The Governments of Europe Part 34

At no time, before or after Pope Leo's decree of prohibition, was the policy of abstention widely enforced, and very many Catholics, both in and out of Italy, warmly opposed it. The stricture was applied only to parliamentary, not to munic.i.p.al, elections; yet in the two the percentages of the enfranchised citizens who appeared at the polls continued to be not very unequal, and there is every reason to believe that the meagerness of these percentages has been attributable at all times to the habitual indifference of the Italian electorate rather than to the restraining effects of the papal veto. None the less, in the strongly Catholic province of Bergamo and in some other quarters, the papal regulations, by common admission, have cut deeply into what otherwise would have been the normal parliamentary vote.

*445. Relaxation of the Papal Ban.*--In the elections of 1904 many Catholics who hitherto had abstained from voting joined with the Government's supporters at the polls in an effort to check the growing influence of the more radical political groups, justifying their conduct by the conviction that the combatting of socialism is a fundamental Catholic obligation. Pope Leo XIII. was ready to admit the force of the argument, and in June of the following year there was issued an encyclical which made it the duty of Catholics everywhere, Italy included, to share in the maintenance of social order, and permitted, and even enjoined, that they take part in political contests in defense of social order whenever and wherever it was obviously menaced. At the same time, such partic.i.p.ation must be, not indiscriminate, but disciplined. It must be carried on under the direction of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and with the express approval of the Vatican. Theoretically, and as a general rule, the _Non Expedit_ remains. But where the rigid application of the law would open the way for the triumph of the enemies of society and of religion (as, from the papal point of view, socialists inevitably are) the rule, upon request of the bishop and sanction by the Holy See, is to be waived. A corollary of this new policy is that, under (p. 402) certain circ.u.mstances, Catholics not merely vote but may stand for parliamentary seats. By the encyclical it is prescribed that such candidacies shall be permitted only where absolutely necessary to prevent the election of an avowed adversary of the Church, only where there is a real chance of success, and only with the approbation of the proper hierarchical authorities; and even then the candidate shall seek office not _as_ a Catholic, but _although_ a Catholic.[576]

[Footnote 576: The idea is expressed in the phrase _cattolici deputati, si, deputati cattolici, no_.]

The partial lifting of the _Non Expedit_ has had two obvious effects.

In the first place, it has stimulated considerably the political activities of the Catholics. In the elections of 1906 and 1909 the number of Catholic voters and of Catholic candidates was larger than ever before, and in the Chamber of Deputies the group of clerical members gives promise of attaining some real importance. A second result has been, on the other hand, a quickening of the anti-clerical spirit, with a perceptible strengthening of the radical-republican-socialist _bloc_. By providing the Left with a solidifying issue it may yet prove that the papacy has rendered unwittingly a service to the very elements against whom it has authorized its adherents to wage relentless war.[577]

[Footnote 577: Eufrasio, Il Non Expedit, in _Nuova Antologia_, Sept. 1, 1904.]

*446. The Election of 1909.*--In respect to the parliamentary strength of the several party groups the elections of the past decade have produced occasional changes of consequence, but the situation to-day is not widely different from what it was at the opening of the century. In the Chamber elected in 1900 the Extreme Left obtained, in all, 107 seats. In 1904 the total fell to 77. In 1906, however, the Radicals secured 44, the Socialists 42, and the Republicans 23--an aggregate of 109; and following the elections of March 7 and 14, 1909, the quotas were, respectively, 37, 43, and 23, aggregating 103. The falling-off in 1904 is to be explained princ.i.p.ally by the activity of the Catholics in the elections of that year, and the recovery in 1906 by the fact that, sobered by their reverses, the Socialists had abandoned in the meantime the extremer phases of their revolutionary propaganda. The elections of 1909 were precipitated by Giolitti's dissolution of the Chamber, February 6, in consequence largely of the dissatisfaction of the nation with the ministry's conciliatory att.i.tude toward Austria-Hungary following the annexation by that power of the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the excitement by which it was preceded, however, the campaign was a listless one.

The foreign situation as an issue was soon forgotten, and no preponderating national question rose to a.s.sume its place. The (p. 403) Left made the most of the opportunity to increase its parliamentary strength, and the Catholics were more than ever active. The two forces, however, in a measure offset each other, and the ma.s.s of the nation, unreached by either, returned the customary overwhelming Governmental majority. When various electoral contests had been decided the quota of seats retained by each of the party groups in the Chamber was found to be as follows: Radicals, 37; Socialists, 43; Republicans, 23; Catholics, 16; Const.i.tutional Opposition (separated from the Government upon no vital matter of principle), 42; and Ministerialists, or supporters of the Government, 346. These supporters of the Government include men of varied political opinions, but collectively they correspond approximately to the elements which in other countries are apt to be designated Liberals, Progressives, or Moderates.[578]

[Footnote 578: The political parties of Italy are described briefly in Lowell, Governments and Parties, II., Chap. 4, and at more length in King and Okey, Italy To-day, Chaps. 1-3. Special works of importance upon the subject include M.

Minghetti, I part.i.ti politici e la ingerenza loro nella giustizia e nell' amministrazione (2d ed., Bologna, 1881); P. Penciolelli, Le gouvernement parlementaire et la lutte des partis en Italie (Paris, 1911); and S. Sighele, Il n.a.z.ionalismo e i part.i.ti politici (Milan, 1911). Of value are R.

Bonfadini, I part.i.ti parlamentari, in _Nuova Antologia_, Feb. 15, 1894, and A. Torresin, Statistica delle elezioni generali politiche, in _La Riforma Sociale_, Aug. 15, 1900. A useful biography is W. J. Stillman, Francesco Crispi (London, 1899), and an invaluable repository of information is M. Prichard-Agnetti (trans.), The Memoirs of Francesco Crispi, 2 vols. (New York, 1912). On the parties of the Extreme Left the following may profitably be consulted: F. S. Nitti, Il part.i.to radicale (Turin and Rome, 1907); P.

Villari, Scritti sulla questione sociale in Italia (Florence, 1902); R. Bonghi, Gli ultimi fatti parlamentari, in _Nuova Antologia_, Jan. 1, 1895; G. Alessio, Part.i.ti e programmi, ibid., Oct. 16, 1900; G. Louis-Jaray, Le socialisme munic.i.p.al en Italie, in _Annales des Sciences Politiques_, May, 1904; R. Meynadier, Les partis d'extreme gauche et la monarchie en Italie, in _Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales_, April 1, 1908; F. Magri, Riformisti e rivoluzionari nel part.i.to socialista italiano, in _Ra.s.segna n.a.z.ionale_, Nov. 16, 1906, and April 1, 1907; R. Soldi, Le varie correnti nel part.i.to socialista italiano, in _Giornale degli Economisti_, June, 1903. On recent Italian elections see G. Gidel, Les elections generales italiennes de novembre 1904, in _Annales des Sciences Politiques_, Jan., 1905; P.

Quentin-Bauchart, Les elections italiennes de mars 1909, ibid., July, 1909.]

PART V.--SWITZERLAND (p. 405)

CHAPTER XXII

THE CONSt.i.tUTIONAL SYSTEM--THE CANTONS

I. THE CONFEDERATION AND ITS CONSt.i.tUTION

Among the governments of contemporary Europe that of the federal republic of Switzerland is unique; and the const.i.tutional experiments which have been, and are being, undertaken by the Swiss people give the nation an importance for the student of politics altogether out of proportion to its size and population. Nowhere in our day have been put to the test in more thoroughgoing fashion the principles of federalism, of a plural executive, of proportional representation, of the initiative and the referendum, and, it may be said, of radical democracy in general. The results attained within a sphere so restricted, and under conditions of race, religion, and historical tradition so unusual, may or may not be accepted as evidence of the universal practicability of these principles. At the least, they are of acknowledged interest.

*447. The Confederation in the Eighteenth Century.*--In the form in which it exists to-day the Swiss Confederation is a product of the middle and later nineteenth century. The origins of it, however, are to be traced to a very much remoter period. Beginning with the alliance of the three forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden in 1291,[579] the Confederation was built up through the gradual creation of new cantons, the splitting of old ones, the reorganization of (p. 406) dependent territories, and the development of a federal governmental system, superimposed upon the const.i.tutional arrangements of the affiliated states. In 1789, when the French Directory, at the instigation of Napoleon, took it upon itself to revolutionize Switzerland, the Confederation consisted of thirteen cantons.[580]

With it were a.s.sociated certain _Zugewandte Orte_, or allied districts, some of which eventually were erected into cantons, together with a number of _Gemeine Vogteien_, or subject territories.

The Confederation comprised simply a _Staatenbund_, or league of essentially autonomous states. Its only organ of common action was a diet, in which each canton had a right to one vote. Save in matters of a purely advisory nature, the powers of this diet were meager indeed.

Of the cantons, some were moderately democratic; others were highly aristocratic. The political inst.i.tutions of all were, in large measure, such as had survived from the Middle Ages.

[Footnote 579: For an English version of the Perpetual League of 1291 see Vincent, Government in Switzerland, 285-288. The best account in English of the origins of the Confederation is contained in W. D. McCrackan, The Rise of the Swiss Republic (2d ed., New York, 1901). Important are A. Rilliet, Les origines de la confederation suisse (Geneva, 1868); P. Vauchier, Les commencements de la confederation suisse (Lausanne, 1891); W. Oechsli, Die Anfange der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (Zurich, 1891). Of the last-mentioned excellent work there is a French translation, under the t.i.tle Les origines de la confederation suisse (Bern, 1891).

The origins of the Swiss Confederation were described in a scientific manner for the first time in the works of J. E. Kopp: Urkunden zur Geschichte der eidgenossischen Bunde (Leipzig and Berlin, 1835), and Geschichte der eidgenossischen Bunde (Leipzig and Berlin, 1845-1852). The texts of all of the Swiss alliances to 1513 are printed in J.

von Ah, Die Bundesbriefe der alten Eidgenossen (Einsiedeln, 1891).]

[Footnote 580: Lucerne joined the alliance in 1332; Zurich in 1351; Glarus and Zug in 1352; Bern in 1353; Freiburg and Solothurn in 1481; Basel and Schaffhausen in 1501; and Appenzell in 1513. "Swiss history is largely the history of the drawing together of bits of each of the Imperial kingdoms (Germany, Italy, and Burgundy) for common defense against a common foe--the Hapsburgs; and, when this family have secured to themselves the permanent possession of the Empire, the Swiss league little by little wins its independence of the Empire, practically in 1499, formally in 1648. Originally a member of the Empire, the Confederation becomes first an ally, then merely a friend." Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., XXVI., 246.]

*448. The Helvetic Republic.*--The result of the French intervention of 1798 was that, almost instantly, the loosely organized Swiss confederation was converted into a centralized republic, tributary to France, and under a const.i.tution which was substantially a reproduction of the French instrument of 1795. Under the terms of this const.i.tution the territories of the Confederation were split up into twenty-three administrative districts, corresponding in but rare instances to the earlier cantons,[581] a uniform Swiss citizenship was established, a common suffrage was introduced, freedom of speech and of the press was guaranteed, and unity was provided for in the coinage, the postal service, and the penal law. A government of ample powers was set up, with its seat at Lucerne, its organs comprising a Grand Council of deputies elected indirectly in the cantons in proportion to population, a Senate of four delegates from each canton (together with retiring members of the Directory), and an Executive Directory of five members, with whom were a.s.sociated, for (p. 407) administrative purposes, four appointed heads of departments. The French intervention was ruthless and the governmental order thrust upon the Swiss had no root in national tradition or interest. The episode served, however, to break the shackles of mediaevalism and thus to contribute to the eventual establishment of a modernized nationality. July 2, 1802, following a series of grave civil disturbances, the const.i.tution of 1798 was superseded by a new but similar instrument, which was imposed by force despite an adverse popular vote.[582]

[Footnote 581: To these districts, however, the name canton was applied; and, indeed, this was the first occasion upon which the name was employed officially in Switzerland.]

[Footnote 582: McCrackan, Rise of the Swiss Republic, 295-312; A. von Tillier, Geschichte der helvetischen Republik, 3 vols. (Bern, 1843); Muret, L'Invasion de la Suisse en 1798 (Lausanne, 1881-1884); L. Marsauche, La confederation helvetique (Neuchatel, 1890).]

*449. The Act of Mediation, 1803.*--Under the circ.u.mstances reaction was inevitable, and the triumph of the "federalists" came more speedily than might have been expected. In deference to preponderating sentiment in the territories, Napoleon, February 19, 1803, promulgated the memorable Act of Mediation, whereby he authorized the re-establishment of a political system that was essentially federal.[583] Once again there was set up a loose confederation, under a const.i.tution which, however, provided for a central government that was distinctly more substantial than that which had prevailed prior to 1798. The right, for example, to make war and to conclude treaties, withdrawn entirely from the individual cantons, was conferred specifically upon the federal Diet. To the thirteen original cantons were added six new ones--Aargau, Thurgau, Vaud, Ticino, and the Grisons (St. Gall and Graubunden)--the first four formed from districts which under the old regime had occupied the status of subordinate territory, the last two having been formerly "allied states." In the Diet six cantons (Bern, Zurich, Vaud, Aargau, St.

Gall, and Graubunden) which had a population in excess of 100,000 were given each two votes. All others retained a right to but one. The executive authority of the Confederation was vested by turns in the six cantons of Bern, Freiburg, Lucerne, Zurich, Basel and Solothurn, the "directorial" canton being known as the _Vorort_, and its chief magistrate as the _Landammann_, of the Confederation. The principle of centralization was in large part abandoned; but the equality of civil rights which the French had introduced was not allowed by Napoleon to be molested. It may be observed further that by the accession of the newly created cantons, containing large bodies of people who spoke French, Italian, and Romansch, the league ceased to be so (p. 408) predominantly German as theretofore it had been.[584]

[Footnote 583: It is in this instrument that the Confederation was for the first time designated officially as "Switzerland."]

[Footnote 584: Cambridge Modern History, IX., Chap.

4 (bibliography, pp. 805-807). The best general work on the period 1798-1813 is W. Oechsli, Geschichte der Schweiz im XIX. Jahrhundert (Leipzig, 1903), I.]

*450. The Pact of 1815 and the Revival of Particularism.*--The Act of Mediation, on the whole not unacceptable to the majority of the Swiss people, save in that it had been imposed by a foreign power, continued in operation until 1813. During the decade Switzerland was essentially tributary to France. With the fall of Napoleon the situation was altered, and December 29, 1813, fourteen of the cantons, through their representatives a.s.sembled at Zurich, declared the instrument to be no longer in effect. Led by Bern, eight of the older cantons determined upon a return to the system in operation prior to 1798, involving the reduction of the six most recently created cantons to their former inferior status. Inspired by the Tsar Alexander I., however, the majority of the Allies refused to approve this programme, and, after the Congress of Vienna had arranged for the admission to the confederacy of the three allied districts of Valais, Geneva, and Neuchatel, there was worked out, by the Swiss themselves, a const.i.tution known as the "Federal Pact," which was formally approved by the twenty-two cantons at Zurich, August 7, 1815.[585]

[Footnote 585: This statement needs to be qualified by the observation that the half-canton Nidwalden approved the const.i.tution August 30, and only when compelled by force to do so.]

By this instrument the ties which bound the federation together were still further relaxed. The cantons regained almost the measure of independence which they had possessed prior to the French intervention. The Diet was maintained, on the basis now of one vote for each canton, regardless of size or population.[586] It possessed some powers,--for example, that of declaring war or peace, with the consent of three-fourths of the cantons,--but there were virtually no means by which the body could enforce the decrees which it enacted.

The executive authority of the Confederation was vested in the governments of the three cantons of Zurich, Lucerne, and Bern, which, it was stipulated, should serve in rotation, each during a period of two years. Practically all of the guarantees of common citizenship, religious toleration, and individual liberty which the French had introduced were rescinded, and during the decade following 1815 the trend in most of the more important cantons was not only particularistic but also distinctly reactionary. The smaller and poorer ones (p. 409) retained largely their democratic inst.i.tutions, especially their Landesgemeinden, or primary a.s.semblies, but it was only after 1830, and in some measure under the stimulus of the revolutionary movements of that year, that the majority of the cantonal governments underwent that regeneration in respect to the suffrage and the status of the individual which lay behind the transforming movements of 1848.[587]

[Footnote 586: Three of the cantons--Unterwalden, Basel, and Appenzell--were divided into half-cantons, each with a government of its own; but each possessed only half a vote in the Diet.]

[Footnote 587: B. Van Muyden, La suisse sous le pacte de 1815, 2 vols. (Lausanne and Paris, 1890-1892); A. von Tillier, Geschichte der Eidgenossenschaft wahrend der sogen.

Restaurationsepoche, 1814-1830, 3 vols. (Bern and Zurich, 1848-1850); ibid., Geschichte der Eidgenossenschaft wahrend der Zeit des sogeheissenen Fortschritts, 1830-1846, 3 vols.

(Bern, 1854-1855).]

*451. Attempted Const.i.tutional Revision: the Sonderbund.*--The period between 1830 and 1848 was marked by not fewer than thirty revisions of cantonal const.i.tutions, all in the direction of broader democracy.[588] The purposes of the liberal leaders of the day, however, extended beyond the democratization of the individual cantons. The thing at which they aimed ultimately was the establishment, through the strengthening of the Confederation, of a more effective nationality. On motion of the canton of Thurgau, a committee was authorized in 1832 to draft a revision of the Pact. The instrument which resulted preserved the federal character of the nation, but provided for a permanent federal executive, a federal court of justice, and the centralization of the customs, postal service, coinage, and military instruction. By a narrow majority this project, in 1833, was defeated. It was too radical to be acceptable to the conservatives, and not sufficiently so to please the advanced liberals.

[Footnote 588: McCracken, Rise of the Swiss Republic, 325-330.]

The obstacles to be overcome--native conservatism, intercantonal jealousy, and ecclesiastical heterogeneity--were tremendous. More than once the Confederation seemed on the point of disruption. In September, 1843, the seven Catholic cantons[589] entered into an alliance, known as the Sonderbund, for the purpose of defending their peculiar interests, and especially of circ.u.mventing any reorganization of the confederacy which should involve the lessening of Catholic privilege; and, in December, 1845, this affiliation was converted into an armed league. In July, 1847, the Diet, in session at Bern, decreed the dissolution of the Sonderbund; but the recalcitrant cantons refused to abandon the course upon which they had entered, and it was only after an eighteen-day armed conflict that the obstructive league was suppressed.[590]

[Footnote 589: Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Freiburg, and the Valais.]

[Footnote 590: A. Stern, Zur Geschichte des Sonderbundes, in _Historische Zeitschrift_, 1879; W. B. Duffield, The War of the Sonderbund, in _English Historical Review_, Oct., 1895; and P.

Matter, Le Sonderbund, in _Annales de l'ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques_, Jan. 15, 1896.]

*452. The Const.i.tution of 1848 and the Revision of 1874.*--The war (p. 410) was worth while, because the crisis which it precipitated afforded the liberals an opportunity to bring about the adoption of a wholly new const.i.tution. For a time the outlook was darkened by the possibility of foreign intervention, but by the outbreak of the revolution of 1848 at Paris that danger was effectually removed. The upshot was that, through the agency of a committee of fourteen, const.i.tuted, in fact, February 17, 1848--one week prior to the overthrow of Louis Philippe--the nationalists proceeded to incorporate freely the reforms they desired in a const.i.tutional _projet_, and this instrument the Diet forthwith revised slightly and placed before the people for acceptance. By a vote of 15-1/2 cantons (with a population of 1,900,000) to 6-1/2 (with a population of 290,000), the new const.i.tution was approved.

The adoption of the const.i.tution of 1848, ensuring a modified revival of the governmental regime of 1798-1803, comprised a distinct victory for the Radical, or Centralist, party. During the two decades which followed this party maintained complete control of the federal government, and in 1872 it brought forward the draft of a new const.i.tution whose centralizing tendencies were still more p.r.o.nounced.

By popular vote this proffered const.i.tution was rejected. Another draft, however, was prepared and, April 19, 1874, by a vote of 14-1/2 cantons against 7-1/2, it was adopted. The popular vote was 340,149 to 198,013. Amended subsequently upon a large number of occasions,[591]

the instrument of 1874 is the fundamental law of the Swiss Confederation to-day, although it is essential to observe that it represents only a revision of the const.i.tution of 1848. As a recent writer has said, "the one region on the continent to which the storms of 1848 brought immediate advantage was Switzerland, for to them it owes its transformation into a well-organized federal state."[592]

[Footnote 591: For the methods of const.i.tutional amendment see p. 431.]

[Footnote 592: W. Oechsli, in Cambridge Modern History, XI., 234. A brief survey of the const.i.tutional history of Switzerland from 1848 to 1874 is contained in Chap. 8 of the volume mentioned (bibliography, pp. 914-918). Two excellent works are C. Hilty, Les const.i.tutions federales de la confederation suisse; expose historique (Neuchatel, 1891), and T. Curti, Geschichte der Schweiz im XIX. Jahrhundert (Neuchatel, 1902). A fairly satisfactory book is L.

Hug and R. Stead, Switzerland (New York, 1889). The text of the const.i.tution may be found in S. Kaiser and J. Strickler, Geschichte und Texte der Bundesverfa.s.sungen der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft von der helvetischen Staatsumwalzung bis zur Gegenwart (Bern, 1901), and in Lowell, Governments and Parties, II., 405-431.

English versions are printed in Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 257-290; McCrackan, Rise of the Swiss Republic, 373-403; Vincent, Government in Switzerland, 289-332; and Old South Leaflets, General Series, No. 18. The texts of all federal const.i.tutions after 1798 are included in the work of Kaiser and Strickler. A good collection of recent doc.u.ments is P. Wolf, Die schweizerische Bundesgesetzgebung (2d ed., Basel, 1905-1908). The princ.i.p.al treatises on the Swiss const.i.tutional system are J. J. Blumer, Handbuch des schweizerischen Bundesstaatsrechtes (2d ed., Schaffhausen, 1877-1887); J. Schollenberger, Bundesverfa.s.sung der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (Berlin, 1905); ibid., Das Bundesstaatsrecht der Schweiz Geschichte und System (Berlin, 1902); and W. Burckhardt, Kommentar der Schweiz; Bundesverfa.s.sung vom 29 Mai 1874 (Bern, 1905). Two excellent briefer treatises are N. Droz, Instruction civique (Lausanne, 1884) and A. von Orelli, Das Staatsrecht der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (Freiburg, 1885), in Marquardsen's Handbuch. The best treatise in English upon the Swiss governmental system is J. M.

Vincent, Government in Switzerland (New York, 1900). Older works include B. Moses, The Federal Government of Switzerland (Oakland, 1889); F. Adams and C. Cunningham, The Swiss Confederation (London, 1889); and B. Winchester, The Swiss Republic (Philadelphia, 1891). Mention should be made of A.

B. Hart, Introduction to the Study of Federal Government (Boston, 1891); also of an exposition of Swiss federalism in Dicey, Law of the Const.i.tution, 7th ed., 517-529.]