Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/876

* SWITZERLAND. 762 SWITZERLAND. bunal consisting of fourteen judges and a number of buperuumerarics elected for a term of sis years by the Federal Assembly, which also desig- nates a president and a vice-president of the court for two j'ears. The court is divided into three sections, each of which holds a session in one of the five judicial districts into which Switzerland is divided. The seat of the court is at Lausanne, in the Canton of Vaud. The juris- diction of the Federal Court in the domain of public law extends to conflicts of authority be- tween the Confederation and the cantons, to dis- putes between cantons of a public -law nature, and to complaints of the violation of individual constitutional rights. In civil matters of private law its jurisdiction extends to suits between the Confederation and the cantons or between the cantons themselves, or suits against the Con- federation or between the cantons and private individuals or corporations. The Federal Tri- bunal is also a court of appeal from the de- cisions of the cantonal courts where the amount in dispute exceeds 3000 francs (about .$600). Its criminal jurisdiction extends to cases of high treason against the Confederation or violence against the Federal autliorities, to offenses against the law of nations, to political offenses which cause disorder and lead to armed inter- vention, and to certain minor offenses. For the purposes of local government the po- litical divisions and subdivisions of Switzerland are cantons, districts, and communes. Each can- ton has its own constitution and local govern- ment. With a few exceptions there is a uni- cameral legislative body called the Great Council, whose members are elected by popular suf- frage, as a rule, for a term of three or four years. It enacts laws, votes the taxes, and supervises the administration. In the four can- tons of Uri, Unte«-walden, Glavus, and Appen- zell primary assemblies of all the voters, in many respects like the New- England town meeting, take the place of a legislative body. Such as- semblies are known as the Landspemeinden. The chief executive authority in all the cantons is a council whose membership varies in number from 5 to 9 in the different cantons. The same may be said of the term of service and the mode of election. At present the members are chosen by popular vote in a majority of the cantons; in the others they are chosen by the local legisla- tures. In all the cantonal constitutions except that of Fribourg the referendum (q.v.) as a means of legislation has a prominent place. The initiative likewise plays an important part in local legislation. In all the cantons except ^Geneva constitutional amendments may be in- itiated by popular petition; and in all except Fribourg. Lucerne, and Valais the same right ex- ists in the case of ordinary statutes. The cantons are divided into districts. The chief executive and administrative authority in the district is a sort of prefect either popularly elected or chosen by the cantonal Council. A subdivision of the district is called the commune { Gcmeinde) . In some of these the popular town meeting is the chief organ of government ; in the others there is a local legislative assembly popu- larly elected. In all of them the chief executive authority is a small council consisting of a president or mayor and not less than four members. Finance. The Confederation derives most of its revenue from the customs, though considerable income is yielded by the post-oHiee and tele- graphs. The alcohol monopoly, amounting in 1901 to about .$1,120,000, is divided among the cantons, one-tenth of the amount being used to combat the spread and evil effects of alcoholism. The revenue of the Confederation in 1!)01 was $20,384,03(1, and the expenditure was $21,U0,fil8. The public debt amounted on January 1, 1002, to approximately $17,500,000, most of it bear- ing 3''j per cent, interest. The monetary stand- ard is gold and silver, with the franc as the unit of coinage. Metric weights and measures are used. Defense. See under Armies. Popi'LATiON. The population, according to the census of December 1. 1000, was 3.315,443. In 1000, 2.310,105 inliabitants spoke German, 733,- 220 French. 222.247 Italian, and 38,677 Romansh. The total number of foreigners living in the coun- try in 1000 was 302.800. The chief towns, with their populations, in 1001, were: Zurich, 1.52,- 042; Basel. 111,000: Geneva, 105.130; Bern. 04.864. The list of the cantons of Switzerland, with areas and populations for 1888 and 1000, is as follows : Aargau » . . -«n 1 -^"sserrhoden. Appenzell... j lauerAoder,... IVrn Fribourg Geneva Glarus Grisone Lucerne Neuchatel .Saint Gall Schaffhauseu Srhwyz Solothurn Thurgau Ticino Unterwalden { ^PP*/^- rri Valais Vaud Ziig Zurich Total Area, sq. miles 542 101 61 U 1G3 2,667 G44 108 267 2.773 .■179 312 779 lU 351 302 381 1,0S8 183 112 415 2.027 1,244 92 6<!6 15,975 Population 18S8 193,580 54.109 12.888 73.749 61.941 536.079 119.155 105.509 33,825 94.810 135,.360 108,153 228.174
 * !7,783

.50.307 85,621 104.678 126.751 15,043 1-2.5:58 17.249 101.085 247,655 23.029 337,183 2,917,754 1900 206.49S 56.281 13.499 112,227 68.497 689.433 127.951 132,609 33,349 104,520 146,169 126,279 250,285 41,514 55.,385 100.762 113.221 138,638 16,260 13,070 19.700 114.438 281.379 26.093 431.036 3,315,443 EDtCATiON AND Remgion. Instruction is compulsory and is rigidly enforced in the Prot- estant but not in the Roman Catholic cantons. The pupils number nearly 600,000, of whom 471,- 713 were in the primary schools in 1900. Among the famous institutions are the Universities of Zurich. Bern, Geneva, and Fribourg, the Acad- emies of Geneva and Lausanne, and the "Federal Polytechnic" at Zurich, which attracts pupils from all parts of Europe. In religion there is complete liberty of conscience. About three-fifths of the inhabitants are Protestants, nearly all the remainder being Roman Catholics. Etiinologt. Such human remains of the pre- historic Swiss as have been found in their lake- dwellin.trs i(.v.) ally the ancient people with the short-headed Celtic or .Xlpine race. Racially Switzerland is now ovcrwhelminixly Alpine or Celtic (index, 83,8; Romansh 85), especially