Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/475

 CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT. 439

years is entitled to a vote ; and any voter, not a clergyman, may be elected a deputy. Both chambers united are called the ' Bundes- Versammlung,' or Federal Assembly, and as such represent the supreme Government of the republic. The chief executive authority is depiited to a ' Bundesrath,' or Federal Council, consisting of seven members, elected for three years by the Federal Assembly. Every citizen who has a vote for the National Council is eligible for be- coming a member of the executive.

The president and vice-president of the Federal Council are the first magistrates of the republic. The former has an annual salary of 4001. ; and the latter of 3407. Both are elected by the Federal Assembly for the term of one year, and are not re-eligible till after the expiration of another year. The election takes place at a united meeting of the State Council and the National Council. The Federal Assembly alone has the right to declare war, to make peace, and to conclude alliances and treaties with other nations.

Independent of the Federal Assembly, though issuing from the une, is the ' Bundes-Gericht,' or Federal Tribunal. It consists of eleven members, elected for three years by the Federal Assembly. The Federal Tribunal decides, in the last instance, on all matters in dispute between the various cantons of the republic, as well as between the cantons and the Federal Government, and acts in general as high court of appeal. The Tribunal is divided into three sections, the ' Anklagekammer,' or chamber of accusation ; the ' Kriminalkammer,' or jury department ; and the ' Cassations-Gericht,' or council of judges. Each section consists of three members, and the remaining two members, elected specially by the Federal Assembly, fill the post of president and vice-president.

The seven members of the Federal Council, each of whom has a salary of 3401. per annum, while the president has 4001., act as ministers, or chiefs of the seven administrative departments of the republic. The president and vice-president of the council, by the terms of the Constitution, hold office for only one year, from January 1 to December 31.

By a vote of the Federal Assembly of November 28, 1848, the city of Bern was chosen as the seat of the Federal Council and the central administrative authorities of the republic.

Each of the cantons and demi-cantons of Switzerland has its own government, different in organisation in most instances, but all based on the principle of absolute sovereignty of the people. In a few of the smallest cantons, the people exercise their powers direct, without the intervention of any parliamentary machinery, all male citizens of full age assembling together in the open air, at stated periods, making laws and appointing its administrators. Such assemblies, known as the Landesgemeinde, exist in Appenzell, Glarus, Unterwald,