HEALTHY DEMOCRACY

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4328, 24 August 1937, Page 7

HEALTHY DEMOCRACY

VOTING IN SWISS CANTON OPEN-AIR ELECTIONS Evidence of the strength of democracy in Switzerland is seen in the Landsgemeinde—yearly election gatherings in some of the smallest and most mountainous cantons. On a Sunday the citizens assemble in the market place of the chief town, elect their local government, magistrates, deputies, discuss and pass laws, and vote their budget. They do all this with solemnity. It is a great and moving sight. With less serenity did the Athenians and Spartans discuss their public affairs on their agora. In 1238 the Swiss mountaineers of Uri had already held their Landsgemeinde. This is an attested date, but' the Landsgemeinde exsted eariler, certainly much earlier than the Norman Conquest. To-day the Swiss citizens still attend these meetings in great crowds. They discuss, study, ponder, and vote. The snowy mountains re-echo their roices, forming a fitting frame for this dignified act of a free people. in the soft morning light the peasants go down to town, riding heavy plough horses, or taking their families with them on jostling char-a-bancs. Many of them go on foot, and the procession of dark Sunday clothes, dotted with the bright colours of the bodices and head-dresses of the women’s national costumes, winds through the blossoming orchards of intensely green valleys. On the town square stands the Ring, a large oval with a raised platform in the centre and sloping boards on the sides. Thus, in Glams, the 6,000 electors can see everything an 4 be seen from all points. Tall ushers, dressed in their official gowns, scarlet red with a black-and-white border (the national colours), keep in order the 100 or so turbulent boys who stand round the platform, presently to receive a grand civic lesson. Other ushers precede the Governmental procession of dignitaries in top hats and frock coats, which passes slowly among the gabled houses of the streets, while the church bells peal joyfully. They enter the Ring. All stand up "and uncover their heads. Silence reigns. An usher offers the first magistrate a sceptre, symbol of power, and unsheathes the sword of justice. In other cantons, Unterwalden and Appenzell, there is a prayer and the Landsgemeinde song. But Glarus is half Roman Catholic and half Protestant, and care is taken to avoid anything which might disturb religioms peace. The cathedral is used every Sunday by Protestants and Roman Catholics at different hours. In Appenzell all the citizens carry a sword, sometimes a very old one, which gives them the right of entrance to the Ring. No other proof is required for exercising the right to vote. Fraud does not exist; the idea of taking precautions against it does not occur to these citizens. The oath is taken. The first magistrate, the Landamann, raises his right hand, with thumb and two fingers lifted, the others folded. He swears to remain faithful. And the 6,000 citizens do the same: “Dieses schwore ich,” (This I swear). They repeat these solemn words with one voice. This oath and this gesture is repeated every year. It was given so on the Grutli meadow by the three Swiss who founded Switzerland in 1291. The Landamann speaks now. He accounts for his .administration, comments on the events of the year, both local and international. Then come elections; the vote is taken with up lifted hands, and results proclaimed at sight. Votes would be counted in case of doubt. Then the new laws are discussed in perfect freedom. There is no pressure on the part of the authorities. A proposition from the Landamann is successfully attacked by a robust and witty peasant who makes an unexpected speech in dialect. The Glarus judges are still elected as they have been for 600 years. The Landsgemeinde is finished. It has lasted three long hours. The citizens disperse in the towns. They join their wives, children, or sweethearts (women are never admitted to the Ring) and a joyful fair takes place. The Landsgemeinde is possible only through the greatest sincerity. Intrigues have smothered it in other cantons Marxism is in general incompatible with it. Yet the Swiss peasants remain attached to it. The* Landsgemeinde is the sign that democracy is strong and healthy in Switzerland.