interested observer of Swiss politics for many years, writes: "A people
may indicate its will, not from a distance, but near at hand, always
superintending the work of its agents, watching them, stopping them if
there is reason for so doing, constraining them, in a word, to carry out
the people's will in both legislative and administrative affairs. In
this form of government the representative system is reduced to a
minimum. The deliberative bodies resemble simple committees charged with
preparing work for an elected assembly, and here the elected assembly is
replaced by the people. This sovereign action in person in the
transaction of public business may extend more or less widely; it may be
limited to the State, or it may be extended to the province also, and
even to the town. To whatever extent this supervision of the people may
go, one thing may certainly be expected, which is that the supervision
will become closer and closer as time goes on. It never has been known
that citizens gave up willingly and deliberately rights acquired, and
the natural tendency of citizens is to increase their privileges.
Switzerland is an example of this type of democratic government....
There is some reason for regarding parliamentary government--at least
under its classic and orthodox form of rivalry between two parties, who
watch each other closely, in order to profit by the faults of their
adversaries, who dispute with each other for power without the
interests of the country, in the ardor of the encounter, being always
considered--as a transitory form in the evolution of democracy."
The spirit of the Swiss law and its relation to the liberty of the
individual are shown in passages of the cantonal and federal
constitutions. That of Uri declares: "Whatever the Landsgemeinde, within
the limits of its competence, ordains, is law of the land, and as such
shall be obeyed," but: "The guiding principle of the Landsgemeinde shall
be justice and the welfare of the fatherland, not willfulness nor the
power of the strongest." That of Zurich: "The people exercise the
lawmaking power, with the assistance of the state legislature." That of
the Confederation: "All the Swiss people are equal before the law. There
are in Switzerland no subjects, nor privileges of place, birth, persons,
or families."
In these general notes and quotations is sketched in broad lines the
political environment of the Swiss citizen of to-day. The social mind
with which he stands in contact is politically developed, is bent on
justice, is accustomed to look for safe results from the people's laws,
is at present more than ever inclined to trust direct legislation, and,
on the whole, is in a state of calmness, soberness, tolerance, and
political self-discipline.
The machinery of public stewardship, subject to popular guidance, may
now be traced, beginning with the most simple form.
_Organization of the Commune._
The common necessities of a Swiss neighborhood, such as establishing and
maintaining local roads, police, and schools, and administering its
common wealth, bring its citizens together in democratic assemblages.
These are of different forms.
One form of such assemblage, the basis of the superstructure of
government, is the political communal meeting. "In it take place the
elections, federal, state, and local; it is the local unit of state
government and the residuary legatee of all powers not granted to other
authorities. Its procedure is ample and highly democratic. It meets
either at the call of an executive council of its own election, or in
pursuance of adjournment, and, as a rule, on a Sunday or holiday. Its
presiding officer is sometimes the _maire_, sometimes a special
chairman. Care is taken that only voters shall sit in the body of the
assembly, it being a rule in Zurich that the register of citizens shall
lie on the desk for inspection. Tellers are appointed by vote and must
be persons who do not belong to the village council, since that is the
local cabinet which proposes measures for consideration. Any member of
the assembly may offer motions or amendments, but usually they are
brought forward by the town council, or at least referred to that body
before being voted upon."[F] The officials of the commune chosen in the
communal meeting, are one chief executive (who in French communes
usually has two assistants), a communal council, which legislates on
the lesser matters coming up between communal meetings, and such minor
officials as are not left to the choice of the council.
[Footnote F: Vincent.]
A second form of neighborhood assemblage is one composed only of those
citizens who have rights in the communal corporate domains and funds,
these rights being either inherited or acquired (sometimes by purchase)
after a term of purely political citizenship.
A third form is the parish meeting, at which gather the members of the
same faith in the commune, or of even a smaller church district. The
Protestant, the Catholic, and the Jewish are recognized as State
religions--the Protestant alone in some cantons, the Catholic in others,
both in several, and both with the Jewish in others.
A fourth form of local assembly is that of the school district, usually
a subdivision of a commune. It elects a board of education, votes taxes
to defray school expenses, supervises educational matters, and in some
districts elects teachers.
Dividing the commune thus into voting groups, each with its appropriate
purpose, makes for justice. He who has a share in the communal public
wealth (forests, pastoral and agricultural lands, and perhaps funds), is
not endangered in this property through the votes of non-participant
newcomers. Nor are educational affairs mixed with general politics. And,
though State and religion are not yet severed, each form of belief is
largely left to itself; in some cantons provision is made that a
citizen's taxes shall not go toward the support of a religion to which
he is opposed.
_Organization of Canton and Confederation._
In no canton in Switzerland is there more than one legislative body: in
none is there a senate. The cities of Switzerland have no mayor, the
cantons have no governor, and, if the title be used in the American
sense, the republic has no President. Instead of the usual single
executive head, the Swiss employ an executive council. Hence, in every
canton a deadlock in legislation is impossible, the way is open for all
law demanded by a majority, and neither in canton nor Confederation is
one-man power known.
The cantonal legislature is the Grand Council. "In the Landsgemeinde
cantons and those having the obligatory Referendum, it is little more
than a supervisory committee, preparing measures for the vote of the
citizens and acting as a check on the cantonal executive council. In the
remaining cantons (those having the optional Referendum), the
legislature has the power to spend money below a specified limit; to
enact laws of specified kinds, usually not of general application; and
to elect the more important officials, the amount of discretion [in the
different cantons] rising gradually till the complete representative
government is reached"[G] in Freiburg, which resembles one of our
states. Though in several cantons the Grand Council meets every two
months for a few days' session, in most of the cantons it meets twice a
year. The pay of members ranges from sixty cents to $1.20 per day. The
legislative bodies are large; the ratio in five cantons is one
legislator to every 1,000 inhabitants; in twelve it ranges from one to
187 up to one to 800, and in the remaining five from one to 1,000 to one
to 2,000. The Landsgemeinde cantons usually have fifty to sixty members;
Geneva, with 20,000 voters, has a hundred.
[Footnote G: Vincent.]
In six of the twenty-two cantons, if a certain number of voters petition
for it, the question must be submitted to the people whether or not the
legislature shall be recalled and a new one elected.
The formation of the Swiss Federal Assembly (congress), established in
1848, was influenced by the make-up of the American congress. The lower
house is elected by districts, as in the United States, the basis of
representation being one member to 20,000 inhabitants, and the number of
members 147. The term for this house is three years; the pay, four
dollars a day, during session, and mileage. The upper house, the Council
of States (senate), the only body of the kind in Switzerland, is
composed of two members from each canton. Cantonal law governing their
election, the tenure of their office is not the same: in some cantons
they are elected by the people, in others by the legislature; their pay
varies; their term of office ranges from one to three years. Their brief
terms and the fact that their more important functions, such as the
election of the federal executive council, take place in joint session
with the second chamber, render the members of the "upper" house of
less weight in national affairs than those of the "lower."
_Swiss Executives._
The executive councils of the cities, the cantons, and the Confederation
are all of one form. They are committees, composed of members of equal
rank. The number of members varies. Of cantonal executive councilors,
there are seven in eleven of the cantons, three, five, and nine in
others, and eleven in one. In addition to carrying out the law, the
executive council usually assists somewhat in legislation, the members
not only introducing but speaking upon measures in the legislative body
with which they are associated, without, however, having a vote. In
about half the cantons, the cantonal executive councils are elected by
the people; in the rest by the legislative body.
Types of the executive councils are those of Geneva, city and canton.
The city executive council is composed of five members, elected by the
people for four years. The salary of its president is $800 a year; that
of the other four members, $600. The cantonal executive has seven
members; the salaries are: the president, $1,200; the rest, $1,000. In
both city and cantonal councils each member is the head of an
administrative department. The cantonal executive council has the power
to suspend the deliberations of the city executive council and those of
the communal councils whenever in its judgment these bodies transcend
their legal powers or refuse to conform to the law. In case of such
suspension, a meeting of the cantonal Grand Council (the legislature)
must be called within a week, and if it approves of the action of the
cantonal executive, the council suspended is dissolved, and an election
for another must be had within a month, the members of the body
dissolved not being immediately eligible for re-election. The cantonal
executive council may also revoke the commissions of communal executives
(maires and adjoints), who then cannot immediately be re-elected. Check
to the extensive powers of the cantonal executive council lies in the
fact that its members are elected directly by the people and hold office
for only two years. But in cantons having the obligatory Referendum,
Geneva's methods, however advanced in the eyes of American republicans,
are not regarded as strictly democratic.
_The Federal Executive Council._
The Swiss nation has never placed one man at its head. Prior to 1848,
executive as well as legislative powers were vested in the one house of
the Diet. Under the constitution adopted in that year, with which the
Switzerland as now organized really began, the present form of the
executive was established.
This executive is the Federal Council, a board of seven members, whose
term is three years, and who are elected in joint session by the two
houses of the Federal Assembly (congress). The presiding officer of the
council, chosen as such by the Federal Assembly, is elected for one
year. He cannot be his own successor. While he is nominally President
of the Confederation, Swiss treatises on the subject uniformly emphasize
the fact that he is actually no more than chairman of the executive
council. He is but "first among his equals" (_primus inter pares_). His
prerogatives--thus to describe whatever powers fall within his
duties--are no greater than those pertaining to the rest of the board.
Unlike the President of the United States, he has no rank in the army,
no power of veto, no influence with the judiciary; he cannot appoint
military commanders, or independently name any officials whatever; he
cannot enforce a policy, or declare war, or make peace, or conclude a
treaty. His name is not a by-word in his own country. Not a few among
the intelligent Swiss would pause a moment to recall his name if
suddenly asked: "Who is President this year?"
The federal executive council is elected on the assembling of the
Federal Assembly after the triennial election for members of the lower
house. All Swiss citizens are eligible, except that no two members may
be chosen from the same canton. The President's salary is $2,605, that
of the other members $2,316. While in office, the councilors may not
perform any other public function, engage in any kind of trade, or
practice any profession. A member of the council is at the head of each
department of the government, viz.: Foreign Affairs, Interior, Justice
and Police, Military, Finances, Commerce and Agriculture, and
Post-Office and Railroads. The constitution directs a joint transaction
of the business of the council by all the seven members, with the
injunction that responsibility and unity of action be not enfeebled. The
council appoints employés and functionaries of the federal departments.
Each member may present a nomination for any branch, but names are
usually handed in by the head of the department in which the appointment
is made. As a minority of the board is uniformly composed of members of
the political party not, if it may be so described, "in power," purely
partisan employments are difficult. Removals of federal office-holders
in order to repay party workers are unheard of.
The executive council may employ experts for special tasks, it has the
right to introduce bills in the Federal Assembly, and each councilor has
a "consultative voice" in both houses. In practice, the council is
simply an executive commission expressing the will of the assembly, the
latter having even ordered the revision of regulations drawn up by the
council for its employés at Berne. The acts of the assembly being liable
to the Referendum, connection with the will of the people is
established. Thus popular sovereignty finally, and quite directly,
controls.
While both legislators and executives are elected for short terms, it is
customary for the same men to serve in public capacities a long time.
Though the people may recall their servants at brief intervals, they
almost invariably ask them to continue in service. Employés keep their
places at their will during good behavior. This custom extends to the
higher offices filled by appointment. One minister to Paris held the
position for twenty-three years; one to Rome, for sixteen. Once elected
to the federal executive council, a public man may regard his office as
a permanency. Of the council of 1889, one member had served since 1863,
another since 1866. Up to 1879 no seat in the council had ever become
vacant excepting through death or resignation.
_Features of the Judiciary._
Civil and criminal courts are separate. The justice of the peace sits in
a case first as arbitrator, and not until he fails in that capacity does
he assume the chair of magistrate. His decision is final in cases
involving sums up to a certain amount, varying in different localities.
Two other grades of court are maintained in the canton, one sitting for
a judicial subdivision called a district, and a higher court for the
whole canton. Members of the district tribunal, consisting of five or
seven members, are commonly elected by the people, their terms varying,
with eight years as the longest. The judges of the cantonal courts as a
rule are chosen by the Grand Council; their number seven to thirteen;
their terms one to eight years. The cantonal court is the court of last
resort. The Federal Tribunal, which consists of nine judges and nine
alternates, elected for six years, tries cases between canton and canton
or individual and canton. For this bench practically all Swiss citizens
are eligible. The entire judicial system seems designed for the speedy
trial of cases and the discouragement of litigation.
No court in Switzerland, not even the Federal Tribunal, can reverse the
decisions of the Federal Assembly (congress). This can be done only by
the people.
The election by the Assembly of the Federal Tribunal--as well as of the
federal executive--has met with strong opposition. Before long both
bodies may be elected by popular vote.
Swiss jurors are elected by the people and hold office six years. In
French and German Switzerland, there is one such juror for every
thousand inhabitants, and in Italian Switzerland one for every five
hundred. To a Swiss it would seem as odd to select jurors haphazard as
to so select judges.
In most of the manufacturing cantons, councils of prud'hommes are
elected by the people. The various industries and professions are
classified in ten groups, each of which chooses a council of prud'hommes
composed of fifteen employers and fifteen employés. Each council is
divided into a bureau of conciliation, a tribunal of prud'hommes, and a
chamber of appeals, cases going on appeal from one board to another in
the order named. These councils have jurisdiction only in the trades,
their sessions relating chiefly to payment for services and contracts of
apprenticeship.
_A Democratic Army._
In surveying the simple political machinery of Switzerland, the
inquirer, remembering the fate of so many republics, may be led to ask
as to the danger of its overthrow by the Swiss army. The reply is that,
here, again, so far as may be seen, the nation has wisely planned
safeguards. To show how, and as the Swiss army differs widely from all
others in its organization, some particulars regarding it are here
pertinent.
The more important features of the Swiss military system, established in
1874, are as follows: There is no Commander-in-chief in time of peace.
There is no aristocracy of officers. Pensions are fixed by law. There is
no substitute system. Every citizen not disabled is liable either to
military duty or to duties essential in time of war, such as service in
the postal department, the hospitals, or the prisons. Citizens entirely
disabled and unfit for the ranks or semi-military service are taxed to a
certain per centage of their property or income. No canton is allowed to
maintain more than three hundred men under arms without federal
authority.
Though there is no standing army, every man in the country between the
ages of seventeen and fifty is enrolled and subject annually either to
drill or inspection. On January 1, 1891, the active army, comprising all
unexempt citizens between twenty and thirty-two years, contained 126,444
officers and men; the first reserve, thirty-three to forty-four years,
80,795; the second reserve, all others, 268,715; total, 475,955. The
Confederation can place in the field in less than a week more than
200,000 men, armed, uniformed, drilled, and every man in his place.
On attaining his twentieth year, every Swiss youth is summoned before a
board of physicians and military officers for physical and mental
examination. Those adjudged unfit for service are exempted--temporarily
if the infirmity may pass away, for life if it be permanent. The tax on
exempted men is $1.20 plus thirty cents per year for $200 of their
wealth or $20 of their income, until the age of thirty-two years, and
half these sums until the age of forty-four. On being enrolled in his
canton, the soldier is allowed to return home. He takes with him his
arms and accoutrements, and thenceforth is responsible for them. He is
ever ready for service at short call. Intrusting the soldiery with their
outfit reduces the number of armories, thus cutting down public
expenditures and preventing loss through capture in case of sudden
invasion by an enemy.
In the Swiss army are eight divisions of the active force and eight of
the reserve, adjoining cantons uniting to form a division. Each summer
one division is called out for the grand manoeuvres, all being brought
out once in the course of eight years.
In case of war a General is named by the Federal Assembly. At the head
of the army in time of peace is a staff, composed of three colonels,
sixteen lieutenant colonels and majors, and thirty-five captains.
The cost of maintaining the army is small, on an average $3,500,000 a
year. Officers and soldiers alike receive pay only while in service. If
wounded or taken ill on duty, a man in the ranks may draw up to $240 a
year pension while suffering disability. Lesser sums may be drawn by
the family of a soldier who loses his life in the service.
At Thoune, near Berne, is the federal military academy. It is open to
any Swiss youth who can support himself while there. Not even the
President of the Confederation may in time of peace propose any man for
a commission who has not studied at the Thoune academy. A place as
commissioned officer is not sought for as a fat office nor as a ready
stepping-stone to social position. As a rule only such youths study at
Thoune as are inclined to the profession of arms. Promotion is according
to both merit and seniority. Officers up to the rank of major are
commissioned by the cantons, the higher grades by the Confederation.
* * * * *
In Switzerland, then, the military leader appears only when needed, in
war; he cannot for years afterward be rewarded by the presidency;
pensions cannot be made perquisites of party; the army, _i.e._ the whole
effective force of the nation, will support, and not attempt to subvert,
the republic.
_The True Social Contract._
The individual enters into social life in Switzerland with the
constitutional guarantee that he shall be independent in all things
excepting wherein he has inextricable common interests with his fellows.
Each neighborhood aims, as far as possible, to govern itself, so
subdividing its functions that even in these no interference with the
individual shall occur that may be avoided. Adjoining neighborhoods
next form a district and as such control certain common interests. Then
a greater group, of several districts, unite in the canton. Finally
takes place the federation of all the cantons. At each of these
necessary steps in organizing society, the avowed intention of the
masses concerned is that the primary rights of the individual shall be
preserved. Says the "Westminster Review": "The essential characteristic
of the federal government is that each of the states which combine to
form a union retains in its own hands, in its individual capacity, the
management of its own affairs, while authority over matters common to
all is exercised by the states in their collective and corporate
capacity." And what is thus true of Confederation with respect to the
independence of the canton is equally true of canton with respect to the
commune, and of the commune with respect to the individual. No departure
from home rule, no privileged individuals or corporations, no special
legislation, no courts with powers above the people's will, no legal
discriminations whatever--such their aim, and in general their
successful aim, the Swiss lead all other nations in leaving to the
individual his original sovereignty. Wherever this is not the fact,
wherever purpose fails fulfillment, the cause lies in long-standing
complications which as yet have not yielded to the newer democratic
methods. On the side of official organization, one historical abuse
after another has been attacked, resulting in the simple,
smooth-running, necessary local and national stewardships described. On
the side of economic social organization, a concomitant of the political
system, the progress in Switzerland has been remarkable. As is to be
seen in the following chapter, in the management of natural monopolies
the democratic Swiss, beyond any other people, have attained justice,
and consequently have distributed much of their increasing wealth with
an approach to equity; while in the system of communal lands practiced
in the Landsgemeinde cantons is found an example to land reformers
throughout the world.
THE COMMON WEALTH OF SWITZERLAND.
Unless producers may exercise equal right of access to land, the first
material for all production, they stand unequal before the law; and if
one man, through legal privilege given to another, is deprived of any
part of the product of his labor, justice does not reign. The economic
question, then, under any government, relates to legal privilege--to
monopoly, either of the land or its products.
With the non-existence of the exclusive enjoyment of monopolies by some
men--monopolies in the land, in money-issuing, in common public
works--each producer would retain his entire product excepting his
taxes. This end secured, there would remain no politico-economic problem
excepting that of taxation.