The following table gives the budget estimates for 1905 :—

The public debt of the Confederation amounted, on January 1, 1904, to 118,552,948 francs, mostly at 3 per cent. At the same date the Federal Fortune,' or State property, was: real property, 59,009,800 francs; stock, &c., 50,839,998 francs; works producing interest, 36,580,570 francs; stores not producing interest, 22,071,947 francs; various debts, 599,720 francs; inventory, 43,389,063 francs; alcohol administration and cash, 8,949,098 francs; total, 221,449,199 francs, the net Fortune being thus 102,896, 251 francs. At the same time the Confederation had special funds and foundations for beneficent purposes amounting to 55,478,262 francs, and deposits from cantons, banks, &c., for similar purposes amounting to 2,317,543 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 1904 numbered 15,969. 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 year. 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

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, 283 of the Elite (3,135 being artillerymen), and 13,835 of the Landwehr (1,123 being artillerymen). The Landwehr cavalry consists of personnel only. The headquarters staff of the army on January 1, 1904, consisted of 53 officers, with 16 subordinate officials, and 37 other soldiers, while the staff of the territorial service numbered 966 officers with 1,204 non-commissioned officers and men. The effective strength of the Elite, Landwehr, and Landsturm on January 1, 1904, 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.

Production and Industry.

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

Of the total area 28.4 per cent. is unproductive; of the productive area 35.8 per cent. is under grass and meadows, 29 per cent. under forest, 18.7 per cent. under fruit, 164 per cent. under crops and gardens. Rye, oats, and potatoes are the chief crops, but the bulk of food crops consumed in the country is imported. The chief agricultural industries are the manufacture of cheese and condensed milk. The export of cheese (1903) amounts to 243,320 quintals, and of condensed milk to 329,917 quintals. In 1902, 30,892 hectares were under vines; the wine produced reached 1,190,566 hectolitres, of the value of 36,212,328 francs. In 1902 there were in Switzerland 124,896 horses, 4,866 mules and asses, 1,340,375 cattle, 219,438 sheep, 555,261 pigs, 354,634 goats.

The Swiss Confederation has the right of supervision over the police of the forests, and of framing regulations for their maintenance. The entire forest area of Switzerland is 3,296 square miles, or 2,109,368 acres in extent. The district over which the Federal supervision extends lies to the south and east of a tolerably straight line from the eastern end of the Lake of Geneva to the northern end of the Lake of Constance. It comprises about 1,119,270 acres, and the Federal forest laws apply to all cantonal, communal, and municipal forests within this area, those belonging to private persons being exempt, except when from their position they are necessary for protection against climatic influences. In 1876 it was enacted that this forest area should never be reduced; servitudes over it, such as rights of way, of gathering firewood, &c., should be bought up; public forests should be surveyed, and new wood planted where required, subventions for the purpose being sanctioned. In the year 1903, 23,395,524 trees were planted, while timber amounting to 1,849,874 cubic metres was cut. The free forest districts comprise 1,477 square miles.

There were, in 1903, 171 establishments for pisciculture, which produced fry of various species to the number of 38,827,900.

Switzerland is in the main an agricultural country, though with a strong tendency to manufacturing industry. There are 5 salt-mining districts; that at Bex (Vaud) belongs to the Canton, but is worked by a private company; that at Schweizerhalle (Basel) is worked by the Glenck family; those at Rheinfelden, Ryburg, and Kaiseraugst (Aargau) are worked by a joint-stock company, in virtue of a concession from the Canton. The output of salt of all kinds in 1902 reached 509,905 quintals. From the various cement works the output in 1902 amounted to 459,936 metric tons. In 1901, there were

altogether in Switzerland 6,080 factories of various kinds, subject to the factory law, employing workpeople to the number of 242,534, and machinery of 320,431 horse-power, more than half of which was derived from water-power. The chief industries were the various textile industries, 1,730 establishments, employing 97,193 hands; leather, &c., 146 establishments, with 9,273 hands; articles of food, 638, with 18,393 hands; chemical products, 279, with 7,016 hands; wood industry, 852, with 14,474 hands; metals, 377, with 12,731 hands; machinery, 522, with 32,647 hands; paper, 496, with 13,781 hands; watches, jewellery, &c., 663, with 24,858 hands; stone, &c., 398, with 12,168 hands. In 1902, 228 breweries produced 1,998,822 hectolitres of beer. The Federal alcohol régie in the year 1903 sold 56,772 metric quintals of drinkable spirits and 48,690 metric quintals

of methylated spirits.

In Switzerland there are about 1,896 hotels and boarding-houses employing 27,700 persons, the capital employed amounting to 550,480,000 francs.

Commerce.

The special commerce, including precious metals, was as follows in five

Imports
Exports

Francs Francs Francs Francs Francs 1,283,987,717 1,206,809,617 1,118,569,803 1,207,243,606 1,252,091,531 865,666,888 884,898,771 863,115,323 916,916,101 916,733,015

What is known as the effective imports (not including direct transit) amounted to 1,272,834,353 francs in 1903, and effective exports to 930,297,283 francs. The following table shows the value of special commerce in two years :

In 1903 wheat was imported to the value of 81,807,517 francs, and flour to the value of 6,248,653 francs; cheese was exported to the value of 41,750,501 francs, and condensed milk to the value of 31,455,996 francs.