New-York tribune. [volume], October 15, 1905, Page 3, Image 19

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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VOTIXG IN SWITZERLAND.
r An Oldtimt Method Kepi Up in
Modern Day*.
Br *- i- BciBMO.
The Lcmdes Gemeinde Is the n«ra» given ts*
Ota system of voting as practised In several can-
tons in the German port of Switzerland, and,
talon place annually on the last Sunday of
April. This form of voting is the oldest in
Switzerland and probably greatly antedates the
republic.
In these cantons the voting Is obligatory,
Every man of voting age most report at the
voting place under pain of a fine. Every man
bears a sword, which is also a part of the rule.
The?- swords -re. mar.y of them, of antique pat
tern. There seems to be no rule about the mat
ter, anything that can be by any courtesy called
a sword serving the purpose. The gentry, how
ever, distinguish themselves from The common
peop> by carrying- finer swords, according to
their station in life. Apart from this, however,
the sword plays no part in the ceremony what
ever, and is borne simply as a badge to indicate
that the bearer is a voter on peaceful deeds in
tent, and is often carried in the hand strapped
up with an umbrella.
In Hundwil. when I arrived at 9 o'clock, there
■was already a crowd assembled, drinking beer,
for many of them had come troin a distance of
twenty or thirty miles. The voting place was *
tig gr-^en square, inclining upward, that served
for the rest of the year as a market place. At
the base a platform was erected (painted yellow
and decorated with two immense swords), on
which ? ere to stand the dignitaries to be voted
for. In Brant of this were arranged the voters—
a compact ass of from 10.000 to 15,000 persona.
An escort of halberdiers dressed in antique cos
tume paraded around the square three times
while the mass of voters was assembling, the
local band discoursing more or less agreeable
music the while.
The ceremony began promptly at 11 o'clock
by the solemn march of the dignitaries, preceded
by the halberdiers, who marched at a. funeral
pace from the door of the house where they
bad bn-n waiting to the platform, a short dis
tance of perhaps a hundred feet. This was the
or-Jy attempt at ceremony. Once on the pla»
form, things moved rapidly. The first In order
was the singing of the App^ngeH hymns, after
which came the address of the Landmann. The
■whole audience of over ten thousand men re
moved their hats. The Landmann, In a voice
that easily reached the most distant of his audi
tor?, made a review of the past, and exhorted hta
hearers to remember the blessing of the free
government under which they lived and to do
their duty as men and citizens, eta
After the address came a silent prayer of half
a minute, and the voting proper was ready to be
gin. In the present case the men to be voted
for were the officers . who had already served and
were up for re-election. The name of each can
didate was called out by the sheriff In a voice
that was almost. If not quite, a roar. Then came
the question: "Will you replace him?" No one
moved, but at the question, "Will yon confirm
him?" a sea of hands went op on the Instant.
And so tt was to every case. Apparently there
NEW-YORK DAXLY TRIBUNE, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1905.
**■ no division 2nto parßea. Tney knew then*
men and they knew what they wanted, and the
thin* was settled mstantry. The vote was unan
imous for each man; but one of the Judges had
die* In the month of October, and his place was
to be filled. So. after the others had been con
firmed, the Landmann called for nominations
from the crowd. Every man has the right to
nominate any one he pleases, the only restric
tions being that the nominee must be a citixen
and resident of the canton. So, from out of the
THE NEW STYLE OF CLASS RUSH AT "PENNSY."
The ball has just been thrown into the air and the mad scramble begin*.
crowd one heard names called. Now and then a and. though this razety happens. lam told that
would-be wit would propose a name that ex- it has occurred.
cited a laugh, but In the mniTi it was serious. Where there arises a doubt m the vote, tne
When some half-dozen namx had been sng- voters are marched In front «f the ptarform by
tested they were read aloud «"<< proposed tor fours and counted.
the vote, one by on* F*r each name came a
Bprtntnn* of hands over the crowd tm the name
arrived that the majority of the crowd had evi
dently fixed upon, and then came the same un
mistakable upraising of hands m such numbers
that there was absolutely no doubt as to who
was elected, and his election was declared at
once by the Landmann.
AfTwy all the officers were elected, the Land
mann took the oath of office, and Own the whole
crowd, raisin* their right hands, took the oath
of nTiT' *™*** repeating aloud the formula In
cant tat sa ft was read from 9» phvtftnm. In
case same of the officers — after having served
a considerable thnA, or for any other rea
6on — -wish to resign, these resignments must
be voted on. and then the question Is: "Will
you accept these resignations?" If the vote Is
in the negative, they must continue to serve, as
this service, though slightly paid, is as obliga
tory as Is the voting. The only alternative for
the unhappy candidate is to leave the canton.
A man may thus be *i™*t*A against bis will.
THK LANDES GEMEINDE VOTE IN SWITZERLAND-TEN THOUSAND HANDS RAISED.
(Copyright. IMB, by Underwood * Underwood. New-Tort)
_
After the vote for officers, the question of
changing the constitution came up. that the
government might be carried on more in con
formity with the modern idea, but this was
promptly voted down with unanimity. One of
the convincing arguments for retaining the pres
ent form of government was that, while they
had expended large sums in public works with
out raising the taxes in any way, the public
debt of the canton was only 153 " $3OG0).
This seems an enviable enough re< ord, Lut there
are places in Switzerland that can boast of bet-
tpr than this. I recall Stein cm Ehein, where £30
people have not only no taxes to pay, but. Oft
the contrary, each citizen receives an amxmsl
dividend from the communal property. Ni^
urally, citizenship in this place is difficult to
acquire.
A NEW CLASS HUSH.
Combination of Football and Fret
Fight Tried at Pennsylvania.
An innovation in class rushes was tried with'
great success by the freshmen and sophomores
of the University of Pennsylvania last week.
Instead of the senseless fight in the basement of
College Hall, !n which many students have tn
past years received injuries, owing to the lim
ited space for the fracas, the seniors decided
this time to have the affair in Franklin Field.
As another improvement it was arranged to
make the class rush a combination of football
on a gigantic scale and a free-for-all pushing
scramble.
Sophomores and freshmen lined up on opposite
sides of Franklin Field, while the senior who
managed the affair stood in the centre with a
footbalL Each side was instructed that the
game was to carry the ball down behind the
goal posts as at football. No rules were made
for the rush. The sole object was to get the
ball back of the game posts. Any tactics short
of murdering an opponent would be deemed fair.
All class rushes are governed by this basic un
derstanding. When both sides were ready the
students stripped to the waist and. thirsting for
each other's blood, the ball was thrown into the
air, and the opposing squads came together with
a crash. Thenceforth it was a squirming, strug
gling bunch of boys, with a football somewhere
In the centre of the mass, where no one knew or
seemed to care.
The most sensational incident of this new class
rush was the sudden appearar.ee from the rim
of the struggling circle of a scared and battered
footbalL Only one boy of the half naked con
testants saw the balL The rest were too intent
on the struggle to notice that the objective of
the fight had made its escape between the feet
of the students. The one boy who happened to
see the ball making its coy way to freedom
grabbed it and held it in bis har.ds uncertainly
for a moment.
"Run with it," yelled a hundred voices in uni
son, as the astonished spectators saw what had
happened.
The boy with the hall ran, with the entire ag
gregation of students after him. But he had a
clear field, and no one could stot> him .-hort of
the goal line. He made a clean touchilown. But
—alas for the futility of human endeavor — ha
had touched the ball behind his opponents' goal,
scoring one victory for the freshmen. Emerging,
as he did, from the fracas with his head swim
ming and both sides of the field alike to him,
the unfortunate sophomore had made the unpar
donable mistake of running- with the ball in
the wrong direction.
The spectators In the stands complained that
th^y could not see what was going on, BO I xt
year a pushball will be substituted for the foot
ball The new style rush was so successful
that it will become a permanent feature of stu
dent life at Old Perm.
English, French Etchings
OF 18TII CENTCRT.
MEZZOTINTS. PHOTOS AND CARBONS
OF ALL. EIBOFKAS GALLEBI&k
12 West 28th St GEORGE BUSSE.
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