of from twelve to fifteen. Of the contingent for military service in 1904, 09 per cent. could not read, and 46 per cent. could not write. The following are the statistics of the various classes of educational institutions for 1903 :

There were also improvement schools with 52,520 pupils, schools for girls with 2,288, gymnasia with 6,741. In 1904 there were 22 commercial schools with altogether 2,485 pupils; 82 complementary commercial schools with 9,435 pupils; 318 technical schools subventioned by the Federal Government, by the cantons, by communes, by corporations, and by private persons; 275 schools similarly supported for the instruction of girls in domestic economy and other subjects; 4 agricultural schools with 139 pupils; 1 horticultural school with 46 pupils; 10 winter agricultural schools with 500 pupils; 6 schools and experimental stations for viticulture; an experimental establishment for arboriculture; 3 dairy schools with 95 pupils. In the 36 reformatories of Switzerland in 1904 there were 1,438 children under instruction. The expenditure on instruction in 1903 was: by the State, 27,811,356 francs; by the communes, 28,038,267 francs; total, 55,849,623 francs.

There are six universities in Switzerland. Basel has a university, founded in 1460, and since 1832 universities have been established in Bern, Zürich, Geneva (1878), and Fribourg (1889). The academy at Lausanne was formed into a university in 1890. These universities are organised on the model of those of Germany, governed by a rector and a senate, and divided into four 'faculties' of theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, and medicine. There is a Polytechnic School, maintained by the Federal Government, at Zürich, with a teaching staff of 170 and 1,263 regular pupils in 1904. There is also an academy with faculties similar to those of the Universities at Neuchâtel. The following table shows the number of matriculated students in the various branches of study in each of the six universities and in the academy of Neuchâtel in 1904

These numbers are exclusive of about 1,000 'listeners.'

Justice and Crime.

The Bundes-Gericht,' or Federal Tribunal, which sits at Lausanne, consists of 14 members, with 9 supplementary judges, appointed by the Federal Assembly for six years, the President and Vice-President, as such for two years. The President has a salary of 13,000 francs a year, and the other members 12,000 francs. The Tribunal has two sections, to each of which is assigned the trial of suits in accordance with regulations framed by the Tribunal itself. It has original and final jurisdiction in suits between the Confederation and cantons; between cantons and cantons; between the Confederation or cantons and corporations or individuals, the value in dispute being not less than 3,000 francs; between parties who refer their case to it, the value in dispute being at least 3,000 francs; and also in such suits as the constitution or legislation of cantons places within its authority. There are also many classes of railway suits which it is called on to decide. It is a Court of Appeal against decisions of other Federal authorities, and of cantonal authorities applying Federal laws. The Tribunal also tries persons accused of treason or other offences against the Confederation. For this purpose it is divided into four chambers: the Chamber of Accusation, the Criminal Chamber (Cour d'Assises), the Federal Penal Court, and the Court of Cassation. The jurors who serve in the Assize Courts are elected by the people, and are paid ten francs a day when serving. In 1904 legislation for an increase in the number of judges and the creation of a third section was in progress. Each canton has its own judicial system for ordinary civil and criminal trials On December 31, 1903, the prison population (condemned) of Switzerland consisted of 4,085, of whom 577 were women.

Capital punishment exists in Appenzell-I.-Rh., Obwalden, Uri, Schwyz, Zug, St. Gallen, Luzern, Valais, Schaffhausen, and Freiburg.

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Finance.

The Confederation has no power to levy direct taxes; its chief source of revenue is the customs. In extraordinary cases it may levy a rate upon the various cantons according to a settled scale. A considerable income is derived from the postal and telegraph establishments, but part of the postal revenue, as well as of the customs dues, has to be paid over to the cantonal administrations, in compensation for the loss of such sources of former income. The entire net proceeds of the Federal alcohol monopoly (5,885,290 francs in 1904) are divided among the cantons, and they have to expend one-tenth of the amount received in combating alcoholism in its causes and effects. Various Federal manufactories yield considerable revenue. Of the proceeds of the tax for exemption from military service, levied through the cantons, one-half (2,067,966 francs in 1904) goes to the Confederation and the other to the cantons.

In 6. The following table gives the total revenue and expenditure Confederation for five years :

The following table gives the budget estimates for 1906 :—

The public debt of the Confederation amounted, on January 1, 1905, to 101,707,318 francs, mostly at 3 per cent. At the same date the 'Federal Fortune,' or State property, was real property, 63,382,770 francs; stock, &c., 35,035,688 francs; works producing interest, 37, 421,792 francs; stores not producing interest, 21,221,247 francs; various debts, 1,064,896 francs; inventory, 38,723,376 francs; alcohol administration and cash, 3,318,271 francs; total, 200,168,041 francs, the net Fortune being thus 98,460,723 francs. At the same time the Confederation had special funds and foundations for beneficent purposes amounting to 60,501,573 francs, and deposits from cantons, banks, &c., for similar purposes amounting to 2,474,676 francs.

The revenues of all the cantons, except Nidwalden, in 1904, amounted to 134,593,549 francs, and their expenditure to 134,940,027; the deficit being 346,478. At the end of 1904 the debts of the cantons amounted to 417,870,800 francs. The taxable property within all the cantons (1900) amounted to the capital value of 11,213,600,000 francs.

Defence.

There are fortifications on the south frontier for the defence of the Gothard; others have been constructed at St. Maurice on the west side of the Canton of Valais, and also defensive works at Martigny.

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

Every citizen of the Republic of military age, not exempt on account of bodily defect or other reason, is liable to military service. On January 1, 1902, the number thus liable to serve was 563,904, and the number actually incorporated was 253,627. Those who are liable but do not perform personal service are subject to a tax, half the amount of which goes to the Confederation; the number taxed in 1902 was 300,508. The contingent of recruits for 1906 numbered 16,277. Recruits are primarily liable to serve in the infantry, the best fitted physically and by education and pecuniary means being selected for other arms. In the first year of service every man undergoes a recruit's course of training, which lasts from 42 to 80 days, and during the remainder of his service in the Elite, he is called up every other year for 16 days' training; rifle practice and cavalry exercise being, however, annual. The Landwehr forces are also called together periodically for inspection and exercise, and once or twice a year the troops of a number of cantons assemble in general muster.

The troops of the Republic are divided into three classes, viz. :—

1. The Elite (Auszug), consisting in general of all men able to bear arms, from the age of 20 to 32.

2. The Landwehr, comprising all men from the 33rd to the completed 44th The first ban of the Landwehr consists of men from 33 to 40 years of age, and the second ban of men from 40 to 44, but of the total number about

year.

one-fifth (mostly unattached artillerymen and engineers) not reckoned in either ban consists of men of all the Landwehr age classes.

3. The Landsturm, which can only be called out in time of war, consisting of all citizens not otherwise serving, between the ages of 17 and 50, or (in the case of ex-officers) 55.

For military purposes Switzerland is divided into 8 divisional districts of approximately equal population, and the Elite is organised in 4 army corps, each of 2 divisions, which are mainly raised each in its own divisional district. The Landwehr is not grouped in divisions, but classified in the 8 divisional districts to which the divisions of the Elite belong. Each army division has 2 brigades of infantry, 1 battalion of carabiniers, 1 company of guides, 1 regiment of artillery, 1 half-battalion of engineers, 1 field hospital. In addition, each army corps has, 1 half-company of guides, 1 section of velocipedists, 1 brigade of Landwehr infantry and 1 battalion of Landwehr rifles, 1 brigade of cavalry, 1 company of cavalry (with the Maxim rifle), 1 regiment of field artillery and 1 mobile park, 1 pontoon section, 1 train section, 1 telegraph company, 1 hospital, and 1 commissariat establishment. The infantry is armed with the Swiss repeating rifle, model of 1889-96. The forces assigned for the defence of the Gothard and of St. Maurice comprise 6,399 of the Elite (3,311 being artillerymen), and 14,640 of the Landwehr (1,345 being artillerymen). The Landwehr cavalry consists of personnel only. The headquarters staff of the army on January 1, 1906, consisted of 49 officers, with 14 subordinate officials, and 53 other soldiers, while the staff of the territorial service numbered 868 officers with 1,433 non-commissioned officers and men. The effective strength of the Elite, Landwehr, and Landsturm on January 1, 1906, was as follows::

The whole army is composed of two classes of troops, those of the Confederation, and those of the cantons. The Confederation troops are of the Elite and Landwehr-in cavalry, the guide companies; in artillery, the park columns, artificer companies, and train battalions; all the engineers, and sanitary and administrative troops. The remainder, consisting of all the infantry and the bulk of the cavalry and artillery, both of Elite and Landwehr, and the whole of the Landsturm, are cantonal troops, and are at the disposal of the cantons except in so far as is otherwise provided by statute. In accordance with this arrangement, officers are appointed by the cantons for the units of the cantonal troops (i.e., up to the rank of captain), and by the Federal Council for troops of the Confederation and for combined corps. In time of peace the highest commands are held by colonels. When mobilisation is contemplated, one of the colonels is appointed commander-in-chief and is styled General, but on demobilisation he reverts to his former rank.

In 1900 (according to the results of a census of horses) there were in Switzerland 103,578 horses of which 65,194 were fit for military service.