William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge

“ Agriculture too flourishes greatly. A number of factories have sprung up in the new quarter of the town, but the silk-weaving industry has all but disappeared. The canton forms a single administrative district, which comprises eleven communes. The legislature, or Kantonsrat, has one member to every 350 inhabitants, and the seven members of the executive, or Regierungsrat, are elected directly by popular vote, proportional representation obtaining in both cases if more than two members are to be elected in the same electoral district to posts in the same authority. ”

“ The Austrians had long tried to obtain influence in the town, especially when its support of the Protestant cause attracted the sympathy of the Swiss. Hence Charles V. lost no time, and in 1548 forced it, after a bloody, though unsuccessful, fight on the bridge over the Rhine, not merely to surrender to the imperial authority and to receive the bishop again, but also to consent to annexation to the Austrian family dominions. ”

“ The main railway line from Winterthur to Romanshorn (with a branch to St Gall) runs right through the canton, while on its north edge is the direct line along the left bank of the Rhine from Constance to Schaffhausen. A network of well-made roads traverses the canton in every direction, some of them being now served by public motor cars. It is a prosperous region, the population being mainly engaged in agriculture, and in cotton-spinning, which is often combined with it at home. The orchards are so splendid that Thurgau has been called " the garden of Helvetia." ”

“ Yet, owing to its great elevation, the scenery of the Upper Engadine has a bleak, northern aspect. Pines and larches alone flourish, garden vegetables are grown only in sunny spots, and there is no tillage. The Alpine flora is very rich and varied. But snow falls even in August, and the climate is well described in the proverb, “nine months winter, and three months cold weather.” The villages are built entirely of stone (as also in the Lower Engadine) , chiefly to guard against destructive fires that were formerly frequent in this narrow, wind-swept valley. ”

“ In the hilly districts the inhabitants mainly follow pastoral pursuits, possessing much cattle of all kinds. In the towns the spinning and weaving of cotton (introduced towards the end of the 18th century) is very flourishing. Forests cover about one-sixth of the district, and form one of the principal sources of its riches. But the Vorarlberg is predominantly an Alpine region, though its mountains rarely surpass the snow-level. ”

“ In 1395 the abbot of Disentis, the men of the Lugnetz valley, and the great feudal lords of Räzuns and Sax (in 1399 the counts of Werdenberg came in) formed another League, called the Ober Bund (as comprising the highlands in the Vorder Rhine valley) and also wrongly the “Grey League” (as the word interpreted “grey” is simply a misreading of graven or counts, though the false view has given rise to the name of Grisons or Graubünden for the whole canton) , their alliance being strengthened in 1424 when, too, the free men of the Rheinwald and Schams came in, and in 1480 the Val Mesocco also. ”

“ Commerce.—Switzerland is naturally adapted for free trade for it depends on the outside world for much of its food-stuffs and the raw materials of its manufactures. After the adoption of the Federal Constitution of 1848, customs duties within the land were abolished, while moderate duties only were levied on imports, the sum increasing as the articles came more or less within the category of luxuries, but being lowest on necessaries of life. Down to 1870 Switzerland was all but entirely on the side of free trade. ”

“ But, while lacking the medieval appearance of Fribourg or Bern, or Sion or Coire, the great number of modern fine buildings in Geneva, hotels, villas, &c., gives it an air of prosperity and comfort that attracts many visitors, though on others modern French architecture produces a blinding glare. ”

“ It is very remarkable that in both valleys the old “common lands” are still in the hands of the old gilds, and “communes” consist of natives, not merely residents, though in Obwalden these contribute to the expenses of the new “political communes” of residents, while in Nidwalden the latter have to raise special taxes. In Engelberg (which still retains some independence) the poor are greatly favoured in the division of the common lands and their proceeds, and unmarried persons (or widowers and widows) receive only half of the share of those who are married. ”

“ When Geneva recovered its political independence in 1814 a new constitution was drawn up, but it was very reactionary, for there is no mention in it of the sovereignty of the people. It set up a conseil représentatif or legislature of 250 members, which named the conseil d’état or executive, while it was itself elected by a limited class, for the electoral qualification was the annual payment of direct taxes to the amount of 20 Swiss livres or about 23 shillings. ”

“ By art. 18 every Swiss male citizen is subject to the obligation of personal military service (the families of those killed or permanently injured in the course of active Federal service as well as the invalids themselves are provided for by the Confederation) , and the tax for those exempted is to be fixed by a Federal law, while every recruit receives free of cost his first uniform, equipment and weapons. Art. 16 provides that the Confederation has control of the Federal army and of the war matériel, the cantons being only allowed certain defined rights within their respective territories. ”

“ Botzen is the busiest commercial town in the German-speaking portion of Tirol, being admirably situated at the junction of the Brenner route from Germany to Italy with that from Switzerland down the Upper Adige valley or the Vintschgau. Hence the transit trade has always been very considerable (it has four large fairs annually) , while the local wine is mentioned as early as the 7th century. Lately its prosperity has been increased by the rise into favour as a winter resort of the village of Gries, on the other bank of the Talfer, and now practically a suburb of Botzen. ”

“ During the 17th and 18th centuries, while the Romanist majority of the Swiss cantons steadily refused to accept Geneva as even a subordinate member of the Confederation, the city itself was distracted on several occasions by attempts of the citizens, as a whole, to gain some share in the aristocratic government of the town, though these attempts were only partially successful. ”

“ But when in 1845 the Radicals regained power at Zürich, which was again the Federal capital for 1845-46, that town took the lead in opposing the Sonderbund cantons. It of course voted in favour of the Federal constitutions of 1848 and of 1874, while the cantonal constitution of 1869 was remarkably advanced for the time. The enormous immigration from the country districts into the town from the "thirties" onwards created an industrial class which, though "settled" in the town, did not possess the privileges of burghership, and consequently had no share in the municipal government. ”

“ The central division is remarkable for being without the deep gorges which are found so frequently in other parts of the range. It consists of the basin of which Pontarlier is the centre, through notches in the rim of which routes converge from every direction; this is the great characteristic of the middle region of the Jura. Hence its immense strategical and commercial importance. On the north-east roads run to Morteau and Le Locle, on the north-west to Besançon, on the west to Salins, on the south-west to Dôle and Lons-le-Saunier, on the east to the Swiss plain. ”

“ It is said that Conrad granted the temporal sovereignty of the city to the bishop, who, in 1162, was raised to the rank of a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, being elected, from 1215, by the chapter, but, after 1418, named directly by the pope himself.
Like many other prince-bishops, the ruler of Geneva had to defend his rights: without against powerful neighbours, and within against the rising power of the citizens. These struggles constitute the entire political history of Geneva up to about 1535, when a new epoch of unrest opens with the adoption of Protestantism. ”

“ The population is all but exclusively pastoral, natural causes limiting much effort in the way of agriculture, save near Altdorf. In the canton there are 102 “alps” or mountain pastures, capable of supporting 10,354 cows, and of an estimated capital value of 5,771,000 fr. Till 1814 Uri formed part of the diocese of Constance (save Ursern, which has always been in that of Coire) , while since that date it is administered by the bishop of Coire, though legally in no diocese. The inhabitants are very industrious and saving, though not rich in worldly goods, as their land is so barren. ”

“ The executive (Regierungsrat) of seven members is elected by a popular vote, and holds office for four years. The two members of the federal Ständerat and the three of the federal Nationalrat are also chosen by a popular vote. The “obligatory referendum” prevails in the case of all laws approved by the legislature and important financial measures, while two thousand citizens may claim a popular vote as to any decrees or resolutions of the legislature, and have also the right of “initiative” as to the revision of the cantonal constitution or as to legislative projects. ”

“ Eastern Switzerland is the industrial portion of the land, though watchmaking and some minor industries are carried on in the Jura. The textile industries are by far the most important in Switzerland, Zürich and its neighbourhood being the main centre both for silk (this branch was revived by the Protestant exiles from Italy in the 16th century) and cotton, while St Gall, Appenzell and Thurgau are mainly devoted to embroidery, and Basel to the silk ribbon and floss silk departments. ”

“ This transfer of all power to the gilds had been one of the aims of the burgomaster Hans Waldmann (1483-89) , who wished to make Zürich a great commercial centre. He also introduced many financial and moral reforms, and subordinated the interests of the country districts to those of the town. He practically ruled the Confederation, and under him Zürich became the real capital of the League. But such great changes excited opposition, and he was overthrown and executed. His main ideas were embodied, however, in the constitution of 1498. ”

“ To a considerable degree the history of the Valais is a struggle between the German element (predominant politically till 1798) and the French element. Good wines are produced in the district, especially Muscat and Vin du Glacier. Otherwise the inhabitants of the main valley (at least from Brieg onwards) are engaged in agriculture, though suffering much from the inundations of the Rhone, against which great embankments have been constructed, while many swampy tracts have been drained, and so the plague of malarial fever abated to a certain extent. ”

“ The modern part of the city is to the west, but the old portion, with all the historical buildings, is to the east. Here is the cathedral church of St Lucius (who is the patron of Coire, and is supposed to be a 2nd-century British king, though really the name has probably arisen from a confusion between Lucius of Cyrene—miswritten “curiensis”—with the Roman general Lucius Munatius Plancus, who conquered Raetia) . ”

“ The county of Tirol was generally held by a cadet line of the Austrian house, the count being almost an independent ruler. But the last princeling of this kind died in 1665, since which date Innsbruck and Tirol have been governed from Vienna. In 1552 Maurice of Saxony surprised and nearly took Innsbruck, almost capturing the emperor Charles V. himself, who escaped owing to a mutiny among Maurice’s troops. In the patriotic war of 1809, Innsbruck played a great part and suffered much, while in 1848, at the time of the revolution in Vienna, it joyfully received the emperor Ferdinand. ”

“ In the second battle Bern received help from the three forest cantons with which it had become allied in 1323, while in 1353 it entered the Swiss confederation as its eighth member. It soon took the lead in the confederation, though always aiming at enlarging its own borders, even at great risks (see the article on the canton) . In 1528 Bern accepted the religious reformation, and henceforth became one of its chief champions in Switzerland. ”

“ In some cantons the young men, between the ages of eighteen and twenty, are required to attend a night school (in order to rub up their school knowledge) for sixty hours a winter for two winters, the teacher being paid by the Confederation and the lads being under military law. Naturally the lads from the large towns and the more prosperous cantons do best in the literary examination and those who belong to gymnastic societies in the gymnastic tests, though sheer bodily untrained strength avails much in the lifting of weights. ”

“ The canton is composed of the upper valley of the Reuss, a mountain torrent that has cut for itself a deep bed, save in case of the basin of Ursern, near its upper end, and the plain of Altdorf, just before it forms the Lake of Lucerne. Hence, save in these two cases, the canton is made up of a wild Alpine valley, very picturesque in point of scenery, but not offering much chance of cultivation. ”