Chapter I

The Cantons are sovereign so far as their sovereignty is
not limited by the Federal Constitution, and as such they
exercise all the rights which are not delegated to the Federal
government. All Swiss are equal before the law, with neither
political dependence, nor privilege of place, birth, persons,
or families. The Confederation guarantees to the Cantons their
territory, their sovereignty (within the limits fixed), their
Constitutions, the liberty and rights of the people, the
constitutional rights of citizens, and the rights and powers
which the people have conferred on those in authority. The
Cantons are bound to ask of the Confederation the guarantee of
their Constitutions: this is accorded, provided,--

(_a_) That the Constitutions contain nothing contrary to the
provisions of the Federal Constitution.

(_b_) That they assure the exercise of political rights
according to republican forms, representative or democratic.

(_c_) That they have been ratified by the people, and may be
amended whenever the majority of all the citizens demand it.

All separate alliances and all treaties of a political
character between the Cantons are forbidden. The Confederation
has the sole right of declaring war, of making peace, and
of concluding alliances and treaties with foreign powers,
particularly treaties relating to tariffs and commerce. No
military capitulations shall be made.[16] Members of the
Federal Government, civil and military officials of the
Confederation, and Federal Representatives or Commissioners
shall not accept from foreign Governments any pension, salary,
title, present, or decoration. The Confederation has no right
to maintain a standing army: every Swiss is subject to military
service. The Confederation may construct at its own expense, or
may aid by subsidies, public works which concern Switzerland
or a considerable part of the country: the Confederation has
the right of general supervision over the water and forest
police measures in the upper mountain regions. It is authorized
to adopt regulations as to the right of fishing and hunting,
especially for the preservation of the large game in the
mountains, and for the protection of birds which are useful
to agriculture or forestry. Legislation pertaining to the
construction and operation of railways is an affair of the
Confederation. It has the right to establish, in addition to
the existing Polytechnic school, a Federal University and other
higher institutions of learning, or assist in their support.
The customs are in the province of the Confederation; it may
levy export and import duties; but the collection of the
Federal customs shall be regulated according to the following
principles:

1. Import duties.

(_a_) Materials necessary to the manufactures and agriculture
of the country shall be taxed as low as possible.

(_b_) Likewise all articles which may be classed as necessaries
of life.

(_c_) Luxuries shall be subjected to the highest duties.

2. Export duties 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 freedom of trade and of industry is guaranteed throughout
the whole of the Confederation: excepted from this rule are
the salt and gunpowder monopolies, the Federal customs,
measures of sanitary police against epidemics and cattle
diseases, import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors,
and other taxes on consumption expressly permitted by the
Confederation, under certain restrictions: but all the import
duties levied by the Cantons as well as the similar duties
levied by the Communes to cease, without indemnity, at the end
of the year 1890. 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 business of emigration agents
and of private insurance companies shall be subject to the
supervision and legislation of the Confederation. The opening
of gambling-houses is forbidden (those in existence allowed
until December 31, 1877, to close); necessary measures may
also be taken concerning lotteries. The post and telegraphs
(now includes the telephone) in all Switzerland are controlled
by the Confederation, and the proceeds belong to the Federal
Treasury; the tariff charges shall be regulated according to
uniform principles in as equitable a manner as possible, and
inviolable secrecy of letters and telegrams is guaranteed. To
the Confederation belongs the exercise of all rights included
in the coinage monopoly: it alone shall coin money, establish
the monetary system, and enact provisions, if necessary, for
the rate of exchange of foreign coins, and to make by law
general provisions as to the issue and redemption of banknotes:
it shall not, however, establish any monopoly for the issue
of banknotes, nor make them a legal tender. The Confederation
fixes the standard of weights and measures. The manufacture
and the sale of gunpowder throughout Switzerland pertains
exclusively to the Confederation (the manufacture and sale of
spirituous liquors was made a Federal monopoly December 22,
1885). Every citizen of a Canton is also a Swiss citizen, and
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.[17] A Federal law shall
establish the distinction between settlement and temporary
residence, and shall at the same time make the regulations
to which Swiss temporary residents shall be subjected as to
their political rights and their civil rights. A Federal law
shall make provision as to the cost of the care and burial
of indigent persons of one Canton who may become sick or die
in another Canton. Freedom of conscience and belief shall be
inviolable; no one shall be compelled to take part in any
religious society or in any religious instruction, or to
undertake any religious act, nor shall he be punished in any
way whatever for his religious views. The person who exercises
the parents’ or guardians’ authority has the right, conformably
to the principles above stated, to regulate the religious
education of children up to the close of their sixteenth year.
The exercise of civil or political rights shall not be abridged
by any provisions or conditions whatever of an ecclesiastical
or religious kind. Religious views shall not absolve from the
performance of civil duties. No person is bound to pay taxes
of which the proceeds are specifically appropriated to the
expenses of any religious society to which he does not belong.
The free exercise of religious worship is guaranteed within
the limits of morality and public order; the Cantons and the
Confederation may take suitable measures for the preservation
of public order and of peace between the members of different
religious bodies, as well as against any interference in the
rights of citizens or of the state by church authorities.
Contests in public and private law which arise out of the
formation or the division of religious bodies may be brought by
appeal before the competent Federal authorities. No bishopric
shall be created upon Swiss territory without the consent of
the Confederation; neither the order of the Jesuits nor the
societies affiliated with them shall be suffered in any part
of Switzerland, and all participation of their members either
in church or school is prohibited; this prohibition may be
extended also by Federal ordinance to other religious orders
whose action is dangerous to the state, or disturbs the peace
between sects. The establishment of new convents or religious
orders or the restoration of those which have been suppressed
is forbidden. The civil status and the keeping of records
thereof is subject to the civil authority (taking it away from
the clergy, who were formerly the custodians). The disposition
of burial-places shall belong to the civil authorities; they
shall take care that every deceased person may be decently
interred (to prevent denial of burial by the church). The
right of marriage is placed within the protection of the
Confederation; this right shall not be limited for confessional
or economic considerations, nor on account of previous conduct
or other police reasons; no tax upon admission or similar tax
shall be levied upon either party to a marriage. Freedom of
the press is guaranteed; the Confederation may enact penalties
against the abuse of the freedom of the press when directed
against it or its authorities. The right of petition is
guaranteed. No person shall be deprived of his constitutional
judge, and there shall consequently be no extraordinary
tribunal established.[18] Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is
abolished. Suits for personal claims against a solvent debtor
having a domicile in Switzerland must be brought before the
judge of his domicile; in consequence his property outside the
Canton in which he is domiciled may not be attached in suits
for personal claims; with reference to foreigners, however,
the provisions of the respective international treaties shall
apply. Imprisonment for debt is abolished. The exit duty on
property is abolished as respects foreign countries, provided
reciprocity be observed. The Confederation shall have power to
legislate:

1. On civil capacity.

2. On all legal questions relating to commerce and to
transactions affecting chattels (law of commercial obligations,
including commercial law and law of exchange).

3. On literary and artistic copyright.[19]

4. On the legal collection of debts and on bankruptcy.

Capital punishment abolished;[20] corporal punishment is
forbidden. The Confederation by law provides for the
extradition of accused persons from one Canton to another;
nevertheless, extradition shall not be made obligatory for
political offences and offences of the press. Measures shall be
taken by Federal law for the incorporation of persons without
a country.[21] The Confederation has power to expel from its
territory foreigners who endanger the internal or external
safety of Switzerland.

The second chapter embraces the _Federal Authorities_: