maintenance of these works, and the preservation of existing forests. ART. 25. The Confederation has power to make legislative enactments for the regulation of the right of fishing and hunting, particularly with a view to the preservation of the large game in the mountains, as well as for the protection of birds useful to agriculture and forestry. ART. 26. Legislation upon the construction and operation of railroads is in the province of the Confederation. ART. 27. The Confederation has the right to establish, besides the existing Polytechnic School, a Federal University and other institutions of higher instruction, or to subsidize institutions of such nature. The Cantons provide for primary instruction, which shall be sufficient, and shall be placed exclusively under the direction of the secular authority. It is compulsory and, in the public schools, free. The public schools shall be such that they may be frequented by the adherents of all religious sects, without any offense to their freedom of conscience or of belief. The Confederation shall take the necessary measures against such Cantons as shall not fulfill these duties. ART. 28. federation. ART. 29. The customs are in the province of the ConIt may levy export and import duties. The collection of the federal customs shall be regulated according to the following principles: I. Duties on imports: (a) Materials necessary for the manufactures and agriculture of the country shall be taxed as low as possible. (b) It shall be the same with the necessities of life. Luxuries shall be subjected to the highest duties. Unless there are imperative reasons to the contrary, these principles shall be observed also in the conclusion of treaties of commerce with foreign powers. 2. The duties on exports shall also be as low as possible. 3. The customs legislation shall include suitable provisions for the continuance of commercial and market intercourse across the frontier. The above provisions do not prevent the Confederation from making temporary exceptional provisions, under extraordinary circumstances. ART. 30. federation. The proceeds of the customs belong to the Con The indemnity ceases which hitherto has been paid to the Cantons for the redemption of customs, for road and bridge tolls, customs duties and other like dues. By exception, and on account of their international alpine roads, the Cantons of Uri, Grisons, Ticino, and Valais receive an annual indemnity, which, considering all the circumstances, is fixed as follows: Uri, 80,000 francs. Grisons, 200,000 francs. The Cantons of Uri and Ticino shall receive in addition, for clearing the snow from the Saint Gotthard road, an annual indemnity of 40,000 francs, so long as that road shall not be replaced by a railroad. ART. 31. The freedom of trade and of industry is guaranteed throughout the whole extent of the Confederation. The following subjects are excepted: (a) The salt and gunpowder monopoly, the federal customs, import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors, and other taxes on consumption expressly permitted by the Confederation, according to Article 32. (b) The manufacture and sale of alcohol, under Article 32 (ii). [Amendment of Dec. 22, 1885.] (c) Drinking places, and the retail trade in spirituous liquors; but nevertheless the Cantons may by legislation subject the business of keeping drinking places, and the retail trade in spirituous liquors, to such restrictions as are required for the public welfare. [Amendment of Dec. 22, 1885.] (d) Measures of sanitary police against epidemics and cattle diseases. (e) Provisions in regard to the exercise of trades and manufactures, in regard to taxes imposed thereon, and in regard to the police of the roads. These provisions shall not contain anything contrary to the principle of freedom of trade and manufacture. ART. 32. The Cantons are authorized to collect the import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors, provided in Article 31 (a), always under the following restrictions: (a) The collection of these import duties shall in no wise impede transportation: commerce shall be obstructed as little as possible and shall not be burdened with any other dues. (b) If the articles imported for consumption are reëxported from the Canton, the duties paid on importation shall be refunded, without further charges. (c) Products of Swiss origin shall be less burdened than those of foreign countries. (d) The existing import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors of Swiss origin shall not be increased by the Cantons which already levy them. Such duties shall not be established upon such articles by Cantons which do not at present collect them. (e) The laws and ordinances of the Cantons on the collection of import duties shall, before their going into effect, be submitted to the federal government for approval, in order that it may, if necessary, cause the enforcement of the preceding provisions. All the import duties now levied by the Cantons, as well as the similar duties levied by the Communes, shall cease, without indemnity, at the end of the year 1890. ART. 32 (ii). [Amendment of Dec. 22, 1885.] The Confederation is authorized by legislation to make regulations for the manufacture and sale of alcohol. In this legislation those products which are intended for exportation, or which have been subjected to a process excluding them from use as a beverage, shall be subjected to no tax. Distillation of wine, fruit, and their by-products, of gentian root, juniper berries, and similar products, is not subject to federal legislation as to manufacture or tax. After the cessation of the import duties on spirituous liquors, provided for in Article 32 of the Constitution, the trade in liquors not distilled shall not be subjected by the Cantons to any special taxes or to other limitations than those necessary for protection against adulterated or noxious beverages. Nevertheless, the powers of the Cantons, defined in Article 31, are retained over the keeping of drinking places, and the sale at retail of quantities less than two liters. The net proceeds resulting from taxation on the sale of alcohol belong to the Cantons in which the tax is levied. The net proceeds to the Confederation from the internal manufacture of alcohol, and the corresponding addition to the duty on imported alcohol, are divided among all the Cantons, in proportion to the actual population as ascertained from time to time by the next preceding federal census. Out of the receipts therefrom the Cantons must expend not less than one tenth in combating drunkenness in its causes and effects. ART. 33. The Cantons may require proofs of competency from those who desire to practice a liberal profession. Provision shall be made by federal legislation by which such persons may obtain certificates of competency which shall be valid throughout the Confederation. ART. 34. The Confederation has power to enact uniform provisions as to the labor of children in factories, and as to the duration of labor fixed for adults therein, and as to the protection of workmen against the operation of unhealthy and dangerous manufactures. The transactions of emigration agents and of organizations for insurance, not instituted by the State, are subject to federal supervision and legislation. ART: 35. The opening of gaming houses is forbidden. Those which now exist shall be closed Dec. 31, 1877. The concessions which may have been granted or renewed since the beginning of the year 1871 are declared invalid. The Confederation may also take necessary measures concerning lotteries. ART. 36. The posts and telegraphs in all Switzerland are controlled by the Confederation. The proceeds of the posts and telegraphs belong to the federal treasury. The rates shall, for all parts of Switzerland, be fixed according to the same principle and as fairly as possible. Inviolable secrecy of letters and telegrams is guaranteed. ART. 37. The Confederation exercises general oversight over those roads and bridges in the maintenance of which it is interested. The sums due to the Cantons mentioned in Article 30, on account of their international alpine roads, shall be retained by the federal government if such roads are not kept by them in suitable condition. ART. 38. The Confederation exercises all the exclusive rights pertaining to coinage. It has the sole right of coining money. It establishes the monetary system, and may enact provisions, if necessary, for the rate of exchange of foreign coins. ART. 39. The Confederation has the power to make by law general provisions for the issue and redemption of bank notes. But it shall not create any monopoly for the issue of bank notes, nor make such notes a legal tender. ART. 40. and measures. The Confederation fixes the standard of weights The Cantons, under the supervision of the Confederation, enforce the laws relating thereto. ART. 41. The manufacture and the sale of gunpowder throughout Switzerland pertains exclusively to the Confed eration. Powders used for blasting and not suitable for shooting are not included in the monopoly. ART. 42. The expenditures of the Confederation are met as follows: (a) Out of the income from federal property. (b) Out of the proceeds of the federal customs levied at the Swiss frontier. (c) Out of the proceeds of the posts and telegraphs. (d) Out of the proceeds of the powder monopoly. (e) Out of half of the gross receipts from the tax on military exemptions levied by the Cantons. (f) Out of the contributions of the Cantons, which shall be determined by federal legislation, with special reference to their wealth and taxable resources. ART. 43. Every citizen of a Canton is a Swiss citizen. As such he may participate, in the place where he is domiciled, in all federal elections and popular votes, after having duly proven his qualification as a voter. No person can exercise political rights in more than one Canton. The Swiss settled as a citizen outside his native Canton enjoys, in the place where he is domiciled, all the rights of the citizens of the Canton, including all the rights of the communal citizen. Participation in municipal and corporate property, and the right to vote upon purely municipal affairs, are excepted from such rights, unless the Canton by legislation has otherwise provided. In cantonal and communal affairs, he gains the right to vote after a residence of three months. |