"facultative." The Landsgemeinde of Uri, Unterwalden, Glarus, and Appenzell, are simple open-air moots, or assemblies of the male population, who adopt their laws and elect their officers by universal vote. Berne has a special Constitution, adopted in 1846, and ratified by the Federal Assembly. It sets out with the declaration that "the people of Berne constitute, in their actual territorial indivisibility, a democratic republic, and a Canton of the Swiss Confederation." Judicial Adminis tration. The Bundesgericht, or Federal Tribunal, consists of nine members, elected by the Assembly for a term of three years. Its jurisdiction (in this respect similar to that of the United States Supreme Court) is over all matters of dispute between Canton and Canton, or between the Cantons and the Federal Council or Assembly. It sits at Lausanne, and is at different times (in the persons of different members) a Civil Court, a Criminal Court, and a Court of Appeal. Trial by jury is established in criminal cases. Education in Switzerland is compulsory, Education secular, and free. This is true so far as the and Federal laws are concerned; but the several Religion. Cantons are autonomous in regard to the enforcement of the law. Thus in the Cantons where the Roman Catholic religion prevails, compulsion is not practised, and the rate of school-attendance is not nearly so high as in the remainder. Again, though the schools are free to the majority, and, where compulsion exists, they are resorted to by all classes, the wealthier parents are expected to pay fees. In addition to the primary, secondary, and normal schools, there is a Government polytechnic school at Zurich, a military school at Thun, and four universities, at Basel, Zurich, Geneva, and Berne. About 60 per cent. of the population are Protestants of the Swiss Calvinistic Church, which is governed by its own elders, under the control of the local secular authorities. The remaining 40 per cent. are Roman Catholics. The main sources of revenue are the customs Finance. duties levied on the frontiers of the Republic (£840,000 in the estimates for 1887), and the produce of real estate and invested funds (£454,000). There are small balances from the postal and telegraph services, and from some other branches of administration, but there is no direct taxation, and the federal authorities have very few requirements. The total revenue of the State in 1887 was estimated at £2,088,160-about fourteen shillings per head; and a considerable portion of this sum was handed over to the Cantonal Governments. The public debt is £1,428,539, involving an annual charge of £74,716, and secured upon the property of the State as mentioned above. The aggregate cantonal debts are about £13,000,000, By the terms of the Constitution the several Cantons are debarred from levying octroi duties on their common frontiers. In addition to the contributions which they receive from the federal treasury, they have the power of raising direct or indirect taxation for their several needs; and in some Cantons there are direct taxes on incomes and property. UNITED STATES. The Federal Republic of the United States of America (capital, Washington) occupies the continent of North Ame rica between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and between Mexico on the south and Canada on the north. The Canadian frontier starts with the 49th parallel of latitude on the west, and is continued by the chain of lakes from Superior to Ottawa, and thence along the southern boundary of New Brunswick. The outlying District of Alaska, on the north-west of Canada, was purchased from Russia in 1867 for 7,200,000 dollars, and is the only portion of the Republic, except the District of Columbia on which Washington is built, which has no separate legislative government. The total area of the United States, including the Territories and Alaska, is 3,602,900 square miles. Population, 50,155,783, giving nearly 14 to the square mile-the figures, so far as population is concerned, being taken, here and subsequently, from the census of 1880. The proportion of races is as follows: White, 43,402,970; Coloured, 6,580,793; Chinese, 105,613; Taxed Indians, 66,407. The untaxed Indians, excluded from the census, are estimated at about a quarter of a million. The immigration of Chinese, which in 1882 had reached the number of 35,614, has since that year been almost entirely stopped. The population of the Republic in 1888 probably reaches sixty-five millions. Twelve States took a census of their population in 1885, and showed an average increase of 22.5 per cent. for the five years. As the United States have been peopled mainly by immigration, it becomes a matter of importance, even as affecting national and local government, to consider the sources from which the population of the country has been recruited. The British elements have at all times largely preponderated. The number of free immigrants arriving from different countries in the years 1820 to 1879 inclusive is as follows: * England Scotland This gives an average influx of 165,000 every year. The number in 1882 was 788,992, which is the highest point hitherto reached. In 1886 it had fallen to 334,203; but there was again a large increase in 1887. The following figures, taken from the census returns of 1880, show the origin of the foreign-born population in that year : ... British America countries... Pacific Islands 1,631 568,941 97,007 10,474 255,778 Aggregate... 9,908,799 * These figures, with other statistical information in regard to the United States, are taken from the excellent American Almanac, edited by Mr. A. R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress. |