d the Valais.]

[Footnote 590: A. Stern, Zur Geschichte des
Sonderbundes, in _Historische Zeitschrift_, 1879;
W. B. Duffield, The War of the Sonderbund, in
_English Historical Review_, Oct., 1895; and P.
Matter, Le Sonderbund, in _Annales de l'Ecole Libre
des Sciences Politiques_, Jan. 15, 1896.]

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

The adoption of the constitution of 1848, ensuring a modified revival
of the governmental regime of 1798-1803, comprised a distinct victory
for the Radical, or Centralist, party. During the two decades which
followed this party maintained complete control of the federal
government, and in 1872 it brought forward the draft of a new
constitution whose centralizing tendencies were still more pronounced.
By popular vote this proffered constitution was rejected. Another
draft, however, was prepared and, April 19, 1874, by a vote of 14-1/2
cantons against 7-1/2, it was adopted. The popular vote was 340,149 to
198,013. Amended subsequently upon a large number of occasions,[591]
the instrument of 1874 is the fundamental law of the Swiss
Confederation to-day, although it is essential to observe that it
represents only a revision of the constitution of 1848. As a recent
writer has said, "the one region on the continent to which the storms
of 1848 brought immediate advantage was Switzerland, for to them it
owes its transformation into a well-organized federal state."[592]

[Footnote 591: For the methods of constituti