax of two francs per thou- 
 sand upon fortunes exceeding 15,000 francs or 
 earned incomes exceeding 3,000 francs. 
 
 At Appenzell the small Landsgemeinde of 
 Ausserrhoden was much less gracious towards its 
 government, two members of which were not re- 
 elected an extremely rare occurrence. They had 
 been in charge of the cantonal food control ad- 
 ministration, a department set up during the war, 
 whose activities brought anything but popularity 
 to its directors. 
 
 The Landsgemeinde of Glarus met on the 5th 
 May. For many years it has had as president a 
 very influential magistrate, a wealthy and eloquent 
 manufacturer. It adopted numerous proposals, 
 one of which allocated to the workmen's unem- 
 ployment insurance department the portion of the 
 federal "war" tax repayable to the canton. An 
 amendment to the law of inheritance steepened 
 the incidence of the succession duty. The price 
 of salt was raised from 15 to 20 centimes a kilo- 
 gram. War bonuses on account of the increased 
 cost of living were granted to officials and em- 
 ployees. An amendment to the law dealing with 
 the insurance of real estate and a proposal for 
 the utilization of the resources of water-power
 
 THE LANDSGEMEINDE 73 
 
 also obtained the approval of the sovereign body. 
 So, too, did a law upon cattle-breeding, and an- 
 other for the establishment of a winter school 
 of agriculture, etc. And the Landsgemeinde of 
 Glarus is one of those in which discussion is ak 
 lowed! Evidently the institution still works 
 quite efficiently, especially as I have already 
 stated when it is guided by a skillful and influen- 
 tial president. 
 
 I may add that three years ago the canton of 
 Glarus had 8,301 electors, Uri 4,849, Obwalden 
 4,163, Nidwalden 3,106, Ausserrhoden 2,729, 
 Innerrhoden 13,634. The number of citizens 
 present at the Landsgemeinde never reaches 
 these figures, although at times it approaches them 
 very closely.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE REFERENDUM 
 
 "ADIEU, cursed country of the referendum," 
 the Marquis de Puisieux, French ambassador to 
 the Thirteen Cantons, is said to have exclaimed 
 as he left Switzerland in 1708. A year later his 
 successor, the Comte du Luc, wrote to M. de 
 Chamillard, Louis XIV's minister: "The mem- 
 bers of the Diet dispersed after interminable dis- 
 cussions. In this country they call it Referendum. 
 I have never seen a nation so incapable of know- 
 ing its own mind. It needs more than the pa- 
 tience of a Capuchin to follow them, and I am 
 afraid my Provencal temperament was not made 
 for negotiations with such people. . . ." It was 
 to the referendum also that the First Consul re- 
 ferred in 1803 when he pointed out to the Swiss 
 representatives as one of the advantages of fed- 
 1 eralism the facilities which the members of the 
 Diet enjoyed for putting off foreign powers and 
 gaining time when confronted with their demands 
 by referring them to their respective cantons. 
 This was the referendum employed by the Diet of 
 
 74
 
 THE REFERENDUM 75 
 
 the twenty-two cantons before 1848, when its 
 members made decisions "ad referendum," sub- 
 ject to reference to their canton for ratification. 
 The referendum of contemporary Switzerland is 
 rather different. In a sense it is connected with 
 the expression "referre ad populum" which the 
 Romans employed when they consulted the people 
 assembled in its comitias upon laws proposed by 
 the Consul, the Praetor or the Tribune. The pres- 
 ent Swiss referendum consists in the submission 
 to the people for approval or rejection of a law 
 or decision voted by the legislative bodies. We 
 have already seen it at work in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury in certain Swiss cantons, and again when the 
 Constitution of 1802 was submitted to the peo- 
 ple. Its importance has become so great as to 
 warrant consideration at some length. 
 
 The introduction of the referendum in Switzer- 
 land constitutes one of the chief victories of the 
 principle of direct government by the people over 
 that of representative government. No one has 
 defended direct government with more power and 
 conviction than Victor Considerant, the advanced 
 republican of 1848, who was one of the precursors 
 of legislation by the people. "When a people," 
 he wrote, "has once assumed the exercise of its 
 legislative will, no section, old or young, rotten or 
 sound, will be able to contemplate encroachment
 
 76 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 upon it. Divisions will be blotted out and parties 
 united one with another. 
 
 "So long, however, as the people, like an inert 
 mass, is moved by the governmental machine ex- 
 ternal to itself, which each party can use to im- 
 pose its will upon the nation, so long will furious 
 party strife, intrigues, coups d'Etat and revolu- 
 tions remain the order of the day. . . . 
 
 ". . . One conceives governments contending 
 with one another for a government external to 
 the nation; one does not conceive them contend- 
 ing in a nation which rules itself. 
 
 "When the political pyramid rests on the na- 
 tion, it is seated squarely on its base, and no longer 
 artificially balanced on its apex. Stability is as- 
 sured. 
 
 "The different types of socialism, that is the 
 different proposals for the solution of the social 
 question, are thus necessarily reduced to the 
 form they must take, the form of ideas develop- 
 ing freely within the nation and operating through 
 and upon the collective opinion. Being no longer 
 political parties competing for the reins of power, 
 they become schools competing for the free con- 
 quest of intellects. 
 
 "The effective realization of the sovereignty 
 of the people constitutes the final solution of the
 
 THE REFERENDUM 77 
 
 democratic problem and opens the best way for 
 the solution of the social problem. 
 
 "Hitherto, democracy has been sentient, but not 
 yet conscious." 
 
 In 1850, a German publicist, Rittinghausen, 
 contributed to La Democratic pacifique articles 
 upon "direct legislation by the people or true 
 democracy," in which the same ideas were devel- 
 oped. 
 
 Neither Considerant nor Rittinghausen was a 
 prophet in his own country. 
 
 In Switzerland the referendum has scored a 
 definitive success, but in other countries, notably 
 in France, objections which in appearance are 
 very serious are still raised against this demo- 
 cratic institution. In his Elements de drolt con- 
 stitutionnel francais, a professor whose word car- 
 ries weight, M. Esmein, writes that the referen- 
 dum labors under most serious disadvantages 
 both in theory and in practice. It is vicious in 
 theory, he says, in that the great majority of citi- 
 zens is incapable of forming a sound opinion upon 
 the laws or bills submitted to them, owing to their 
 lack of education for understanding them and of 
 leisure for studying them. Either the majority 
 will vote blindly for a proposal which it does not 
 understand, or a proposal, perhaps excellent in 
 itself, will be rejected on account of some pos-
 
 78 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 sibly secondary provision, which may have pro- 
 voked one of those popular prejudices which are 
 so easy to arouse and so difficult to destroy. In 
 practice the system is equally vicious. It diverts 
 all serious discussion into a multitude of assem- 
 blies which have to give the final decision upon a 
 bill, and the press is altogether inadequate for in- 
 structing the people upon such issues. The sys- 
 tem, again, is defective in that an entire bill is 
 submitted to the people as a single whole which it 
 must either accept in spite of any provision of 
 which it disapproves or reject on account of such 
 provision. Direct government results in the ob- 
 struction of rational reforms and general legis- 
 lative stagnation. If, in Switzerland, it has not 
 caused very much harm, it has prevented much 
 good from being done. It discredits representa- 
 tive government without suppressing it, and weak- 
 ens the prestige, the power for good and the feel- 
 ing of responsibility in the elected assemblies. M. 
 Esmein recognizes, however, that the idea of the 
 referendum is gaining ground and that the expres- 
 sion of the will of the people by the certain and 
 incontestable method of the popular vote may 
 be considered by many citizens as the only safe 
 barrier against the rising flood of Socialist pre- 
 tensions. 
 
 M. Esmein's objections are not wholly un-
 
 THE REFERENDUM 79 
 
 founded, but some of them, as we shall see later, 
 are not substantiated by an examination of the re- 
 sults of the referendum, and the advantages de- 
 rived from the adoption of this democratic institu- 
 tion far outweigh the disadvantages. As M. 
 Numa Droz, a former President of the Swiss 
 Confederation, aptly said in a monograph on the 
 referendum, the objections raised against this 
 method of consulting the people merely prove 
 that perfection is not of this world. A people 
 which is conscious of its own worth, and has the 
 habit of freedom, wrote M. Droz, must desire to 
 determine its own destiny more and more com- 
 pletely. Its representatives must resign them- 
 selves to the position of mere councilors. Democ- 
 racy tends increasingly to entrust the power of 
 legislation to the whole of the people and to leave 
 to parliaments no more than the preparation of 
 laws. The people makes mistakes much less often 
 than is generally supposed. Many laws or de- 
 crees in Switzerland have been rejected because 
 the members of the Chambers had not taken suffi- 
 cient trouble to enlighten the people, and more 
 than one negative verdict, deplored at the mo- 
 ment when pronounced, has turned out eventually 
 to be a fortunate occurrence. In the long run, 
 all parliamentary majorities end in a greater or 
 less measure of disagreement with the people
 
 8o REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 (which confirms Rousseau's theory). The refer- 
 endum sets a limit to the tension thus produced by 
 clearing the political atmosphere of this electrical 
 disturbance. 
 
 There is no better safeguard against revolution 
 than the referendum. Revolutions have ceased in 
 Switzerland since this democratic institution has 
 come into general use. While a minority can 
 often pretend that the decision of a parliamentary 
 majority does not express the will of the people, 
 the verdict of the referendum is definitive, at least 
 for a time. If rejected, proposals may be re- 
 drafted by parliament, adapted to circumstances 
 and brought into closer agreement with the pub- 
 lic opinion of the moment. Premature legislation 
 is thus avoided, together with the resistance which 
 its enforcement would arouse. Far from dimin- 
 ishing the importance of parliamentary labors, 
 the referendum obliges members to prepare laws 
 and decrees with the greatest possible care, and 
 by imposing upon them the duty of justifying their 
 work to the people, it helps to make them public 
 men in the widest sense of the term; it adds to, 
 rather than detracts from, the ^importance of their 
 function. 
 
 If the referendum hinders the over-luxurious 
 growth of legislation, it is not altogether an evil. 
 Herault de Seychelles pointed this out when speak-
 
 THE REFERENDUM 81 
 
 ing in the National Convention of this mania for 
 legislation which brings the law into disrepute, and 
 said that it was better to wait and pass one good 
 law than to take the risk of a multiplicity of bad 
 ones. Finally, the referendum contributes to the 
 education of the people, not by enabling it to un- 
 derstand all the details of a law, but by compelling 
 it to take an interest in it and to seek to grasp its 
 import. 
 
 The machinery of the referendum in Switzer- 
 land is not complicated, but differs according as 
 the referendum is compulsory or optional. In the 
 case of the compulsory referendum, a vote of the 
 people is required by law. Once or twice a year, 
 sometimes more, the people are called upon to 
 vote by secret ballot in their communes upon the 
 proposals adopted in the interval by the Great 
 Council or by the cantonal council. With the 
 optional referendum, certain preliminary formali- 
 ties are necessary. Within a period of from one 
 to twelve months, citizens who desire the rejec- 
 tion of a law must collect the number of signa- 
 tures required by law, which varies in the different 
 cantons. For laws and decrees, the Federal legis- 
 lature has fixed the number at 30,000, a figure 
 which is easily mustered. There is no political 
 party of any importance in Switzerland which can- 
 not reach it. Moreover, referendum committees
 
 82 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 usually adopt the tactics of asserting that it is a 
 question not of offering decided opposition to a 
 proposal, but simply of obtaining an opportunity 
 for the people to be consulted and a thorough ex- 
 amination of the proposal to be made. In this 
 way they obtain the signatures of a certain num- 
 ber of electors who have formed no fixed opinion 
 upon the matter in question. This declaration, 
 however, is hardly sincere. In fact, from the mo- 
 ment a committee is formed to demand a referen- 
 dum upon a law, it may be taken for granted that 
 it will oppose it tooth and nail when the time for 
 the people to vote draws near. When the legal 
 number of signatures has been collected and these 
 signatures, which must be legalized by the com- 
 munal authority have been verified, the federal or 
 cantonal authority fixes the date of the vote, gen- 
 erally with a sufficient interval to allow the sup- 
 porters and opponents of the contested proposal 
 to place their arguments before the people. 
 
 Mention is often made of the financial refer- 
 endum, which applies to proposals for taxation, 
 loans, heavy extraordinary expenditure, etc. But 
 this referendum is only a variety of the two 
 others. It is compulsory or optional according 
 to the cantons. 
 
 The Confederation possesses neither the com- 
 pulsory referendum (except upon amendments to
 
 THE REFERENDUM 83 
 
 the Constitution) nor the financial referendum, 
 and even its optional referendum is subject to 
 rather important restrictions. Article 89 of the 
 federal Constitution lays down that "federal laws 
 are submitted to the people for adoption or re- 
 jection if a demand to that effect is made by 30,- 
 ooo electors or by eight cantons, and the same 
 applies to federal decrees which are of a general 
 application and not urgent in character." Thus 
 any federal law containing provisions of a general 
 and permanent kind necessarily conies within the 
 sphere of the optional referendum, while on the 
 other hand decrees, which are usually of an ad- 
 ministrative nature and more or less limited in 
 point of time, can be submitted to a vote of the 
 people solely if they are general in their scope 
 (German: allgemein verbindlich) and not urgent. 
 These two expressions are highly elastic, and the 
 federal Assembly has interpreted them more than 
 once in a sense which the opposition disapproved. 
 Thus, all military credits and all subsidies voted 
 by the Chambers for river improvements, etc., 
 escape the popular vote and the risks which would 
 accompany it in a country where it is not always 
 easy to harmonize the interests of different re- 
 gions. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the compulsory 
 referendum realizes the principle of direct legis-
 
 84 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 lation by the people better than the optional refer- 
 endum. The compulsory referendum necessitates 
 the constant cooperation of the people in the proc- 
 ess of legislation. No law can come into opera- 
 tion unless the whole body of electors has sanc- 
 tioned it. The optional referendum approximates 
 rather to the ancient veto. The approval of the 
 people is assumed each time it does not make use 
 of this right. As the optional referendum in- 
 volves some considerable effort, and expenditure 
 by those who set it in motion, it is not to be won- 
 dered at that in normal times it operates in com- 
 paratively few cases. Opposition to a proposal 
 has to be strong for a referendum to be demand- 
 ed. In the optional form, the vote of the people 
 no longer takes the shape of a regular yearly con- 
 sultation; often it is a manifestation of keen op- 
 position, directed not merely against the proposal, 
 but in some cases against the policy and tendencies 
 of the Chambers and governments from which it 
 emanates. It serves then as a safety-valve by pro- 
 viding a means of summary judgment upon the 
 general policy of parliament. 
 
 In the Confederation, the introduction of the 
 compulsory referendum would run up against a 
 special difficulty. It exists there upon constitu- 
 tional revisions, both total and partial, but in such 
 cases no new provision can come into operation
 
 THE REFERENDUM 85 
 
 unless it obtains a majority of the cantons as well 
 as of the people. The federative principle is safe- 
 guarded in this way. The federal referendum 
 upon laws requires only a majority of the elec- 
 tors taking part in the vote, and as, on the whole, 
 little use is made of it, the disadvantages of 
 this encroachment on federalism are not very 
 great. The majority of laws and decrees take ef- 
 fect without its intervention after passing both 
 Chambers, one representing the people and the 
 other the cantons. The situation would be very 
 different if it were compulsory for all laws to be 
 submitted to the people. The elimination of one 
 of the two elements which go to the formation of 
 a federative State would be a tender point. On 
 the other hand, it would be dangerous to require 
 for every law and decree a majority of the people 
 and of the cantons. There would be a risk of fre- 
 quent conflicts between the two majorities, and 
 the crisis would probably be ended only with the 
 defeat of cantonal sovereignty. There are rea- 
 sons, then, for the belief that the federal refer- 
 endum will retain its optional character for some 
 time to come. 
 
 In the cantons, the compulsory referendum is 
 the rule. In fact, it is in operation in the six 
 cantons and demi-cantons which possess a Lands- 
 gemeinde and has penetrated into the cantons and
 
 86 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 demi-cantons of Aargau, Basel-Land, Bern, Gri- 
 sons, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Thurgau, Valais, 
 and Zurich. The optional referendum prevails in 
 Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Lucerne, Neuchatel, St. 
 Gall, Ticino, and Zug. Schwyz has the compul- 
 sory referendum only for laws and financial 
 decrees. Vaud has the optional referendum and 
 a limited financial referendum of a compulsory 
 character. Fribourg is the only canton which still 
 possesses neither form of legislative referendum. 
 It will be seen from this enumeration that the com- 
 pulsory referendum prevails in German Switzer- 
 land and the optional referendum in French and 
 Italian Switzerland. 
 
 For constitutional changes, the referendum is 
 compulsory in all cantons. Article 6 of the Fed- 
 eral Constitution requires as a condition of the 
 ratification of the cantonal Constitutions by the 
 Confederation that they shall be revised when an 
 absolute majority of citizens demands it. 
 
 As I have already done in the case of the can- 
 tons where pure democracy prevails, I shall now 
 give some of the provisions of the cantonal Con- 
 stitutions, confining myself, however, to those 
 which relate to the referendum. I shall begin 
 with the compulsory referendum. 
 
 The Constitution of Zurich states in its first 
 article that sovereignty resides in the people as a
 
 THE REFERENDUM 87 
 
 whole and is exercised directly by duly qualified 
 electors and indirectly by authorities and officials. 
 Article 18 adds that the people exercises its legis- 
 lative functions in conjunction with the Cantonal 
 Council. Twice a year, in spring and autumn, 
 the people is required to vote upon the legislative 
 acts of the Cantonal Council. In urgent cases, 
 a supplementary vote may be taken. The follow- 
 ing must be submitted to the vote of the people: 
 all amendments to the Constitution; laws; agree- 
 ments with other cantons ; decrees of the Cantonal 
 Council which the latter has no power to adopt 
 finally; decisions which the Cantonal Council vol- 
 untarily lays before the people. 
 
 At the time of the submission of a proposal 
 to the people, the Cantonal Council has the power 
 to order a separate vote upon certain points of 
 the proposal, which enables the people to reject 
 any provision to which particular exception is 
 taken while accepting the rest 
 
 Voting in the referendum takes place by secret 
 ballot in the communes. Participation in the vote 
 is declared a civic duty. All proposals coming 
 before the people must be announced and com- 
 municated to the electors at least thirty days be- 
 fore the ballot. 
 
 The Cantonal Council has the final passing of 
 measures involving new expenditure not exceeding
 
 88 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 250,000 francs in one sum or 20,000 francs a 
 year. Proposals involving greater expenditure 
 must be submitted to the people. 
 
 The arrangements of other cantons for the 
 compulsory referendum differ little from those of 
 Zurich. The amount of new or extraordinary ex- 
 penditure beyond which the referendum applies 
 varies usually with the population of the canton. 
 Solothurn and Grisons have adopted the figure of 
 100,000 francs, while Bern and Vaud have raised 
 the financial competence of the Great Council to 
 500,000 francs. One Constitution only allows 
 laws proper to be dealt with by the compulsory 
 legislative referendum; another applies it to a part 
 of the decrees and orders of the administration. 
 Here loans exceeding a certain amount are neces- 
 sarily laid before the people. Elsewhere, it is a 
 direct tax which has to be submitted to a popular 
 vote when it rises above the rate fixed by the 
 Constitution. This applies at Bern to any in- 
 crease above twice the standard rate. Valais, the 
 only French-speaking canton which has the com- 
 pulsory legislative referendum, insists on a vote of 
 the people upon any extraordinary expenditure 
 exceeding 60,000 francs, when this expenditure 
 cannot be met out of the ordinary receipts of the 
 budget, and also upon any increase in the tax upon 
 property. In Schaffhausen, the Great Council is
 
 THE REFERENDUM 89 
 
 empowered to consult the people in advance upon 
 the introduction of certain principles into extra- 
 ordinary decrees. Each time there is a popular 
 vote, electors receive at the same time as the pro- 
 posals upon which they are to vote, a message 
 from the government instructing them upon the 
 meaning and significance of the principal points 
 contained in these proposals. One might instance 
 also some variations in the length of time elapsing 
 between discussion in the Great Councils and vot- 
 ing by the people. 
 
 The provisions for the optional referendum 
 vary in regard to the number of signatures neces- 
 sary to obtain the referendum and details concern- 
 ing the collection and verification of signatures 
 and the date of the voting. The Constitution of 
 Lucerne prescribes a popular vote upon legislative 
 proposals, agreements with other cantons, and 
 financial decrees involving an extraordinary ex- 
 penditure of 200,000 francs or a fresh annual 
 expenditure of 20,000 francs or more, if within 
 forty days from the publication of the law or de- 
 cree, 4,000 citizens demand a referendum. The 
 Great Council also has the power to order a popu- 
 lar vote on its own initiative. In the little canton 
 of Zug, 500 signatures or one-third of the mem- 
 bers of the Cantonal Council are sufficient, and the 
 expenditure must be at least 40,000 francs in one
 
 90 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 sum or 5,000 francs annually. In Basel-Stadt 
 both laws and also final decrees of the Great 
 Council which are not of a personal or urgent 
 nature must be submitted to the body of citizens 
 if the demand is supported by 1,000 signatures 
 or if the Great Council so decides. The interval 
 within which a referendum may be sought is six 
 weeks. In St. Gall, all the laws as well as the 
 decrees of the Great Council which are of general 
 application and not urgent or which are not wholly 
 within the competence of the Great Council, are 
 to be voted upon by the people upon the demand 
 either of 4,000 citizens within a period of thirty 
 days or of one-third at least of the members of 
 the Great Council. The latter may also consult 
 the people as a preliminary to the embodiment of 
 certain principles in a law. In Sicino, the oppo- 
 sition has to collect 5,000 signatures within an 
 interval of one month. Urgency cannot be in- 
 voked in the case of any extraordinary expendi- 
 ture of more than 200,000 francs. 
 
 In the canton of Neuchatel, the number of sig- 
 natures required is 3,000. Urgent decrees are 
 not subject to the referendum, but the Great Coun- 
 cil can only affirm urgency by a two-thirds ma- 
 jority. In Geneva, 2,500 signatures must be ob- 
 tained within an interval of thirty days. The Con- 
 stitution states expressly that the optional refer-
 
 THE REFERENDUM 91 
 
 endum cannot be applied to the budget as a 
 whole, but only to particular proposals for the 
 imposition of new taxes or the increase of existing 
 taxes and to proposals involving the issue of bonds 
 or any form of loan. In the canton of Vaud, 
 by Article 27 of the Constitution, every law and 
 decree passed by the Great Council must, without 
 exception, be submitted to a referendum if de- 
 manded by 6,000 citizens. The referendum is 
 compulsory for any law or decree involving an 
 extraordinary expenditure of 500,000 francs or 
 more.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 
 
 IF we leave the formulae of Constitutions and 
 examine the practical results of the referendum 
 in the Confederation and the cantons, we shall 
 make statements which will astonish those who 
 have not seen at close quarters how the institu- 
 tion works. It might be expected that the refer- 
 endum would make for a pitiless slaughter of the 
 laws which were subjected to it; but this would 
 be a mistake. Although the people knows how 
 to say no, although on more than one occasion 
 it has chagrined Swiss legislators, it also knows 
 how to say yes, and the number of laws and de- 
 crees which have fallen victims to the referendum 
 is far smaller than the number of legislative pro- 
 posals to which the electoral body has given its 
 approval. 
 
 The Constitution which governs the Swiss Con- 
 federation came into operation in 1874. Of the 
 twenty amendments to the Constitution which 
 have been compulsorily laid before the people 
 since that date I refer here only to those origi- 
 
 92
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 93 
 
 nated by the Federal Council or the Chambers 
 sixteen have been accepted. Only four have been 
 rejected, and one of these was for the establish- 
 ment of a federal monopoly of the manufacture 
 of matches. The opponents of this proposal 
 fought it on the ground that it was a useless 
 monopoly instituted for the purchasing of fac- 
 tories, the owners of which were said to be un- 
 able to afford adaptations essential to the interests 
 of the workers' health. The Swiss people upheld 
 their contention on the 29th September, 1895, 
 by 184,109 votes to 140,174. The proposal was 
 rejected by fourteen cantons and three demi-can- 
 tons, and accepted by no more than five cantons 
 and three demi-cantons. Since then, this dan- 
 gerous industry has been strictly regulated for the 
 protection of the health of the workpeople, and 
 nowadays no one would dream of reviving the 
 proposal to make it a monopoly. 
 
 In 1894, by a small majority, an amendment 
 to the Constitution was rejected which empowered 
 the Confederation to pass laws dealing with fac- 
 tory and workshop conditions. The idea was 
 taken up again fourteen years later and carried 
 into effect. 
 
 Another rejected proposal sought to complete 
 the partial centralization of military affairs insti- 
 tuted by the Constitution of 1874 and to deprive
 
 94 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 the cantons of the power which had been left to 
 them. The majority of federalists took alarm 
 and found support among those to whom a fed- 
 eral military organization was not a pleasing pros- 
 pect. On the 3rd November, 1895, by 269,751 
 votes to 195,178, by fifteen cantons and five demi- 
 cantons to four cantons and one demi-canton, the 
 Swiss people threw out the proposal. Undoubt- 
 edly the dualism which reigns in the military ad- 
 ministration has its disadvantages; nevertheless 
 it can hardly be said that this vote has been a 
 misfortune for the country and a cause of weak- 
 ness in its military institutions. 
 
 A fourth proposal, amending article 64 of the 
 Constitution so as to allow the Confederation to 
 pass laws dealing with patents and the protection 
 of industrial designs and models, was rejected in 
 1882. It met with this fate owing to its asso- 
 ciation with an extremely unpopular proposal upon 
 which the people voted at the same time and to 
 the fact that the body of electors had been inade- 
 quately informed of the need for such an exten- 
 sion of federal powers. Some years later, a sim- 
 ilar proposal was submitted to the people under 
 more propitious conditions and adopted by a large 
 majority. A majority of 15,042 votes for rejec- 
 tion was converted into a majority of 145,644 
 votes for acceptance.
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 95 
 
 All other constitutional amendments presented 
 by the Chambers have been accepted. This was 
 the case with a proposal restoring to the cantons 
 the right of legislating upon the death penalty in 
 1879, an d with the amendment of the article 
 dealing with the liquor traffic in 1885. Again, 
 on the 26th October, 1890, the principle of insur- 
 ance against sickness and accidents was introduced 
 into the Constitution. Then followed in succes- 
 sion in 1891 the application of the popular initia- 
 tive to constitutional amendments; in 1891 the 
 federal monopoly of bank notes; in 1897 the ex- 
 tension of federal forestry rights and the confer- 
 ment upon the Confederation of legislative powers 
 in connection with the adulteration of foods; in 
 1898 the unification of the civil and criminal law; 
 in 1902 the principle of federal subsidies to the 
 cantons for elementary education; in 1905 the ex- 
 tension of protection for inventions; in 1908 the 
 conferment upon the Confederation to pass laws 
 dealing with water-power and with factories and 
 workshops; in 1913 the extension of federal con- 
 trol of hygiene and sanitation; in 1914 the insti- 
 tution of the federal administrative and discip- 
 linary court; in 1915 the first "war" tax. 
 
 These results justify the assertion that in the 
 matter of constitutional amendments there can 
 be no question of obstruction. The tendency has
 
 96 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 been to accept, far more than to reject, and when 
 the people has said no, its decision has been justi- 
 fied. A curious case was that of the "war" tax, 
 decided in 1915. As the repeated and prolonged 
 mobilization of troops for the protection of the 
 frontiers and the behavior of certain officers had 
 aroused some considerable discontent, it was 
 feared at Bern that the people might be tempted 
 to a political demonstation, and that the referen- 
 dum would be not so much an objective vote as an 
 indication of the ill humor of the electoral body 
 when confronted by a tax intended in part to meet 
 the expenses of mobilization. There were even 
 a considerable number who demanded that it 
 should not be submitted to the people, but put into 
 operation in virtue of the plenary powers con- 
 ferred upon the Federal Council by the Federal 
 Assembly in 1914 and under the plea of urgent 
 necessity. Nevertheless, the Federal Assembly 
 proceeded according to regular constitutional 
 methods, and had no cause for regret. The vote 
 was a startling justification of those who had 
 placed confidence in the good sense of the people. 
 The "war" tax was passed by a majority unpar- 
 alleled in the history of the referendum 436,898 
 in favor, 26,651 against. All the cantons ac- 
 cepted it. It must be said that the matter in ques- 
 tion of a steeply graduated tax on wealth and
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 97 
 
 profits, which affected only a minority, but it was 
 established that the great majority of those af- 
 fected by it had voted in its favor. 
 
 It is also to be remarked in connection with 
 these constitutional amendments that in no case 
 was there any divergence between the majority of 
 the people and that of the cantons. Whatever 
 the one did, the other did likewise. 
 
 The legislative referendum presents a still more 
 varied and interesting picture than the constitu- 
 tional referendum. As I have said, in the case of 
 the former a majority of electors only is required 
 for the passing of a law. I have before me a 
 table showing the figures relating to 31 laws or 
 decrees upon the Swiss people has had to vote 
 from 1874 to 1917. Of these, 12 were accepted 
 and 19 rejected. The proportion seems unfav- 
 orable, but it is not so in reality because to the laws 
 or decrees accepted by popular vote must be added 
 the proposals infinitely more numerous upon which 
 the referendum was not demanded and which took 
 effect with the tacit consent of the people. Here 
 again there is no question of obstruction in gen- 
 eral, although in one or two instances the ob- 
 structionist tendency played some part. 
 
 Snail I weary my readers if we make together 
 a little tour of the legislative cemetery where lie 
 the remains of some laws over which their dis-
 
 98 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 appointed authors formerly shed tears? We find 
 there a law upon the right of Swiss citizens to 
 the vote and another upon the political rights of 
 the same citizens, victims alike of the difficulty 
 experienced in Switzerland in bringing into agree- 
 ment the very varied qualifications for the fran- 
 chise which prevail in the different cantons. Near 
 by rest two laws instituting a tax upon citizens 
 exempted from military service. At his third 
 attempt, the legislator triumphed over the 
 opposition. Rarely has a law suffered such dis- 
 aster as that upon epidemics in 1882. It insti- 
 tuted compulsory vaccination, to which certain 
 cantons would not listen, and imposed, in the in- 
 terests of public hygiene, restrictions upon indi- 
 vidual liberty which appeared excessive. Event- 
 ually a more moderate proposal met with practi- 
 cally no opposition. 
 
 The 26th November, 1882, is a red-letter day 
 in the annals of the federal referendum. By a ma- 
 jority of 146,129 votes, the Swiss people rejected 
 a decree for the appointment of an official whose 
 duty should be to make a general inquiry into the 
 conditions of Swiss elementary education, espe- 
 cially from the point of view of the principle of 
 secularization. But the legislator had commit- 
 ted a great blunder. He had given to this inquiry
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 99 
 
 the unpopular form of a decree appointing a 
 new official, and an indiscretion had brought to 
 light the intention of the Federal Councilor in 
 charge of the home department to bring for- 
 ward a series of measures of a centralizing char- 
 acter. The Catholic-Conservative party preached 
 a holy war, the French-speaking federalists took 
 fright, and the "bailli scolaire" as the opposi- 
 tion dubbed him succumbed after a heated 
 struggle. 
 
 Encouraged by this success, the opposition de- 
 manded a referendum upon four proposals in 
 1884. The first of these proposals was for the 
 reorganization of the federal department of Jus- 
 tice and Police; the second for the settlement of 
 the question of commercial travelers' licenses; 
 the third for an increase in the salary of the Swiss 
 minister at Washington ; and the fourth, the only 
 one of any political importance, was an addition 
 to the federal penal code. This fourfold de- 
 mand for a referendum, which the Press had 
 termed "the federal quadruped," resulted in the 
 rejection of the four proposals by a fairly nar- 
 row majority. This was one of the rare cases 
 which illustrates very well the use of the refer- 
 endum as an instrument of obstruction, but the 
 success was not repeated. When, in 1887, in the 
 interests of the revenue and of public health, the
 
 ioo REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 Federal Chambers passed a bill which permitted 
 the taxation of alcoholic liquors and must have 
 led ultimately to a federal excise duty, a majority 
 of 128,626 votes confirmed their action, and when 
 in 1889 an important bill for the unification of the 
 law for the recovery of debts was brought before 
 the people, all the efforts of the Catholic-Con- 
 servative opposition supported by the opponents 
 of certain innovations in the measure, did not pre- 
 vent its obtaining a majority of 26,396 votes. 
 
 A law dealing with the pensions of federal 
 officials and employees retiring through old age 
 or ill health was defeated in 1891 by an over- 
 whelming majority, which left no doubt of the 
 people's repugnance for pensions limited to cer- 
 tain classes of citizens; but the originators of the 
 proposal had again made the mistake of provid- 
 ing for no contributions by the beneficiaries. A 
 law for the purchase of the railway system of Cen- 
 tral Switzerland was rejected in 1891 by a ma- 
 jority of 158,677 votes. The Swiss people was 
 not enamored of a scheme of partial nationaliza- 
 tion which did not appear an advantageous prop- 
 osition. Seven years afterwards, to the cry of 
 "the Swiss railways for the Swiss people," it 
 adopted by a majority of 203,916, a law for the 
 nationalization of the principal systems. Although 
 a law establishing a State Bank and pledging the
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 101 
 
 credit of the Confederation to an unlimited 
 amount was defeated in 1897 by a majority of 
 60,220, a law creating a semi-State Bank, in which 
 private capital participated, was not long in ob- 
 taining acceptance and in providing the country 
 with a financial institution which has rendered 
 untold service, especially during the course of 
 the world war. 
 
 A memorable shipwreck was that of a proposal 
 for the establishment of State insurance against 
 sickness and accident. This work of L. Forrer, 
 who afterwards became a Federal Councilor, was 
 carefully thought out. It formed a logical and 
 well-constructed whole. In the National Coun- 
 cil there was on a final vote only one dissentient. 
 The resistance of private insurance companies, 
 friendly societies and those who were afraid of 
 administrative complications, ended in its rejec- 
 tion by the people by a majority of 194,092. 
 Brought forward again some years later and lim- 
 ited to the nationalization of accident insurance 
 and the subsidizing of friendly societies, the law 
 was passed by 287,583 votes against 241,418. 
 And, on the 3rd November, 1907, the friends of 
 the Swiss Army had the pleasure of recording 
 the adoption, by 329,953 against 267,605, of a 
 law dealing with military organization which in- 
 creased the cantonal quota of the militia, extended
 
 102 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 the duration of military service and aroused the 
 passionate opposition of the Socialist party. In 
 1891 and 1903, increased tariffs assuring a mo'd- 
 erate degree of protection for industry and agri- 
 culture were sanctioned by majorities of 61,070 
 and 106,878, respectively. 
 
 I might continue this enumeration, but as it is 
 it will have sufficed to show my readers that, on 
 the whole, the sins of the referendum are not 
 mortal, and it sometimes happens that the people 
 see more clearly than parliaments. 
 
 To the foreigner, Swiss "referendum cam- 
 paigns" present features of great interest. The 
 foreigner smiles sometimes at this institution which 
 obliges hundreds of thousands of citizens of all 
 classes, peasants, laborers, artisans, to give their 
 decision upon complicated laws which seem en- 
 tirely beyond their capacity. The people allowed 
 the "Code of Obligations" and then the recent 
 Civil Code to be passed without demanding a 
 referendum. This was not the case with the fed- 
 eral law upon bankruptcy and the recovery of 
 debts. The referendum had been demanded and 
 the problem was to enlighten the electoral body 
 upon the merits of a law designed as a substitute 
 for the legislation of 25 cantons on the same sub- 
 ject. A reply was required at the same time to 
 a host of criticisms and objections to various pro-
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 103 
 
 visions raised by the jurists of the opposition. It 
 was not an easy task, and yet it was accomplished 
 by means of pamphlets, lectures, public meetings, 
 and energetic propaganda among the classes most 
 interested in the substitution of a single sound 
 law for the chaos of 25 cantonal laws, some of 
 which perpetuated positive iniquities. 
 
 I still remember the great meeting at Lausanne 
 organized jointly by the Liberal and the Radical 
 parties, when the Federal Councilor, Louis 
 Ruchonnet, explained and defended the law for 
 which he was mainly responsible. His speech was 
 a model of clear and persuasive eloquence. After 
 his explanation of the principles of the law, citi- 
 zens, whose technical knowledge was of the slight- 
 est, were astounded at the ease with which they 
 understood. The opposition to the law was in 
 great measure due to party tactics, and Louis 
 Ruchonnet referred to this fact with some bitter- 
 ness: "This measure has been awaited, prepared 
 and discussed for twenty years past. It has re- 
 ceived under the devoted care of nearly all those 
 whom Switzerland counts in the special domain of 
 the law her greatest authorities, men of all shades 
 of opinion and belief. It has at length reached 
 maturity. We had hoped that after its approval 
 by the Chambers the law would not be the object 
 of opposition from the people. At the last moment
 
 104 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 this hope proved vain; a numerous section stood 
 aside, the referendum was demanded and a great 
 agitation raised in Switzerland. ... I do not 
 need to tell you that the motives for the referen- 
 dum have nothing to do with the law itself, but 
 arise from political and religious circumstances of 
 which this unfortunate law is absolutely innocent. 
 A sad and curious picture might be drawn to-day 
 of the reasons which provoked the demand for 
 a referendum. . . . The chief leaders of the party 
 which raised the standard of resistance in the 
 Federal Assembly,, did not themselves take part 
 in that resistance. On the contrary, some of the 
 most influential and best qualified among them 
 collaborated in the law, voted for it in committee, 
 and although at the last moment they may have 
 felt it their duty to abstain from voting, were 
 already too far committed to vote against it." 
 
 Louis Ruchonnet concluded his address by say- 
 ing: "The demand for a referendum upon a sub- 
 ject of this kind rouses many suspicions. When 
 a non-political measure which is no concern of 
 parties and constitutes no breach of their princi- 
 ples, is made the occasion for a political crisis, 
 when we realize that it is possible, upon the pre- 
 text of opposition to a law upon the recovery of 
 debts, to gather under a more or less demagogic 
 flag a number of discontents which have no con-
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 105 
 
 nection whatever with that law, one wonders un- 
 easily whether the referendum is a good institu- 
 tion. Believing, as I do, that the referendum is 
 a valuable institution which can render genuine 
 service, I desire that both this particular measure 
 and the referendum itself shall emerge triumphant 
 from the ordeal. If a few agitators can make 
 every law an occasion for rallying grievances of 
 all kinds, it should, in my opinion, be the duty of 
 every good citizen to oppose this obstructionist 
 tendency and by hastening with enthusiasm to the 
 ballot to ensure the triumph of truth and the best 
 interests of the country." 
 
 On the day of the vote, the law emerged vic- 
 torious from the ordeal, by a small majority, 
 it is true, but probably it would have been less 
 readily accepted in practice if it had not had to 
 undergo this test and if the people had not been 
 obliged to acquaint themselves with the necessity 
 and the value of this new legislation. Thanks to 
 the ground on which the opposition had taken its 
 stand, the result was at the same time a great 
 political success for those who had originated and 
 supported it. 
 
 If the patience of my readers is not exhausted, 
 I must now ask them to bear with me a little 
 longer while I survey the vast field of the cantonal 
 referendum. There will be a rich harvest of
 
 106 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 observations to be gathered. An approximate 
 summary of the results of the referendum in 
 cantons not possessing a Landsgemeinde between 
 1906 and 1916 gives 229 laws or decrees accepted 
 and 73 rejected. These figures, which do not 
 pretend to rigorous exactitude, do not include all 
 proposals accepted. It would be necessary to add 
 for the cantons with the optional referendum all 
 those the great majority which were sanctioned 
 tacitly by the people. I do not think I am very 
 far from the truth in saying that on the whole the 
 laws rejected do not exceed one-eighth of the total. 
 This proportion is about one-quarter in the can- 
 tons where the referendum is compulsory; for 
 the rest it is very small if one takes into account 
 the laws and decrees coming into operation with- 
 out provoking a demand for a referendum. 
 
 To illustrate the nature of the proposals re- 
 jected by the people, I give a selection of the 
 cantonal laws and decrees which did not find fa- 
 vor with the people from 1911 to 1915. 
 
 In 1911 Basel-Stadt rejected a tax on land 
 values, and Basel-Land a law on the payment of 
 officials and employees. Solothurn inflicted the 
 same fate upon a similar law and also one dealing 
 with a weekly day of rest. In Ticino it was an 
 educational law which foundered, and a law for 
 the institution of communal council. Valais re-
 
 jected a law for the adoption of the Swiss civil 
 code; Vaud a proposal for a loan of ten million 
 francs; Zurich a law dealing with the stock-ex- 
 change, and a cantonal law applying the federal 
 law for the recovery of debts. 
 
 In 1912 I note the following rejections: Aargau 
 a law for the release of criminals on ticket of 
 leave; Basel-Land again a law upon the payment 
 of officials ; Basel-Stadt a special tax for the clean- 
 ing of streets; Bern a new tax; Geneva a credit 
 for the reconstruction of the "Electoral Building" 
 and a law dealing with university matters ; Thur 
 gau a law raising the salary of the Attorney-Gen- 
 eral from 2,600 to 5,500 francs, and another deal- 
 ing with courts of arbitration; Zurich a law ren- 
 dering married women ineligible as elementary 
 school teachers and a proposal for the extension 
 of the cantonal high school. 
 
 In 1913, Aargau rejected a law on the payment 
 of teachers and an electoral law; Basel-Land a 
 licensing law; Zug a game-law; Zurich a law regu- 
 lating road-traffic and motor vehicles; Ticino a 
 law increasing the salaries of councilors and offi- 
 cials. 
 
 In 1914 Bern turned down a law substituting 
 the leasing out of preserves for the system of 
 game-licenses; and Schwyz a new tax. 
 
 In 1915 the same fate was inflicted in Grisons
 
 io8 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 upon a law on fishing rights; in St. Gall upon 
 a law for the insurance of cattle; in Solothurn 
 upon a proposal for the adoption of the federal 
 law for sickness and accident insurance ; in Ticino 
 a law for the imposition of succession duties; at 
 Zug a licensing law. 
 
 The laws or decrees which the people seem 
 to have most difficulty in accepting are those fix- 
 ing the remuneration of magistrates, officials or 
 employees, or creating new offices; new taxes; and 
 laws which restrict individual liberty or appear 
 to maintain privileges. It sometimes happens that 
 the legislator has to return twice or thrice to the 
 charge. Very rarely, however, does he fail in the 
 end after making concessions to the state of public 
 opinion. Here and there, the persistent refusal 
 of the people has resulted in a kind of interdict 
 upon offices which are ludicrously remunerated a 
 strike of candidates; but such cases are excep- 
 tional. The important thing to notice is the effect 
 of the referendum upon the legislator. Knowing 
 the hostility of the people towards salaries at all 
 excessive, he is obliged to take this into account 
 in drafting proposals. Occasionally even, he lops 
 off provisions which are good in themselves but 
 which he knows would be unpopular and perhaps 
 involve the rejection of the bill by the people. 
 Proposals for taxation are difficult to pass. More
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 109 
 
 than once, however, very radical laws have been 
 carried by a substantial majority after the rejection 
 of less extreme proposals or proposals effecting 
 only partial reforms. 
 
 It might be imagined that the financial referen- 
 dum is particularly murderous, but such is not the 
 case. In a very illuminating work, published re- 
 cently, Dr. Paul Kaufmann has made a detailed 
 study of the effects of this institution which exists 
 in all cantons with the exception of Fribourg, Aus- 
 serrhoden and St. Gall. The financial referen- 
 dum, as we have seen, applies to the alienation of 
 cantonal property, loans, the imposition of new 
 taxes, the fixing of salaries, substantial extraordi- 
 nary expenditure, etc. Taking one after another 
 all the cantons in which it is operative Dr. Kauf- 
 mann shows that, since 1890, inclusive of the can- 
 tons possessing a Landsgemeinde, the financial ref- 
 erendum has resulted in the adoption of 82 pro- 
 posals and the rejection of 26. Thus the propor- 
 tion of victims is one-quarter; but, in this case 
 also, to the first figure must be added the consid- 
 erable number of proposals adopted tacitly in the 
 cantons where the financial referendum is optional. 
 Almost all the cantonal officials consulted by the 
 author give a favorable opinion upon this appli- 
 cation of democratic principles. The only excep- 
 tion is the canton of Aargau, where the proportion
 
 no REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 of rejections exceeds one-half and the State has 
 been deprived of wellnigh indispensable resources 
 by a majority of electors. Probably this result 
 must be ascribed, not to the referendum, but to 
 political, sectarian, local and personal divisions 
 which for many years have hindered the normal 
 political development of this canton. 
 
 The people is not staggered by heavy expendi- 
 ture or big loans, but it is essential for it to be 
 informed of the exact purpose of such expendi- 
 ture and to be shown that it is required by the 
 public interest. On more than one occasion pro- 
 posals for loans have been rejected when govern- 
 ments and party leaders have neglected to en- 
 lighten the people adequately, and passed in the 
 following year after a better organized campaign 
 of propaganda. Although very niggardly in small 
 matters, especially the amount of salaries, the 
 electoral body does not adopt a stubborn attitude 
 at all towards proposals on a large scale. In 
 the cantons of Bern, Vaud, Zurich and many oth- 
 ers, millions and millions of francs have been 
 granted for trans-Alpine railways, educational es- 
 tablishments, electricity generating stations, road 
 improvements, etc. 
 
 At times one might be tempted to think that 
 the majority of electors follow passively a ten- 
 dency to vote always yes or always no. The con-
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 111 
 
 trary, however, is proved by the results of the 
 popular vote in the cantons where the referen- 
 dum is compulsory and the electors have to vote 
 upon a number of laws and decrees of different 
 kinds on the same day. The elector is well able 
 to distinguish. He accepts some and rejects oth- 
 ers, and has no difficulty in giving the reasons for 
 his vote. 
 
 Thirty years ago, the people of Zurich rejected 
 an excellent education bill upon which the Cantonal 
 Council had expended vast care and which had 
 the support of all parties. The result caused 
 stupefaction and people began to call democracy 
 in question. "The 9th December, 1888," 
 wrote the Neue Ziircher Zeitung, "is a black page 
 in the history, not only of our canton, but of the 
 referendum. If anyone desires to condemn the 
 Confederation to political stagnation, let him in- 
 troduce the compulsory referendum and so entrust 
 the fate of our country to all the enemies, con- 
 scious or unconscious, of political progress." The 
 situation was not as desperate as this, and it was 
 not many years before the disaster was repaired. 
 It should be stated that the compulsory referen- 
 dum, which had been in operation in Zurich for 
 eighteen years, requires a more or less lengthy ap- 
 prenticeship. It has to outgrow the follies of 
 youth, and some time must elapse before poli-
 
 112 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 ticians can control it. Very rarely in Switzerland 
 has any reform not been realized which is in 
 accordance with sound principles and real needs 
 if not at the first attempt, at any rate a little later 
 after the legislator has taken into account the 
 reasons for the unpopularity of the proposal or 
 been at more pains to get it understood. 
 
 Although a partisan of the referendum, I am 
 far from pretending that this method of consult- 
 ing the people is faultless. Apart from accidents, 
 there are periods when it is traduced by evil pop- 
 ular instincts, when it comes under the influence 
 of local rivalries, and when it serves as the instru- 
 ment for the spirit of routine or narrow Con- 
 servatism or as the tool of demagogues. But this 
 does not last very long, and the people recovers 
 its good sense and its appreciation of the respon- 
 sibilities of citizenship. The army of those whom 
 the German-Swiss call "Neinsager," persistently 
 negative electors whose vote is an expression of 
 incurable discontent, seems to me to have dimin- 
 ished during the last thirty years. It is true 
 that from time to time opposition parties still 
 make use of the referendum as a weapon for ob- 
 struction and a method of wresting concessions 
 from their opponents by hindering the normal 
 working of the political machine; this, however, 
 happens perhaps less frequently than formerly.
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 113 
 
 Besides these drawbacks, the referendum offers 
 many advantages which I have already empha- 
 sized. It is the surest method of discovering 
 the real wishes of the people an excellent barom- 
 eter of the political atmosphere. It compels 
 the legislator to conform with the aspirations 
 of the people if he does not wish the fruit of his 
 labors to perish. It puts an end to acute conflicts 
 between people and governments, and provides 
 one of the safest barriers there can be against rev- 
 olutionary agitation. Nothing can give greater 
 offense to those anarchist or "Bolshevist" sections 
 which wish to establish the rule of active and 
 violent minorities. Public opinion is at once 
 ranged against anyone who rebels against the ver- 
 dict of the majority expressed according to legal 
 forms. Should the collectivists ever gain power, 
 the practice of the referendum would be a con- 
 siderable obstacle to certain of their social experi- 
 ments. In Switzerland, the federalists, who did 
 not look favorably upon the introduction of the 
 referendum into federal affairs, have used it with 
 success more than once in opposition to measures 
 of premature centralization. In the cantons the 
 referendum has acted as a curb upon democracy, 
 and it is quite possible that it may develop in 
 a similar manner in the Confederation. 
 
 Evidently the referendum cannot always be re-
 
 114 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 garded in the same light by the people and by 
 the government and its supporters. When a 
 statesman, a Council and parties have taken enor- 
 mous trouble to bring about an important reform, 
 and the labor and efforts of many years are nulli- 
 fied by the caprice of the referendum, the disillu- 
 sionment, sadness and pessimism of the legislator 
 are easily understood. But then the essential 
 thing is not to throw the handle after the hatchet 
 but to seek laboriously for the causes of the re- 
 jection and to act in such a way as to remedy the 
 evil. 
 
 The people of modern democracies is no longer 
 the irresponsible demos which Aristophanes pil- 
 loried with his mordant pen in the "Knights"; 
 a brutal, elderly and irascible epicure, a willing 
 prey to the basest flattery. To-day it is usually 
 clear-sighted and obedient to its best impulses 
 when its leaders know how to enlighten it by ap- 
 pealing to it; but for this they must remain 
 in constant contact with those they lead. Inces- 
 sant struggle is the invariable accompaniment of 
 the political life of democracies, more so than of 
 any other form of government. There is per- 
 petual conflict between the spirit of progress and 
 the spirit of reaction. The forces of inertia and 
 disintegration must be fought incessantly by those 
 which make for the healthy development of politi-
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM 115 
 
 cal and social institutions and their better adapta- 
 tion to the needs of the time. It is this struggle 
 which is so finely expressed by Louis Ruchonnet 
 at the end of the speech from which a quotation 
 was given above. 
 
 I fully realize the inadequacy of my treatment 
 of the referendum. I know only too well that 
 it could easily be made more exhaustive. But I 
 have already dwelt long enough upon the subject, 
 and pass on with all possible speed to another 
 democratic institution, which is the complement of 
 the referendum. I refer to the popular initiative, 
 a subject which will be dealt with in the two fol- 
 lowing chapters
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 
 
 THE referendum either confirms or destroys. 
 The .initiative reverses or constructs and results 
 sometimes in strange disturbances in the constitu- 
 tional and legislative edifice. But what is this right 
 of popular initiative? In Switzerland the term is 
 applied to the right of a section of the people to 
 bring forward a proposal of a constitutional, legis- 
 lative or administrative character for the decision 
 of the sovereign electorate. As soon as the pro- 
 posal is supported by the number of signatures 
 fixed by law, the popular vote must take place. 
 In this respect, the initiative is distinguished from 
 the simple petition, upon which Councils are not 
 compelled to take action. The initiative has this 
 much in common with the optional referendum : a 
 fairly considerable number of signatures must be 
 collected to set it in motion. But it differs from 
 both types of the referendum in that it creates a 
 new right. With the referendum, the co-opera- 
 tion of the people in the business of legislation is 
 of a quasi-passive character; with the initiative it 
 
 116
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 117 
 
 is an active and directing force. The proposal 
 originates with the people, or at least with a frac- 
 tion of the people, and if approved by a majority 
 of the electoral body it becomes from that mo- 
 ment part of the law or the constitution on an 
 equal footing with bills voted by the Chambers. 
 While the referendum adds nothing to the rights 
 of peoples which possess the initiative, the initia- 
 tive extends the rights of those which possess the 
 referendum only: in the majority of cantons it 
 permits the decision of the Great Council to be 
 attacked which are beyond the scope of the refer- 
 endum. 
 
 The initiative, however, is not exercised by the 
 people entirely without the co-operation of the 
 representative councils. Almost always the latter 
 have the right to give their opinion upon popularly 
 initiated proposals and to oppose counter-pro- 
 posals of their own, if they so desire. With the 
 referendum the people is deemed to give its opin- 
 ion, explicitly or implicitly, upon all the important 
 actions of the Councils ; with the initiative the peo- 
 ple intervene only in exceptional cases in order 
 to modify or to complete legislation. Like the 
 referendum, the initiative has remarkable con- 
 sequences. It impels councils to pass laws or take 
 action upon which they would not agree but for 
 fear of the initiative in their rear. The initiative
 
 ii8 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 also has the special virtue of setting a term to 
 serious conflicts which may arise between the 
 people and its rulers. Nowadays the initiative 
 suffices to settle a dispute which formerly would 
 have ended in revolution as, for example, the 
 case of a government obstinately maintaining a 
 system of electoral units which falsifies the ex- 
 pression of the national will ["gerrymandering"]. 
 The right of initiative, gained after untold efforts 
 by parliamentary assemblies, has become in Switz- 
 erland a right of the people, and the use which 
 the Swiss people has made of it is not a condemna- 
 tion of the institution. 
 
 The right of popular initiative applies in Switz- 
 erland both to the Constitution and to laws; but 
 the Confederation does not yet possess it in appli- 
 cation to legislative proposals, whereas all the can- 
 tons except Fribourg practice it both in constitu- 
 tional and in legislative matters. It is exercised 
 in two distinct ways : the first one is the method of 
 the "motion," as the Swiss Constitutions term it, 
 the other that of the "formulated initiative," in 
 which the proposal is presented in full. 
 
 In the highly interesting works which he has 
 published upon the referendum, the late Professor 
 Jacques Berney expresses the view that the so- 
 called "formulated initiative" alone safeguards in 
 entirety the right of the initiators. With the
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 119 
 
 "motion," he says after the proposal is accepted 
 by the people, the representative body can easily 
 give to the bill which it is called on to draft, a form 
 which is contrary to the views of the petitioners 
 or even such as to ensure its rejection by the sov- 
 ereign people in the last resort. I do not think 
 that this drawback is met with in practice. When 
 the people accepts a popularly initiated "motion," 
 the Council respects its decision and does not seek 
 to evade it. The "formulated initiative" has the 
 advantage of necessitating only one popular vote, 
 but on the other hand it has certain serious de- 
 fects. Whatever care its authors expend upon the 
 drafting of their bill, it is often found that it is 
 out of harmony with other constitutional or legal 
 provisions or that its authors fail to hit upon the 
 best expression of their ideas. A proposal in 
 general terms, upon which the legislative body 
 proceeds carefully and skillfully to draft a bill, 
 would have better chance of success in the final 
 vote. 
 
 I shall give as an example the federal initiative 
 of a demand for the application of proportional 
 representation to the election of the National 
 Council. In all probability it would have been 
 accepted if its authors had not introduced into it 
 a much contested provision making each canton a 
 constituency, which caused many supporters of
 
 120 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 proportional representation to abstain from vot- 
 ing. One of the disadvantages of the "formu- 
 lated initiative" is its liability to be at variance 
 with rights guaranteed by law or the Constitution. 
 In the cantons this disadvantage has not the same 
 weight as in the Confederation. The Federal 
 Court is empowered to annul decisions of the 
 people contrary to the constitutional rights of citi- 
 zens, and the ordinary courts can grant legal in- 
 demnity to those whose private rights are in- 
 fringed by such decisions. This is not the case 
 with the Confederation. The Federal Court does 
 not have to pass judgment upon the decisions of 
 the Federal Assembly or the people. The Consti- 
 tution obliges it to apply them. 
 
 In the Confederation the right of popular ini- 
 tiative is restricted to constitutional changes; but 
 even with this limitation it lends itself to extraor- 
 dinary extension, as may be inferred from the ac- 
 ceptance by a majority of the people and of the 
 cantons of a demand for the prohibition of the 
 slaughter of beasts according to Jewish rites. The 
 Federal Constitution regulates the initiative in the 
 following manner. 
 
 In the case of a total revision of the Constitu- 
 tion, the question is laid before the people if 
 50,000 citizens support the demand (unless, of 
 course, the revision is decided upon by the Coun-
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 121 
 
 cils) . If revision is approved by a majority of the 
 people, the two Councils are renewed and draft 
 a bill which comes into operation only after its 
 adoption by a majority of the people and of the 
 cantons. 
 
 The Federal Constitution of 1874 contained 
 no provisions for the partial revision of the Con- 
 stitution by means of the initiative. This right 
 was reserved to the Councils. It was transferred 
 to the people in 1891. Article 121 states that 
 the popular initiative consists of a demand pre- 
 sented by 50,000 citizens for the passing of a new 
 article or the repeal or amendment of any speci- 
 fied articles of the Constitution. If a number of 
 proposals are presented, each of them must be 
 the subject of a separate demand. The initiative 
 may take the form of a proposal in general terms 
 or of a fully drafted bill. 
 
 When a proposal is initiated in general terms, 
 the Councils, if they approve of it, proceed with 
 the partial revision indicated and submit their bill 
 to the people. If the Councils do not approve of 
 the suggested proposal, the question is placed be- 
 fore the people. In the case of an affirmative re- 
 ply, the Federal Chambers proceed to make the 
 revision decided on by the people. When the 
 Federal Chambers are confronted with the full 
 draft of a bill, they may approve it or propose its
 
 122 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 rejection or submit a counter-proposal to the peo- 
 ple, but, in each case, the popularly initiated bill 
 must be submitted to the people and to the can- 
 tons as it is without amendment or addition. Up 
 to the present, however, the Federal Assembly has 
 never made use of its right to present a counter- 
 proposal. 
 
 The manner in which the initiative has been 
 introduced into the Federal Constitution has pro- 
 voked more than one criticism. Among them is 
 one relating to the absence of any restriction upon 
 the federal constitutional initiative, although there 
 is no federal legislative initiative, i.e. no right of 
 initiating laws other than those dealing with the 
 Constitution. The Federal Assembly has endeav- 
 cvred to introduce the legislative initiative, but it 
 has encountered the difficulty of safeguarding the 
 principle of federalism. With the legislative in- 
 itiative, what becomes of the double share of peo- 
 ple and of cantons in federal legislation which is 
 carried out by the co-operation of two Cham- 
 bers, each representing one of these elements? 
 To dispense with the vote of the cantons, as in 
 the legislative referendum, would be to intro- 
 duce legislation by the people alone and to en- 
 shrine in the Constitution a principle with far- 
 reaching consequences. To require a majority of 
 cantons would be to invite dangerous conflicts
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 123 
 
 between a majority of the cantons and a majority 
 of the people. The case of the legislative initia- 
 tive is on all fours with that of the compulsory 
 referendum and the election of the Federal Coun- 
 cil by the people. Principles accepted in the can- 
 tons under the weight of tradition involve serious 
 disadvantages when transferred to a sphere in 
 which the power of the States is partitioned be- 
 tween two sovereigns. But the meshes of Article 
 121 are so wide that in reality the present fed- 
 eral initiative may be applied to all kinds of legis- 
 lation, if only it is put in the form of a constitu- 
 tional provision. In every case, of course, a ma- 
 jority of the cantons is required as well as of the 
 people. 
 
 M. Jacques Berney drew attention to the ex- 
 traordinary scope of Article 121. In the work 
 from which I have already quoted, he wrote : "The 
 restriction of the 'formulated' initiative to partial 
 revisions of the Constitution is purely formal; in 
 actual fact the right is absolutely unrestricted. 
 Any proposal whatever, whether constitutional, 
 legislative, administrative or judicial in character, 
 must be submitted to the people if it is brought 
 forward in the form of an article of the Consti- 
 tution. Indeed, no provision of the Federal 
 Constitution or of any federal act superior to the 
 Constitution prescribes the subjects which alone
 
 124 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 are to be regarded as constitutional in character; 
 no text fixes the boundary between the Constitu- 
 tion on the one hand, and laws, decrees and orders 
 on the other. . . . 
 
 "Any citizen can, if 49,999 colleagues support 
 his demand, obtain a vote of the Swiss people and 
 cantons upon any proposal whatever, provided 
 that externally it takes the form of an article of 
 the Constitution. . . . 
 
 "By means of the initiative, then, the Swiss peo- 
 ple can govern itself freely in all matters. It 
 can make laws, adopt a penal code, naturalize 
 aliens, pardon the condemned, contract loans, con- 
 vert the national debt, grant subsidies, conclude 
 treaties and denounce them, declare war and make 
 peace, institute tariffs, abolish taxes, try disputes, 
 pronounce judgment, quash the sentence of a 
 court, condemn a citizen to death, etc. It can 
 take any decision whatever, upon the sole condi- 
 tion that it inscribes it in the Constitution. Yet 
 further, it can turn against constituted authorities, 
 refuse to ratify their actions, saddle them with an 
 imperative mandate, prorogue or dissolve them 
 at any time, and even strip them of their func- 
 tions." 
 
 There is a strain of humor in the interpretation 
 of the lamented Lausanne professor, which, how- 
 ever, is logically correct. But men do not act
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 125 
 
 strictly logically, and when applying a principle 
 they are able to take into account the principles 
 limiting its application. It was once said that 
 France was an absolute monarchy tempered by 
 song. It might be said that Switzerland is a de- 
 mocracy tempered by good sense. In our age, 
 the principle of the separation of powers is too 
 firmly established for the people to try to meddle 
 in judicial matters or to make decisions obviously 
 beyond its competence and calculated to throw 
 the machinery of politics and administration out 
 of gear. What used to happen in the old Lands- 
 gemeinden is hardly possible now. The good 
 sense of the public and the advance of civic edu- 
 cation would offer a solid barrier to such caprice. 
 If the popular initiative is to set in motion an elec; 
 torate of 900,000 citizens, it must submit reason- 
 able proposals, harmonizing with the general char- 
 acter of the country's institutions. Apart from 
 the rather secondary question of the Jewish 
 slaughter of beasts, which brought humanitarians 
 and anti-Semites into the same camp, the Swiss 
 people hitherto has made no use of the federal 
 initiative contrary to the general principles of the 
 Constitution and the rules of good sense. I shall 
 return later to this point, when I examine certain 
 of its results. 
 
 As we have seen in the historical summary, the
 
 126 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 initiative took root in Switzerland in 1845, when 
 the canton of Vaud incorporated it in its Consti- 
 tution. It will perhaps be useful if I give here, 
 as I did for the referendum, some of the cantonal 
 provisions relating to the initiative. 
 
 All the cantons, except Fribourg, possess both 
 the constitutional and the legislative initiative. 
 The constitutions of the cantons with Lands- 
 gemeinden place practically no restrictions upon 
 the scope of the initiative. This is also true of 
 the canton of Vaud, where the only restriction is 
 to the effect that the constitutional initiative must 
 be in general terms. Except in Zurich, Zug and 
 St. Gall, where the subject matter of the initiative 
 coincides with that of the referendum, and in 
 Schwyz, Aargau and Schaffhausen, where it is less 
 extensive, the scope of the initiative is far wider 
 than that of the referendum. The initiative en- 
 ables to be brought before the people numerous 
 degrees or orders which in principle are exempt 
 from the referendum. 
 
 The right of initiative of qualified electors, 
 states Article 29 of the Constitution of Zurich, is 
 the right to demand the passing, the repeal or the 
 amendment either of a law, or of a decree which 
 is not exclusively within the competence of the 
 Cantonal Council. These demands may be offered 
 in the form of a simple motion or that of a fully
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 127 
 
 drafted bill. In either case, a reasoned state- 
 ment must be given in support. 
 
 When a citizen or an authority presents a de- 
 mand of this kind and it is supported by one-third 
 of the members of the Cantonal Council, the peo- 
 ple is called upon to give its decision. The au- 
 thor of the proposal or a delegate of the author- 
 ity has the right to present the case for it in 
 person before the Cantonal Council if twenty-five 
 members at least of this Council support the re- 
 quest to be heard. 
 
 A vote of the people must also be taken when 
 5,000 electors or a number of assemblies of com- 
 munes in which 5,000 electors have voted in that 
 sense initiate a demand, unless the Cantonal Coun- 
 cil adopts the proposal initiated. A motion pre- 
 sented at the proper time must be submitted to 
 the people at the latest by the second ordinary 
 vote which follows. 
 
 Before the vote, the motion or the bill must 
 always be submitted to Cantonal Council for it 
 to give its opinion. 
 
 When an initiated law is submitted to the vote, 
 the Cantonal Council can present an alternative 
 proposal. 
 
 Similar provisions apply to the constitutional 
 Initiative. 
 
 The provisions of other Cantonal Constitutions
 
 128 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 resemble these more or less closely. Differences 
 occur in the extent of its application, the intervals 
 of time, and the number of signatures required, 
 which is always somewhat small so that there may 
 be no obstacle to the exercise of the right. The 
 "formulated initiative" has prevailed in nearly all 
 cantons. As has already been seen, in many can- 
 tons it enables the people to give their verdict 
 upon laws or ordinances which escape the refer- 
 endum. The Constitution of Schaffhausen lays 
 down that in the case when a proposal and a 
 counter-proposal are presented simultaneously to 
 the people, the one which obtains an absolute 
 majority of votes is to be considered adopted, and 
 if neither obtains an absolute majority both are 
 rejected. The Constitution of Grisons renders 
 the initiative inapplicable to laws which have come 
 into operation within less than two years, as well 
 as urgent decrees of the Great Council. In Bern, 
 when the Great Council does not give effect to a 
 popularly initiated motion, it may address a mes- 
 sage to tRe electors explaining its point of view. 
 In Fribourg, the initiative applies solely to the case 
 when 6,000 citizens support a motion for the total 
 or partial revision of the Constitution. In Neu- 
 chatel, when the Great Council declines to take 
 up a popularly initiated proposal, it may, as in 
 Bern, explain to the people the reasons for its
 
 THE POPULAR INITIATIVE 129 
 
 decision or present a parallel proposal. In Ge- 
 neva, when the electors have the choice between 
 a proposal brought forward by means of the in- 
 itiative and a counter-proposal of the Great Coun- 
 cil, they have the right of voting in favor of both, 
 whereas the federal law in the parallel case au- 
 thorizes two negative votes but only one affirma- 
 tive. The Constitution of Vaud provides that the 
 assemblies of communes have the right of voting 
 upon any proposal initiated by 6,000 qualified citi- 
 zens, subject to the reservation that the "formulat- 
 ed initiative" is not allowed upon constitutional 
 matters. 
 
 Readers who may desire fuller details will find 
 them in the Recueil des constitutions federates et 
 cantonales, published by the Federal Chancellery 
 in 1910. But this work is already rather out of 
 date. Constitutions are no longer the durable 
 structures they used to be, remaining untouched 
 for years on end. They have become plastic, al- 
 ways changing in some detail or other, and scarce- 
 ly a year passes without one or another of them 
 undergoing more or less important alterations or 
 additions. It should be added that the total re- 
 vision of Constitutions has become a less frequent 
 occurrence. Both Confederation and cantons now 
 prefer the method of adaptation to the needs of 
 the day by specific amendments and find hardly
 
 130 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 any attraction in the upheaval of a general re- 
 vision which was often the favorite weapon of 
 parties aiming at the overthrow of a govern- 
 ment.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE 
 
 IF one had spoken of the initiative to M. 
 Guizot, the famous doctrinaire statesman of the 
 July monarchy, he would have demonstrated with 
 his wonderful eloquence that it was the enthrone- 
 ment of anarchy in government and in legislation. 
 The great historian believed that representative 
 government, exercised by the upper middle class, 
 was adequate recognition of democracy and the 
 surest guarantee of political liberty. Direct gov- 
 ernment by the people seemed to him an utterly 
 subversive idea. And yet, had the initiative existed 
 in France at that time, it might perhaps have main- 
 tained Guizot in power and Louis Philippe on 
 his throne. The revolution swept them both 
 away. 
 
 Those who are not familiar with the effects of 
 the initiative in Switzerland might be tempted, as 
 in the case of the referendum, to believe that 
 it was a source of great embarrassment to govern- 
 ments and a cause of serious disturbance in legis- 
 lation. This, however, is not the case. The di- 
 
 131
 
 132 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 rect and indirect effects of the initiative are quite 
 clear, but they are in no respect revolutionary, 
 and although the initiative is not so conservative a 
 force as the referendum, it is still very far from 
 being a subversive institution. It has not been 
 so hitherto in any case. On the occasion when 
 the Swiss Socialists attempted to utilize it for in- 
 corporating the right to work in the Constitution, 
 their defeat was complete, and none of their other 
 efforts has met with any more success. 
 
 Since the application of the initiative to the 
 partial revision of the Federal Constitution, in 
 1891, the Swiss people has made use of it ten times 
 in twenty-six years. It is worth while to examine 
 each of these cases. 
 
 The first to which I have already had occa- 
 sion to refer was that of the initiative x for the 
 prohibition of the slaughter of beasts not pre- 
 viously rendered unconscious. Sensitive people 
 denounced the Jewish method of slaughtering as 
 inhumane; a gust of anti-Semitism did the rest. 
 The proportion of electors who recorded their 
 votes was very small. Out of 668,913 electors 
 on the register, 191,517 voted for the proposal 
 and 127,101 against. Ten cantons and three 
 
 1 In current usage in Switzerland, the word "initiative" is em- 
 ployed to mean both the right of popular initiative and the 
 demands presented to the people in virtue of that right.
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE 133 
 
 demi-cantons voted in favor, and nine cantons and 
 three demi-cantons to the contrary. 
 
 The second initiative put forward by the So- 
 cialist party was a demand for the recognition of 
 the right of every Swiss citizen to adequately paid 
 employment. Federal, cantonal and communal 
 authorities were to render this right effective by 
 all possible means. This ghost of 1848, so dear 
 to the Socialists of that period, received a frigid 
 welcome from the Swiss people. There were 
 75,880 affirmative votes and 308,289 negative. 
 
 In 1894 the Catholic Right and the Protestant 
 extreme Right combined upon a proposal to 
 weaken the Confederation to the advantage of the 
 cantons by decreeing a division of the revenue 
 from customs, which constituted the chief finan- 
 cial resource of the Confederation. This attack 
 67,828 electors had given their signatures in 
 support of the demand was repulsed by 350,639 
 votes. The number in its favor was 145,462. 
 Seven cantons and three demi-cantons were for 
 acceptance, twelve cantons and three demi-cantons 
 for rejection. 
 
 On the 4th November, 1900, a demand initiated 
 by the Socialist, Catholic Conservative and Lib- 
 eral parties for the application of proportional 
 representation to the election of the National 
 Council was turned down by 241,666 to 169,008
 
 134 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 (10 cantons and 3 demi-cantons to 9 cantons and 
 3 demi-cantons). 
 
 On the same day an initiative proposing the 
 election of the Federal Council by the people was 
 also refused by the people and the cantons. The 
 number for rejection was 270,522, for acceptance 
 145,926 (12 cantons and 4 demi-cantons to 7 
 cantons and 2 demi-cantons). 
 
 In 1903 a proposal supported mainly by the 
 rural population and aiming at the election of 
 the National Council upon the basis of the Swiss 
 population and not upon that of the total popula- 
 tion, including foreigners, was rejected by 295,085 
 to 95,121 (16 cantons and 4 demi-cantons to 3 
 cantons and 2 demi-cantons). 
 
 In 1908 an initiative conferring upon the Con- 
 federation the right of legislating upon the utiliza- 
 tion of water-power resources was withdrawn by 
 its authors, who had obtained satisfaction in the 
 meantime from the Federal Council, which itself 
 submitted to the Chambers an addition to the 
 Constitution upon the lines proposed. 
 
 On the 9th July, 1908, the Swiss people passed 
 by 241,078 vot;es to 138,669 an initiative pro- 
 hibiting the importation, manufacture and sale of 
 absinthe or its imitations. 
 
 On the 3rd October, 1910, a second attempt 
 to introduce proportional representation was re-
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE 135 
 
 jected by 265,194 to 240,305, but this time with- 
 out a majority of the cantons. 
 
 Finally, in 1918, a Socialist proposal for the 
 introduction of a direct federal tax, which was 
 supported by the great federal associations of 
 officials and employees, was rejected by 321,000 
 votes to 275,000 and by 13 cantons and 3 demi- 
 cantons to 6 cantons and 3 demi-cantons. 
 
 Four other initiatives are now pending, and 
 will shortly be submitted to the people. The first, 
 which is a renewal of the attempt to obtain pro- 
 portional representation, will have been decided 
 by the time this is published. 1 The three others 
 are aimed at the submission to the optional refer- 
 endum of international treaties, which have a du- 
 ration of more than thirty years; the abolition 
 of military courts; the entire prohibition of games 
 of chance ("boule" and "petits chevaux") still 
 permitted in certain casinos and kursaals. 
 
 Thus, out of ten initiatives submitted to the 
 Swiss people, only two have obtained its approval, 
 and even should forthcoming votes increase the 
 number, it will be agreed that there is no reason 
 for disquiet over a period of about thirty years. 
 
 I shall dwell a little on two of these initiatives 
 that which led to the prohibition of absinthe, 
 
 *It was adopted on the i3th October, 1918, by 299,550 votes to 
 149 35 ( I 9/ / 2 cantons to 2j^).
 
 136 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 and that which sought to introduce a direct fed- 
 eral tax. Both are typical. 
 
 Towards the end of August, 1908, a horrible 
 crime was committed in the village of Commugny, 
 close to Coppet, in Vaud. A French laborer 
 named Lanfray, in a state of semi-drunkenness, 
 had quarreled violently with his wife, wrecked his 
 home, and then taken a gun and shot one after 
 the other his wife and his two daughters, aged 
 four years and one year and a half. A great 
 stir was caused by this crime, throughout the 
 country. Lanfray was a drinker. He was espe- 
 cially addicted to liqueurs, to vermouth, brandy, 
 and absinthe. The opponents of absinthe judged it 
 a favorable opportunity to have done with the 
 evil, and addressed themselves to the Great Coun- 
 cil of the canton of Vaud. It would have been 
 possible for them to make use of the initiative 
 and obtain an immediate vote of the people. They 
 could have collected without any difficulty the 
 6,000 signatures required by the Constitution. But 
 the result would have been doubtful in a vine- 
 growing country, where teetotalers are not in 
 good odor and are suspected of harboring much 
 wider intentions than the prohibition of one drink. 
 The enemies of absinthe preferred to test opin- 
 ion by organizing a general petition, in which 
 women and foreigners could participate. They
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE 137 
 
 succeeded beyond all their expectations. The pe- 
 tition was signed by 34,355 men and 47,769 
 women. The Great Council of the canton of Vaud 
 took the moral to heart, and voted the prohibition 
 of absinthe. 
 
 Then came the turn of the consumers and dis- 
 tributors of absinthe to react. They themselves 
 had recourse to the initiative (the Vaud form of 
 the referendum), demanded the repeal of the law 
 and obtained a vote, which confirmed the decision 
 of the Great Council; 22,733 electors voted for 
 the maintenance of the law, and 15,811 for re- 
 peal, after a campaign of newspaper articles and 
 public meetings in which both the medical and the 
 clerical profession took an active part in favor 
 of prohibition. 
 
 From Vaud the movement spread to Geneva, 
 where prohibition was carried by a small majority, 
 but it was not applied rigorously, and its opponents 
 threatened a renewal of their attack. It had be- 
 come obvious, moreover, that cantonal prohibition 
 was inadequate. Transport by post and by rail 
 remained unrestricted, and evasion was the sim- 
 plest of matters. To complete their task, the 
 temperance societies decided to extend the move- 
 ment to the whole of the Confederation, taking 
 advantage of the fact that in German Switzerland 
 the consumption of absinthe was a negligible quan-
 
 138 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tity. They obtained 167,814 signatures to a "for- 
 mulated initiative" demanding the prohibition of 
 the manufacture, transport, importation and sale 
 of absinthe and imitations of absinthe. In the 
 Federal Chambers the Federal Council showed 
 little favor to prohibition, which was fought es- 
 pecially by representatives from centers of cul- 
 ture and from absinthe-producing districts. Nev- 
 ertheless, the majority supported the initiative, and 
 recommended the people to accept it. On the 9th 
 July, 1908, the campaign ended in the adoption of 
 the initiative. The proportion of voters was rath- 
 er small in German Switzerland. I have already 
 given the figures of this vote, as a result of which 
 the consumption of absinthe has fallen to prac- 
 tically nothing. 
 
 The last federal initiative was a consequence of 
 the war. To redeem a portion of the debt of over 
 a thousand milliard francs which the Confedera- 
 tion had incurred through the mobilization of the 
 army, and to meet the interest on this debt, the 
 Federal Chamber passed a steeply graduated war- 
 tax, a tax on war profits, and raised postal and 
 telephone charges, etc. When the Federal Coun- 
 cil displayed its intention of having recourse again 
 to the war-tax and to certain indirect taxes, es- 
 pecially on tobacco, the Socialist party, which 
 was opposed to indirect taxation, thought it a
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE 139 
 
 favorable opportunity for launching an initiative 
 for the introduction of a permanent, direct fed- 
 eral tax. Its proposal was put before the electo- 
 rate in the most attractive guise. The tax was 
 to be levied only upon tax-payers with a capital 
 exceeding 20,000 francs and with an earned in- 
 come exceeding 5,000 francs. It was calculated 
 that only 8 per cent, would be affected. The Fed- 
 eral Council and the Chambers refused their adhe- 
 sion to this initiative. A fierce campaign ensued. 
 The Socialists had succeeded in winning for their 
 proposal the support of the leaders of the associa- 
 tions of federal officials, employees and workmen, 
 certain sections oif "Young Radicals," and even 
 here and there in German Switzerland some radi- 
 cal elements. The initiative was a grave danger 
 for the federalists. If the Confederation once 
 obtained the power of imposing a direct gradu- 
 ated tax, over and above similar taxes imposed by 
 the cantons and the communes, the result must be 
 the financial weakening of the cantons and the 
 eventual unification of direct taxation. One of 
 the authorities upon Swiss constitutional law, M. 
 Hilty, had ventured to assert that the exclusive 
 right of direct taxation was the clearest example 
 of the sovereign powers still retained by the can- 
 tons! 
 
 The bulk of the Radical party, especially in
 
 140 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 French-speaking Switzerland, the Liberal party 
 and the Catholic-Conservatives organized an ac- 
 tive opposition to the initiative, while the Social- 
 ists made their appeal to the lowest instincts of 
 human nature. On the eve of the poll a cartoon 
 in one of their chief papers depicted the initiative 
 as a cannon discharging a shell to blow up the 
 strong-boxes of the capitalists. The initiative 
 was rejected by a majority of the people and of 
 the cantons, but the actual majority of votes was 
 inconsiderable, and those federalists who, in 1891, 
 assisted the introduction in the Constitution of 
 partial revision by means of the initiative, have 
 come to realize the dangers with which this insti- 
 tution threatens the principle so dear to them. It 
 is not always easy to make the electors understand 
 that a measure, although intrinsically sound, 
 should be rejected because it disturbs the balance 
 of the federative institutions, and would involve 
 a redistribution of powers between the Confedera- 
 tion and the cantons. Hitherto the federal in- 
 itiative has not been a source of difficulties for the 
 Confederation, but it may conceivably lead to some 
 surprises. 
 
 In the cantons, where the question of the dis- 
 tribution of sovereign powers does not arise, the 
 initiative has been found even less objectionable 
 than in the Confederation. An examination, sim-
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE 141 
 
 i 
 
 ilar to that made in the case of the referendum, 
 of the results of the voting upon cantonal initia- 
 tives from 1905 to 1916 the cantons with Lands- 
 gemeinden excluded shows that, out of thirty- 
 six proposals initiated, twenty-six have been re- 
 jected and ten accepted. This indicates that the 
 people is much more circumspect and discreet 
 about proposals coming from one or another of 
 its sections than about the laws and decrees passed 
 by its representatives. The majority of initiatives 
 for a reform of the system of taxation figure 
 among the rejected proposals. Quite recently, 
 however, the canton of Bern has succeeded, after 
 more than one failure, in improving its system 
 of taxation, thanks to an initiative which had the 
 almost unique good fortune of gaining the support 
 of both Socialists and Radicals. 
 
 As the initiative is, above all, a weapon of op- 
 position, it is not surprising that minorities avail 
 themselves of it for the purpose of introducing 
 a system of proportional representation. But 
 usually they achieve their aim only after re- 
 peated attacks and a split in the governmental 
 party. In the canton of St. Gall, it was only at 
 the fourth vote that a coalition of Catholic-Con- 
 servatives and parties of the extreme Left car- 
 ried their bill for proportional representation after 
 three failures. In Basel-Stadt, too, three attempts
 
 142 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 were necessary to reach the same result. In Zu- 
 rich, the proportional scheme submitted to the peo- 
 ple by the Great Council was rejected in 1911 
 by 42,197 votes to 39,474. In 1916 a proposal 
 submitted by initiative was carried by 48,672 to 
 41,919. In Aargau proportional representation 
 was rejected by 24,272 to 14,499. 
 
 Among other rejected initiatives, I may men- 
 tion in Geneva one for compulsory State insur- 
 ance of personal property, and another for the 
 throwing open of the legal profession; and in 
 Basel-Stadt an initiative in favor of compulsory 
 voting. The initiative has one success to its credit 
 in the canton of Solothurn, the institution of a 
 fund for insurance against old age. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the canton of Vaud, 
 where the scope of the initiative is unrestricted, 
 is one of those which have made least use of this 
 institution. From 1845 to tne present day seven 
 initiatives are recorded. The first, in 1851, sought 
 to make the holding of certain public offices a dis- 
 qualification for membership of the Great Coun- 
 cil. It was accepted. The second, in 1863, pro- 
 posed the repeal of a law instituting a tax on 
 personal estate. The people replied in the negative 
 and upheld the law. The third, a "formulated 
 initiative" making the holding of certain cantonal 
 offices a disqualification for the position of deputy
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE INITIATIVE 143 
 
 in the Federal Chambers, was adopted in 1883. 
 In the same year the electorate approved an in- 
 itiative for the total revision of the Cantonal Con- 
 stitution by means of a Constituent Assembly. In 
 1901 the initiative was again set in motion for the 
 repeal of a law for the observance of the Sab- 
 bath just passed by the Great Council. The au- 
 thors of the initiative carried the day by a ma- 
 jority of a few hundred votes. The last two in- 
 itiatives aimed at the repeal of a law for the pro- 
 hibition of absinthe ( 1905) and at the direct elec- 
 tion of the State Council by the people. The first 
 came to nothing, but the second was carried. 
 
 It is noteworthy that two important decisions 
 the abolition of State assistance to the Church in 
 Basel and Geneva were taken by the Great 
 Councils and not as a result of initiatives. Both 
 were approved by the people, and one has some 
 right to speak, as in the case of the referendum, 
 of the stimulating effect of the initiative upon the 
 activity of the legislative authorities. It induces 
 them to keep a keen watch on the needs of the 
 time. The majority of constitutional changes in 
 the later period have taken place upon the initia- 
 tive, not of the people, but of the Great 
 Councils.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE ELECTION OF THE GOVERNMENT AND OFFICIALS 
 BY THE PEOPLE 
 
 WHILE in the majority of European countries 
 the members of the government, the ministers, 
 are chosen by the head of the State from the ma- 
 jority of the Chambers, in Switzerland they are 
 selected in nearly all cases directly by the people. 
 This was always the case in the cantons possessing 
 a Landsgemeinde. In the rest, the appointment of 
 the government was originally within the sphere 
 of the Great Councils; but as early as 1846 in 
 Geneva the Radicals restored this privilege to the 
 people, and since then almost all the other can- 
 tons have followed suit. There are now only two, 
 Valais and Fribourg, where the State Council is 
 still appointed by the Great Council. Whether 
 the government is elected by the people or the 
 Great Council, a peculiarity of the institution in 
 Switzerland is the absence of what is called parlia- 
 mentary responsibility. A State Council placed in 
 a minority of the Great Council or of the peo- 
 ple does not resign. It conforms with the cx- 
 
 144
 
 ELECTION OF GOVERNMENT BY PEOPLE 145 
 
 pressed will of the majority and continues in office 
 till its legal term expires. "The Swiss people dis- 
 owns its representatives and then reelects them," 
 said Marc Monnier in a much quoted quip which 
 has a foundation of truth. The Swiss people does 
 not believe that its officers and deputies are in- 
 fallible, but it does not care to deprive itself of 
 their experience and their services because, upon 
 one point or another, it finds itself in disagree- 
 ment with them. If the disagreement is chronic 
 and persistent, it waits for the time for the re- 
 newal of its authorities, and proceeds to change 
 them. This, however, is rather a rare occurrence. 
 So far as its rulers are concerned, the people is 
 still more conservative than parliamentary assem- 
 blies. Once elected, a State councilor generally 
 remains in office until he resigns voluntarily. Ven- 
 erable councilors have been known to be reflected 
 against the desires of the parties which placed 
 them in power. If the Swiss people remunerates 
 its officers far from excessively, at any rate it rare- 
 ly displays ingratitude towards them. Only as a 
 result of extreme incapacity or negligence are they 
 ever dismissed. 
 
 This does not imply that the people lacks any 
 desired means for bringing its officers into har- 
 mony with its own opinions. We have seen that, 
 in addition to the periodic reelections, many can-
 
 146 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tons have adopted the Recall, both for the Great 
 Council and for the State Council. 
 
 I do not pretend an unqualified admiration for 
 the direct election of the members of the govern- 
 ment. There is evidence from more than one can- 
 ton to prove that the level of governments has not 
 risen since the right of election passed from the 
 Great Council to the people. Parties are often 
 inclined to strengthen their chances in the election 
 by giving preference to candidates who are not the 
 most capable just because they are most popular, 
 and leaving aside those whose independence and 
 energy has brought them many enemies ; but I be- 
 lieve that practically no case is known in which a 
 representative of the majority of proved ability 
 has been excluded from a government which he 
 desired to join. The fears which were entertained 
 originally concerning possible conflicts between 
 two authorities the Great Council and the 
 State Council required to work together and 
 both dependent on the same electorate have been 
 little confirmed by events. Popular election guar- 
 antees the independence of the two authorities, 
 frees the government from parliamentary intrigue 
 and establishes a closer contact between the people 
 and those who direct public affairs. 
 
 It is argued that the only result of popular elec- 
 tion is to substitute the influence of electoral com-
 
 ELECTION OF GOVERNMENT BY PEOPLE 147 
 
 mittees for that of parliament. This is true up to 
 a certain point, but an electoral committee can do 
 nothing against a man who succeeds in winning 
 the confidence of the country. There can be no 
 doubt that popular election imposes upon members 
 of a government duties which at times are oner- 
 ous, compelling them, for instance, to attend nu- 
 merous meetings, banquets and other functions 
 to which considerations of health and personal in- 
 clination would not lead them; it has long been 
 a matter of common knowledge that in a democ- 
 racy, and in other political systems too, the pri- 
 mary condition of a statesman's success is good 
 health, physical and mental vigor, ability to bear 
 severe tests. The public requires much from a 
 man who aspires to public life. 
 
 The number of members of the cantonal gov- 
 ernments varies from five to nine, and their legal 
 term of office is usually three or four years. These 
 governments are elected by a constituency consist- 
 ing of the whole canton. Almost everywhere their 
 members do not form part of the Great Council, 
 but attend its meetings in a consultative capacity. 
 The Constitution of Lucerne requires that, in the 
 composition of the State Council, fair representa- 
 tion must be accorded to the minority, which in 
 practice is observed by the election of a State 
 Council composed of five Catholic-Conservatives
 
 148 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 and two Radical-Liberals. In Zug the State Coun- 
 cil of seven members is elected under a system 
 of proportional representation. In Ticino the 
 State Council of five is elected by a limited vote 
 which gives some representation to the minority. 
 Indeed, in almost all cantons, minorities, or at 
 least the most important of them, are represented 
 in the government as a result either of succession 
 in the electoral campaign or of concessions made 
 by the majority voluntarily and under no consti- 
 tutional obligation. In Solothurn, if a requisition 
 is supported by 4,000 electors, the question of the 
 recall of the government is submitted to the peo- 
 ple. In the Constitution of this canton one rather 
 strange provision calls for mention: not only the 
 meetings of the Great Council, but also those of 
 the State Council are open to the public. The 
 State Council is required to announce the times 
 of its meetings. 
 
 In Grisons the State Council or Lesser Council 
 is elected for a term of three years. It is the 
 only canton in which it is not possible to grow old 
 in power : the members can be reflected twice only. 
 In Thurgau the State Council of five, and likewise 
 the Great Council, can be recalled by the people 
 on the demand of 5,000 citizens. In Bern, where 
 the Executive Council numbers nine members, the 
 Constitution lays down that fair representation
 
 ELECTION OF GOVERNMENT BY PEOPLE 149 
 
 shall be granted to the minority. At the present 
 moment the Bern Council consists of seven Radi- 
 cals and two Conservatives seven German-speak- 
 ing members and two representatives of the 
 French-speaking population of the Jura. Accord- 
 ing to Article 52 of the Constitution of Valais, a 
 canton whose history is a series of often bloody 
 struggles between different districts, executive and 
 administrative power is entrusted to a State Coun- 
 cil of five members, two chosen by the electors of 
 Upper Valais (the German part of the canton), 
 one by Central Val&is and two by Lower Valais. 
 The Constitution of the canton of Vaud makes a 
 concession to local claims by prescribing that not 
 more than two members of the State Council may 
 be chosen from citizens domiciled in the same dis- 
 trict for a period of one year. 
 
 It was natural that attempts should be made 
 to apply to the federal government, the Federal 
 Council, the method of direct election adopted by 
 nearly all the cantons successively. As early as 
 1848, when the Constitution was drawn up, the 
 system obtained a large number of votes. We 
 have seen above that a proposal initiated in 1900 
 with the same end in view was rejected by a great 
 majority. It still figures in the program of many 
 parties, and some day perhaps its advocates may 
 succeed in getting it incorporated in the Constitu-
 
 150 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tion. Every time the action of the Federal Coun- 
 cil arouses discontent, the opposition trots it out 
 again as the solution for the future. The out-and- 
 out advocates of centralization raise no objection; 
 not so the federalists. At present the Federal 
 Council is elected by the National Council and the 
 Council of State sitting jointly as the Federal As- 
 sembly, i.e. by the representatives of the people 
 and of the cantons. With direct election a ma- 
 jority of the people would have to suffice, unless 
 recourse was had to highly complicated systems. 
 The cantonal element would lose all influence upon 
 the election. 
 
 But there are additional considerations to be 
 urged. In its choice, the Federal Assembly nearly 
 always tries to take into account not only the per- 
 sonal fitness of the candidates, but also the neces- 
 sity of assuring the representation of the differ- 
 ent regions of Switzerland and the different na- 
 tional tongues. Parties are also borne in mind. 
 At the present time the Federal Council consists 
 of five Radicals, one Catholic-Conservative and 
 one Liberal four German-speaking members, 
 two French, and one Italian, and, moreover, one 
 of the four German-Swiss members is a native of 
 the part of the canton of Grisons where Romance, 
 a, dialect of Latin origin, is spoken. It is very 
 questionable whether party committees would ar-
 
 ELECTION OF GOVERNMENT BY PEOPLE 151 
 
 rive at an equally satisfactory distribution; and if 
 there were a contest, a vote taken over the whole 
 of the country would be certain to upset all com- 
 binations. 
 
 In one of his political essays, M. Numa Droz 
 expressed certain views upon the subject, which I 
 do not hesitate to quote at length. Although writ- 
 ten in 1893, they apply just as accurately to the 
 situation in 1918 : 
 
 "From 1848 to 1893 Switzerland has had in all 
 thirty-one federal councilors, of whom seven are 
 still in power. Of the twenty-four who died in 
 office or resigned, fourteen have had to be re- 
 placed in the course of an administrative term; in 
 other words, if the first election in 1848 is ex- 
 cepted, the majority of the members of the Fed- 
 eral Council have entered that body as the result 
 of individual election. Very frequently the choice 
 of the candidate has presented some difficulty; the 
 considerations discussed above (cantons, parties) 
 had to be taken into account, and not least among 
 them the worth of the candidate. With about one 
 exception, all federal councilors have been chosen 
 from members of the Chambers. Thus they had 
 been observed at work; their ability and charac- 
 ter were known and discussed even before the 
 election. The crucial question was much more 
 whether the candidate possessed the qualities of a
 
 152 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 ruler and administrator than whether he was one 
 of the great leaders of his party. The tribune of 
 the people was not exactly the type preferred; 
 hence the resentment of more than one neglected 
 personality, hence, too, in part, the demand for 
 direct election. 
 
 "Consider now an isolated election on a popu- 
 lar basis; is" it quite certain that the majority of 
 electors would give due weight to all the consid- 
 erations which determine the choice of the major- 
 ity of the Chambers? Is it quite certain in par- 
 ticular that they would respect the proportional 
 principle? 
 
 "Under a legal system of proportional repre- 
 sentation, in all probability not a single candidate 
 would be elected with an absolute majority. 
 There would be seven federal councilors, two or 
 three representing the Radical party, one or two 
 the Catholic party, one or two the Liberty party, 
 and possibly one the Socialist party. Undoubt- 
 edly, for the purpose of avoiding undue complex- 
 ity in the system of voting, other proportional 
 principles, which in my opinion are far superior 
 to mere party classifications, would have to be 
 abandoned ; I refer to the equitable representation 
 of the languages, cantons and different regions of 
 Switzerland. It would no longer be possible to ap- 
 portion the available talent so that every depart-
 
 ELECTION OF GOVERNMENT BY PEOPLE 153 
 
 ment of the Federal Council was given a head 
 capable of directing it. The logic of the situa- 
 tion, if not party discipline, would lead every suc- 
 cessful candidate to look upon himself, essentially 
 if not solely, as a delegate to the government in 
 support of the electoral program upon which he 
 was appointed. Would such a government ever 
 be capable of inspiring confidence at home or 
 abroad? How could such party puppets pretend 
 to the dignity of the chosen of the nation? 
 
 "It is said that Switzerland is a democracy 
 tempered by good sense. Every elective system, 
 direct or indirect, which is not decided by an abso- 
 lute majority, will produce a weak and divided 
 Federal Council." 
 
 The advocates of direct election for the Federal 
 Council base their claim almost exclusively upon 
 the undisputed principle of the sovereignty of the 
 people opposed to the representative system. M. 
 Numa Droz rejoins : 
 
 "Election of the Federal Council by the people 
 is a decisive step in the direction of a unitary sys- 
 tem. . . . The implications of a principle cannot 
 be evaded for ever, even if circumstances delay 
 their appearance for a time. The first breach has 
 been made in the federative system by the optional 
 referendum, which does not affect the action of 
 the cantons in the preliminary stages, but does
 
 154 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 away with it at the crucial point of the final vote. 
 That is not the end of the matter: the initiative 
 has just been extended to the partial revision of 
 the Constitution, and the first use to which it has 
 been put would constitute an act of religious in- 
 tolerance. . . . 
 
 "For the complete realization of its program, 
 direct democracy demands or will demand one 
 after the other the election of the Federal Coun- 
 cil by the people, the compulsory referendum, in- 
 cluding the financial referendum, the extension 
 of the initiative to laws, a single Chamber, the 
 election of federal judges, and the election of the 
 president of the Confederation. At the end of 
 the journey there is evidently nothing but the uni- 
 tary State, not to say dictatorship, the usual cul- 
 mination of democracy carried to extremes. . . ." 
 
 These reflections may seem a little pessimistic. 
 According to my showing, the exercise of popular 
 rights tends to have a moderating influence in the 
 interests of good sense and public discretion; but 
 it is clear that in federal matters they conflict with 
 the rights of cantons, and tend to undermine the 
 influence of an indispensable balance weight in our 
 federative organization. For this reason federal- 
 ists must always look very closely upon any pro- 
 posal to extend them merely in exchange for guar- 
 antees which are not always easy to devise.
 
 ELECTION OF GOVERNMENT BY PEOPLE 155 
 
 This chapter would not be complete if I gave 
 no details of the way in which officials are ap- 
 pointed in the various ranks of the cantonal and 
 federal governments. In the Confederation all 
 officials and employees are appointed by the Fed- 
 eral Council or by the higher officials of the great 
 federal administrative departments. The Fed- 
 eral Court appoints the staff directly dependent 
 upon it. But it is to be noticed that, except in the 
 postal, telegraph and telephone services, the cus- 
 toms and the railways, the federal government has 
 few direct agents, and that a great many federal 
 laws are administered by the cantons. The lat- 
 ter have various methods of appointment. In 
 German Switzerland direct election of officials is 
 widespread. Most of the cantons entrust to the 
 people the election of the prefects, i.e. the local 
 representatives of the government whose business 
 is to see to the execution of the laws. The same 
 applies to the election of registrars and occasion- 
 ally of notaries, while the employees of the can- 
 tonal administration proper are appointed by the 
 government. 
 
 The appointment of the judiciary deserves brief 
 consideration separately. In the course of a lec- 
 ture at Zurich upon democracy in the administra- 
 tion of justice Professor Ziircher said: "Under 
 democracy, judges are appointed directly by the
 
 156 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 people; authority can only be derived from the 
 sovereign people. The trust of the people is the 
 foundation of the judge's power, and this trust 
 stimulates him to deserve it. The higher courts 
 of the Confederation, it is true, are elected by the 
 representatives of the people, but scarcely a man 
 will be found among them who has not estab- 
 lished his reputation either in the lower courts or 
 elsewhere." 
 
 This is, indeed, the practice prevailing in most 
 cantons. While the twenty-four judges of the 
 Federal Court are elected by the Federal Assem- 
 bly, the members of federal and cantonal juries 
 are chosen by popular election. The majority of 
 cantons have their higher judges elected by the 
 legislature and the others by the people. In nearly 
 all, for example, justices of the peace are ap- 
 pointed directly by the electorate. The case is the 
 same with the presidents and judges of district 
 courts. In this connection, German Switzerland 
 goes much farther than French Switzerland. 
 Eight years ago the canton of Geneva introduced 
 the direct election of all judicial officers, but Neu- 
 chatel still has them elected by the Great Coun- 
 cil, with the exception of justices of the peace. 
 The canton of Vaud has a unique system. There 
 the cantonal Court is elected by the Great Coun- 
 cil, and itself appoints all the other judges and
 
 judicial functionaries, including the Court officers. 
 In their appointment it usually neglects political 
 considerations, and gives a large place to the mi- 
 nority. The system of Fribourg differs from that 
 of Vaud in that the judges are nominated by a 
 mixed electoral college consisting of the State 
 Council and the cantonal Court. 
 
 The results of the election of judges by the 
 peoples are estimated differently. While there 
 exist cantons in which it seems to occasion no 
 disputes, there are others in which the elections 
 are fiercely contested. This is the case in the 
 city of Zurich, where the elections of the judiciary 
 give rise to intense struggles between the Socialists 
 and a coalition of the bourgeois parties. More 
 than once, for offices which require the very mini- 
 mum of legal knowledge, the Socialists have run 
 candidates whose ignorance of the law was com- 
 plete, against highly qualified jurists. If it is true 
 that impartiality is the first quality of a judge, 
 one wonders how much can be left after election 
 campaigns, in the course of which the bitterest 
 party spirit and the strictest party discipline are 
 displayed. The last judicial elections in the city 
 of Bern have presented the far from edifying spec- 
 tacle of a chief justice who had discharged his 
 functions irreproachably, ousted by a Socialist ma- 
 jority with no consideration for merit or services
 
 158 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 rendered. Perhaps these disadvantages will di- 
 minish when the new parties obtain the share in 
 the judiciary to which they lay claim ; but it is not 
 certain. In Geneva, where, as I have stated, the 
 appointment of judges of all ranks has passed to 
 the people, a group of candidates drawn from all 
 parties was returned without opposition at the 
 general election of 1918. At the outside one- 
 quarter of the electorate took part in the vote.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES AND THE 
 CHURCHES 
 
 THE choosing of the members of the govern- 
 ment, the higher officials and the judiciary does 
 not exhaust the rights of electors in the cantons. 
 There must be added the elections in the com- 
 munes and the Churches. The history of democ- 
 racy in these two institutions might furnish ma- 
 terial for a lengthy and interesting chapter, but I 
 can only touch upon it and indicate a few of the 
 more prominent features. 
 
 We have seen how Swiss liberty was derived 
 from the liberty enjoyed by the medieval Ger- 
 manic communes. Communal privileges have al- 
 most disappeared in Germany, but they persist in 
 Switzerland, especially in German Switzerland, 
 where, in spite of the close supervision of the 
 State, the commune still enjoys a wide measure of 
 autonomy. In the greater part of French Swit- 
 zerland, the commune, springing from a different 
 conception, is much more restricted in its freedom 
 of action. It is rather an administrative unit
 
 160 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 bound by regulations imposed by the State and re- 
 stricted to functions conferred upon it by the 
 State. In many communes of French-Switzerland, 
 the general assembly of electors has fulfilled its 
 part when it has elected the communal or munic- 
 ipal Council; but in the majority of the com- 
 munes of German-Switzerland, it has retained 
 very important powers and remains the focus of 
 communal life. In many cantons, it differentiates 
 into separate assemblies, each appointing a coun- 
 cil according as it deals with general administra- 
 tive business, matters concerning only enfran- 
 chised citizens, educational or ecclesiastical affairs. 
 The importance of the Swiss communes springs 
 also from the fact that almost everywhere the ac- 
 quisition of burgess rights in a commune is an es- 
 sential condition of nationalization. To be a Swiss 
 citizen, a man must first be a burgess of a com- 
 mune and a citizen of a canton. 
 
 In German-Switzerland, the administrative au- 
 thorities of the commune are usually appointed by 
 the general assembly of electors. This is prima- 
 rily the case with the executive council of the com- 
 mune, which is termed, according to the canton, 
 town Council, communal Council, municipal or ad- 
 ministrative Council. It also applies to elemen- 
 tary and secondary teachers. Article 47 of the 
 Constitution of the canton of Zurich lays down
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES 161 
 
 that the commune is normally to be divided into a 
 political commune, an ecclesiastical commune and 
 an educational commune, each with its general 
 assembly of electors and its council. All citizens 
 dwelling in the commune have the right of voting 
 in the communal assembly, but upon questions 
 concerning the relief of the poor, the grant of 
 citizenship and the administration of property be- 
 longing to the burgesses, the right of voting is 
 restricted to the latter, provided they are resident 
 in the canton. Communal property, unless be- 
 longing specially to the burgesses, must be em- 
 ployed in the first instance for public purposes. 
 As it would be very difficult to hold a general as- 
 sembly of electors in communes of more than 
 10,000 inhabitants, the law authorizes a special 
 organization for the latter. For the large towns 
 of the canton, a communal Great Council, the 
 referendum, the initiative and election by secret 
 ballot take the place of the general assembly of 
 electors. Notaries are elected by the electors of 
 the district in which they practice. Besides the 
 communal educational authorities, there are dis- 
 trict educational authorities, also elected by the 
 people. Teachers in State schools are elected by 
 the general assembly and are subject to reelection 
 every six years. 
 
 In Lucerne, the right of electing their teachers
 
 162 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 is guaranteed to the communes by Article 3 of 
 the Constitution. Article 88 states that every 
 political commune has a communal assembly and 
 a municipal Council. All communal officials are 
 elected by the communal assembly. Besides the 
 commune of inhabitants, the political commune, 
 there are also the commune of burgesses, the 
 ecclesiastical commune (parish) and the com- 
 munes of corporations, as they are called, adminis- 
 tering special property. Voting is by show of 
 hands or secret ballot. A number of German- 
 speaking cantons possess similar institutions. The 
 different species of communes have the right of 
 imposing taxes according to their requirements. 
 
 In the canton of Bern, the important affairs of 
 the commune are submitted to the assembly of 
 communal electors; the holding of the assembly 
 can be replaced, and is replaced particularly in the 
 larger localities, by the ballot upon either all the 
 affairs or a selection of them. Populous com- 
 munes can have a general Council to determine in 
 advance which matters shall go before the as- 
 sembly and even to dispose of certain matters 
 finally. But, in general, upon any important ques- 
 tion which arises, the last word rests with the as- 
 sembly of electors. There is no right of referen- 
 dum upon decisions reached by the general Coun- 
 cil or the communal Council upon matters within
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES 163 
 
 their sovereign competence, and initiatives, which 
 must be supported by one-tenth at least of the 
 electorate, may only refer to subjects which come 
 within the competence of the general assembly. 
 
 In Basel-Stadt, canton and commune have a 
 single administration. In Grisons, as in Zurich, 
 we find district administrations (administrations 
 de cercle], intermediate between the canton and 
 the commune, elected by the people, discharging 
 certain political and administrative functions and 
 invested with the right of levying taxes. Valais 
 possesses the institution known as the District 
 Council, composed of delegates from the com- 
 munes and presided over by the prefect. The 
 Constitution of this canton provides for each com- 
 mune a primary assembly, consisting of all citi- 
 zens qualified to vote according to the federal 
 Constitution, a communal Council (municipalite) 
 and an assembly of burgesses. The primary as- 
 sembly may appoint, in addition to the communal 
 Council, a general Council with wider powers 
 whose functions are determined by law. In the 
 French-speaking cantons, the separation of polit- 
 ical and educational communes is unknown. The 
 commune of inhabitants forms a unit which, in 
 the cantons of Neuchatel, Vaud, and Geneva, ad- 
 ministers also the property of the burgesses, so 
 carefully separated from other matters in the
 
 164 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 German-Swiss cantons. By a provision which we 
 meet again in the Constitution of Ausserrhoden, 
 the Constitution of Vaud forbids communes 
 which impose taxes or whose accounts com- 
 monly show a balance on the wrong side to dis- 
 tribute the revenue from communal property in 
 any form or under any pretext whatever. The in- 
 come from burgess property must before every- 
 thing be used to meet the liabilities of the com- 
 munes. 
 
 In many French-speaking cantons, the executive 
 authority of the commune is elected, not by the 
 people, but by the communal Council. Neuchatel 
 permits a general assembly of the commune where 
 the population does not reach the minimum figure 
 prescribed by law. In the canton of Vaud, the 
 system is as follows: in every commune with a 
 population not exceeding 800 souls, there is a 
 general Council comprising all the electors of the 
 commune, and in the others a communal Council 
 of at least 45 and not more than 100 members 
 appointed for four years. The general Council 
 in small communes and the communal Council in 
 the others nominates the governing body and the 
 latter appoints all other officials. Thus in small 
 communes the system is democratic, and in large 
 communes representative. In imitation of the 
 organization prevailing in the large communes of
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES 165 
 
 German Switzerland, the canton of Geneva has 
 introduced the referendum upon communal mat- 
 ters, but only in the optional form. The decisions 
 of communal Councils, or municipal Councils as 
 they are called in Geneva, are submitted for the 
 approval of the electors of the commune when a 
 demand to that effect is supported by 1,200 elec- 
 tors for the town of Geneva, by one-fifth of the 
 electors for the three suburban communes and the 
 town of Carouge and by one-third for other com- 
 munes. In Neuchatel the law upon communes 
 makes provision for both the initiative and the 
 referendum upon questions of taxation, financial 
 engagements and important matters, when the 
 demand is presented by a number of electors equiv- 
 alent to five per cent, of the total population of 
 the commune. 
 
 To the above outline of the organization of 
 communes in the Swiss cantons, I shall add some 
 particulars of the organization of the Church, 
 with which, as we have seen, it is rather inti- 
 mately associated in many cantons. From what I 
 have said about the cantons possessing a Lands- 
 gemeinde, it will have been gathered already that 
 the electors of the small Catholic cantons have re- 
 tained in ecclesiastical matters rights of some 
 importance. The present tendency of the Catho- 
 lic Church is to restrict as much as possible the
 
 166 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 electoral rights of parishes over their spiritual 
 pastors, but where such traditional rights exist, 
 they are defended tenaciously by those who enjoy 
 them. 
 
 A distinction must, of course, be made here be- 
 tween established Protestant Churches and the 
 Roman Catholic Church. In all the cantons where 
 exists a Protestant Church wholly or partially 
 maintained by the State, the parishes elect their 
 pastors or at least present them for appointment 
 to the government of the canton. With the Cath- 
 olic Church, the mode of procedure is not uni- 
 form. In some cantons, the election of priests by 
 the people was imposed by the State and accepted 
 by the Church after prolonged resistance, which 
 reduced the election in reality to a mere form. In 
 others, the election is a secular right, recognized 
 by the ecclesiatical authorities. In other places, 
 the bishop of the diocese presents and the govern- 
 ment appoints the priest presented. Elsewhere 
 again, the bishop enjoys the right of appointment 
 exclusively. 
 
 The Confederation does not interfere in Church 
 affairs except to enforce the rights of the State 
 asserted in the federal Constitution, where the 
 proclamation of liberty of conscience and of wor- 
 ship, the prohibition of new monastic foundations 
 and of the creation of new bishoprics save with
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES 167 
 
 the consent of the federal authorities, provisions 
 relating to the marriage law, the civil status of the 
 clergy and burials, and the exclusion of the Society 
 of Jesus recall the fierce religious contests of past 
 ages. As for the cantons, although there is no- 
 where a State Church, there are many appreciable 
 variations in the connection of Church and State. 
 A professor of the University of Fribourg, M. 
 Lampert, classifies the cantons as follows : cantons 
 which compel religious bodies to be self-support- 
 ing, viz. Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Zug, 
 Appenzell-A-R. and Appenzell-I-R., Valais, 
 Glarus, Grisons, St. Gall, Thurgau ; cantons which 
 lend aid to the Church on the basis of special 
 rights, viz. Lucerne, Ticino, Aargau, Vaud, Solo- 
 thurn; cantons which have a national Church 
 maintained by the State, viz. Bern, Schaffhausen, 
 Basel-Land; cantons which contribute equally to 
 both confessions, viz. Fribourg. To this list 
 must be added the two cantons which did away 
 with their financial assistance to religious bodies a 
 few years ago, viz. Basel-Stadt and Geneva. But 
 this classification may be disputed. The special 
 rights of which the Fribourg professor speaks do 
 not find a place in all the Constitutions and, par- 
 ticularly in the canton of Vaud, are historical 
 rather than legal in character. In Neuchatel, on 
 the other hand, a certain endowment is guaranteed
 
 168 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 to the Church in the event of disestablishment, 
 and in Fribourg most parishes subsist on their own 
 revenue. 
 
 The Constitution of Zurich lays down in Article 
 23 that the evangelical National Church and other 
 ecclesiastical corporations administer their own 
 affairs subject to the supervision of the State. 
 The organization of the National Church is regu- 
 lated by law, which, however, ensures complete 
 freedom of conscience. In general the State meets 
 the expenditure for religious purposes. The par- 
 ishes elect their ministers and those of Churches 
 which receive financial support from the State 
 must offer themselves for reelection every six 
 years, a provision which applies also to Catholic 
 parishes. The Constitution of the canton of Zug 
 prescribes in Article 72 that ecclesiastical general 
 assemblies (comprising all Catholic electors) are 
 empowered to elect priests and parish Councils. 
 The parish (Kirchgemeinde) has the right to vote 
 taxes when the income from its property does not 
 suffice to cover the expenditure on religious ob- 
 jects. Solothurn, a canton which is three parts 
 Catholic but the Constitution of which was drawn 
 up by a Radical majority, includes, by Article 20, 
 among the electoral rights of the people that of 
 the appointment of clergy (parish priests, curates, 
 ministers, etc.) by the members of their sect. In
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES 169 
 
 Basel-Stadt, the State maintenance of religion has 
 been abolished, but churches which submit to 
 supervision as determined by the cantonal law 
 and have a democratic organization, are recog- 
 nized as constitutional corporations and author- 
 ized to raise taxes; this, however, is not the case 
 with the Roman Catholic community of Basel. In 
 Schaffhausen, ecclesiastical constitutional corpora- 
 tions have their independent organization, which 
 must be approved by the State, and ministers are 
 elected by the congregations from candidates who 
 have passed the State examination. In the 
 "mixed" canton of St. Gall, the ecclesiastical au- 
 thorities of both faiths administer their own purely 
 religious or ecclesiastical affairs. The organiza- 
 tion which they adopt must be sanctioned by the 
 Great Council. In Grisons, both national 
 Churches, Protestant and Catholic, are recognized 
 by the State. The Constitution confers upon 
 parishes the right of electing their clergy. 
 
 The "mixed" canton of Aargau empowers 
 parishes to collect taxes from their church-mem- 
 bers. The parishes elect their ministers or priests 
 out of a list of clergy declared eligible by the 
 State. Synods consisting of laymen and clergy 
 administer the affairs of the Church under the 
 supervision of the State. The latter takes any 
 steps necessary to prevent encroachment by the
 
 iyo REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 Church. In the great canton of Bern, where the 
 Catholic Jura has been the scene of acute religious 
 conflicts, section 84 of the Constitution recognizes 
 the Reformed Evangelical, the Roman Catholic 
 and the Christian Catholic (Old Catholics) as na- 
 tional Churches in the parishes belonging to those 
 faiths. Parishes have the right of electing their 
 clergy, but the Roman Catholics elect the candi- 
 date chosen by the hierarchy. Taxes to meet 
 religious expenditure are paid by the adherents 
 of each faith. 
 
 The canton of Fribourg, which includes a 
 Protestant district, that of Morat, proclaims in 
 section 2 of its Constitution that the Roman 
 Catholic Apostolic religion is that of the ma- 
 jority of the people, and guarantees its free 
 exercise and also that of the reformed evangelical 
 religion. The relations between the State and the 
 Catholic Church in matters concerning both, which 
 have given or might give rise to conflicts, are 
 determined by a concordat between the two au- 
 thorities. The powers of the ecclesiastical author- 
 ities in the Protestant part of the canton are regu- 
 lated by law. The State exercises a general su- 
 pervision over public education which is organized 
 and directed in a religious and patriotic spirit. 
 Effective cooperation in this matter is assured to 
 the clergy. Expenditure by the cantonal ex-
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES 171 
 
 chequer upon religious and educational objects in 
 excess of existing foundations, is to be appor- 
 tioned equitably between the two confessions. In 
 Valais, the Great Council has hitherto elected the 
 bishop of the diocese in virtue of a traditional 
 right. Rome formally annuls the election, but 
 appoints the candidate elected by the Great Coun- 
 cil upon presentation by the Chapter. 
 
 In Neuchatel, the Constitution declares that the 
 law can never recognize or establish independent, 
 sovereign corporations and that any change in the 
 fundamental basis of the present ecclesiastical or- 
 ganization shall be submitted to the people for 
 ratification. The case occurred a few years ago 
 when a large majority of the people refused to 
 abolish the State's support of religion. The Con- 
 stitution of Vaud gives protection to the national 
 evangelical Church throughout the canton and 
 also to the Catholic religion as practiced up to 
 the present in the "mixed" district of Echallens. 
 The clergy of this district, in common with the 
 rest, are paid by the State. Protestant pastors are 
 presented by the parishes and appointed by the 
 State. Parish priests are presented by the Roman 
 Catholic bishop of the diocese. 
 
 I do not think that this brief summary of the 
 ecclesiastical institutions of Switzerland is out of 
 place in a general survey of the democratic life
 
 172 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 of the country. Its diversity presents a striking 
 contrast with the unity of the ecclesiastical organ- 
 ization in neighboring great States. 
 
 After this account of the rights of the Swiss 
 elector in the Confederation, cantons, communes 
 and churches, some idea may be gathered of the 
 meaning of direct democracy in the cantons where 
 it has reached its highest development. In the 
 towns of Bern and Zurich, for instance, the elec- 
 tor is summoned to the polling booth to elect depu- 
 ties in the Federal Chambers, federal and can- 
 tonal jurymen, deputies to the Great Council, the 
 members of the government, district judicial 
 authorities, prefects, civil servants, teachers and 
 communal, educational and other authorities; he 
 votes upon constitutional proposals and federal 
 laws and decrees placed before him by means 
 of the referendum and the initiative; he votes 
 twice a year, sometimes oftener, upon constitu- 
 tional changes, laws and other matters within the 
 scope of the compulsory cantonal referendum and 
 the initiative; he votes upon proposals origi- 
 nating in the Council of the commune; if he joins 
 a Church, he elects its clergy; if he is a member 
 of the body of burgesses, he elects the Council of 
 burgesses. Add to this the fact that in many 
 cantons voting is compulsory, and an idea will be 
 gained of what the status of full citizenship in-
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE COMMUNES 173 
 
 volves for the conscientious voter who wishes to 
 take upon himself the study, at least in a general 
 way, of the proposals submitted to him or to merit 
 the praise which Montesquieu gave to the people 
 for being admirable in the choice of those to 
 whom it entrusts a portion of its authority. Nor 
 must the time be forgotten which the elector 
 spends in listening to lectures and speeches by the 
 orators of his party; then, again, one must take 
 into account all the minute and interminable detail 
 of preparatory electoral work, conferences and 
 committees, action in the Press . . . and it will 
 be agreed that it is no sinecure to play the least 
 active political part in the small Swiss democra- 
 cies. From time to time, certain signs of weari- 
 ness are noticeable, but on the whole Swiss doctors 
 seem hitherto not to have had many cases of neu- 
 rasthenia due to electoral overstrain. Neverthe- 
 less, mention should be made of the small propor- 
 tion of voters, in the cantons where voting is not 
 compulsory, when the proposals or the candidates 
 at an election arouse but little opposition.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 I HAVE referred almost invariably to the rights 
 of the people in Switzerland. This is not a very 
 exact expression. One should speak rather of the 
 rights of the electorate, which does not include' 
 women, young men under twenty years of age, 
 foreigners, or bankrupts, at least in many cantons. 
 According to the last census, the population of 
 Switzerland is upwards of 3,885,500; but the 
 number of electors is about 900,000. Among 
 those who do not vote are many who wish to 
 vote but cannot; but there are also some who 
 have the vote but do not care to use it. In order 
 to compel the latter class to record their vote, 
 many cantons have instituted compulsory voting. 
 
 The idea is not modern. The great philos- 
 opher, Plato, advocated it in the Laws, but, aris- 
 tocrat as he was, he desired to restrict compulsory 
 voting to the upper classes, so that they might 
 enjoy the influence to which, according to him, 
 their culture and deserts entitled them. He re- 
 garded the vote, not as a personal right, but as a 
 
 174
 
 COMPULSORY VOTING 175 
 
 civic duty, and many great thinkers and learned 
 jurists of our own time adopt his view. The ques- 
 tion is whether the right of voting is a mere indi- 
 vidual right, which the citizen is at liberty to use 
 as he thinks fit, or whether it is a social function 
 performed for the benefit of the community, in 
 which case compulsion is entirely justified. To me 
 it is clear that the vote is a function and that ab- 
 stention by electors, whether from apathy or any 
 other cause, is incompatible with a healthy democ- 
 racy; but I shall be told that the vote of an elector 
 cast under compulsion is practically valueless, 
 which is irrefutably true. On the other hand, 
 compulsory voting has an unquestionable educa- 
 tional value. It forces the elector to reflect upon 
 the questions presented to him and gives him a 
 vivid realization of one of the most important 
 civic duties. 
 
 Hitherto, compulsory voting has not penetrated 
 into French-speaking Switzerland. Neuchatel 
 has recorded it in its Constitution without attach- 
 ing any sanction to it, which amounts to as much as 
 if it had been omitted entirely. Attempts to 
 introduce it in the canton of Vaud have failed in 
 the Great Council. On the other hand, compul- 
 sory voting is in operation in a number of cantons 
 in German Switzerland. In Ausserrhoden as 
 we have seen, whoever does not attend the
 
 176 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 Landsgemeinde is mulcted in a fine of 10 francs. 
 The results of compulsory voting are best seen in 
 the cantons of Aargau, St. Gall, Solothurn, Thur- 
 gau, Schaffhausen and Zurich. The electorates of 
 Basel-Stadt and Grisons have refused to adopt it 
 quite recently. In the canton of Zurich it exists 
 in an attenuated form : every elector is required to 
 return the envelope which serves for purposes of 
 identification, either empty or with the voting 
 paper enclosed, within an interval of two days, in 
 default of which the envelope is collected from 
 the house, together with a penalty of one franc 
 at most, by an agent of the local authority. In 
 Schaffhausen, defaulters are punished by a fine of 
 one franc; in St. Gall the fine is two francs; in 
 Aargau from one to four francs, and in Thurgau 
 
 two francs. 
 
 \ ' 
 
 The fine is the simplest and most convenient 
 method, but it is argued that injustice is involved 
 if it is the same for all, without reference to the 
 character of the fault committed. Opponents of 
 the fine contend that any monetary sanction is 
 degrading to the civic duty, and that a better 
 procedure would be to give publicity to the list 
 of those who failed to vote without good excuse, 
 punish them by placarding their names, and upon 
 repetition of the offense, deprive them of the
 
 COMPULSORY VOTING 177 
 
 vote, temporarily or permanently, and then dis- 
 qualify them from public office. 
 
 Compulsory voting is one of the subjects upon 
 which there is least agreement among parties. 
 Each of them is afraid of its results in practice, 
 and as the theorists are divided, the problem re- 
 mains undecided in some of the cantons. 
 
 One method of increasing the proportion of 
 voters would be to institute woman suffrage. In 
 all probability men would vote more zealously 
 under fear of being out-voted by the feminine 
 element. But this solution has found little favor 
 and the supporters of woman suffrage have to 
 admit that the progressive tendencies of Swiss 
 legislators do not carry them in this direction. 
 Everyone recognizes the admirable qualities of 
 the Swiss woman. She is usually hard-working, 
 thrifty and trustworthy, and the history of Swit- 
 zerland from the earliest days of independence on- 
 wards records noteworthy instances of feminine 
 heroism; but the general opinion still seems to be 
 that the problem of the division of labor between 
 men and women is more satisfactorily solved by 
 the restriction of civic duties to men than by the 
 entry of women into the stormy sphere of politics. 
 Guizot used to say that politics was not a business 
 for saints. Feminists urge that women would ex- 
 ercise a purifying influence upon politics, while
 
 178 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 anti-feminists believe that she would sacrifice 
 something of her dignity and her indefinable 
 charm. The successes of woman suffrage in 
 Switzerland have been extremely modest. Some 
 years ago, the canton of Vaud granted to women 
 the right of participating in the election of clergy 
 and of Parish Councils. In 1916 Neuchatel fol- 
 lowed the same example. Geneva has done like- 
 wise. But nowhere have women obtained the 
 political franchise proper. The extension of the 
 vote to women meets with resistance particularly 
 in rural and Catholic cantons. If Switzerland fol- 
 lows the movement in favor of woman suffrage 
 which has become apparent in certain countries 
 since the war, it will doubtless be by slow degrees. 
 The day when the women of Switzerland take part 
 in the election of the National Council still seems 
 far off. 
 
 On the other hand, there is a tendency to give 
 some place to women in the government of 
 schools. The canton of Vaud has made women 
 eligible for education committees, and the in- 
 stance is not isolated. It should be added that 
 the new Swiss Civil Code has brought about a 
 considerable improvement in the social position 
 of women, which is hardly comparable with what 
 it was fifty years ago. The age has passed away 
 when Shakespeare could end The Taming of the
 
 COMPULSORY VOTING 179 
 
 Shrew by putting into Katherina's mouth the 
 words : 
 
 Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, 
 
 Thy head, thy sovereign ; one that cares for thee, 
 
 And for thy maintenance commits his body 
 
 To painful labor both by sea and land, 
 
 To watch the night in storms, the day in cold, 
 
 Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe; 
 
 And craves no other tribute at thy hands 
 
 But love, fair looks, and true obedience; 
 
 Too little payment for so great a debt. 
 
 Such duty as the subject owes the prince, 
 
 Even such a woman oweth to her husband . . . 
 
 I am ashamed that women are so simple 
 
 To offer war where they should kneel for peace, 
 
 Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway, 
 
 When they are bound to serve, love, and obey. 
 
 Modern life makes greater demands upon women 
 than did life in the age of the poet who is re- 
 puted to have plumbed the uttermost depths of 
 human nature.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 
 
 IF woman suffrage has hitherto obtained little 
 success in Switzerland, the same cannot be said of 
 the much discussed electoral system of propor- 
 tional representation. Although proportional rep- 
 resentation was first advocated outside Switzer- 
 land and the earliest experiments with it were con- 
 ducted elsewhere, in no other country has it been 
 more widely canvassed or played so large a part 
 in the political controversies of the last quarter of 
 a century. For over forty years it has been a 
 burning question and its advocates have carried on 
 a persistent propaganda to translate it from 
 theory to practice. The Basel physicist Hagen- 
 bach-Bischoff in German Switzerland and the 
 philosopher Ernest Naville in French Switzerland 
 were its great apostles who contributed improve- 
 ments in the system or rather systems for they 
 are many which permitted its adoption. Al- 
 though I believe in the representation of minori- 
 ties in legislative bodies, I am not a supporter of 
 proportional representation. I recognize that it 
 
 180
 
 PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 181 
 
 has certain advantages, but they seem to me to be 
 outweighed by the disadvantages. I have not yet 
 been persuaded that it is a triumph of democ- 
 racy, and I am not surprised that M. Clemenceau 
 describes it as the negation of universal suffrage. 
 Having said so much, I am obliged to describe the 
 continual progress which it makes in Switzerland, 
 together with the fact that its successes follow 
 more or less closely upon extensions of popular 
 rights. Minorities use it to safeguard their rights, 
 and almost always include it among the items of 
 their program. 
 
 The objections, however, which may be brought 
 against proportional representation are very 
 weighty, and in Switzerland as in France have 
 been advanced in the most authoritative quarters. 
 Its supporters look upon it above all as an appli- 
 cation of justice to electoral matters. A French 
 philosopher, whose works are permeated with the 
 idea of justice, M. Renouvier, has nevertheless 
 opposed proportional representation in his ex- 
 cellent work on ethics. "Doubtless, public men 
 who are concerned for the representation of 
 minorities, have good reasons for holding that 
 opinions, whether in a minority or not, should be 
 represented. There are equally good arguments 
 for the position which I take up. In general it 
 must be admitted that every opinion engendered in
 
 182 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 the free play of social intercourse or otherwise, 
 upon reaching a certain degree of plausibility, can 
 obtain publicity through the advocacy of an indi- 
 vidual who receives a legislative mandate from 
 other individuals; and if this is not the case, it 
 seems desirable that an opinion should be sub- 
 jected to the preliminary process of preparation 
 and discussion instead of entering, as it were, in 
 its own right, into an assembly in which it will 
 cause added confusion without any corresponding 
 advantage. The right of representation belongs, 
 like every other right, to persons and not to ideas, 
 and no idea which lacks the strength to survive 
 the test of the representation of persons is entitled 
 to aspire to any social function. It must in that 
 case be satisfied with the ordinary channels for 
 the propagation of ideas." 
 
 To the question, what would happen if the 
 proportional principle were rigidly applied, M. 
 Renouvier rejoins: "Opinions, special interests, 
 exclusive proposals, progressive and reactionary 
 schools of thought, would all organize groups of 
 electors of the required number and often succeed 
 in electing their candidates. Elections would at- 
 tain a remarkable degree of sincerity. But the 
 result would be an anarchical assembly, which 
 would not reflect the average of opinions and de- 
 sires, and which, through its consequent inability
 
 PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 183 
 
 to perform its legislative function, would soon 
 give place to some form of usurped authority. 
 Instead of the representation of the common weal 
 of the inhabitants as individuals, it would amount 
 in effect to an excitement and accentuation of 
 every separatist tendency, to the assembly in a 
 single body of the most irreconcilable factions, 
 charged with the task of reconciling all the 
 rest." . . . 
 
 Renouvier speaks as a philosopher. Let us now 
 examine the view of a politician who has played 
 no mean part in Swiss affairs, and whom I have 
 already had occasion to quote. Numa Droz, a 
 former president of the Confederation, wrote: 
 
 "The idea which should govern the whole ques- 
 tion is that the deputy is before all the representa- 
 tive of his constituency in its entirety; in some 
 quarters this idea is not recognized with sufficient 
 clearness, with the consequences that the spirit of 
 tolerance and justice is still so conspicuous by its 
 absence in parliamentary assemblies. To speak 
 frankly, parties exist and always will exist with 
 their passions and prejudices. That is inevitable, 
 but in my opinion precautions should be taken not 
 to give them a legal or constitutional standing; 
 both electors and elected should, on the contrary, 
 be persuaded that their social function is to work
 
 184 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 for the good of the nation as a whole, and not 
 merely for selfish party triumphs. 
 
 "There are some who cherish the idea of form- 
 ing a parliament of all kinds of minorities, which 
 would render the formation of a governmental 
 majority almost impossible. Personally, I am 
 convinced that the first essential for a people is 
 to know whither it is going. . . . M. Alfred 
 Fouillee, a writer whom no one will accuse of 
 authoritarianism, well says: 'A parliament is not 
 a mere consultative Council, a sort of academy 
 in which a hearing is given to all opinions out 
 of platonic affection for truth ; on the contrary, all 
 its proceedings have to do with action and lead 
 up to execution.' . Now excessive multiplication of 
 parties results in neither action nor execution, but 
 in negation. The Swiss people would find it a 
 most disgusting spectacle to see the parties in the 
 Federal Assembly reduce one another to power- 
 lessness through their internecine strife. . . ." 
 
 To these considerations may be added the ob- 
 servation of M. Esmein in his Elements de droit 
 constltutionnel: "While in the nineteenth century 
 events tended to make the deputy the representa- 
 tive of the whole nation and to do away with the 
 imperative mandate, proportional representation 
 is a step in the opposite direction. It reduces the
 
 PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 185 
 
 mandate to a party mandate and tends in fact to 
 reintroduce the imperative mandate.' 
 
 There is justice in the observation. Such a 
 mathematically exact representation of parties, 
 even of the most ridiculous and most detestable, 
 would render meaningless Article 23 of the Con- 
 stitution of Bern, which asserts that the members 
 of the Great Council are the representatives of 
 the whole people and not of the wards which elect 
 them. 
 
 The advance of proportional representation in 
 Switzerland is primarily due to the growth of the 
 Socialist party and the divisions which have oc- 
 curred in the older parties. So long as there 
 were only two main parties, the idea made scarcely 
 any headway. The occasions were very infrequent 
 when a minority was not more or less adequately 
 represented. Its ambition was not to obtain a few 
 additional representatives, but to transform itself 
 into a majority. Since, in some cantons, three, 
 four and even five parties have come into being, 
 points of view have changed. Minorities now 
 make it their chief aim to be represented propor- 
 tionally and to throw their whole weight into the 
 parliamentary balance, and do not hesitate to 
 form the most startling coalitions to achieve their 
 purpose. 
 
 The first triumph of proportional representa-
 
 186 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tion in Switzerland is an interesting story. It oc- 
 ( curred in 1891 in the canton of Ticino. In the 
 preceding year, the Catholic-Conservative admin- 
 istration* in this canton had been overthrown by a 
 revolution, in the course of which one of the 
 members of the government was killed. The Lib- 
 eral party complained bitterly that the adminis- 
 tration of justice provided no security for the op- 
 position in matters nearly or remotely connected 
 with politics. It raised a great outcry against a 
 redistribution of seats which reduced it to a small 
 minority in the Great Council, while it believed 
 it had the majority of the people with it. The 
 tension between the parties was extreme. At this 
 point, the Federal Councilor, Louis Ruchonnet, 
 brought his powerful influence to bear to induce 
 the parties to adopt proportional voting and so to 
 put an end to the conflicts continually provoked by 
 the arbitrary redistribution of seats. Louis 
 Ruchonnet, with whom I have discussed the matter 
 more than once, did not believe in the principle of 
 proportional representation; he looked upon it as 
 a useful remedy for desperate ills in the body poli- 
 tic. Therein he did not err. Although the intro- 
 duction of proportional representation in Ticino 
 met with much criticism and the distribution of 
 seats has had to be altered several times, the ad- 
 vocates of the system credit it with the cessation
 
 PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 187 
 
 of the revolutionary outbreaks and the acute con- 
 flicts of which this canton used to be the scene 
 a result, however, which others attribute to the 
 extension of popular rights carried out by the 
 new Constitution. 
 
 A number of cantons followed the example of 
 Ticino and adopted P.R. for the election of the 
 Great Council. This was the case in Neuchatel 
 in 1891 and in Geneva in 1892. Then followed 
 in succession Zug (1894), Solothurn (1895), 
 Schwyz (1906), Lucerne (1909), St. Gall 
 (1911), and Zurich (1917). In the cantons of 
 Bern and Fribourg, communes may adopt P.R., if 
 they choose, for the election of Communal Coun- 
 cils. The state of the question in the Confedera- 
 tion has been dealt with in the chapter on the ini- 
 tiative. 
 
 Extolled originally by the Liberal party es- 
 pecially, proportional representation has become 
 in Switzerland the great cry of the Socialists. 
 They have obtained the greatest advantage from 
 it, and it figures in the forefront of their party 
 program. The Socialists see in it the quickest 
 means of coming into power. The Conservative 
 party, particularly in German Switzerland, num- 
 bers many adherents of the system. The main 
 concern of this party is to secure its maximum rep- 
 resentative strength by assuring representation for
 
 i88 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 the Catholic minorities scattered about the con- 
 stituencies of Protestant cantons. 
 
 It is not easy to form a final judgment upon the 
 results of proportional representation in the can- 
 tons where it has already been in force for some 
 years. In Ticino, although parties are now repre- 
 sented proportionally, local divisions are not. The 
 strict application of the system necessitates large 
 constituencies in which country candidates have 
 less chance of election than those of the towns, 
 whose reputation is generally better known. One 
 of the parties in Ticino has devised the plan of 
 making its candidates sign an undated letter of 
 resignation which is forwarded to the president of 
 the Great Council by the electoral committee in 
 the middle of the legislature's legal term in order 
 to enable the candidates who were not elected to 
 sit in their turn during the latter half of the 
 period. In the canton of Geneva, where the ma- 
 jority formerly alternated between Radicals and 
 Liberals, and in Neuchatel and Solothurn, where 
 the Radicals used to enjoy a majority, no one party 
 can now obtain a majority; coalitions of groups 
 form a majority according to the circumstances 
 of the moment or according to agreements which 
 are more or less strictly observed. Similar results 
 are to be seen in Basel-Stadt and in the canton of 
 St. Gall. In Zurich, P.R. has favored the rise
 
 PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 189 
 
 of an agrarian party at the expense of the Radi- 
 cals and Democrats. In Basel, it has resulted in 
 a considerable lengthening of parliamentary de- 
 bates. This effect was foreseen by M. Alfred 
 Fouillee when he said that proportional represen- 
 tation would turn representative assemblies into 
 academies. But there are academies and 
 academies. The speechifying in the Basel Coun- 
 cil wearied the patience of the public to such an 
 e,xtent that the sovereign people only rejected by 
 a few votes an initiative which would have effected 
 a considerable reduction in the number of repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 In general, it may be said that proportional rep- 
 resentation has made the task of governments 
 more difficult by depriving them of the support of 
 a solid and stable majority. It compels them to 
 be continually negotiating with parties, a trouble- 
 some business, indeed, but less so here than else- 
 where, thanks to popular rights and the fixed 
 duration of ministerial office. In spite of these 
 various defects, supporters of P.R. maintain that 
 the experiment has been a success, that the con- 
 ception of justice has received full satisfaction and 
 that the practical difficulties so often emphasized 
 by its opponents have been easily overcome. The 
 future alone can decide whether the proportional 
 system is destined to last or whether it merely
 
 190 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 corresponds with the present dividedness of the 
 historical parties. For the moment it still passes 
 from success to success. The only check which 
 it has met with in Switzerland was the substitution 
 of a system of limited voting instead of propor- 
 tional voting in the election of the State Council 
 of Ticino.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE ARMY AND THE MAINTE- 
 NANCE OF NEUTRALITY 
 
 "THE military organization of the Confedera- 
 tion is perhaps the most original, the most ingen- 
 ious, the most useful and the most beneficent of 
 Swiss institutions," wrote M. Albert Bonnard, 
 that remarkable publicist whose recent death was 
 such a loss to Swiss journalism. The army, too, 
 is democratic, constituting as it does under a sys- 
 tem of compulsory service not a standing army but 
 a militia force simply and solely for defensive 
 purposes, the maintenance of neutrality and inde- 
 pendence. In Switzerland every able-bodied man 
 is liable to military service, but hitherto the term 
 of service has been very short: the military law 
 of 1906 instituted a period of training of 65 days 
 for infantry recruits and rather more for other 
 arms with a further course of 1 1 days a year for 
 ten consecutive years. After 12 years' service 
 with the colors, the soldier passes into the Land- 
 wehr. From 41 to 48 years of age, he serves in 
 the Landsturm. The system of training is uni- 
 
 191
 
 192 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 form and controlled by the Confederation ; the ad- 
 ministration is generally conducted by the cantons. 
 
 The continuous mobilization necessitated by the 
 war increased the military burden enormously. 
 Divisions of the line were mobilized for 3, 4, 5 
 and even 6 months in the year. Frequent calls 
 were made upon both Landwehr and Landsturm. 
 The tax upon citizens unfit for service was 
 doubled. But, in normal times, the military bur- 
 den borne by Swiss citizens is not particularly 
 heavy, and the great Socialist orator Jaures was 
 well justified in devoting a whole book to com- 
 mending the Swiss Army to those of his own polit- 
 ical faith as the model of a democratic army. By 
 a strange contrast, the majority of militant Swiss 
 Socialists, as indicated at any rate in recent party 
 congresses, does all it can to destroy the very 
 basis of the army and adheres more and more to 
 uncompromising anti-militarism. Societies of 
 young Socialists preach the refusal of service and 
 do their utmost to undermine discipline and shake 
 the men's confidence in their leaders. Fortunately 
 these strange tactics are the work of but a small 
 minority of the Swiss people. The nation as a 
 whole remains patriotic, appreciating that Swiss in- 
 dependence is inseparably bound up with the main- 
 tenance of the army. 
 
 Switzerland's repudiation of any kind of
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE ARMY 193 
 
 aggressive policy might be expected to rally all 
 citizens without exception to the principle of na- 
 tional defense; but revolutionary circles see even 
 in the militia army as organized in Switzerland an 
 obstacle to the accomplishment of their designs 
 and a weapon in the power of capitalism. Switzer- 
 land's situation in the midst of the great Euro- 
 pean Powers, occupying with the fastnesses of the 
 Alps and the passes over them a strategic position 
 of the greatest importance, exposes her to especial 
 danger whenever Europe is ablaze; this fact is 
 patent to the most thoughtless, and it demands 
 extraordinary ingenuousness, 'particularly after 
 Belgium's terrible fate, to imagine that mere 
 treaty guarantees of neutrality are sufficient pro- 
 tection. Neutrality depends directly upon the 
 measure of defense undertaken to support it. 
 
 The principle of neutrality is the basis of Swiss 
 policy. It is absolutely beyond dispute, but 
 Switzerland and the Powers do not always see eye 
 to eye upon its scope and interpretation. It is 
 103 years ago since the Congress of Paris, con- 
 firming the declarations of the Congress of 
 Vienna, gave formal and authentic recognition to 
 the neutrality which Switzerland had observed for 
 several centuries. The signatory Powers, in the 
 declaration of Vienna of the 2Oth March, guaran- 
 teed the integrity and inviolability of Swiss terri-
 
 194 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 tory and affirmed that "the neutrality and inviola- 
 bility of Switzerland are in the true interests of 
 the whole of Europe." 
 
 Upon this declaration the Federal Council took 
 its stand on the 4th August, 1914, when it in- 
 formed the belligerent States that "the Confedera- 
 tion, inspired by its venerable traditions, firmly in- 
 tends to depart in no wise from the principle of 
 neutrality so dear to the Swiss people, which is in 
 harmony with its hopes, its aspirations, its internal 
 organization and its position in relation to other 
 States, and which the signatory Powers of the 
 treaties of 1815 formally recognized." The dec- 
 laration of the Federal Council emphasizes the 
 fact that while Swiss neutrality is recognized by 
 the Powers, it is nevertheless voluntary. Switzer- 
 land retains the right to renounce it, not only from 
 the moment her neutrality is violated, but when- 
 ever her independence, her sovereignty or her 
 vital interests are jeopardized. 
 
 Swiss neutrality may be endangered not only by 
 foreign armies, but also by the economic policy 
 of the surrounding countries. Without declaring 
 war, these countries may destroy or restrict the 
 foreign commerce of Switzerland, paralyze her in- 
 dustries, and reduce her to famine. They may 
 send their agents into the country, foment disaffec- 
 tion, and exert formidable pressure upon public
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE ARMY 195 
 
 opinion to render it compliant with their interests. 
 Hence the protection of Swiss neutrality involves 
 a host of different measures which must be applied 
 without hesitation and continually adapted to the 
 needs of the mome*nt. For this reason, on the 
 3rd August, 1914, the Federal Assembly con- 
 ferred plenary powers upon the French Council 
 "unlimited power to take all measures neces- 
 sary for the security, integrity and neutrality of 
 Switzerland, the protection of public credit and 
 of the economic interests of the country, in par- 
 ticular of the food supplies." The mass of the 
 measures taken by the Federal Council in some 
 hundreds of decrees of every kind forms what is 
 called "the measures of neutrality." Restrictions 
 have had to be placed upon commerce and indus- 
 try. Monopolies of food have been established. 
 Conventions subjecting imports and the distribu- 
 tion of imports to stringent regulations have been 
 concluded with both groups of belligerents. Cul- 
 tivation has been developed under governmental 
 control. Practically all commerce has been placed 
 under the supervision of the federal Department 
 of Public Economy. The exportation of agricul- 
 tural produce has been limited. The rationing of 
 food has been introduced as in a beleaguered city. 
 Transport rates have been raised. Measures have 
 been taken for the prevention and alleviation of
 
 196 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 unemployment. Moratoria have been declared. 
 Ordinances have been issued for the suppression 
 of spying. There would be no end to a list of all 
 that the country has done to adapt itself to the 
 abnormal situation and fresh needs created by 
 the state of war between the nations which encircle 
 its territory on every side. To all the rest should 
 be added the extensive powers which military law 
 confers upon the commander of the army when 
 troops are mobilized for active service. 
 
 If the war had been of short duration, the in- 
 conveniences of this state of affairs would not have 
 been serious. But when it lasted four years, mat- 
 ters assumed a very different aspect. The plen- 
 ary powers of the Federal Council supplanted the 
 Federal Assembly, leaving it scarcely a formal 
 control; they suppressed preliminary discussions in 
 the Chambers; they suspended the right of refer- 
 endum upon decrees passed by the Federal Coun- 
 cil which in normal times would have come within 
 the competence of the Chambers. Ultimately, as 
 a result of this process, they created a deep-seated 
 discontent, especially in French-speaking Switzer- 
 land, and called forth lively protests. Despite its 
 inherent defects, particularly in a democratic coun- 
 try, such procedure was none the less an ineluc- 
 table necessity. The only matter for regret is 
 that the Federal Chambers did not bethink them-
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE ARMY 197 
 
 selves of having the plenary powers ratified from 
 the beginning by submitting to the people an addi- 
 tion to the Constitution empowering the Federal 
 Council to take th'e steps it did. The final and 
 formal authorization of the sovereign people, in- 
 stead of the emergency legislation, would have si- 
 lenced much criticism and opposition, and rendered 
 the temporary suspension of democratic institu- 
 tions far more acceptable. 
 
 The neutrality which has aroused most objec- 
 tions is that which is more or less accurately 
 termed moral neutrality. At the outset of the 
 war, the Federal Council took the view that every 
 Swiss citizen should abstain, especially in the 
 Press, from any expression of sympathy and, still 
 more, of antipathy towards either of the bellig- 
 erents, and a confidential circular was sent to the 
 Press requesting it to conform with this rule. A 
 recommendation of this kind might be justified 
 from the point of view of political expediency 
 and of the desire of the government to avoid jour- 
 nalistic excesses which might involve it in serious 
 difficulties. As for neutrality properly so-called, 
 the best jurists have always recognized that it can 
 only be compromised by the acts of the govern- 
 ment and that the Press retains the right to ex- 
 press its judgments and its sympathies upon the 
 issues between the belligerents. The question is
 
 198 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 obviously one of degree. In face of the terrible 
 conflict of peoples which had broken out, it was 
 to be feared that Switzerland, standing between 
 the two great alliances and bound to both by 
 ethnic and other ties, would be swept with oppos- 
 ing demonstrations of an extreme character. The 
 result could only be an unfortunate tension for the 
 public and serious difficulties for the government, 
 which was compelled by the economic needs of the 
 country to carry on continuous negotiations with 
 the two coalitions engaged in combat on a gigan- 
 tic and unprecedented scale. The influence of 
 these considerations inspired, three months later, 
 an appeal to the Swiss people by the Federal 
 Council, dated ist October, 1914, which ran: 
 
 "We firmly intend to maintain our neutrality by 
 all the means at the disposal of our country. This 
 attitude has so far spared us the horrors of war, 
 but it also demands from us duties and sacrifices. 
 But those duties and sacrifices are not clearly 
 recognized everywhere. In our manner of pass- 
 ing judgment upon events and in the expression 
 of our sympathies for the various nations, we must 
 observe the greatest reserve, avoid anything 
 which might injure the peoples and governments 
 engaged in the war and be on our guard against 
 partiality. To judge events with discretion and 
 moderation by no means implies the renunciation
 
 DEMOCRACY IN THE ARMY 199 
 
 of sympathy and feeling; the heart of each citizen 
 will continue to beat warmly for those to whom 
 he is attached by especially intimate bonds or 
 whose fate is dear to him. . . . 
 
 "But still more important than the respect due 
 to foreign nations, and vital to the interests of our 
 country, is the maintenance among ourselves of 
 a vigorous and unshakable unity. This unity, 
 which is absolutely essential now when our culture 
 and the economic and financial position of our 
 country are so gravely menaced, will be equally 
 essential in the future when unity of effort will 
 still be required for the repair of these injuries. 
 History teaches us that Switzerland has never un- 
 dergone greater disasters or suffered greater 
 losses than when, torn by internal strife, she was 
 enfeebled by lack of unity. At this moment, when 
 the fate of peoples hangs in the balance, let us 
 recall these lessons of history, and let us take care, 
 when insisting imprudently, passionately or spite- 
 fully upon differences among ourselves, not to 
 weaken the sentiments which unite us, but rather 
 to strengthen them by emphasizing patriotically 
 everything that brings us closer one to an- 
 other. ..." 
 
 The fears of the Federal Council were not un- 
 founded. Feeling has often prevailed over rea- 
 son, and more than once the limits of propriety
 
 200 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 have been exceeded. Individual failings have 
 come to light in quarters where they would have 
 been least expected, for example, upon the staff 
 of the army. Distrust, irritation and misunder- 
 standing were the result, and only by constant ef- 
 fort, together with the admission and reparation 
 of faults committed, has the gulf at last been 
 closed which for some time threatened to separate 
 the different sections of the Swiss people and to 
 mar their long and salutary friendship. 
 
 This digression was perhaps not essential to my 
 subject. But no account of democracy in Switzer- 
 land would be complete without reference to the 
 army, and I must leave the reader to judge 
 whether it was possible to speak of the army with- 
 out touching upon neutrality and without saying 
 a word about the temporary suspension of demo- 
 cratic institutions which has so sorely tried the 
 patience of the people.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND 
 
 IN treating of the referendum, the initiative 
 and the other rights of the Swiss people, I en- 
 deavored to elucidate the more important of their 
 results. With occasional exceptions, direct democ- 
 racy has conduced to progress, and has cleared 
 away obstacles which hinder it under other polit- 
 ical systems. As we saw, it draws all classes to- 
 gether in the equality of the ballot; it sets a limit 
 to revolutionary agitation by depriving it of all 
 pretexts; it restrains turbulent minorities by as- 
 suring them a share in public affairs ; it frequently 
 involves discord between the legislature and other 
 political authorities; it displays little favor to- 
 wards bureaucracy and big salaries, and in this 
 respect tends at times to practice economy at the 
 expense of efficiency; it welcomes social reform but 
 recoils from extensive bureaucratic machinery; it 
 worships governmental stability and retains its 
 public men in office even till the verge of senility; 
 it professes dislike for militarism, and sometimes 
 is induced with difficulty to make the sacrifices re- 
 
 201
 
 202 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 quired in the interest of national defense; it 
 shows a decided preference for graduated taxes 
 upon capital and income. Had we been able to 
 investigate its effects in other spheres, for ex- 
 ample, in the departments of education and pub- 
 lic works, we should have found it inclined to 
 open-handed liberality, multiplying institutions for 
 higher, secondary, elementary and professional 
 education. Wherever we looked, we should find 
 it well disposed towards innovations brought for- 
 ward at the right moment with substantial back- 
 ing, and yet remaining all the time attached to 
 its traditions. An excursion into the world of 
 journalism would have shown us a serious Press 
 serious sometimes to boredom a Press which 
 so far has displayed no alacrity in the use of ex- 
 treme violence or in the exploitation of sensational 
 news, a Press which is free from the tutelage of 
 great financial interests and is subsidized neither 
 by governments nor by public men. It would 
 seem, indeed, that Switzerland illustrates the pro- 
 found truth of Tocqueville's remark that "ex- 
 treme democracy anticipates the danger of democ- 
 racy." 
 
 It must not be inferred that everything is per- 
 fect in Switzerland. Under all political systems 
 man is still man a being whose lower instincts 
 can be kept under only with constant effort. A
 
 THE FUTURE OF SWISS DEMOCRACY 203 
 
 wide gulf may be fixed between the form and the 
 spirit of democracy. Especially since the war, 
 some writers have taken it upon themselves to 
 draw up, as it were, an indictment against the 
 Swiss people. The Swiss have been reproached 
 with falling away from their ancient republican 
 dignity, as they did before in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, and earlier still at the time when the mili- 
 tary capitulations inaugurated all kinds of cor- 
 ruption. They have been reproached with their 
 concern for material interests and their depen- 
 dence upon other countries which have led to the 
 development of the tourist industry and the intro- 
 duction of foreign capital in their industries. They 
 have been reproached with falling far below that 
 democratic ideal of the heroic ages which history 
 reveals. Too often, indeed, may signs be noticed 
 of overweening presumption. One would desire 
 a feeling of deeper unity between the different 
 classes, greater independence of the possessors of 
 power, and more real equality where equality, if 
 only as an expression of the respect due to human 
 nature, lends dignity rather than discredit. The 
 political apathy of a section of the middle class 
 and, in one section of the working class, threats 
 of violence and even violence itself, provide addi- 
 tional proof that the prerequisites for a demo- 
 cratic State are not sufficiently understood. In
 
 204 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 spite of the hostility which has inspired these 
 criticisms, it is impossible to deny them some meas- 
 ure of truth. The words which the great Ameri- 
 can moralist Channing addressed to the people 
 are always true: "Do not allow yourselves to be 
 lulled into security by the flattery which is poured 
 upon you, as if your share of national sovereignty 
 made you the equals of the noblest of your race. 
 Many things and great you lack. The remedy is 
 not in the ballot box, nor in the exercise of your 
 political rights; it is in the conscientious education 
 of yourselves and of your children." 
 
 The true strength of Swiss democracy must rest, 
 not only upon the most perfect political forms, but 
 even more upon the education and training pro- 
 vided by the family, the school, the church, the 
 army, or any other institution which may serve 
 that end. It is not mere chance, but the realiza- 
 tion of an urgent need that makes the development 
 of popular rights coincide with numerous efforts 
 for the improvement of civic education, in the 
 widest sense of the phrase. Only by striving to 
 inculcate in all its members a true conception of 
 the rights and duties of citizenship can the Swiss 
 democracy gain what it still lacks, ancl emerge 
 triumphant from the tests and trials which the 
 future has in store. 
 
 It was to be feared at one time that the future
 
 THE FUTURE OF SWISS DEMOCRACY 205 
 
 would be gloomy. Small countries, which have 
 suffered so much under the hegemony of great 
 ones, seemed threatened with extinction by trium- 
 phant imperialism. More recently, however, the 
 prospect is more reassuring. The talk which is 
 heard on all sides of the League of Nations, the 
 great aim advanced by M. Leon Bourgeois before 
 the war, is symbolic of a better future, based on 
 something utterly different from the brute 
 strength of conquering militarism. Nowhere has 
 that aim been welcomed more joyfully than in 
 Switzerland. For Switzerland herself represents 
 the League in miniature through her achievement 
 in uniting races and languages which elsewhere 
 are given up to pitiless conflicts. Though she has 
 taken many centuries to reach her present happy 
 situation, it is not too much to look forward to a 
 time when other nations, after an experience of 
 bloodshed and catastrophes without parallel, will 
 follow her path in their turn and ultimately reach 
 the same goal, the establishment of the United 
 States of the World which was the dream of Kant 
 and many another great philosopher. Federative 
 unions of various groups of European countries 
 are already mooted, and the idea of still wider 
 federations which will lay the foundations of uni- 
 versal peace grows apace. The memorable dec- 
 larations of President Wilson have opened a vast
 
 206 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 prospect to those who do not despair of humanity. 
 
 But we must not allow our dreams to outrun 
 reality. For the moment, the reality still bears a 
 decidedly modest aspect. While some speak of a 
 League of Nations, there are others who Can only 
 conceive of leagues of nations. Although, in a 
 recent pamphlet, Viscount Grey, the former 
 British Foreign Secretary, advocates in the final 
 settlement as a means of avoiding still more ter- 
 rible wars a League of Nations which will impose 
 certain restrictions and even certain onerous obli- 
 gations upon each of its members, others will not 
 listen to suggestions for the least restriction upon 
 sovereignty. As for the Socialists, they hold that 
 there can be no League of Nations without the 
 abolition of capitalism. In a word, the idea as 
 yet assumes many different forms. The point to 
 be emphasized, however, is the almost general 
 adhesion which it receives and the serious atten- 
 tion which is paid to it both by governments and 
 by private societies established for the purpose. 
 
 No country is more interested than Switzerland 
 in the success of these noble efforts. If the pres- 
 ent state of affairs should continue, the neutrality 
 and security of Switzerland would fare ill in face 
 of the advance in military technique, guns of ever 
 increasing range, and coalitions of military forces 
 which she could not hope to rival. She could not
 
 THE FUTURE OF SWISS DEMOCRACY 207 
 
 possibly support the terrific expenditure which 
 modern implements of war and the training of 
 troops to operate them involve. As the cradle of 
 the Red Cross and the headquarters of many 
 international organizations, Switzerland seems 
 marked out more than any other country by her 
 needs and her inclinations to concentrate her ef- 
 forts upon this object. The League of Nations 
 should surely be one of her most fruitful fields 
 of action and the chief object of her foreign 
 policy. 
 
 During the sitting of the National Council on 
 6th June, 1918, the President of the Confedera- 
 tion, M. Calender, delivered a speech upon this 
 subject, from which I should like in concluding to 
 quote certain passages. After announcing that 
 the Federal Council had requested a distinguished 
 jurist, Professor Max Huber, to report upon all 
 questions relating to a future international judicial 
 organization and to draft plans and proposals for 
 submission to a consultative committee, M. Calen- 
 der recalled what had been done so far in Europe 
 towards the foundation of an international judi- 
 cial order, including the Hague Conferences. 
 
 "The predominant idea of the Conference of 
 1899, the limitation of armaments, was in no wise 
 achieved. Agreements for the pacific settlement 
 of international disputes represent timid com-
 
 208 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 promises and betray a skepticism which shrinks 
 from going beneath the surface and tackling the 
 heart of the problem. If, from the midst of the 
 widespread distress in which the war has plunged 
 the world, we look back upon the Conferences of 
 1899 and 1907, we cannot but think that a terrible 
 tragedy was enacted at those meetings. With ex- 
 aggerated mistrust and with jealous anxiety for 
 their absolute freedom of action, the nations vied 
 one with another in avoiding anything which, in 
 the interest of peace, was likely to bind them to- 
 gether seriously and effectively, because every 
 bond of that description was conceived to be in- 
 compatible with their sovereignty! And now? 
 Now all those States are mutually dependent by 
 a thousand different bonds, which none of them 
 has the power to unravel. The sole hope of safety 
 lay in the force of humanity, of humanity con- 
 verted to the ideas of international friendship and 
 goodwill. But the great fatality occurred: while 
 national laws within the States accentuated the 
 abuses of competition and the class-struggle, con- 
 flict of interest between them swept away the com- 
 paratively feeble barriers of treaties and interna- 
 tional law and consigned Europe to the horrors 
 of war." 
 
 Elsewhere in his speech, M. Calender said:
 
 THE FUTURE OF SWISS DEMOCRACY 209 
 
 "National tradition is and remains the most 
 active source of creative power. Our ideal for 
 humanity is federative, not cosmopolitan. And as 
 the international commonwealth of the future will 
 never imply the abandonment of national tradition 
 by the different peoples, it will strengthen and 
 deepen, rather than weaken, the citizen's feeling 
 of duty towards his own State. We should strenu- 
 ously reject as the worst of sophistries any attempt 
 by a Swiss soldier to obtain exemption from his 
 military obligations on the score of the hoped-for 
 union of peoples. So long as our country is ex- 
 posed to the danger of war, it is the sacred duty of 
 all her sons to hold themselves ready to give both 
 life and property in defense of her freedom and 
 independence ; he who is incapable of fulfilling his 
 duty to his own country cannot be a useful mem- 
 ber of the international commonwealth. 
 
 "The inference from all I have said can only 
 be that the consolidation of the principle of law 
 and peace in international relationships is the ul- 
 timate aim of Switzerland's foreign policy. For 
 us this is no new ideal. It springs naturally from 
 our history and national traditions. Our democ- 
 racy includes four linguistic groups which, loyal 
 to their irrevocable covenant, are conscious of 
 their profound unity as one people on the basis 
 of mutual respect. We are attached to our coun-
 
 210 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 try just because it embraces this rich diversity in 
 its local and linguistic characteristics. It is the 
 most precious element in our spiritual heritage. 
 Assuredly diversity of tongue and variety of eth- 
 nical elements involve complications, difficulties, 
 and sometimes dangers : the history of Switzerland 
 shows it only too well. But we have succeeded in 
 the past, and shall succeed in the future, in weld- 
 ing together the different powers and tendencies 
 of our people in the great crucible of creative 
 national labor. In truth, fruitful cooperation 
 within the federal family depends directly upon 
 the strength of national solidarity, a spirit of 
 devotion in all trials, and absolutely reciprocal 
 confidence. And complete confidence can only be 
 conceived in an atmosphere of full freedom and 
 sincere amity. The greatest poet of German 
 Switzerland, the ardent patriot Gottfried Keller, 
 describes the general policy of our country in the 
 phrase : "Friendship in freedom." Let us remain 
 faithful to this national motto. Then, despite 
 passing discords and momentary excitements, we 
 can rest assured that we shall not fail in our his- 
 toric mission. The history of Switzerland is that 
 of the development of international relations in 
 miniature. And the political life of our State as a 
 whole is, in form, the precursor of the future 
 League of Nations. Never has the international
 
 THE FUTURE OF SWISS DEMOCRACY 21 1 
 
 mission of a people been more clearly and defi- 
 nitely marked out than that which lies before 
 Switzerland to be the harbinger of concord be- 
 tween all peoples by proving to the world through 
 its own example that populations differing in race 
 and language may unite to form a happy common- 
 wealth on the basis of mutual confidence, freedom 
 and equality of rights." 
 
 Turning in conclusion to concrete proposals, the 
 President of the Confederation pointed out that 
 the first practical result to be aimed at should be 
 the creation of institutions for the peaceful settle- 
 ment of disputes between States. Justiciable 
 questions should be investigated and determined 
 according to strict judicial procedure ; they should 
 be referred to international arbitration, and States 
 must be induced to pledge themselves without 
 reservation to submit justiciable disputes within 
 certain well-defined limits to a court of arbitration. 
 Non-justiciable disputes, on the other hand, 
 should be dealt with by special machinery for 
 mediation. Here, again, it must not be left to the 
 States involved to decide whether or no such medi- 
 ation should be resorted to in the case of an im- 
 pending dispute. All States should be required to 
 bind themselves to await the suggestions of the 
 mediating authority before having recourse to 
 war. The possibility of persuading them to recog-
 
 212 REAL DEMOCRACY IN OPERATION 
 
 nize these proposals as binding from the outset 
 is a delicate question which remains to be exam- 
 ined more thoroughly. It is highly important to 
 ensure that any institution set up, whether court 
 of arbitration or mediatory body, should be per- 
 manent and enjoy a certain amount of indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 The crucial point of the whole problem is the 
 question of sanction. Sanction might conceivably 
 take the form of economic pressure or even mili- 
 tary force, but the possibility of applying either 
 will depend upon the degree of solidarity in the 
 international commonwealth. This extremely 
 delicate aspect of the problem cannot be shelved; 
 we must study it with the greatest care, taking 
 into consideration the peculiar judicial and eco- 
 nomic situation of Switzerland. 
 
 The principal object to be achieved is to guaran- 
 tee peace by devising means for preventing inter- 
 national differences from developing into danger- 
 ous conflicts; but it is not the only object to which 
 we should apply ourselves. The development of 
 international judicial organization in general must 
 not be neglected: the structure begun at The 
 Hague must be systematically perfected. 
 
 Finally we must not forget that home and 
 foreign politics are closely allied. Although the 
 incidents of war disturb and obstruct the progress
 
 THE FUTURE OF SWISS DEMOCRACY 213 
 
 of society, one can no more expect lasting peace 
 between States so long as the various sections and 
 classes of all peoples welter in a hideous struggle 
 for wealth and power. 
 
 M. Calender's speech provides an apt summary 
 of the present position of the problem and of those 
 aspects of it which are peculiar to Switzerland. 
 
 I conclude this brief study with the hope that, in 
 the future development of European political in- 
 stitutions, statesmen and other representatives of 
 the people will be enabled to take advantage of 
 the experiments with democratic institutions which 
 Switzerland has carried out. The keen percep- 
 tion and sympathetic intuition of great poets has 
 often penetrated and forecast the future. So 
 should it be with the author of La Legende des 
 Siecles when he wrote that ' 'Switzerland will al- 
 ways have the last word in history." But this 
 honor will only be hers if she strives unceasingly 
 and ever more earnestly to be worthy of it. 
 
 LAUSANNE,. 
 
 i^th September, 1918.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 THIS work was in the hands of the printers 
 when, quite unexpectedly, those great events oc- 
 curred which brought the war to an end, over- 
 threw all the thrones in Germany and produced 
 a political and social confusion the end of which 
 we cannot yet foresee. Switzerland was not com- 
 pletely spared. Encouraged probably by the re- 
 sult of the popular vote of the I3th October, on 
 proportional representation, and anxious to take 
 advantage of the state of mind created by the food 
 problem, the extreme elements in the Socialist 
 movement thought the moment a favorable one 
 in which to achieve their own ends. Already dur- 
 ing the war, several Socialist leaders had pro- 
 ceeded to Petrograd via Berlin, and had entered 
 into close relationship with the leading Bolsheviks. 
 Without official recognition, -a Bolshevist legation 
 was established in Bern which conspired to main- 
 tain in our country one of those hotbeds of revo- 
 lution to which the Russian maximalist party looks 
 for its salvation. 
 
 It is in Zurich that the revolutionary element is 
 most numerous and most daring. A few weeks 
 
 215
 
 2i6 APPENDIX 
 
 ago the cantonal government discovered unmis- 
 takable indications of a plot to overthrow its 
 sovereignty by violent methods. The revolution- 
 aries intended to take possession of the arsenal 
 and to set fire to public buildings. 
 
 At the request of the cantonal government, the 
 Federal Council sent troops to Zurich for the 
 maintenance of order and public safety. At the 
 same time it requested the Bolshevist legation to 
 leave the country, and decided to deport a Russian 
 agitator, a woman who had been working for 
 years in Switzerland. The Socialist executive 
 committee characterized these measures as pro- 
 vocative, called upon the Federal Council to re- 
 peal them, and upon its refusal to do so called a 
 general political strike (Landesstreik) . A new 
 government probably the executive committee 
 itself was to carry out, until something better 
 could be drafted, the following program: 
 
 i.. The immediate reelection of the National 
 Council on the basis of proportional representa- 
 tion. 2. Woman suffrage and the removal of all 
 sex disabilities. 3. The introduction of a system 
 of compulsory work for all. 4. A forty-eight 
 hour working week in all public and private under- 
 takings. 5. The conversion of the existing army 
 into a democratic army. 6. Revictualing to be 
 arranged with the cooperation of the agricultural
 
 APPENDIX 217 
 
 producers. 7. Old Age and Health Insurance. 
 8. State monopolies in imports and exports. 9. 
 The redemption of the entire National Debt by 
 the holders of wealth. 
 
 This transition program seemed one likely to 
 rally all the various elements in the Socialist 
 party. 
 
 What was to be the upshot of it? Would the 
 revolutionary movement be strong enough to im- 
 pose its will and overthrow the government? Or 
 indeed, would the federal authorities find them- 
 selves forced to acquiesce? Would a century of 
 democracy see for its reward the triumph of 
 anarchy? 
 
 Events have not taken the course anticipated by 
 the Socialist executive committee. Far from al- 
 lowing itself to be intimidated, the Federal Coun- 
 cil immediately summoned together the Federal 
 Chambers, and ordered the accelerated mobiliza- 
 tion of the first division of the Army, drawn from 
 Vaud, Geneva, and Valais, and of units from 
 other divisions, comprising in all some fifty bat- 
 talions of infantry and numerous special troops. 
 The session of the Chambers, which lasted for 
 three days, ended in a vote expressing unqualified 
 approval of the measures adopted by the Federal 
 Council. The leaders of the non-Socialist groups 
 Radicals, Liberals, Democrats, Catholic Con,-
 
 218 APPENDIX 
 
 servatives were unanimous in their condemna- 
 tion of the outrage by means of which a violent 
 minority had sought to establish their supremacy 
 in place of that of the recognized institutions of 
 the nation. All denounced vigorously an enter- 
 prise peculiarly criminal in a country where the 
 people enjoy the most extensive rights and pos- 
 sess all the means of introducing by constitutional 
 methods such reforms as they feel to be necessary. 
 
 In the meantime, the mobilization of the first 
 division was accomplished in a highly satisfactory 
 manner. The attempts to instill the spirit of in- 
 subordination into our citizen army met with in- 
 dignant protest. In all the principal cities law- 
 abiding men organized themselves; Citizen 
 Guards were formed to support existing author- 
 ity; shooting, gymnastic, musical and sports clubs, 
 societies of young men engaged in trade or in 
 agriculture, all proclaimed their determination to 
 defend democratic institutions against revolution- 
 ary assaults with the utmost vigor. 
 
 From the commencement the strike had only a 
 partial success, especially in French Switzerland 
 where a very large number of workmen refused 
 to down tools and obey the word of command. 
 Its gravity lay in the support of the printing trade, 
 by which the strike stifled the voice of public opin- 
 ion and enabled the executive committee to spread
 
 APPENDIX 219 
 
 the most disquieting rumors about the temper of 
 the army, and in that of the employees of the fed- 
 eral railways whom the Socialist leaders had won 
 after many years of persistent propaganda. But 
 even on the second day of the strike, vigorous 
 protests arose from the body of railwaymen 
 against the manner in which their organization had 
 been rushed into lending its support. Feeling that 
 they had with them the whole-hearted support of 
 the Chambers and of public opinion, the Federal 
 Council on the I3th November presented an ul- 
 timatum to the strike committee calling for the 
 termination of the strike before midnight. The 
 committee tried to evade, to make stipulations, to 
 obtain guarantees which it could have represented 
 as concessions or promises. The Federal Council 
 refused point blank, and at half-past one at night 
 the procrastination had lasted for two hours-*- 
 the executive strike committee gave in uncondi- 
 tionally. It recoiled from the prospect of a civil 
 war in which it knew defeat to be inevitable. In 
 the proclamation which it issued to the strikers it 
 gave as the reason for its capitulation the attitude 
 of the troops and the railway employees. They 
 should have added to this the attitude of the great 
 majority of the population, who showed their hos- 
 tility towards the general strike with extraor- 
 dinary force and decision,
 
 220 APPENDIX 
 
 Certainly, all is not over, and the Socialist com- 
 mittee has taken care to warn us that the fight 
 was only postponed; but the Swiss Press is none 
 the less justified in celebrating the result of the 
 conflict as a triumph for democracy. That the 
 people have reacted so strongly against this at- 
 tempt to spoke the working of our institutions, 
 that the army has fulfilled its duties so cheerfully, 
 is proof that the Swiss nation knows that it pos- 
 sesses all desirable methods for the bringing 
 about of timely reforms. 
 
 It is too fully aware of its powers and its rights 
 to bow voluntarily under the yoke of an extreme 
 minority, a class dictatorship, after having thrown 
 off that of the old oligarchies. If popular rights 
 had not been in existence, if it had been impossible 
 to oppose revolution by democracy, the situation 
 would certainly have been much more critical. 
 
 It is probable that one consequence of these 
 events will be a further development of the rights 
 of the people. It seems desirable that the Fed- 
 eral Chambers should have the right to submit 
 certain questions directly to the people without the 
 preliminary step of the initiative, as is done in 
 several cantons, and in this way deprive revolu- 
 tionaries of their last pretext of acting in the 
 name of the people whose rights they usurp.
 
 INDEX
 
 INDEX 
 
 Aargau, 35, 37. 86, 107, 109, 
 
 126, 142, 167, 169-70, 176 
 Absinthe, prohibition of, see 
 
 Liquor traffic 
 Act of Mediation of 1798, 8, 
 
 50-1 
 
 Alpnach, 75 
 
 Appenzell, 24, 42, 46, 47, 72 
 Appenzell-Ausserrhodem, 47, 
 
 5, 53-55, 58, 65-6, 71-2, 
 
 73, 109, 164, 167, 175-6 
 Appenzell-Innerrhoden, 50,73, 
 
 167 
 Army, 2, 14, 15, 93-4, 101-2, 
 
 191-93, 196, 216, 217 
 
 Babceuf, Gracchus, 30 
 
 Bank notes, federal monopoly 
 
 of, 95 
 
 Basel, 23, 24 
 Basel-Land, 35, 85-86, 106, 107, 
 
 167. 
 Basel-Stadt, 33, 86, 90, 106, 
 
 107, 141-143, 163, 167, 169, 
 
 176, 188-9. 
 Bellinzone, 24 
 Bern, 23, 25-8, 34, 37, 43, 85-6, 
 
 88, 107, no, 128, 141, 
 
 148-9, 157-8, 162, 167, 170, 
 
 172, 185, 187 
 Berney, Prof. Jacques, 118-19, 
 
 123-4 
 
 Blenio, 24 
 
 Bonnard, Albert, quoted, 191 
 Bourgeois, M. Leon, 205 
 Buchez, P. J., quoted, 6, 16 
 Burkhardt, Jacob, quoted, n-2 
 
 Calender, M., quoted, 207-13 
 Capital punishment, 49, 95 
 
 Capitulations, military, 33, 50 
 
 Carouge, 165 
 
 Centralization, tendency to- 
 wards, 10 ff., 113 
 
 Chamillard, M. de, 74 
 
 Channing, quoted, 204 
 
 Clemenceau, M., 181 
 
 Commugny, 136 
 
 Considerant, Victor, quoted, 
 75-76 
 
 Coppet, 136 
 
 Council of States, 2 
 
 Curti, Th., 25 
 
 Debts, law for recovery of, 
 
 102, 100-5, IO 7 
 Delarageaz, Louis-Henri, 33 
 Diet, i, 9, 74 
 
 Droz, Numa, 79, 151-4, 183-4 
 Dubs, J., Manuel de Droit 
 
 public, quoted, 6-7 
 
 Echallens, 26, 171 
 Education, 14, 63, 65, 95, 98, 
 
 106, 107, iio-i, 1 60 
 Einsiedeln, 24 
 Engelberg, 24 
 Entremonts, 42 
 Esmein, M., 77-8, 184 
 
 Factory legislation, 93 
 
 Fatio, 27 
 
 Federal Assembly, 83, 96, 104, 
 120, 122, 150, 156, 184, 195 
 
 Federal Council, 2-3, 49, 96, 
 123, 134, 138-9, 149-54, 
 194-200, 207, 217, 219 
 
 Federal Court, 2, 120, 155-6 
 
 Fleiner, Fr., quoted, 11-12 
 
 223
 
 224 
 
 INDEX 
 
 
 Food control, 15, 49, 195 
 "Formulated initiative," 118 ff. 
 Forrer, L., 101 
 Fouillee, Alfred, quoted, 184, 
 
 189 
 
 French Revolution, 30 
 Fribourg, 26, 39, 86, 109, 118, 
 
 126, 128, 144, 157, 167, 
 
 170-1, 187 
 
 Games of chance, 135 
 Geneva, 23, 27, 86, 90, 107, 
 
 129, 137, 142* *43 *44 *5 6 
 
 158, 163, 165, 167, 178, 187, 
 
 188 
 
 Gersau, 42, 50 
 Glarus, 24, 42, 50, 51, 55, 58, 
 
 72-3, 167 
 
 Glarus, Constitution of, 64-65 
 Grey, Viscount, 206 
 Grisons, 27, 86, 88, 107-8, 128, 
 
 148, 150, 163, 167, 169, 
 
 176 
 Guizot, 131, 177-8 
 
 Hagenbach-Bischoff, 180 
 Hague Conferences, 207-8 
 Hasli, 24 
 Heer, Landammann, quoted, 
 
 55-7 
 
 Helvetii, 24 
 Henzi, 28 
 Hilty, M., 139 
 Huber, Prof. Max, 207 
 Huissier, 61, 63, 66, 70, 71 
 
 Individual, rights of, 2, 61-2, 
 
 66, 120, 167 
 Insurance, public, 15, 71-2, 72- 
 
 3, 95, 101, 108, 142, 217 
 
 Jaures, 192 
 
 Jerry -mandering, 118 
 
 Jesus, Society of, excluded, 
 
 166-7 
 Judiciary, appointment of, 
 
 155-7 
 
 Karolyi, Count, quoted, 7 
 Kaufmann, Dr. Paul, 109 
 Keller, Gottfried, quoted, 210 
 
 Lampert, M., 167 
 Landammann, 9, 44, 45-6, 47-8, 
 
 52, 53-5 
 
 Landbuch, 51 
 
 Landsturm, 191-2 
 
 Landwehr, 191-2 
 
 Lanfray, 136 
 
 Lausanne, 103 
 
 League of Nations and Switz- 
 erland, 205-13 
 
 Liquor traffic, 95, 99-100, 134, 
 135-8 
 
 Louis-Philippe, 131 
 
 Luc, Comte du, quoted, 74 
 
 Lucerne, 33, 37, 43, 86, 89, 147, 
 161-2, 167, 187 
 
 Matches, referendum on fed- 
 eral monopoly of, 93 
 
 "Memorial" (in canton of 
 Glarus), 64-5 
 
 Micheli, Jacques Barthelemy, 
 27 
 
 Monnier, Marc, quoted, 145 
 
 Montesquieu, L'Esprit des Lois, 
 quoted, 4-5, 173 
 
 Morat, 170 
 
 "Motion" (form of initiative), 
 118-9 
 
 Nabholz, M., 19 
 Nachgemeinde, 44 
 Napoleon, 8-10, 51, 74 
 National Bank, 15, 100-1 
 National Council, 2, 116-7, 133, 
 
 134, 150, 178, 207 
 Nationalization of railways, 3, 
 
 15, 100 
 
 Naville, Ernest, 180 
 Neuchatel, 23, 35, 86, 90, 128, 
 
 156, 163, 164-5, 167-8, 171, 
 
 175, 178, 187, 1 88 
 Neue Ziircher Zeitung, quoted, 
 
 in 
 Neutrality, 193-200
 
 INDEX 
 
 225 
 
 Nidwalden, 42, 44, 47-8, 50, 
 
 52, 68-9, 73, 167 
 Nidwalden, Constitution of, 
 
 63-4 
 
 Obersimmenthal, 24 
 Obwalden, 42, 44, 50, 62, 70-1, 
 
 73, 167 
 Obwalden, Constitution of, 
 
 61-3 
 
 Orbe, 26 
 Orgetorix, 24 
 
 Patent law, referenda on, 94 
 "Plus" system of voting, 26 
 Prohibition, see Liquor traffic 
 Prussia, king of, 35 
 Puisieux, Marquis de, quoted, 
 74 
 
 Railways, nationalization of, 
 
 3, 15, 100 
 Rambert, Eugene, quoted, 13, 
 
 20, 40, 41, 53, 55 
 Recall, 37, 145-6 
 Recueil des constitutions fed- 
 erates et cantonales, 129 
 Renouvier, M., quoted, 181-84 
 Rhodes-Exterieures, see Ap- 
 
 penzell-Ausserrhoden 
 Rhodes-Interieures, see Appen- 
 
 zell-Innerrhoden 
 Rights of the individual, 2, 
 
 61-2, 66-7, 120, 168 
 Right to work, 13273 
 Rittinghausen, 77 
 Romansch, 150 
 Rossel, Virgile, quoted, 21 
 Rousseau, 28-9, 80 
 Ruchonnet, Louis, 17, 103-5, 
 
 115, 186 
 
 St. Cloud, 8 
 
 St. Gall, 23, 32, 86, 90, 108, 
 
 109, 126, 141, 167, 169, 187, 
 
 188 
 
 Sarnen, 53, 70 
 Schaffhausen, 35, 37, 86, 88-9, 
 
 126, 128, 167, 169, 176 
 
 Schwyz, 24, 34, 41-2, 44, 46, 
 50, 57, 86, 107, 126, 167, 
 187 
 
 Seippel, P., quoted, 13 
 
 Seychelles, Herault de, 80-1 
 
 Shakespeare, The Taming of 
 the Shrew, quoted, 178-9 
 
 Sion, 27 
 
 Solothurn, 37, 86, 88, 106, 108, 
 142, 148, 167, 168, 176, 187, 
 188 
 
 Sonderbund, 50 
 
 Sovereignty, federal and can- 
 tonal, 3-4, 13 ff., 36, 38, 
 5i-2, 85-7, 122 ff-, 133, 139- 
 4i 
 
 Stans, 46, 47, 48, 51, 53, 68 
 
 Strike, general, of November, 
 1918, 215-20 
 
 Taxation, 14, 16, 49, 60, 65, 68, 
 
 72, 88, 91, 95-7, 98, 100, 
 106, 107, 108 ff., 133, 
 134-6, 138-9, 141, 142, 165 
 
 Thirteen Cantons, Confedera- 
 tion of, 50, 74-5 
 
 Thurgau, 34-5, 36-7, 86, 107, 
 148, 167, 176 
 
 Ticino, 12, 86, 90, 106, 107, 
 148, 167, 186-7, J 88, 190 
 
 Tocqueville, quoted, 202 
 
 Toggenburg, Landsgemeinde 
 of, 24 
 
 Trogen, 53, 71 
 
 United States of America, i, 
 
 14, 21 
 
 Unterwalden, 24, 41 
 Uri, 23, 24, 42, 44, 50, 52, 67-8, 
 
 73, 167 
 
 Uri, Constitution of, 58-60 
 Urseren, 24, 42, 50 
 
 Vaccination, compulsory, 98 
 Valais, 26, 33, 35, 39, 86, 88, 
 
 106-7, 144, 149, 163, 167, 
 
 171 
 Vaud, 23, 26, 33-4, 35, 86, 88, 
 
 91, 107, no, 126, 129, 136-
 
 226 INDEX 
 
 Vaud, Continued: Wilson, President, 205-6 
 
 137, 142-3, 149, 156-7, Zug, 24, 34, 42, 50, 86, 89, 107, 
 
 163-4, 167, 171, 175, 178 108, 126, 148, 167, 168, 
 
 Veto (form of referendum), 187 
 
 32-3, 34-5, 83-4 Zurich, 23, 27, 28, 36-7, 43, 
 
 86-7, 88, 107, no, in, 126- 
 
 Water power, 15, 134 7, 142, I S7y 160-1, 168, 172, 
 
 Wil, 68 176, 187, 188-9, 215-16
 
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