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In round numbers, 2,092,000 of the Swiss people speak German, 637,000
French, 156,000 Italian, and 30,000 Romansch. Of the principal cities,
in 1887, Zurich, with suburbs, had 92,685 inhabitants; Bale, 73,963;
Geneva, with suburbs, 73,504; Berne, 50,220; Lausanne, 32,954; and five
others from 17,000 to 25,000. Fourteen per cent of the inhabitants
(410,000) live in cities of more than 15,000. The factory workers number
161,000, representing about half a million inhabitants, and the peasant
proprietors nearly 260,000, representing almost two millions. The area
of Switzerland is 15,892 square miles,--slightly in excess of double
that of New Jersey. The population is slightly less than that of Ohio.

_Switzerland--The Youngest of Republics._

It is misleading to suppose, as is often done, that the Switzerland of
today is the republic which has stood for six hundred years. In truth,
it is the youngest of republics. Its chief governmental features,
cantonal and federal, are the work of the present generation. Its unique
executive council, its democratic army organization, its republican
railway management, its federal post-office, its system of taxation, its
two-chambered congress, the very Confederation itself--all were
originated in the constitution of 1848, the first that was anything more
than a federal compact. The federal Referendum began only in 1874. The
federal Initiative has been just adopted (1891.)[C] The form of cantonal
Referendum now practiced was but begun (in St. Gall) in 1830, and forty
years ago only five cantons had any Referendum whatever, and these in
the optional form. It is of very recent years that the movement has
become steady toward the general adoption of the cantonal Referendum. In
1860 but 34 per cent of the Swiss possessed it, 66 per cent delegating
their sovereign rights to representatives. But in 1870 the
referendariship had risen to 71 per cent, only 29 submitting to
lawmaking officials; and today the proportions are more than 90 per cent
to less than 10.

[Footnote C: For constitutional amendments only.]

The thoughtful reader will ask: Why this continual progress toward a
purer democracy? Wherein lie the inducements to this persistent
revolution?

The answer is this: The masses of the citizens of Switzerland found it
necessary to revolt against their plutocracy and the corrupt politicians
who were exploiting the country through the representative system.