The Initiative in Switzerland (Classic Reprint)
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| Hersteller: | Forgotten Books (State, United States; Dept; Of) |
| Stand: | 2015-08-04 03:50:33 |
Produktbeschreibung
Excerpt from The Initiative in Switzerland Only a slight parallel can be drawn between Switzerland and the United States. The Swiss constitution was modeled to a certain extent upon American lines; there are political divisions that correspond roughly to the American States, and both countries are republics. Here, however, the resemblance ceases. The form of government is in many respects dissimilar, and the fundamental matter of constitutionality of Swiss laws has not reached its ultimate development. Switzerland contains 16,000 square miles and is one-half as large as the State of Maine. It is subdivided into 22 Cantons, 3 of which are repartitioned into half Cantons, and the sevary in size from Graubünden, with 2,765 square miles, to Zug; with 22 square miles, and in population from Berne, with 620,205 inhabitants, to Unterwalden, with 13,360 inhabitants. Switzerland is not a rich country and its soil is not generous. Its boundaries can not extend, and it can not annex any new territory. Every square foot of available land is cultivated, and even the few whisps of grass on the steep slopes are gathered and carried to the valleys. The population is largely rural. There are only 18 cities and towns containing more than 10,000 inhabitants, and of these only 3 with over 100,000 - Zurich, Basel, and Geneva. The people are industrious. Taxes are high, wages are low. Their great industries are the growth of necessity; the manufacture from relatively low-priced imported raw materials of high-priced specialties for export - embroidery, silks, watches, machines. Switzerland has no coal or iron mines. The main railways (1,500 miles), the telegraph and telephone systems are owned and operated by the Government, and the manufacture of powder, the sale of salt, and the production of alcohol are government monopolies. Switzerland has no coast line and no colonies. There is no organized corruption. What graft exists is upon such a small scale as to be virtually nil. Every man knows his neighbors business. There are rich people, it is true, but no overpowering capitalistic oppression. This is probably not so much on account of restrictive laws as by reason of the natural resources, or, more properly speaking, lack of resources, of the country. From 3,000 to 5,000 out of a population of 3,525,256 emigrate yearly to better their condition. Most of them go to the United States. The upper house of Congress, called the Council of States, exercises none of the checks of the American Senate. It does not concur in appointments, which are made by the Federal Council alone, and it is virtually only a second House of Representatives, consisting of two members from each Canton. In the Cantons the great difference between the Swiss and the American systems is that the Cantons possess an assembly of only one chamber, together with an executive council of several members, which acts as a unit similar to the Federal Council. There is no one-man power in Switzerland, as all executive power is placed in the hands of boards or commissions. These have the appointing power, and in the Federal Government the council appoints even the letter carriers and telegraph operators. The organization of Swiss citizenship is so fundamentally different from that of the United States that it must be considered. Primarily, a Swiss is a citizen of the community (Gemeinde) to which his family belongs, and he possesses certain rights in this community of which he can not be deprived; - interest in the profit of commune property, etc. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
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