The deficit, 800,000 francs, will, it is expected, easily be covered, as the budget estimates are always drawn up in rather a pessimist fashion.

The public debt of the republic amounted, on January 1, 1887, to 36,670,616 francs, or 1,466,8241. at 4 per cent. In 1887 a con

vention was concluded in Paris for the conversion of the debt into new stock at 3 per cent. As a set-off against the debt there exists a so-called federal fortune,' or property belonging to the State, valued at over 55,000,000 francs (1887), or 2,200,000l.

The various cantons of Switzerland have their own local administrations and their own budgets of revenue and expenditure. Most of them have also public debts, but not of a large amount, and abundantly covered, in every instance, by cantonal property, chiefly in land. At the end of 1882 the aggregate debts of all the cantons amounted to about 12,000,0002.

The income of the cantonal administrations is derived partly from direct taxes on income and property (on varying scales and often with progressive rates for the different classes), and partly from indirect duties, as excise, stamps, &c. Several cantons have only indirect taxation; and over the whole about 58 per cent. of the revenue is raised in this form. In most of the towns and parishes heavy municipal duties exist.

Army.

The fundamental laws of the republic forbid the maintenance of a standing army within the limits of the Confederation. The 18th article of the Constitution of 1874 enacts that Every Swiss is liable to serve in the defence of his country.' Article 19 enacts: 'The Federal army consists of all men liable to military service, and both the army and the war material are at the disposal of the Confederation. In cases of emergency the Confederation has also the exclusive and undivided right of disposing of the men who do not belong to the Federal army, and of all the other military forces of the cantons. The cantons dispose of the defensive force of their I respective territories in so far as their power to do so is not limited by the constitutional or legal regulations of the Confederation.' According to article 20, 'The Confederation enacts all laws relative to the army, and watches over their due execution; it also provides for the education of the troops, and bears the cost of all military expenditure which is not provided for by the Legislatures of the cantons.' To provide for the defence of the country, every citizen has to bear arms, in the use of which the children are instructed at school, from the age of eight, passing through annual exercises and reviews. Such military instruction is voluntary on the part of the children, but is participated in by the greater number of pupils at the upper and middle-class schools.

Every citizen of the republic not disabled by bodily defects or illhealth is liable to military service at the age of 20. Before being placed on the rolls of the Bundesauszug, he has to undergo a training of from 20 to 45 days, according to his entering the ranks of either the infantry, the Scharfschützen or picked riflemen, the cavalry, or the artillery. Both the men of the Bundesauszug and the reserve are called together in their respective cantons for annual exercises, extending over a week for the infantry, and over two weeks for the cavalry and artillery, while periodically, once or twice a year, the troops of a number of cantons assemble for a general muster. The troops of the republic are divided into two classes, namely :1. The Bundesauszug,' or Federal army, consisting of all men able to bear arms, from the age of 20 to 32.

2. The Landwehr,' or militia, comprising all men from the 33rd to the completed 44th year.

There is also, by a law of December 5, 1887, a Landsturm, only called out in time of war. Every citizen, not otherwise serving, between the ages of 17 and 50 years, is liable to be called to serve in the Landsturm.

The strength and organisation of the armed forces of Switzerland was as follows in 1887:

L L

The

The strength of the Landsturm is estimated at 4,922 retired officers, 5,652 non-commissioned officers, and 287,069 men. Landsturm is divided into the armed Landsturm and the auxiliary forces.

The military instruction of the Federal army is given to officers not permanently appointed or paid, but who must have undergone a course of education, and passed an examination at one of the training establishments erected for the purpose. The centre of these is the Military Academy at Thun, near Bern. Besides this Academy, there are special training schools for the various branches of the service, especially the artillery and the Scharfschützen. The nomination of the officers, up to the rank of captain, is made by the cantonal governments, and above that rank by the Federal Council. At the head of the whole military organisation is a general commanding-in-chief, appointed, together with the chief of the staff of the army, by the Federal Assembly. Fortifications are to be erected (1886) on the south frontier, the cost of which is estimated at 100,0001. The total expenditure on account of the army was, in 1885, 17,165,329 francs; in 1886, 18,596,463 francs; in the budget of 1887, 18,826,984 francs, and in 1888, 20,358,857 francs. Not included in the army expenditure is the maintenance of the Military School at Thun, referred to above, which has a fund of its own.

Area and Population.

The Swiss Confederation was founded on the 1st January, 1308, by the 3 cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwald. In 1353 it numbered 8 cantons, and in 1513 it was composed of 13 cantons. This old Confederation, of 13 cantons, was increased by the adherence of several subject territories, and existed till 1798, when it was replaced by the Helvetic Republic, which lasted four years. In 1803, Napoleon I. organised a new Confederation, composed of 19 cantons, by the addition of St. Gall, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau, Tessin, and Vaud. This confederation was modified in 1815, when the number

of cantons was increased to 22 by the admission of Wallis, Neuchâtel, and Geneva. Three of the cantons are politically divided-Basel into Stadt and Land, or Town and Country; Appenzell into Ausser Rhoden and Inner Rhoden, or Exterior and Interior; and Unterwald into Obwald and Nidwald, or Upper and Lower. Each of these divided cantons sends one member to the State Council, so that there are two members to the divided as well as the undivided cantons.

A general census of the population of Switzerland is taken every ten years. At the last census, taken Dec. 1, 1880, the people numbered 2,846,102, of whom 1,394,626 were males and 1,451,476 females. At the preceding census, taken December 1, 1870, the population numbered 2,669,138, showing an increase of 176,964 inhabitants during the ten years, or 66 per cent. per annum. The area of the republic at the census of 1880 was 41,418 square kilomètres, or 15,992 English square miles, giving an average density of population of 177 per English square mile. In the Grisons the density is only 34 per square mile, and in the Valais 49; while in Zürich it is 477, in Neuchâtel 332, in Basel 702, and in Geneva 932 per square mile.

The following table gives the area and population of each of the 22 cantons, according to the census of December 1, 1880, and an official estimate for June 1886 :

The population of the republic is formed by four ethnical elements distinct by their language, as German, French, Italian, and Roumansch, but the first constituting the great majority. The German language is spoken by the majority of inhabitants in fifteen cantons, the French in five, the Italian in one (Tessin), and the Roumansch in one (the Grisons). It is reported in the census returns of 1880 that 2,030,792 speak German, 608,007 French, 161,923 Italian, and 38,705 Roumansch. The number of foreigners resident in Switzerland at the date of the census was 211,035, of whom 95,262 were German, 53,653 French, 41,645 Italians, 12,735 Austrian, 2,812 British, 1,285 Russian. The increase of population has been very steady in recent years. The following table gives the total number of births, deaths, and marriages, with the surplus of births over deaths, in each of the five years from 1882 to 1886:

In 1886, of the births 3,379, or 4 per cent., were still-born, in addition to the above; the illegitimate births numbered 4,158, or 4.9 per cent.

The population dwell chiefly in small towns, hamlets, and villages. In 1885 the populations of the following towns wereGeneva, seat of the watch and jewelry industry, with 71,453, including suburbs; Basel, centre of the silk industry, with 68,992: Bern, political capital, with 47,793; Lausanne, with 31,856; and Zürich, with 84,785, with suburbs (about 26,000 without suburbs); Chaux-de-Fonds, 23,621; St. Gallen, 23,614; Luzern, 19,375: Neuchâtel, 16,662.

Of the total population in 1880, 1,138,678 were dependent on agriculture and dairy farming; 971,052 on manufacturing industry; 206,003 on commerce; 112,440 on transport; 42,879 on the public service; 56,055 on their incomes or pensions; 86,837 on 'alimentation'; 30,616 on service; 24,926 without calling; the remainder on mining, silk culture, the chase, professions, &c.

The soil of the country is very equally divided among the population, it being estimated that there are nearly 300,000 peasant proprietors, representing a population of about 2,000,000.

In the eight years from 1868 to 1875 there emigrated, on the average, 5,170 persons per annum. In 1876, the emigrants numbered 1,741 persons; 1,691 in 1877; 2,608 in 1878; 4,257 in

* Excluding still-births.