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VERSUS
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT.
Translated FROM THE ORIGINAL SWISS pamphlets bÿ
EUGENE OSWALD.
t
CHERRY & FLETCHER, 6, WARDROBE PLACÉ,
DOCTORS’ GOMMONS, E.C.
1869.
*
��PREFACE.
It is with the permission of one of the originators of this project,
Karl Biirkli of Zurich, that I take the liberty of laying this matter
before the English public. It is a subject well worthy of attention,
as it has both historical precedence and the advantage of being now
practically in existence in several cantons of Switzerland, and open
to the inspection of the curious, who may desire to investigate more
closely its rejuvenescence, and to those who may doubt the merits of
its real practical working. I therefore, without further comment,
place it before the English public.
W. F. COWELL STEPNEY.
The translator wishes to add that, while fully aware of the im
portance of the matter stated in these pages, and thinking it desirable
that they should become subject for inquiry and discussion, he does
not undertake a joint responsibility for all the views expressed.
E. 0.
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�DIRECT LEGISLATION BY THE PEOPLE,
VERSUS
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT.
The experience of the last twenty years has entirely cured the
working classes of Europe of the idea that Imperial Democracy
and Imperial Socialism, that is, the dictatorship of a single person,
are capable or even willing to do anything for the social education
of the working masses. There have been merely apparent reforms,
dust thrown in the eyes of the people, while in reality the workman
is more than ever a victim of taxation and food for powder. Since
the coup d’etat of Bonaparte, the belief has, with great astuteness,
been spread among the working classes that political or state
reforms had nothing to do with social reforms, and that therefore
the working man should not occupy his attention with politics, but
solely with the improvement of his social position. The ruling
classes know only too well by experience what a great advantage
they derive from political forms favourable to themselves, and that
so long as the working population allows itself to be led without
volition in political matters, and has no direct influence upon legis
lation, it will not devise a form of government favourable to the
interests of labour. Socialism, even of the most radical kind, is a
mere bugbear, without any danger, because the political fulcrum is
wanting to its social lever, wherewith it may lift from off its hinges
the old form of society, with its poverty of the masses and its in
dividual wealth. Social reform is condemned to remain in a state
of theory until the right means are found to put it into practice,
and these means can be no other than, above all, to bring about
a governmental reform of such a nature that the laws shall hence
forth be made by the voice of all the citizens, and no longer accord
ing to the wishes of the privileged few.
French workmen are thoroughly wearied of the so-called Im
perial Democracy of Napoleon, they wish for a social democratic
republic. The workmen of Northern Germany are so satiated with
the imperialism, the cavalier dictatorship of Von Schweitzer, that
�6
they turn aside with disgust from this misleader of the people, and
go over with bag and baggage to the camp of the International
Working Men’s Association, where waves the banner of the right
of self-government, of social democracy, of a Confederate Republic
of Europe, and round which the workmen of Southern Germany,
of Austria, of Italy, and of Spain, begin likewise to rally in ever
increasing numbers.
But how is this socially democratic State to be organized ? This
is the all-important question for the workman. The International
Working Men’s Union should be perfectly clear and united upon
the point as to which kind of republic it prefers, so that in the
event of the breaking out of a revolution the working classes may
everywhere know what to do.
The political movement in Switzerland during the last two
years, chiefly in the canton of Zurich, is perhaps only a symptom,
a prelude to the great and deeply penetrating movement which is
about to agitate European politics. The bourgeois republic, or
Representative Democracy, is on the point of dying out in Switzer
land, for it has been found insufficient to combat the injurious
influences of the Jesuitism, as it were, of the great capital. It has
neither the strength nor the will to solve the social question, and
Pure Democracy now steps forward, by which the people take a
direct part in the legislation, and can therefore transform it in
accordance with their social requirements.
The idea of direct legislation through the people must be largely
spread among the working multitudes of Europe, in order that at
the forthcoming crisis of monarchy it shall pass into flesh and
blood, and shall create on a large scale, throughout the whole of
Europe, political institutions of the same kind as those which
already exist in Switzerland.
Representative government is everywhere the same. The work
men of Paris remember only too well how in the days of June,
1848, those middle-class representatives endeavoured to solve the
social problem with grapeshot; and, quite recently, the miners in
Belgium have found out that their constitutionalists, too, know of
no other means than powder and shot. Nay, even in the repre
sentative democracy of Zurich, there existed for more than twenty
years severe laws against the coalition of workmen, and against
the social and democratic press. So long as the workmen allow
the laws of the State to be manufactured and forced upon them by
those who live by using up the workman, so long will the laws be
unfavourable to the toiling masses, and favourable to the masters
only. When did a monarch ever make laws in the interest of his
people, and against the interest of his dynasty? First comes
himself, his interest, his dynasty, and the welfare of the tools who
support him in working the commonwealth for his own benefit;
�7
and it is only at last, when all these worthies have had their fill,
that the much-squeezed people are thought of at all, and then too
often stones are offered to them instead of bread. There are, in
deed, so-called Christian monarchs, who, like good-natured riders,
stroke or pat the neck of the creature panting under their weight;
-but that the heavily burdened animals, ridden to soreness, would
best be helped if the master and all his train would dismount, is a
thing which never occurs to the one above until the one below
throws him off.
In the same manner an aristocracy can make excellent laws for
themselves, but not for the people. Has the aristocracy of Eng
land, perhaps the cleverest body of the kind in existence, ever done
anything in the interest of the working man?
*
No! if they have
retained their position until now, it is only because they have not
shown over-much obstinacy in strenuously opposing reforms that
had become absolutely necessary. But, again, the legislators of the
representative state, although elected by the people, are not capable
of making good laws for the working classes, but yet are able to
make excellent laws for their own class, the middle class. And
why? Because, as experience teaches us, the majority of every
representative body consists of capitalists and their creatures, and
members of the middle classes, hostile to social progress. And
even as the slaveholder is, by his very nature, incapable of making
laws in the interest of his slaves, so the representative, being a
capitalist, is incapable of ever1 framing laws in the interest of the
workman. Representative democracy, though it be, comparatively
speaking, a far better form of government than a monarchy or an
aristocracy, is therefore not that political form within which the
world of workers can attain its proper place and social questions
can be solved. It might be more so, if working men, and especi
ally the peasantry, were always to send to the national council the
most intelligent of their own class only; but, unfortunately, the
experience of every country shows that this is done only in ex
*Note by the Translator.—Common fairness seems to require some
modification of, or exception to, the negative rule which the form of the
question implies. For instance, every workman living in or near London
enjoys the privilege of proceeding in the morning and evening by rail to and
from his work at a greatly reduced rate. The legal enactment which forces
the railway companies to make this reduction was originated in the House
of Lords. Earl Derby was the mover, and after speeches by Lord Stanley of
Alderly, Ellenborough, Grey, and Shaftesbury, the clause was agreed to by
the Upper House, on April 22, 1864.— Vide Hansard, Vol. 174, pH,488. The
House of Commons, with about a hundred railway directors among its
members, had to adopt it. Nor should individual exertions of many members
of the aristocracy be forgotten, such as Lord Ashley, now Shaftesbury’s
successful efforts in the carrying of the ten hours’ bill. One need not share in
the party views of the actors to recognize such acts.
�8
ceptional cases. As a rule, the people elect only members of the
so-called higher orders, because the pernicious prejudice, an out
come of monarchical periods, leads men to believe that Intellect
alone can produce good laws, and consequently highly educated
people are all that is wanted, while, in reality, Interest is the de
terminative cause in matters of legislation. Add to this, that the
salary of a member of a legislative body, and the travelling expenses
paid to him, are systematically fixed so low that for a member of
the working classes it is even economically impossible to fulfil the
functions of a representative.
The experience of democracy further teaches us that a people
can be far more easily misled when there is a question of persons
(such as elections for national or municipal councils) than where
there is a question of things (for instance, voting on laws); and
this for the simple reason that it is immeasurably more difficult
to probe the heart and character of a person than to go to the
bottom of a thing, that is, the meaning and intention of a law;
because it is far more easy to judge whether a certain law is made
in the interest of the working classes, than whether a councillor
will always speak and vote in the interest of the people.
Thus the touchstone by which true gold is to be distinguished
from false is this. In a true, pure democracy, or popular republic,
the people do not deal with persons only (elections of councillors)
but also, and indeed above all, with things (laws.) In false repre
sentative democracy or a middle-class republic, the people are only
allowed to occupy themselves with persons (election of councillors)
who proceed to make laws, and do so according to their own
pleasure, profit, and prejudice. What the middle-class democrats
want is that they alone are to govern the people, for the benefit of
the few. What the social democrats want is that the people should
govern themselves, for the advantage of all, by taking legislation
into their own hands and attending to it themselves, instead of
allowing others to attend to it for them—that is, they want self
help to the fullest extent, and therefore in the domain of politics
as well as elsewhere.
The history of the world abundantly proves that the law is only
a written expression of the interest of the lawgiver. To express
the matter somewhat prosaically, one may say that the spirit of
the law lies in the stomach of the lawgiver; the quintessence of
laws is determined by the legislator’s money-bag. This is all the
more true when not only an individual, but a whole class is in
question; not the dominion of one man, but the dominion of a
class. Never yet has the misusing class emancipated the misused
one, or spontaneously issued laws favourable to the latter. Only
when the misused class have become masters in the state, and have
taken legislation into their own hands, have the laws been made
�9
in their interest, that is, in the general interest, and then only
could that class develope itself according to its social needs. But
what applies to the third estate, the bourgeoisie, or middle-class,
is only the more sure, when there is a question of the working
class, of the whole people. Like as the chemical germ, the inner
impelling power of a plant requires, in order to prosper, certain
physical peculiarities, that is, external circumstances, such as a
favourable soil and climate, just so do the inner—and, so to speak,
chemical—impulses of society, or social ideas, require, in order to
unfold according to their nature, and to germinate in practical
life, a peculiar physical form of political life, that is, favourable
political circumstances. And these are the social and democratic
laws which never could have been made by princes or clergy (who
already possess Heaven here below) but can be made only by the
working classes, who longingly wish for such a social transforma
tion, an existence, worthy of man, in this world. No saviour will
ever redeem the people; they must redeem themselves. Thence
proceeds the universal stirring of the nations of Europe towards
emancipation. As a plant confined in a dark vault grows towards
an air-hole, to get within reach of sunlight, so the working world
of Europe struggles to escape from the close, dreary, and dull air
of monarchy to the brightness of democracy. When once in a
state of freedom, the people will be sure to grope its way instinct
ively into social redemption, feeling as it does every day its
sufferings, which, however, are giving it the necessary impulse to
make itself acquainted with the cause of the evil, and its remedy.
In a real democracy—wherein direct legislation gives into its
hands the instrument of perpetual motion, and the path for constant
peaceful revolution lies open before it—the people will create new
forms and laws, not according to preconceived social theories, but
according to real wants, as they make themselves practically felt,
and it will make its will prevail, as in Switzerland, by a stroke of the
pen, and no longer by firearms and bloody revolutions, as in
despotic states.
The fear which has been expressed lest the ideal conquests of
mankind should, in the social-democratic State, be less attended to
and less promoted than in monarchical or representative forms of
the commonwealth, is an idle one; for history proves that the
freer a nation is the more willing it is to bring sacrifices to the
cause of human culture, because it perceives that it is not the
spirit-crushing, sterile faith, but only the spirit-raising, fertile
science that can redeem the world. Nay, direct legislation by the
people is of all political forms the one which is most favourable to
the advancement of the education of the people, for every one has
an interest in his fellow man, who has co-operated in the making
of the laws, giving his vote with conscious knowledge ; and above
�10
all the so-called well-educated folks—to whom direct legislation by
the people appears in the fancied shape of a ruin of all culture, of
a modern irruption of barbarians—will have the greatest interest
in the matter, and will readily lend a hand to giving the masses
their schooling gratuitously, and, moreover, of as good a kind as
possible, and so making the higher institutions of learning
accessible to every one that is capable. Besides, direct legislation
is in itself a mighty engine of culture, seeing that the people are
impelled, by their most immediate interests, to get information,
lest they be, after all, bamboozled and misused by the men of socalled higher culture—which really is mis-culture—and their
lawyer-like subtleties. Strangely enough these very men—the socalled well educated, who think direct legislation incapable of
fostering the ideal wealth of mankind, and who, therefore, point at
it as a retrogression—these very men, we say, cannot sufficiently
admire the ancient Greeks as the principal supporters of civiliza
tion in antiquity, and seem not to recollect that those who had
made the greatest strides among the Greeks were the Athenians,
who had direct legislation through the people, that is, through the
free citizens, and that it was just this political form which contri
buted most essentially to the development of the Attic spirit; for
with the suppression of this political form, with the dominion of
strangers, the great minds disappeared.
*
The ancient Germans,
too, had direct legislation by the people in an organization similar
to that which has been preserved through the course of many
centuries in the “ Lands-gememden ” of the Forest cantons. The
Germans did homage to the political principle that every man is to
be a legislator, a military defender of the country, and a judge.
Is it not strange that the Romans, so well versed in legislation,
in war, and in the administration of justice, could put all the
nations of the old world under the yoke except just this nation of
Germans, though politically so disunited? And why? For this
reason—that a popular legislation, a popular army, and a popular
administration of justice had become flesh and blood in them, and
had produced men, against whose unalloyed strength the omni
potence of Rome was shattered. Unfortunately in the course of
time those Germans became silly enough to prefer the Roman
Trinity (God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) to the German
Trinity (legislator, soldier, and judge in the one person); and
they will be punished with scorpions by priests and Cæsars until
they re-establish the ancient Germanic institutions : legislation
by the people, the army of the people, and the administration of
* Half suppressed sigh by the Translator.—The Athenians gave no vote
to the immense majority of their working men, who were slaves; and it was
democracy that killed Socrates, whom the aristocrats had left in peace.
�11
justice by the people. The ancient democracy which, by monarchi
cal senselessness and ecclesiastical belief, has been torn away from
the people, must, by sense and science, be re-conquered and further
developed in the spirit of our age. Every one must again become
a legislator, soldier, and judge. He must periodically and in his
own person exercise the rights and practise the duties appertain
ing to those dignities. Here no division of labour, no substitution
of another person, is possible, if we would not fall into servitude.
If the people renounces the right to decide in the last resort on
laws, if it hands over this duty to one man or to a few men, then
these will soon arrogate to themselves the privilege of making the
laws only for themselves and against the general good. If the
people abandons the defence of its rights and its country to a
number of individuals, specially trained and set apart for this pur
pose, it creates a standing army—the most terrible tool in the
hands of the governors, which is used against its right and its
freedom whenever the civilian sheep become restive under the
monarchical shears. If the people leaves the right and the duty
to pronounce guilty or not guilty to permanent officials in the
place of the judge, it runs the risk of a bureaucracy and lawyerdem
springing up and growing, which judges us according to Heaven
knows what kind of outlandish—say Roman—law, but surely not
according to that law which has its basis in the convictions of the
people as to what is right.
Little Switzerland, penned in between mighty monarchies whose
population is a hundred times larger, has, notwithstanding all per
nicious monarchical influences, notwithstanding the miasma of the
theory of right divine, still preserved to herself, during centuries,
the old Teutonic health, the ever true principles of those Germans,
before whom Rome, the enslaver of nations, trembled; at least she
has preserved them in part, and especially with respect to the
arming of the people. Because the Swiss, a recognized defender
of his country, always had arms in his home—that is, had the
armed right of voting; because the Swiss never would hear of a
standing army; therefore has his republic been preserved; therefore
could the popular spirit, whenever it was aroused, easily make a
path for itself between intervening obstacles.
At present the plan of direct legislation by the people makes
way for itself with all that weight which a modern idea can re
ceive by the historical recollection of things as they were in
Germanic antiquity and in the heroic ages of the old Confederacy,
when the people were asked, and their sanction or rejection re
quired, even in the larger cantons, with respect to such important
questions as the making of peace and war, the establishment of
the religious reformation, the imposition of taxes and the like.
Already this direct legislation has legal existence in the larger
�12
cantons of the German portion of Switzerland, in Berne, Thurgovia,
the Grisons, but above all in Zurich, in which latter canton it is
laid down in the constitution in the most complete and purest
form. Already the movement has begun, which strives to extend
even to federal legislation this direct legislation by the people, and
to do this in such a form as will admit of its exercise by the people
of even the largest states.
Already the French Constitution of 1793, which bears in its
preamble the ever memorable Declaration of the Rights of Man,
laid down the principle of direct legislation by the people, though
in a form less developed than the one in which we have it before us
now-a-days. It does so in the form of the so-called veto, a certain
number of voters having to raise an objection, previous to a general
vote being taken with respect to a proposed law. Article 53 of
the French Constitution of 1793 says:—
“The legislative body proposes laws” {propose des lois.)
Art. 58. The bill is published and sent to all the municipalities
{communes) of the republic, under the title of proposed law {loi
proposée.')
Art. 59. If, forty days having elapsed from sending out the
bill, no objections have been offered, in the half of the depart
ments plus one, by one tenth of the primary assemblies regularly
convoked, the bill has been accepted, and becomes law.
Art. 60. If such objections have been raised, the legislative
body has to convoke the primary assemblies (for the purpose of
voting on the acceptance or the rejection of the law.)
Unfortunately, this Constitution could never be practically
worked, the weight of the difficulties with which the young Re
public had to struggle, both at home and abroad, not permitting
a peaceful development. But, as in general in the life of nations
a good idea never gets lost, and no step towards improvement is
made quite in vain, these ideas of 1793 slumbered on in the depths
of the heart of the French people. And when the second Republic
arose out of the revolution of February, 1848, and the social
democrat Rittingh arisen, of Cologne, in the years 1850 and 1851,
scattered among the people the idea of Direct Legislation by the
People, an idea whose further development and realisation he has
made the aim of his life, these thoughts at once kindled, and a
mighty movement was produced in men’s minds against the re
presentative state; a movement which could not have failed to
bear good fruit, had not the beautiful blossom been nipped in the
bud by the blasting coup d'état of Bonaparte, the so-called saviour
of society. For it is the fate of Cæsarism that the grass withers
wherever its foot falls. Out of that desert of reaction the seed
was wafted to the only remaining republican oasis, the soil of
Switzerland, where in the healthy life of the people it has gradu
�13
ally struck deep roots. Now that Cajsarism is decaying, and a
new breath of spring is pervading the nations, the seed that has
been sown is shooting up everywhere from the soil, fresh and
healthy, like a real crop of thought, and the idea of Direct Legis
lation by the People, germinating so long, takes practical shape in
the form of a political institution.
Of course direct legislation cannot be exercised in larger com
monwealths in the same mode in which it was once practised in the
public square at Athens, in the oak forests of ancient Germany,
and is still carried out in those cantons of Switzerland which
possess the “landsgemeinde.” The essence, that is, the participa
tion in the making of the laws, must continue, only,,the form in
which the participation takes place must disappear, and give way
to quite a different one, because the circumstances have become
different, have become enlarged, and will no longer allow the whole
people to assemble in one spot for the purpose of consultation.
Our century, however, with its magnificent inventions, has, among
other things, prepared and rendered possible democracy on a large
scale, by nearly annihilating distance, so that an extensive body of
people are so connected by steam and telegraph as to allow the
existence and movement of any single limb to be at once felt
everywhere, and to be received into the consciousness of all the
members. Therefore the old form, though venerable on account
of its antiquity, must be given up. ■
The show of hands of the “ landsgemeinde,” that is, open voting,
must now, when every one can write, be replaced by secret voting,
(the ballot,) in the municipalities, by means of electoral urns,
which, on the day appointed for voting, stand open for every
citizen to throw in his voting paper at such time as may be con
venient to him. By this plan the influence of capital, with its
improper suggestions by employers, whereby open voting is but too
frequently impaired, is completely put an end to. The workman,
under a system of secret voting, will be able to give a much freeer
expression to his wishes than if he is subject to intimidation, which
is too frequently the case with a system of open voting, where he
has often to pay by social disadvantages (loss of work, &c.) for the
free utterance of his political convictions.
The consultatibn in the “landsgemeinde” will now, when every
one can read, be replaced by printed explanations, to be given with
the bills, by discussion in the newspapers, and by free meetings
whenever the importance of the proposed laws call for such de
liberation.
The faculty of bringing a motion before the “landsgemeinde”
in the old cantons, will, in more extensive commonwealths, be
provided for by a differently organized popular initiative (right of
the people to make proposals.) It is proposed, with this aim, that
�14
any fraction of the people, say one tenth or one twentieth, as the
Constitution may determine, should be able, by a committee to be
elected for the purpose, to formulate its desire in the shape of a
bill, and ultimately to bring it before the whole people for decision
by popular vote.
Direct legislation by the people consists then in two essential
elements: the one of impulse and initiative, the other of deter
mination and decision. Whence we obtain :—
1. The Right of the people to propose laws; also to be called
Popular Initiative.
2. The popular vote on the laws, also called Referendum.
Between these two elements the functions of a regular organic
body are exercised by the Council, which is, indeed, no longer to
be a legislative body, but merely a law-proposing one, that is,
simply, a giver of counsel, which counsel the people may adopt or
not.
The Council is thus exposed to a cross fire which is calculated
to keep it from going to sleep. If the Council propose bad laws
(if they are guilty of sins of commission) these laws will be re
jected by the popular vote, or Referendum. If the Council do not
wish to propose good laws (if they are guilty of sins of omission)
the Popular Initiative steps in, making its own proposals.
Taking as an instance the canton of Zurich, the Popular Initiative
can manifest itself in two ways:—
1. If the thirteenth part of the people—in Zurich 5,000 initiants
out of 65,000 possessors of votes—make a proposal, it must be
submitted to the vote of the whole people.
2. If a single individual makes a proposal which is approved of
by one third of the Council, such proposal must likewise be voted
upon by the people.
Thus there are, in the canton of Zurich, three parties equally
entitled to bring proposals before the people for its vote, viz.:—
1. Five thousand initiants.
2. Any individual gaining the assent of the Council of the
canton.
3. The cantonal Council itself (consisting of about 220 members.)
Only the Council is the ordinary organ; the two others are
extraordinary organs, whose activity begins only when the ordinary
one proves inert.
In order to render this matter still more plain, we here insert
those articles of the Constitution of Zurich which deal with the
Popular Initiative and the Referendum. The Constitution begins
with these words :—
“ The people of the canton of Zurich give themselves, in virtue
�15
of their sovereign right to determine their own destinies, the
following constitution;” and in Chapter iii., Legislation and Re
presentation of the People, we read as follows:—
“Art. 28.
“ The people, with the co-operation of the Cantonal Council,
exercise the powers of legislation.
“ A.—Right of the people to make proposals.
“ Art. 29.
“ The right of making proposals which those entitled to vote
possess (Initiative) comprises the demand of the passing, repeal, or
alteration of a law, or of any such resolution as is not, by the
terms of the Constitution, expressly reserved to the competency of
the Cantonal Council. Demands of this kind may be made either
in the form of simply calling attention to the matter in question,
or by offering the details of a bill; and in either case motives are
to be adduced for the alteration proposed.
“ If a single individual or a constituted authority makes such
a demand, and it is supported by one third of the members of
the Cantonal Council, the question must be laid before the
people for decision. The right of personally advocating in the
Cantonal Council the alteration proposed is granted to the indi
vidual having made the demand, or to the deputy of the constituted
authority moving in the matter, provided that twenty-five members
of the Cantonal Council support the request of this personal
advocacy of the motion.
“ If five thousand persons, having the right to vote, make a de
mand of the kind aforesaid; or if a number of municipal meetings,
in which at least five thousand persons entitled to vote have pro
nounced in favour of such a demand, the decision of the people is
to be equally taken, unless the Cantonal Council have previously
responded to the demand. Any demand of this kind, having been
handed in early enough, the matter is to be placed before the
people for their decision, at the latest, at the second subsequent
regular taking of votes.
11 The demand or bill has in every case to be submitted, before
the vote, to the Cantonal Council, for them to give an opinion in
the form of a resolution.
“ In any case in which a bill proceeding from popular initiative
is submitted to the vote, the Cantonal Council, besides giving its
opinion, may place before the people a modified bill for decision
between the two.
�16
“ B.—Popular Vote.
“Art. 30.
“Twice every year, in spring and in autumn, the vote of the
people takes place on the legislatory acts of the Cantonal Council
(Referendum). In urgent cases the Council can order an extra
ordinary taking of votes.
“ There are to be submitted to the popular vote:
“ 1. All alterations of the constitution, laws, and concordats.
“ 2. Those resolutions of the Cantonal Council which that
Council is not competent to pass definitely (vide Art. 31).
“3. Any resolutions which the Council may wish to put to the
popular vote.
“ The Cantonal Council is entitled on submitting a law of reso
lution, to order-—beside the Vote on the totality of the proposal—•
exceptionally a vote on single points of it.
“ The vote takes place by means of the ballot boxes in the
municipalities. Participation in it is a citizen’s duty, binding on all.
“ The vote can only be by affirmation or negation.
“The absolute majority of affirming or negativing votes is
*
decisive.
“ The Cantonal Council is not entitled to give provisional validity
to any laws or resolutions requiring the popular vote, previous to
such vote being taken.
“ All proposals to be submitted to the popular vote are to be
published and handed to the voters at least thirty days before the
taking of the vote.
“ C.—Cantonal Council.
“Art. 31.
“ The competency of the Cantonal Council extends to
. “1. The discussion and resolution of all questions which are
to be submitted to the popular vote.
“2..........................
“3..........................
“4. The control of the entire administration of the country, and
of the action of the courts of law.
“ 5. The final decision on new expenses, occurring but once and
for a definite purpose, such expenses not to go beyond 250,000
francs; as well as on annually recurring expenses less than the
amount of 20,000 francs.
* That is, one-half of all the votes given, plus one, in contradistinction to
a vote by a two-thirds’ majority; or to a majority which, as being com
pared with the absolute majority, is only the largest of several minorities,-“
Translator.
�17
“ 6. The fixing of the annual estimates of ways ancl means, and
of expenses, in accordance with existing laws and resolutions. . .
“ 7. The audit of public accounts..................... ”
We should not like to affirm that the above articles have in
every case hit the mark exactly, and that they could be considered
as an infallible scheme, so to speak. Variety of individual views
will here and there find shortcomings. Yet these articles, as a
first serious attempt at realizing the idea, deserve in so far every
attention, as they offer a new form of commonwealth—a form pro
ceeding from the discussions and votes of an entire people, a form
wherein the community may grow and unfold itself, without let or
hindrance, according to its progressive wants.
We are firmly convinced that direct legislation by the people,
through the institutions of the popular initiative and the popular
vote on laws, can and must be introduced into the largest states ;
and that without these political institutions the social questions
cannot be solved.
The section of Zurich therefore think themselves not only justi
fied in bringing the idea of direct legislation through the people
before the forum of the Industrial Working Men’s Association,
but they consider themselves even under an obligation to do so,
convinced as they are that this idea—like the ever memorable
Declaration of the Rights of Men—will make its way round the orb
of the earth, as being the most effective means of realizing those
social rights.
The section therefore move the following resolution :—
“ The Congress of the International Workmen’s League at
Basle, considering that the law is the written expression of the in
terest of the legislator; that, in legislating, the interest of the
community is naturally to be decisive ; that experience shows
representative bodies to represent capital rather than labour, and
laws, therefore, to be made as a rule at the expense of the working
multitudes and in favour of capital ; that only by direct participa
tion in legislation that politico-social consciousness, which is the
first condition for solving the social questions, can efficiently pene
trate the people ; resolves :
il That it be the chief aim of the working classes to strive
towards the realization of the social and democratic republic, in
which legislation is exercised directly through the people.”
Everything for the people, and everything through the people !
By order of the section of Zurich,
The Reporter,
Zurich, August, 1869.
KARL BÜRKLI.
B
�18
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION TO THE
ZURICH PEOPLE.
Fellow Citizens:—Four numerously attended popular meetings,
followed by a petition of 28,000 citizens, having, towards the
close of the year 1867, demanded the revision of the Constitution,
the same was decided upon on the twenty-sixth of January, 1868,
by the people of the canton of Zurich, by the great majority of
50,786 votes; and, at the same time, by 47,864 votes, the subject
was placed in the hands of a Constitutional Commission. After
long and thorough consultations, such as were demanded by the
great importance of the task, we now herewith lay before you the
result of our labours for acceptance or rejection. As our trans
actions from the beginning were public ; and, as they from time to
time were accompanied and supported by the active collaboration
of circles more or less extended, we can waive for the present
an explanation of particulars, and confine ourselves to giving pro
minence to the most essential points in which the project differs
from existing institutions.
Whilst, with the exception of decisions concerning constitutional
changes, the people have hitherto exercised their right of voting,
and of approbation or rejection, only upon questions of law, hence
forth all financial transactions, of more than ordinary importance,
shall appertain to the people; and, moreover, the right is to be
accorded to each citizen to introduce propositions for laws and
decrees, which, if they are supported by five thousand valid votes,
or, on the other hand, by a third of the members of the Council
of the canton, must be submitted to the decision of the people. At
the same time, the Executive Council is to proceed from the direct
choice of the people, to whom also a more direct influence is to be
conceded in church and school, by the abolition of all life appoint
ments, with all due respect to the vested rights of the actual oc
cupiers of the same.
This decided step, which leads from a representative state to a
comprehensive rule of the people, is advocated by us in the con
fidence of the matured intelligence of the people, and of the pre
dominance of the powers for good within it. And, for the same
reason, we do not hesitate to add here a series of propositions
which are demanded by the progressive ideas of our age, concern
ing humanity and human rights, viz., abolition of capital punish
ment, and of the penalty of chains, abrogation of imprisonment for
�19
debt, and of the degrading consequences of unmerited insolvency,
obligation of the State to make adequate compensation to those
innocently condemned and those illegally arrested, the lessening of
the term of minority, so as to enable persons to embark, at an
earlier age, in pecuniary transactions, extension and security of
the right of settlement, and facilitation of the right of civil
marriage.
Starting from the conviction that only by a more elevated
culture those forces can be awakened and maintained which a
people needs in order to govern itself, and to deveiope its ex
ternal and internal well-being, we have in the project laid down
conditions which aim at a seasonable extension of our common
school-system, conditions whose execution is reserved to the law,
and thus again to the examination and decision of the people.
A series of other articles of our project repose upon the endea
vour by a more just division of public burdens, according to the
measure of the actual capacity of bearing taxation, by an increase
in the means of communication, by protection to health, and by
support to be given towards the independence of the workman, to
exalt the productive powers of the country, and thereby the material
welfare of its citizens. The indirect salt tax is to be materially
lessened, and compulsory instruction in the common schools gra
tuitously imparted. The first military equipment of militia men to
be undertaken by the State. The State is to contribute in a more
comprehensive manner, and with an enhanced regard to the in
dividual wants of the municipalities, to the burdens of the poor and
to the expenses of road-making.
On the other hand, those prin
ciples of taxation of income from labour, which have been current
since the political regeneration, dating from the year 1830, are
henceforth to be extended, within equitable and suitable limits,
to incomes derived from property; and thereby, as well as by the
introduction of a moderate “ active-citizen ” tax, and a tax upon
inheritance, but particularly by a more correct assessment, which
justice demands with increasing urgency, means for the remission
of burdens and for the liquidation of the new expenditure of the
State may be gained.
A Cantonal Bank, long desired by the people, and long promised
by the leaders of former political movements, will be conducive to
the increase and consolidation of credit, whilst changes in the
manner of election and payment of notaries, in conjunction with a
contemplated re-organization of the notary system, are calculated
to facilitate and surround with suitable guarantees the transfer of
landed property.
As to the municipal government, the project aims at securing
the progress already attained by the law of the year 1866, and
with due consideration of existing relationships and modes of proB 2
�20
ceeding, handed down from of old, to open the door for further
development.
As to the administration of justice, the Constitution limits
itself—as the filling up of the outlines appears to be better left to
special laws—to the exposition of a few general propositions,
amongst which we particularly call attention to the demand that
regulations be made for a more speedy and cheap method of deal
ing with cases in both civil and criminal proceedings in courts of
law, with a view to the greatest possible security of justice being done.
Dear fellow-citizens:—We lay before you the constitutional
project as an entirety, to be decided upon by a simple vote, Yes or
No! because, by the Decree of the People, of the 26th January,
1868 we received an injunction for a total revision, and for that
reason must wish that a decision be come to upon our work as a
whole ; and further, because the taking of a vote upon each article
or upon each chapter would be connected with a chain of difficulties,
which might postpone ad infinitum the very desirable final decision ;
and again, because even if voting by portions were to take place,
yet another vote of the people would still be required to give to
the Constitution validity in its entirety.
We know, indeed, full well, that various shortcomings may be
found in the project, and that it cannot satisfy all expectations;
but we believe ourselves entitled to express the conviction that
within it are laid down the conditions for a decided progress,
such as our people themselves have demanded.
. It is for you, therefore, to decide whether our work responds to
the spirit and the will of the great popular movement, which gave
rise to it, and whether it subserves the welfare of the country.
May each one, therefore, on stepping forward to perform the
grave act of voting, as a good citizen of the republic, raise himself
above his individual interests, and dwrell on that only which tends
to the advantage of the community. And, if it should please the
people of Zurich to accept the proposed Constitution, may the
result be that each citizen, finding himself invested with more
extended rights than heretofore, shall also become conscious of
higher duties to be performed.
If our people in good faith take upon themselves these duties
and hold fast to them, then, we confidently hope, will the principle
of the rule of the people be approved and develope itself, and tend
to the furtherance of the honour, the strength, and the welfare of
our country.
In the name of the Constitutional Council,
Dr. T. SULZER, President.
L. FORRER, First Secretary.
Zurich, March 31st, I860.
�21
CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERATE CANTON
OF ZURICH.
The people of the canton of Zurich give themselves, in virtue of
their sovereign right to determine their own destinies, the follow
ing constitution:—
I.—Political Principles.
Art. 1.
The political power resides in the totality of the people. It is
exercised directly by the “ active ” citizens, and indirectly by the
constituted authorities and public functionaries.
Art. 2.
All citizens are equal before the law, and enjoy the same politi
cal rights, unless in cases where this constitution itself institutes
an exception.
Art. 3.
The utterance of opinion by speech and writing, the right of
association and meeting, are guaranteed. The exercise of these
rights suffers no other limitations but those which may flow from
common rights.
In actions of libel the proof of the truth of the allegation is
allowed. If it be shown that the statements complained against as
libellous are true, and have been published or retailed with honest
motives and an honest aim, the accused is to be found not guilty.
Art. 4.
The State protects honestly acquired private rights. Expropria
tion is allowable if the public weal demands it. For such forced
cessions a just compensation is granted. Disputes concerning the
amount of compensation are judged by the courts of law.
Art. 5.
The criminal law is to be modelled according to humane prin
ciples. Capital punishment and the penalty of bearing chains are
inadmissible.
The person accused of a crime or misdemeanour, as well as the
injured party, are to be admitted to all proceedings taking place
before the judge of instruction (magistrate), with the faculty of
appointing counsel and addressing any questions to the witnesses
which may serve to clear up the subject.
�22
Art. 7.
Personal freedom is guaranteed. No one may be arrested, ex
cept in the cases foreseen by the law, and with the forms prescribed
by the law.
To such as may have been illegally arrested the State has to
make proper compensation or satisfaction.
No means of forcing a confession are allowed.
Imprisonment for debt is inadmissible.
Art. 8.
The sanctity of the private dwelling is guaranteed.
A domiciliary visit can only take place either by consent of the
resident, or by authorization through a competent functionary,
who is exactly to specify the aim and the extent of this measure.
Exceptions of this rule are permitted if there should be danger in
delay.
Art. 9.
In cases of judicial restitution of persons innocently condemned
proper satisfaction is to be made by the state.
Art. 10.
Every functionary is, according to the terms of the law, re
sponsible as well to the State and the municipalities as to private
persons for acts done in his official capacity.
Art. 11.
The term of office of the Cantonal Council, and of all adminis
trative authorities and functionaries, is fixed at three years ; that
of judicial authorities and notaries at six years.
All constituted authorities are to be renewed in their totality.
In no administrative or judicial body may there sit at the same
time father and son, father-in-law and son-in-law, two brothers,
two brothers-in-law, or the father of a husband and wife.
Art. 12.
Any functionary who is removed from his place within his term
of office, and without fault on his side, has a claim for full com
pensation ; and if such removal takes place in consequence of an
alteration in the constitution or laws, for equitable compensation.
Art. 13.
All elections by the people of cantonal, county, and district
officers are made by means of the ballot box. The municipalities
are likewise at liberty to employ this mode of election.
�23
Art. 14.
The citizens of the canton or of Switzerland may, on fulfilling
the legal conditions, settle in any municipality of the canton, and
acquire the right of local citizenship. Those having settled in any
locality may not be subjected to other or higher local'taxes than
the local citizens (liverymen), with the sole exception of a mode
rate fee for the permission of settlement. A right (in the munici
palities) to refuse or withdraw the right of settlement, where the
local documents have been handed in, may, on principle, only be
derived from the proof of a manner of life in the person claiming
or having obtained settlement dangerous to public safety or
morality.
Art. 15.
Marriage has equal civic validity whether it be concluded by
the civic ceremony or by the ecclesiastical one.
The functions in this respect of the civil officers as well as of
the clergy of the birthplace and domicile of the bride and bride
groom are gratuitous.
Art. 16.
The faculty of entering on valid pecuniary transactions, the
right of voting, and the capacity of being elected for all offices,
begin simultaneously with the close of the twentieth year of life.
Art. 17.
Swiss citizens, having settled in the canton, are the equals of
the citizens of the canton in the exercise of all political rights.
Art. 18.
Suspension of the right of active citizenship, and of the capacity
of being elected, takes place—
1. With the loss of the faculty of entering on valid commercial
*
transactions.
2. On account of degrading crimes or misdemeanours, by judg
ment pronounced by a court of law.
3. In consequence of bankruptcy, whether the proceedings have
been carried to an end, or the bankruptcy has been annulled again,
but only in case of fault attaching to the bankrupt, and by a judi
cial decision. The suspension to continue from one year to ten.
4. On account of continued receipt of public alms, and only
whilst such period of assistance lasts.
* By declaration of lunacy, &c.
�24
II.—Economical Principles.
Art. 19.
All owing the duty of paying taxes have to contribute to the
burdens of administering the state and the municipalities in the
measure of the resources at their command.
The income tax and the property tax are to be ordered by classes,
according to the principle of a moderate and just progression.
Small fortunes of persons incapable of work, as well as of every
income that amount which is absolutely required for existence, are
free of tax.
The progressive ratio is not to surpass, as to income tax, the
fifth part of the simple ratio; and, as to property tax, the double
of the simple ratio.
As to municipal taxation (rates), a progressive tax on property
does not take place, but only a proportional one can be claimed.
The duty of contributing to rates for the expenses of the munici
pality is to be regulated by the state.
The right of voting implies the duty of making a moderate con
tribution to the public burdens, to be distributed equally on all.
The State raises a tax on inheritance, to be progressive accord
ing to the distance of the degree of relationship of inheritors, and
according to the amount of the sum inherited. The law fixes
those degrees of relationship and those minimum sums which are
to be exempted from this tax.
Legislation will make those regulations which may appear appro
priate to an exact ascertaining of the power of bearing taxation.
Tax privileges in favour of single private individuals or indus
trial companies are inadmissible.
No new taxes on the consumption of indispensable articles of
food can be introduced. The tax on salt is at once to be diminished.
Art. 20.
Cantonal and county officers, as well as notaries, receive, as far
as possible, fixed appointments in the proportion to the amount of
business to be transacted by them. Any fees and fines are, as a
rule, to go to the cantonal treasury.
Art. 21.
The exercise of every profession in art and science, commerce,
and industry, is free, providing however such legal and police
regulation as the common interest may require.
Art. 22.
The care of the poor belongs to the Municipalities. The State
affords appropriate contributions towards rendering the burden of
providing for the poor more easy to those localities which are in
�25
need of it. The State supports the efforts of municipalities and
societies towards the decrease of poverty, especially towards the
education of poor children, improvement in the care of the sick,
and reformation of neglected persons.
Art. 23.
The State furthers and facilitates the development of co-operation
resting on self-help. It institutes by legislation such conditions
as may be necessary for the protection of workmen.
Art. 24.
The State, with a view to the increase of a general system of
credit, establishes, as soon as possible, a credit bank.
Art. 25.
The highways, roads, and streets are to be classified according
to the importance of the traffic carried on in each.
The burden of making them and keeping them in repair falls to
the State and to the political communes (or municipalities).
*
The assistance of the State extends to all classes of road, except
ing bye-streets and lanes.
Art. 26.
The railways, which, on account of their importance in the
economy of the nation, enjoy extraordinary privileges granted by
the State, are to be administered under its control, so as to fulfil
their destined purpose.
Those portions of the territory of the canton which, in regard to
population and traffic, are on the same line with such as have by
means of State help been endowed with railways, have likewise a
claim to assistance from the State.
Art. 27.
The State undertakes the first military outfit of militia-men. As
to the replacement- of articles of military furniture which have been
used up or lost a law will fix details.
III.—Legislation and Representation of the People.
Art. 28.
The people, with the co-operation of the Cantonal Council,
exercise the powers of legislation.
A.—Right of the people to make proposals.
Art. 29.
The right of making proposals which those entitled to vote
Query : In what proportion?—Translator. .
�26
possess (Initiative) comprises the demand of the passing, repeal, or
alteration of a law, or of any such resolution as is not, by the
terms of the Constitution, expressly reserved to the competency of
the Cantonal Council. Demands of this kind may be made either
in the form of simply calling attention to the matter in question,
or by offering the details of a bill; and in either case motives are
to be adduced for the alteration proposed.
If a single individual or a constituted authority makes such
a demand, and it is supported by one third of the members of
the Cantonal Council, the question must be laid before the
people for decision. The right of personally advocating in the
Cantonal Council the alteration proposed is granted to the indi
vidual having made the demand, or to the deputy of the constituted
authority moving in the matter, provided that twenty-five members
of the Cantonal Council support the request of this personal
advocacy of the motion.
If five thousand persons, having the right to vote, make a de
mand of the kind aforesaid; or if a number of municipal meetings,
in which at least five thousand persons entitled to vote have pro
nounced in favour of such a demand, the decision of the people is
to be equally taken, unless the Cantonal Council have previously
responded to the demand. Any demand of this kind, having been
handed in early enough, the matter is to be placed before the
people for their decision, at the latest, at the second subsequent
regular taking of votes.
The demand or bill has in every case to be submitted, before
the vote, to the Cantonal Council, for them to give an opinion in
the form of a resolution.
In any case in which a bill proceeding from popular initiative
is submitted to the vote, the Cantonal Council, besides giving its
opinion, may place before the people a modified bill for decision
between the two.
B.—Popular Vote.
Art. 30.
Twice every year, in spring and in autumn, the vote of the
people takes place on the legislatory acts of the Cantonal Council
(Referendum). In urgent cases the Council can order an extra
ordinary taking of votes.
There are to be submitted to the popular vote:
1. All alterations of the constitution, laws, and concordats.
2. Those resolutions of the Cantonal Council which that
Council is not competent to pass definitely (vide Art. 31).
3. Any resolutions which the Council may wish to put to the
popular vote.
The Cantonal Council is entitled on submitting a law or reso
�27
lution, to order—beside the vote on the totality of the propoals—
exceptionally a vote on single points of it.
The vote takes place by means of the ballot boxes in the
municipalities. Participation in it is a citizen’s duty, binding on all.
The vote can only be by affirmation or negation.
The absolute majority of affirming or negativing votes is
*
decisive.
The Cantonal Council is not entitled to give provisional validity
to any laws or resolutions requiring the popular vote, previous to
such vote being taken.
All proposals to be submitted to the popular vote are to be
published and handed to the voters at least thirty days before the
taking of the vote.
C.—Cantonal Conncil.
Art. 31.
The competency of the Cantonal Council extends to :—
1. The discussion and resolution of all questions which are
to be submitted to the popular vote.
2. The request that the Federal Council be convoked (vide Art.
75, § 2, of the Federal Constitution).
3. The disposal of the military forces of the canton, as far as
they are not required by the Confederacy.
4. The control of the entire administration of the country, and
of the action of the courts of law, as well as the decision in any
conflicts between the executive and judicial powers. For the pur
pose of impeaching members of the Government Council and of the
Supreme Law Court the Cantonal Council may appoint a special
procurator (a public prosecutor).
5. The final decision on new expenses, occurring but once and
for a definite purpose, such expenses not to exceed 250,000 francs;
as well as on annually recurring expenses up to the amount of
20,000 francs.
6. The fixing of the annual estimates of ways and means, and of
expenses in accordance with existing laws and resolutions, reserving
however the above restrictions under No. 5; and the granting at
the same time of the amount of taxes required.
7. The audit of the public accounts, and of the accounts of
separate funds, the care for undiminished preservation of the public
domains, and for appropriate . (f) . and employment of the
income from them.
* That is, one-half of all the votes given, plus one, in contradistinction to
a vote by a two-thirds’ majority; or to a majority which, as being com
pared with the absolute majority, is only the largest of several minorities.—
Translator.
f Unintelligible misprint in the original.—Translator.
�28
8. The exercise of the right of mercy.
9. The order of such elections as are by legislation placed within
its competency.
10. The election of its officers.
Art. 32.
The Cantonal Council is elected in electoral districts whose num
ber and extent the law orders, in such wise that each district re
ceives at least two members.
The number of 1,200 souls gives a district a claim for the election of a member of the Cantonal Council; a fraction of above 600
souls is reckoned as a full number. As' to fixing the number of
the populations the Confederate census is decisive.
In electing a Cantonal Councillor not more than three successive
electoral acts are to take place; in the first two, absolute majority
decides, in the third, relative majority.
*
Art. 33.
The members of the Government Council cannot be members of
the Cantonal Council; yet in it they have a consulting voice, and
the right of making motions and presenting reports.
If any members of the Supreme Law Court are elected as mem
bers of the Cantonal Council they have a merely consulting voice
on the presentation of the reports from their court.
The Cantonal Council can call into its meetings experts with
consulting voice.
Art. 34.
The meetings of the Cantonal Council take place at Zurich, and
are, as a rule, public. Its members receive during the session a
moderate daily pay, and once in the session an appropriate com
pensation for travelling.
D-—Cantonal Foief and Election of Representatives of the Canton.
Art. 35.
The result of the popular vote in the canton, with reference to
the acceptance or non-acceptance of any alteration in the Federal
* Vide note to page 27. This is the mode of proceeding :—If the result
of the election shows a candidate not to have a number of votes equal to
one-half of the votes given, plus one, then the election is null, and a new one
has to take place, which will be decided on the same principle. If its appli
cation has twice failed, then, in a third election, a relative minority is, by
force of circumstances, considered sufficient; that is, the person having the
highest number of votes is considered elected, though that number may be
below the half of the number of voters — Translator.
f In the Assembly of the Swiss Confederation.—Translator.
'
�29
Constitution (Art. 114 of the latter) is at the same time to be con
sidered as the cantonal vote. The right of proposal (initiative)
granted by Art. 81 of the Federal Constitution to the ' different
cantons, can be exercised as well by the Cantonal Council as by the
mode of a decision of the people.
Art. 36.
The two members of the Swiss Cantonal Council are elected by
*
the whole electoral body of the canton, forming for this purpose
one electoral district, at the same time with the members of the
National Council,! and for three years.
IV.—Executive Power and Administration.
A.—Government Council.
Art. 37.
The executive and administrative authority of the canton, the
Council of Government, consists of seven members, who are elected
by the people, the whole canton being formed into one electoral
district^ at the same time with the Cantonal Council.
Art. 38.
The Government Council elect their President and VicePresident for a term of one year.
Art. 39.
The office of a member of the Government Council is incom
patible with any other appointment bearing a fixed salary. In
order to fill the office of a director or member of an administrative
council of a joint-stock company a member of the Government
Council requires the permission of the Cantonal Council.
Not more than two of the members of the Government Council
may.belong to either of the Federal Councils.
Art. 40.
Within the competency and the duties of the Government
Council are essentially:
1. The right of proposing to the Cantonal Council laws and
resolutions.
* This is one of the Federal authorities sitting at Berne, not to be con
founded with the Zurich Cantonal Council, and may be compared with the
American Senate.
f Another of the Federal authorities, to be compared with the American
House of Representatives.—Translator.
I That is, every elector voting for seven candidates.—Translator.
�30
2. The proper publication of all proposals to be submitted to the
popular vote, and of all proposals after their being passed into
laws, as well as the care for the execution of the laws, and of the
resolutions of the people and the Cantonal Council.
3. The intercourse with the Confederation and with the cantons
of Switzerland.
4. The control.of matters of education, of ecclesiastical affairs,
and of the administration of the poor law, as well as of all sub
ordinate authorities and functionaries.
5. The. judgment, in the last instance, of all disputes in ad
ministrative questions.
6. The drawing up. of the estimates of ways and means, and of
expenses of the public exchequer, and of the separate funds; the
presentation of the annual accounts, as well as of a report, to the
Cantonal Council, of the entire activity of the Government
Council.
7. The organization of the government offices, and the appoint
ment of all those functionaries and officers whose election has not
by constitution or law been entrusted to some other public appoint
ing body.
Art. 41.
The Government Council elects, for the term of office fixed for
administrative officers, the public prosecutor, on whom the duty is
incumbent of prosecuting, in the name of the State, crimes and
punishable offences.
Art. 42.
The functions and business of the Government Council are, for
the purpose of furthering their despatch, divided into Directions,
*
each of which is presided over by a member of the Government
Council. Final decisions proceed from the whole Council ; how
ever, within certain fixed limits, a final competency may be assigned
by law to the different Directions.
The Government Council distributes amongst its members the
Directions in such a manner that no member shall fill the office of
the same Direction during more than two continuous periods of
office.
Standing commissions, appointed by the Government Council,
may be added to the single Directions if the nature of their functions
require it. In all other respects the law fixes the organization of
the Directions and offices as well as the number and salaries of
officers.
Departments.
�31
B.—Administration of Districts.
Art. 43.
The canton is divided into Districts; any alterations in the
existing distribution of these has to be made by legislation.
Art. 44.
The administration of the District is carried out by a District
Council, consisting of a Lieutenant-Governor (“ Statthalter ”) as
President, and two District Councillors, to whom are to be added
two Deputy-Councillors.
Where local wants require it the number of District Councillors
may be augmented. Equally, wherever the extent of a LieutenantGovernor’s business’demauds it, a part of it may be handed over to
an Adjunct, to be transacted by him independently.
The election of these officers belongs to the inhabitants of the
district entitled, by Art. 16 to 18, to vote.
Art. 45.
The duty of the District Council is especially:
The control of the administration of the communes and their
domains, as well as of matters relating to minors and their
guardians; in certain cases, to be determined by law, the decision
in the second instance in affairs of guardianship and of the assist
ance to the poor; finally, the decision in the first instance in dis
putes referring to administrative matters.
On the Lieutenant-Governor especially is incumbent the execu
tion of the order of the Government douncil, as well as the
execution of such functions as are laid on him by the criminal law
and the police law, and the control of roads and streets.
Art. 46.
Any position in the district administration is incompatible with
that of a common councillor or clerk to a Common Council.
C.—Communes.
Art. 47.
Communes are ordinarily divided into ecclesiastical communes
(parishes), educational communes, and political communes (muni
cipalities).
The parish forms, as a rule, at the same time the educational
district.
The formation of new communes, and the union or dissolution of
existing ones, belong to legislation.
For special and local aims other associations may take placewithin the communes, especially the formation of civil communes.
�32
Art. 48.
The communes are entitled to regulate their affairs independently
within the limits of the constitution and the laws. Decrees of a
commune, barring their being attacked on grounds of informalities,
can only be called in question if they evidently transgress the
proper sphere of the commune, and at the same time involve the
imposition of an appreciable burden on those obliged to pay rates,
or if they improperly offend against considerations of equity.
Art. 49.
The administrative organs of the ecclesiastical communes
(parishes) and school districts, or educational communes, are:—
The assembly of the ecclesiastical commune (parish meeting ; )
The assembly of the school district and educational commune ;
The Church Council ;
The School Council.
The administrative organs of the political commune (municipal
ity) are :—
The assembly of the political commune;
The Common Council ;
Art. 50.
In all assemblies of the commune, the citizens of the commune,
having a vote according to Art. 16—18, and the cantonal and
federal citizens, established in the commune, have the right of
voting.
In questions of the administration of relief to the poor, of con
ferring communal citizenship, as well as in questions of the ad
ministration of purely communal separate funds and communes,
only communal citizens, residing in the canton, though within or
without the commune, are entitled to vote.
In the ecclesiastical communes (parishes or general vestries) on
the occasion of discussions on ecclesiastical matters, and of the
election of ecclesiastics, of members of the Church Councils, and
of church employés, only those of the citizens, and of those estab
lished in the commune who belong to the denomination in question,
have the right of voting.
Art. 51.
To the general assembly of the commune belong especially: —
The control of such portions of the communal administration as
may be assigned to it, the fixing of the annual estimates, the audit
of the annual accounts, the granting of rates, the consent to such
expenses, as may surpass an amount to be fixed by it, as well as
the election of its council, whose composition with respect to
citizens proper, and to those having a settlement, the law will
determine.
�33
Of the resort of the Common Council are especially : —
1. The preliminary discussion of all affairs which have to be
brought before the assembly of the commune.
2. The execution of the resolutions of the commune.
3. The administration of the domain of the community, with
reference, however, to Art. 55, § 2.
Art. 52.
The general assembly of the ecclesiastical commune, and the
Church Council, have to attend to the ecclesiastical affairs of the
commune; and, as a rule, also to the administration of relief to the
poor. The communes are free to elect a special authority for the
latter purpose.
Art. 53.
To the general assembly of the educational commune, and to the
Council of Education, belongs the care for the general national
schools.
All other branches of the administration of communal affairs,
with the reservation, however, indicated in Art. 47, § 4, are
handed over to the political communes and their organs. How
ever, where special circumstances make it appear desirable, a
union of several political communes may be formed, in order to
carry out in common any special branches of municipal adminis
tration, and appoint special organs for that purpose.
The celebration of civil marriage belongs to the Municipal
Council, or to a committee of the same.
Art. 54.
The care for minors, and the duty of assistance in case of im
poverishment, belong as a rule to the commune where the persons
in question are born. (Comp. Art. 22.) However, the legislature
may transfer, wholly or partially, these duties, and the rights con
nected with them, to the commune of residence.
Art. 55.
The communal domains, excepting the citizens’ purely separate
lands and commons, are in the first instance destined to satisfy
the public requirements of the communes.
The municipalities are left free to entrust to the communal
councils the administration of all communal property.
V.—Administration of Justice.
Art. 56.
A judgment given by competent authority cannot be set aside
c
�34
or modified either by the legislative or by the administrative power.
The right of mercy, however, is reserved to the Cantonal Council.
Art. 57.
Crimes and political offences, including offences of the press, in
which the defendant demands it, are tried before juries.
The law may also appoint trial by jury for other portions of the
law, both civil and criminal.
Art. 58.
The law determines the number, organization, competency, and
proceeding of the courts of law.
Courts of arbitration by mutual agreement are admissible.
Art. 59.
The mode of proceeding is to be regulated with a view to the
greatest possible security of right, as well as to speedy and cheap
dealing with the cases. For disputes concerning small amounts a
summary proceeding will be introduced.
Art. 60.
The officers entrusted with notarial business are elected from
among the examined candidates by the inhabitants of the notarial
circle entitled to vote according to Art. 16-18.
Art. 61.
Execution for debt is entrusted to an officer of the municipality.
VI.—Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs.
Art. 62.
The furtherance of the general education of the people, and of
the republican education of citizens, is the care of the State.
In order to increase the professional and industrial worth of all
classes of the people the national schools are to be extended so as to
embrace a more advanced period of youth. The higher establish
ments of learning are to be harmonized with the wants of the
present age, without doing injury to their scientific character, and
are to be placed in organic connection with the national schools.
Primary instruction is obligatory and gratuitous. The state
undertakes, with the participation of the communes, to provide the
means required.
The teachers of primary schools are to be thoroughly trained
with respect to knowledge and management. They are likewise to
be especially fitted for managing adult schools.
The communes control, through the local educational authorities,
�35
the management of the schools, and the performance of their duties
by the teachers. For every district, besides, a special educational
authority, or district school council, is to be appointed.
The organization of an education council—to be attached to the
direction of education—and of a school synod, remains reserved for
legislation.
Art. 63.
The freedom of belief, of worship, and of teaching is guaranteed.
Civic rights and duties are independent of religious confessions.
Every exercise of force against communities, associations, and
individuals is excluded.
The national evangelical church and the other ecclesiastical
*
corporations regulate their affairs independently, under the supreme
control of the State. The organization of the former, to the ex
clusion of all violence done to consciences, is fixed by the law.
The State undertakes, in general, the contributions it has hitherto
furnished for ecclesiastical wants.
Art. 64.
The ecclesiastical communes elect their clergy, and the educa
tional communes the teachers of their schools, from amongst those
capable of being elected.
The State remunerates the clergy, and—with the participation of
the communes—the teachers, in the sense of the greatest possible
equality and of a rise in the stipends appropriate to the require
ments of the times.
The teachers of the national schools, and the clergy of the eccle
siastical corporations assisted by the State, are subjected to a con
firmatory election every six years. If, on taking the vote, the
absolute majority of the members of the commune having the right
to vote declines to confirm the appointment, the place must be filled
up anew.
Teachers and ecclesiastics at the present moment holding posi
tions are to be considered as elected for a new term of office on the
acceptance of this Constitution; and in the case of their not being
re-elected have a claim to compensation according to their years of
office and to their services rendered.
This rule applies also to the clergy of the (Roman) Catholic
parishes.
VII.—Revision of Constitution.
Art. 65.
The revision of the constitution in its totality, or in single parts,
may take place at any time by the mode of legislation.
* Protestant.—Translator.
�36
In case the revision of the totality of the constitution be resolved
by the action of popular Initiative, a new election of the Cantonal
Council will take place, which will have to take in hand the
revision.
Bills referring to the revision are subject to a double discussion
in the Cantonal Council, and the second discussion is not to take
place less than two months after the date of the first.
In the name of the Committee of Constitution,
Dr. J. SULZER, President.
L. FORRER, First Secretary.
Zurich, March 31st, 1869.
TRANSITORY ENACTMENTS.
1. Articles 11, 15, 19—21, 23, 59-62, and 64 of the Constitu
tion will be applied only after the passing of the laws necessary for
their execution.
2. Article 14, in so far as it prescribes the abolition of the tax
on settlement, is applicable from the beginning of next year.
3. With regard to Article 18, § 3, it is resolved that the re
habilitation of such citizens as have, previous to the acceptance of
this constitution, lost their active citizenship in consequence of
bankruptcy, shall take place, ipso facto, after the lapse of ten years,
to be reckoned from the day of the declaration of bankruptcy,
unless such rehabilitation have, before the expiration of such
term, been declared by a judgment of court.
4. Articles 1-10, 12-14, 16-18, 22, 26, 28-58, 63, and 65, are
to be applied even before their principles are further developed by
future legislation. Consequently, all existing regulations contained
in laws and ordinances, and contradictory to those articles, are
herewith abolished.
5. In case of the acceptance of this constitution, the election of
the new Cantonal Council, as well as of the Government Council
and the two members of the Swiss Council of Cantons, will take
place on May 9th, according to the mode prescribed by the con
stitution. The Cantonal Council will meet on the second Monday
after the accomplishment of the third election, and at the same
moment the charge given to the Committee of Constitution is to
be considered at an end.
After having constituted itself and taken the oath, the Cantonal
Council proceeds to swearing in the Government Council, and then
issues, before any other business, a provisional set of standing orders.
Cherry & Fletcher, Printers, 6, Wardrobe Place, Doctors' Commons, E.C.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Direct legislation by the people versus representative government
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Burkli, Karl
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 36 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Cherry & Fletcher
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1869
Identifier
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G5235
Contributor
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Oswald, Eugene (tr)
Subject
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Government
Rights
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (Direct legislation by the people versus representative government), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Conway Tracts
Democracy
Political reform
Referendum
Representative Government and Representation
Sacerdotalism
Social Reform
Working Classes
-
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PDF Text
Text
PROPOSAL
FOR ESTABLISHING
A CHEAP, JUST, AND EFFICIENT MODE
OF
Elating itUnxbirs uf Wrfamtnf,
AND FOR
SECURING THE JUST AND EQUAL
REPRESENTATION OF THE WHOLE PEOPLE.
WILLIAM LOVETT.
LONDON
WATBELOW AND SONS, PEINTEES, CAEPENTEBs’ HALE, LONDON WALL.
1869.
��PROPOSAL, &c.
1. That for the purpose of obtaining an equal repre
sentation of the whole people in the Commons House of
Parliament, and for preventing as far as possible the
undue influence of great and wealthy families, or of
individuals who would seek to control the voter in his
choice, the United Kingdom be divided into a sufficient
number of Electoral Districts, each containing as nearly
as may be an equal number of inhabitants, and each
returning one representative to Parliament and no more.
2. That all persons of legal age, sound mind, and
untainted by crime, who have occupied any house,
lodgings or apartments in a house for three successive
calendar months, be eligible to vote for the repre
sentative to Parliament for the district they live in, and
for no other.
3. That preparatory to every general election the
returning officer of the district should cause a printed
form to be sent round to every householder in the
district, requesting him or her to fill up the same with
the names of all persons, of the age of 21 or upwards,
who have resided there for three months or more ; and
from which forms, when returned, he shall cause a list
of electors to be made out. That after proper publicity
�4
be given to this list, he should hold open courts of adju
dication in his district, for the purpose of hearing and
deciding on all objections, and from the list thus revised
he should cause a Voter’s Certificate to be sent round to
every person qualified to vote.
4. That to secure members of Parliament possessing
high intelligence and good moral character, all persons
seeking this high honour of legislating for a nation (or
for filling other important offices of State) should be
required to pass an examination, showing that they possess
the requisite knowledge and ability, and should hold a
diploma to that effect before they should be entitled to
offer themselves as candidates, or to take their seats in
Parliament, or be appointed to any important office.
5. That the knowledge requisite for members of
Parliament (or for the offices referred to) should be
clearly set forth in a special Act of the Legislature, and
the mode pointed out by which persons seeking such
high honour or place of trust, should present themselves
before Public Examiners, which (roverTi-merit should
appoint to meet at stated times and places ; and persons
who shall prove their ability and fitness before such
examiners, according to the provisions of such Act,
should obtain a diploma to that effect.
6. That every nomination for a member of Parliament
should be made by a written requisition, delivered to the
returning officer, and signed by at least one hundred
electors belonging to the district, who, in recommending
their candidate, should be required to certify to his
�5
moral character, and also that he holds a diploma of
having passed an examination to prove that he possesses
the requisite knowledge and ability required by law.
7. That to prevent all undue influence, bribery and
corruption in the election of members of Parliament,
the votes of the electors should be taken by Ballot;
the present expensive, unjust, and bribing mode of can
vassing for members should be abolished by law, and
persons punished for having recourse to it; and all
Committee or other meetings for the election of mem
bers held at Public Souses be done away with, as having
heretofore been the cause of much undue influence,
riot and disorder.
8. That to do away with the present disgraceful and
costly mode of electing members of Parliament, which
excludes the representatives of the working classes, and of
all persons, however competent, who have not the means
of purchasing their way to power ; it should be the duty
of Parliament to enact, that a sufficient number of
Pistrict Salls, or commodious buildings be erected in
every voting district, to be used as permanent hustings, or
voting places ; the same to contain a sufficient number
of committee rooms, and a large hall for public meetings
and voting place ; the rooms to be used for public meet
ings, lectures, evening schools, or other district purposes,
when not needed for the elections. That all candidates
for seats in Parliament should have the free use of such
halls during the election; such as the use of the large
hall, or balcony in front, from which to address the
electors in their turn, and the use of the committee rooms
�6
and voting place, so that the only expense needed to he
incurred by candidates would be that of printing their
litis and circulars. The erection and repair of such halls
should be paid for by the inhabitants of the district,
and be managed by them.
9. That previous to the day of election, the large
room in each of the said district halls should be fitted
up with moveable fittings, in order to secure secrecy in
voting, and justice and despatch in receiving and regis
tering the votes given for each candidate.
The plan of
the fittings in such voting place is shown in the model
to which this paper is attached.
10. That a sufficient number of lallot loxes be pro
vided for each voting place—one for each of the candi
dates nominated—and formed on a plan for securing
secrecy in voting, and at the same time for registering the
votes given, so that the deputy of the returning officer
might be able accurately to announce the state of the
poll at the end of the election, without the necessity of
any counting of the votes. The model of such a regis
tering ballot box is hereto attached.
11. That the returning officer of the district should
be required to appoint a deputy to set in front, behind the
ballot boxes, at each voting place on the day of election,
to see that the voting is conducted orderly and fairly,
and to cause all persons to be arrested that attempt to
vote unfairly, or seek to promote disturbance. It should
also be his duty to show the accredited friends of the
candidates the register of the ballot boxes before and after
�7
the voting, and to see that the correct numbers given
for each candidate are posted up on the outside of the
building, at the end of the election. In order that the
friends of the candidates should have the opportunity
of seeing that the voting is conducted fairly, they should
be provided with seats immediately behind the deputy
returning officer.
12. That every elector entering the voting place on
the day of election, should be required to show his
voter’s certificate to the registration clerk at the entrance
A ; and if it be found correct, he shall be allowed to
pass on and receive from the deputy returning officer’s
assistant a balloting ball at the entrance B ; when he
should enter the balloting place C, and with all despatch
drop his ball into the box of his favourite candidate ;
the name and colours of the candidate being placed on
each box to guide him. After he has thus given his
vote he should pass out of the balloting place by the
door D. The table before the deputy returning officer
should be inclined outwards, and the arrangements
within so constructed, that the ball, in whatever box
deposited, should roll down the middle of the table
in front of the deputy to be ready for the next voter ;
and thus, should any elector make use of any other
balloting ball than the one given to him, it will
roll out and lead to his detection before he leaves
the room.
The deputy might also be provided with
different coloured balls in the drawers of his table,
so that he might change the colour whenever he
thought proper, and thus more effectually guard against
unfair voting.
�8
13. That any person convicted of registering Ini in self
in more than one voting district; of forging or using
any forged voter’s certificate, or of trying to vote in any
other district than his own; or of going from house to
house, or place to place to canvass for the votes of
electors, or in any other way contravening the electoral
Act, should, for the first offence be subject to one year’s
imprisonment, and for the second the loss of his electral rights. Also that any candidate employing persons
to canvass for him, or should seek to secure his election
by bribery; or by intimidating or using any undue in
fluence over an elector, or otherwise contravening the
Act, shall be subject to one year’s imprisonment and the
loss of his seat for the first offence, and for the second,
the loss of his electoral rights, and to be for ever after
disqualified from having a seat in Parliament.
14. That in order to obtain properly qualified persons
as Legislators ; men disposed to devote their sole time
and attention to their parliamentary duties; instead,
as at present, often dividing their time between their
private business and their parliamentary duties ; or in
regarding the honour of their seats as passports to
fashionable society ; members of Parliament should be
paid for their services by a writ on the Treasury, the
same as any other officers of State.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Proposal for establishing a cheap, just and efficient mode of electing members of Parliament and for securing the just and equal representation of the whole people
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lovett, William
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 8 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Waterlow and Sons, printers
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1869
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5621
Subject
The topic of the resource
Parliament
Suffrage
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Proposal for establishing a cheap, just and efficient mode of electing members of Parliament and for securing the just and equal representation of the whole people), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Chartism
Conway Tracts
Representative Government and Representation
William Lovett