THE REPUBLIC OF SWITZERLAND.
No wonder Switzerland is free. The beauty of the country inspires
a love of native land and the mountains form a natural fortress
behind which the Swiss people could withstand armies many times
the size of their own. Nowhere can one find as great a variety of
landscape in a day's ride by train as in Switzerland. The road from
Berne via Chiasso, on the Italian border, to Italy, passes along the
shores of lakes whose transparent waters reflect the precipitous
rocks that overhang them; by mountain streams that dash and foam
madly as if anxious to escape from the solitude of the hills into
the companionship of the larger waters of lake and sea, across the
gorges, around the foothills and through the nine-mile tunnel of
St. Gothard, which pierces the mountain a mile beneath the summit,
and then down into the valleys that widen out from the base of the
Alps. The day's enthralling ride reminds one of a cinematographic
film, so quickly do the views change and so different is each from
the other. Along the lower levels are tiny farms and vineyards, a
little higher up are terraced pastures and quaint farm houses, with
gabled roofs--often residence and barn are under the same roof! The
mountain sides are scarred with chutes down which the peasants drag
timber on the snow. One passes through a great variety of climate in
descending from the City of Mexico to Vera Cruz, but there one does
not see such a succession of picturesque views as greets the eye in
the ride across the Alps.
One would suppose that the people of Switzerland could find ample
employment in supplying the wants of those who temporarily visit
their land, but to the industry of hotelkeeping are added two that
have made Switzerland famous throughout the world--watchmaking
and wood carving. While watches are manufactured as well and as
cheaply in the United States as in Switzerland, this industry is
one that makes its presence known in every city of this mountain
republic. The genius of the Swiss for wood carving manifests itself
in innumerable ways. The cuckoo clock and the bear--the symbol of
Switzerland, as the eagle is of the United States--are seen in shop
windows everywhere; the bear in innumerable postures, the clock in
innumerable sizes. At Berne I found some wooden nut-crackers formed
to resemble a head, the lower jaw working as a lever and crushing
the nut against the upper jaw. I observed one nut-cracker made to
resemble President Roosevelt, and another former Colonial Secretary
Chamberlain of England. I presume that the manufacturer intended to
suggest that these two statesmen have more nuts to crack just now
than any other men of political prominence!
More interesting, however, than its scenery or its industries is
the government of Switzerland. It is the most democratic government
on the face of the earth, if the word democratic is taken to mean
the rule of the people, for in Switzerland the people rule more
completely than anywhere else. In some of the small cantons the
people meet at stated times and act upon political matters in public
meeting, recalling the old town hall meeting of New England. In all
the cantons and in the federal government they have the initiative
and referendum. The latter has been in use since 1874; the former
has been adopted more recently.
From the courteous assistant secretary of state I learned that
during the last twenty-nine years 235 federal laws have been
submitted to the people by means of the referendum, of which 210
were adopted and twenty-five rejected. The total voting population
of Switzerland is about 768,000, and it requires a petition signed
by 30,000--less than 5 per cent of the voting population--to secure
a referendum vote on any bill. Fifty thousand voters can petition
for the enactment of any desired law, and when such a petition is
filed the federal legislature can either pass the law or refuse to
pass it. If it refuses, however, its action must be passed upon by a
referendum vote. Since the existence of this provision six petitions
have been presented, and in every case the legislature refused to
pass the law demanded by the petitioners. In five cases the people
at the referendum vote sustained the legislature; in one case the
action of the legislature was overruled by the voters. In this
instance the people had petitioned for the passage of a law that
would prevent the slaughter of animals for food until after they had
been rendered insensible.
I found that the Swiss people are so pleased with the popular
control over government, given them by the initiative and
referendum, that there is no possibility that any party will
attempt to attack it, although there are some that would prefer
the representative system freed from the restraint which the
initiative and referendum give. Their arguments are, first, that the
legislators knowing that the people can initiate legislation feel
less responsibility; and, second, that as the legislators' actions
can be reviewed by the people, the legislators are more timid about
introducing needed reforms. The friends of the initiative and
referendum meet these arguments by declaring that the legislators
are really not relieved from responsibility, but on the other hand
are incited to action by the fact that the people can act in the
event that their interests are neglected by the legislature and that
the timidity suggested is only likely to prevent legislation when
the legislators themselves doubt the merit of the proposed action.
By courtesy of the American minister, Mr. Hill, I had the honor of
meeting Dr. Adolphe Deucher, "president of the Swiss confederation,"
as he is styled. He is of German blood, as his name would indicate,
and he is a fine representative of the scholarly, big-hearted
Teuton. He is a tall, slender man, of about 60, with a ruddy face,
white mustache and scanty white hair. He speaks with frankness and
conviction and is as simple in his manners as the humblest of his
people. He has been president once before, and has represented his
canton in the federal legislature. He lives very unostentatiously,
as becomes an official whose salary is only $2,750 a year. He
receives $250 a year more than his colleagues in the federal
council. Switzerland has no executive mansion and the president
lives in a modest hotel.
Three languages are spoken in Switzerland--French, German, Italian.
French prevails in the region about Geneva, German in and north of
Berne and Italian at the southeast near the Italian border. German
is, perhaps, dominant, if any one tongue can be said to dominate,
with French and Italian following in the order named. The debates
in the federal legislature are conducted in the three tongues, and
are reported therein officially. No attempt is made to interfere
with the teaching of the language that each of the three communities
desires, the cantons being independent in matters of local
legislation, just as are the states in our country. There seems
to be no jealousy or enmity between the different sections except
to the extent of a healthful rivalry between them. The feeling of
independence, however, is so strong that no federal government could
exist without a clear recognition of the rights of the component
states or cantons.
As a nation, Switzerland, with her five million people, does not
attract the attention that neighboring nations do, and in a contest
at arms, except upon her own soil, she could not hope to achieve
much, but in that high form where conscience dictates and where
reason rules she is a conspicuous member of the sisterhood of
nations. If we believe the world to be making progress toward nobler
national ideals, we may expect Switzerland to occupy a position of
increasing importance, for the love of liberty that characterizes
her people, the democratic character of her institutions and the
industry of her citizens all combine to give her assurance of
increasing prestige.
I cannot refrain here from giving expression to a thought that has
grown upon me since my arrival in Europe. I found our ambassador
to England, Mr. Choate, preparing to leave his residence in Carlton
House Terrace, London, because of the prospective return of its
owner, Lord Curzon, from India. I learned that our ambassadors to
France have often found difficulty in finding suitable houses in
Paris, while I found that our minister to Switzerland, Mr. Hill,
is living in Geneva because he has not been able thus far to find
a residence in Berne, the capital. I was also informed that our
ambassador to Italy, Mr. Meyer, was compelled to live in a hotel
in Rome for a year after his appointment, because he was unable to
find a suitable house for the embassy. The trials of our diplomatic
representatives in Europe, together with the high rents they are
compelled to pay for their residences, have convinced me that we as
a people are at fault in not providing permanent and appropriate
domiciles for our ambassadors and ministers at foreign capitals.
In the great cities of Europe it is not only impossible to rent
at a moderate price a house suitable for our embassy, but it is
often difficult to secure a convenient location at any price. It
is scarcely democratic to place upon an official an expense so
great as to preclude the appointment of a man of moderate means;
nor does it comport with the dignity of our nation to make the
choice of an ambassadorial or ministerial residence dependent upon
chance and circumstance. I have been pleased to observe that our
representatives in Europe are conspicuous in the diplomatic circle
at court functions because of their modest attire, but it is not
necessary that our ambassadors' and ministers' homes should be on
wheels in order to be democratic. I believe that our government
ought to inaugurate a new policy in this matter and build up in
the chief capitals of foreign nations on land convenient to the
foreign office buildings suitable in every way for the residences
and offices of our diplomatic representatives. Such buildings
constructed according to a characteristic American style of
architecture and furnished like an American home would not only give
to our representative a fixed habitation, but would exhibit to the
people of the country in which he is accredited the American manner
of living. The records of the embassy could be kept more safely in
permanent quarters.
As real estate in all the capitals of Europe is rapidly rising in
value, land purchased now would become a profitable investment and
the rent estimated on the purchase price would be a great deal less
than will have to be paid twenty or fifty years from now for a
suitable site and buildings conveniently located. It is not wise to
confine our diplomatic representation to the circle of the wealthy,
and it is much better to furnish our ambassadors and ministers with
residences than to increase their salaries.