The power of the general government in Switzerland, as that of the United States, extends not merely to those affairs which are turned over to it by the exact words of the Constitution itself, but also to the relations whose control by the central government appears as a necessity for its performance of the duties devolving upon it. In a comparison of the Swiss Federal polity with that of the United States, it must be borne in mind that the infinite variety in the local and otherwise peculiar circumstances of different nations, produces wide discrepancies between governments bearing a common appellation. There exists, indeed, but little community of opinion or uniformity of practice beyond the circumscribed limits of those maxims in politics which are deducible by direct inference from moral truths. The great mass of those rules and principles which have a more immediate influence on practice, and give to government its tone and peculiar organization, are of a description purely local; deriving their force from local interests, and therefore, however just, are only applicable in their full extent to the particular case. Hence it is that constitutions, nominally and externally the same, have little or no interior resemblance, and in many instances only so far correspond as to justify us in referring them to one common standard. The United States and Switzerland have republican states joined in a republican union, with a division of powers between states and union approximately the same; and they present the most completely developed types of that federalism “which desires union and does not desire unity;” the same problem upon which all civilized peoples have been working ever since civilization began,—how to insure peaceful concerted action throughout the whole, without infringing upon local and individual freedom in the parts; to reconcile the welfare and security of the whole with the local claims and diversified institutions of the component parts. The Swiss Constitution blends these ends harmoniously in a government not too centralized to act in the interest of the localities; but a little too closely wedded to routine to adapt itself to changing conditions. The federative principle implies the existence of opposing tendencies, active within a superior agency, which is capable of regulating their mutual aggression, and of securing their harmony. Over the two historical forces, Nationalism and Localism, the federative principle asserts its supremacy, and gives them simultaneous, correlated, and adequate expression. Under confederation, both Nationalism and Localism by different processes increase each its original determinative strength; and the danger arises that either alone might force a union of but partial means and incapable of the highest end. The federative principle by its own creative energy chooses the time and method of its complete self-assertion, and brings its factors to the work of “forming the more perfect union.” Thus Nationalism and Localism, though their methods are in constant warfare, their aim is one,—the good of the individual, who in his dual relation is an epitome of the controlling principle. A complete harmony of the two elements of the federative principle can never be realized; but the tendency is ever towards harmony, thus placing before our hopes an ideal state. In constructing his ideal republic, Plato rejects discordant powers and forces which would bring false harmony, and leaves but two essential elements: “These two harmonies I ask you to leave,—the strain of necessity and the strain of freedom, the strain of courage and the strain of temperance.” In a republic, national will and local self-rule—the one federative principle—constitute true harmony.[28]
The question of government is a question of the application of means to an end; that end being, in general terms, the happiness and prosperity of the people. Government considered as comprehending those laws and principles which regulate the conduct of the individual in his relative capacity to the state, being continually present to his mind, must invariably influence his habits of thinking and acting. The genius of the organic law, the Constitution, is transfused into the national mind, and in the character of the citizens we recognize the congenial spirit of the laws.
The history of the Swiss Constitution is the history of a confederation of free Cantons, uniting city and rural communities in a common league; providing at once for separate autonomies, and for confederate union and government; insuring mutual protection and a national policy. It represents a wise and politic union; a union constituting an honorable European state in the full enjoyment of its ancient franchises; a union of strength and national life and enduring liberty. Times and circumstances taught their own lesson; civil and religious establishments were imperfectly produced, roughly moulded, and slowly improved, but they were adequate to dispense the blessings of a free government to a brave and artless people, in a state of great comparative independence and honor, security and happiness.
A constitution is valuable in proportion as it is suited to the circumstances, desires, and aspirations of the people, and as it contains within itself the elements of stability and security against disorder and revolution. Measured by this standard, the Swiss Constitution is an excellent adaptation to the conditions of a most varied and composite nationality. With a strong paternal tendency, the Constitution takes cognizance of the citizen at his birth by registration, and guarding him through life with legislative scrutiny, vigilant and minute, it insures him a “decent burial.” Yet this searching, far-reaching, central authority is administered in a beneficent and patriotic spirit, with a jealous regard for all the highest natural rights of man.
Federalism tends to conservatism; it is almost certain to impress on the minds of citizens the idea that any provision included in the organic law is immutable and, so to speak, sacred. History shows that those states have been most stable and prosperous which, in casting off an old allegiance or in ordering their political constitutions afresh, made no more changes than were absolutely needful, and did not violently snap the tie between the old and the new state of things; that the best form of government will commonly be that which the events of its history have given it,—a government which has arisen out of the events and necessities of the country. Switzerland and the United States are examples of commonwealths whose success has been largely owing to the comparatively small amount of change which accompanied their acquisition of independence. Each has that form of government which the events of its history have made natural for it. In each the existing political system is founded on the practical needs of the time and place. Referring to the preamble of the Declaration of Rights, wherein the prayer is made, “That it may be declared and enacted that all and singular the rights and liberties asserted and declared, are the true ancient and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom,” Burke says, “By adhering in this manner to our forefathers, we are guided, not by the superstition of antiquarians, but the spirit of philosophic analogy. In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of policy the image of a relation in blood, binding up the constitution of our country with our dearest domestic ties, adopting our fundamental laws into the bosom of our family affections; keeping inseparable, and cherishing with the warmth of all their combined and mutually reflected charities, our state, our hearths, our sepulchres, and our altars.” Switzerland and the United States in their organic law and its application, while presenting many and essential differences, constitute the only two genuine and thorough republics in existence; and each system better suits the position of the nation which has adopted it. Switzerland, though beyond all others a regenerate nation, was still an old nation; above all things a system was needed which should preserve everything and jeopardize nothing. She seized on a rare and happy moment, when all the despots of Europe had enough to do at home, to reform her constitution without foreign intermeddling; and she formed a system which exactly suits the position of a small, free, conservative power, ready as ever to defend its own, but neither capable nor desirous of aggrandizement at the expense of others. The Swiss have a way of keeping their current history to themselves; or the outside world has a way of not asking for it, which is much the same thing. They are unique among civilized people for the extreme modesty of their claim upon the attention of mankind. This might imply the highest qualities or the lowest; but no one who knows anything of the little republic will doubt to which of them it is to be assigned. She lives, moves, and works without fuss or friction; and is constantly solving in her own way some of the hardest problems of politics. She has found out how to maintain perfect peace between diverse races and conflicting creeds; to adjust and harmonize discordant views and principles; and preserve to the several elements of the confederacy a due proportion of constitutional authority. This difficult task has been accomplished, not indeed without frictions, not without armed collisions, and not until after many trials and experiments; but it has been done, and on the whole successfully.
Nothing is so easy as to find fault in every form of government, and nothing so hard as to show a perfect one reduced to practice. Most of the plans of government seem to have been formed like houses built at several times; for as the old parts of them always deface the new and render them irregular, so upon the establishment of any new frame something of the old is still preserved and enters into the frame of the new, which is not of a piece with it, and consequently spoils its symmetry. No one can look closely into the Constitution of Switzerland and fail to discover that, in its provisions, the principles of a democratic confederation find the elements of sound and vigorous health.
Enlightened freedom, governed and secured by law, upholds the fabric of the Constitution; salubrious streams issuing from education and patriotism, consecrated by religion, mingle with each other, and unite in diffusing fertility through every channel of the state. The everlasting league still lives on, to shame the novel and momentary devices of the kingdoms and commonwealths which rise and fall around it.[29]
CHAPTER III.
THE FEDERAL ASSEMBLY.
Bundesversammlung; Assemblée fédérale.
“A legislative, and an executive, and a judicial power comprehend the whole of what is meant by government.”[30] We find in Switzerland this general division of powers, with many interesting and instructive peculiarities, which give the Swiss federalism an individual character.