religious instruction in the school, this being compulsory on the
children professing the religion that is in the majority in that particular
commune—consequently a Protestant teacher would never
be appointed in a Romanist school or vice versa. The religious teaching
occupies an hour (always at the beginning of the school hours)
thrice a week, while special dogmatic instruction is imparted by the
pastor, outside the school-house as a rule, or in a room specially set
apart therein. The pastor is ex officio president of the Schulkommission,
while the religious teaching in school is based on a special
“school Bible,” containing short versions of the chief events
in Bible history. The exact curriculum (code) is prescribed by
the canton, and also the number of hours during which the school
must be open annually, but the precise repartition of these is left
to the local Schulkommission. The attendance registers kept
by the teachers are submitted to the Schulkommission, which takes
measures against truant children or negligent parents by means of a
written warning, followed (if need be) by a summons before a court.
The treasurer of the Schulkommission receives and distributes the
money contributions of the cantons (including the grant in aid from
the Confederation) and also of the communes, or of benevolent
private individuals. The school hours are as a rule four hours
(from 7 a.m. in summer and 8 a.m. in winter) in the morning and
(in the winter) three hours in the afternoon, but on two afternoons
in the week there is a sewing school for the girls, the boys being then
free. There are no regular half-holidays. Private schools are
permitted, but receive no financial aid from the outside, while the
teacher must hold a certificate of efficiency as in the state schools,
must adopt the same curriculum, and is subject to the by-laws made
by the Schulkommission. On the other hand he is not bound by
any conscience clause and can charge fees. A cantonal inspector
examines each school (of either class) annually and reports to the
cantonal educational authorities, who point out any deficiencies
to the local Schulkommission, which must remedy them. There
is no payment by results, nor do the money contributions (from any
source) depend on the number of attendances made, though of
course they are more or less in proportion to the number of scholars
attending that particular school. Some favour the idea of making
the primary schools wholly dependent financially on the Confederation.
This course has obvious conveniences, but a first attempt was
defeated in 1882, and the scheme is still opposed, mainly on the
ground that it would seriously impair the principle of cantonal
sovereignty, and immensely strengthen the power of the Federal
educational authorities. By the law of 1903 the quota of the
Federal subvention was fixed at sixpence per head of the resident
population of each canton, but in the case of 612 cantons (the poorer
ones) an extra twopence was added.
b. The secondary schools are meant on the one side to help those scholars of the primary schools who desire to increase their knowledge though without any idea of going on to higher studies, and on the other to prepare certain students for entrance into the middle schools. The attendance everywhere is optional, save in the city of Basel, where it is compulsory. These schools vary very much from canton to canton. The course of studies extends over two to four years, and students are admitted at ages from ten upwards. The curriculum includes the elements of the classical and modern languages, of mathematics, and of the natural sciences. They receive no Federal subvention, but are supported by the cantons and the communes. In 1905 the cantons contributed £20,000 less than the communes to the total cost of about £234,000.
c. Under the general name of middle schools (Mittelschulen or écoles moyenues) the Swiss include a variety' of educational establishments, which fall roughly under two heads:—
- Technical schools (like those at Bienne and Winterthur) and schools for instruction in various professions (commerce, agriculture, forestry and the training colleges for teachers).
- Grammar schools, colleges and cantonal schools, which in some cases prepare for the universities and in some cases do not.
The expenses of both classes fall mainly on the cantons (in 1905 about £300,000 to £130,000 from the communes), who for the former class (including certain departments of the second) receive a grant in aid from the Confederation-in 1905 about £84,500.
d. As regards the higher education the Federal Constitution of 1874 (art. 27) empowered the Confederation to erect and support, besides the existing Federal Polytechnic School (opened at Zürich in 1855, having been founded by virtue of art. 22 of the Federal Constitution of; 1848), a Federal university (this has not yet been done) and other establishments for the higher education (see c. 1 above). This clause would seem to authorize the Confederation to make grants in aid of the cantonal universities, but as yet this has not been done, while the cantons are in no hurry to give up their local universities. There are seven full universities in Switzerland—Basel (founded in 1460), Zürich (1833), Bern (1834), Geneva (1873, founded in 1559 as an académie), Fribourg (international Catholic, founded in 1889), Lausanne (1890, founded in 1537 as an académie) and Neuchâtel (existed 1840-1848, re founded in 1866, and raised from the rank of an académie to that of a university in 1909). There is besides a law school at Sion (existed 1807-1810, re founded in 1824). In general they each (save Sion, of course) have four faculties—theology, medicine, law and philosophy. Fribourg and Neuchâtel both lack a medical faculty, while Zürich and Bern have distinct faculties for veterinary medicine, and Zürich a special one for dentistry (in Geneva there is a school of dentistry), While Geneva and Neuchâtel support observatories. The theological faculty is in every case Protestant, save that in Fribourg there is only a Romanist faculty (192 students in 1907), while Bern has both a Protestant faculty and also a Christian Catholic faculty (11 students in 1907), but no Romanist faculty, despite the fact that the Romanists (mainly in the Bernese Jura) form about one-sixth of the population, while there are not very many Christian Catholics. These eight academical institutions were maintained by the cantons at a cost in 1905 of about £155,000, while in the winter session of 1906 the total number of matriculated students (of whom 3784 were non-Swiss) was 6444 (of whom 1904 were women—Fribourg does not receive them), besides 2077 “hearers”—in all 8521. The largest institution was Bern (1626 matriculated students) and the smallest Neuchâtel (163), The Federal Polytechnic School is fixed at Zürich and now comprises seven departments—architecture, engineering, industrial mechanics, industrial chemistry, agriculture and forestry, training of teachers in mathematics, physics and the natural sciences, and military science, besides a department for philosophy and political science. It enjoys a very high reputation and is much frequented by non-Swiss, who in the winter session of 1905-1906 numbered 522 out of the 1325 matriculated students (women are not admitted). In 1905 the cost of the maintenance of the school (which falls entirely upon the Confederation) was about £56,000.
Army.—The Swiss army is a purely militia force, receiving only periodical training (so far as regards men between 20 and 48 years of age), based upon the principle of universal compulsory personal military service. Till 1848 the cantons alone raised, armed, equipped and trained all military units and nominated the officers. By the Federal Constitution of 1848 (art. 20) the Confederation was entrusted with the training of the engineers, the artillery and the cavalry, with the education of instructors for all other arms, and with the higher training of all arms, while it was empowered to found military schools, to organize general military manoeuvres, and to supply a part of the war malériel. The Confederation, too, was given the supervision of the training of the infantry, as well as the furnishing, the construction' and the maintenance of all war malériel, which the cantons were bound to supply to the Confederation. The Federal Constitution of 1874 marked an advance on that of 1848 as to the following points. The principle of universal military service and the organization of the Federal army were developed according to the proportion of the population capable of bearing arms (in contradistinction to the 1848 system, art. 19, of fixed contingents in the proportion of 3 to every 100 men of the population of each canton); the entire military training and arming of these men and the cost of their uniform and equipment were taken over by the Confederation, which, too, supervised the military administration of the cantons. The uniform, equipment and Weapons of the men were to be free of cost to them, while compensation was due from the Confederation to the families of those killed or permanently injured in the course of their military service, as well as to the invalids themselves. There thus remained to the cantons the raising of all the infantry units and of most of the cavalry and artillery units as well as the nomination of the officers of all arms; all these acts were subject to the supervision of the Confederation and had to be in accordance with Federal laws and regulations. An attempt made in 1895 to extend still further the sphere of action of the Confederation in military matters was rejected by a vote of the Swiss people. Thus the present system rests partly on the 1874 Constitution, and partly on the new military law, passed by the Federal parliament on the 12th of April 1907.
a. The 1874 Constitution forbids the maintenance of any standing army (art. 13), and also (art. II) the practice (formerly very widespread) of hiring out contingents of mercenary soldiers by the Confederation or the cantons to foreign powers (“military capitulations”). The Federal government can, at or without the request of any canton, repress any disturbances within Switzerland by means of Federal troops, the cantons being bound to allow these free passage over their territory (arts. 16-17). By art. 18 every Swiss male citizen is subject to the obligation of personal military service (the families of those killed or permanently injured in the course of active Federal service as well as the invalids themselves are provided for by the Confederation), and the tax for those exempted is to be fixed by a Federal law, while every recruit receives free of cost his first uniform, equipment and weapons. Art. 16
