The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-30 00:00:00

T.HE SWISS MINISTwR'S REPLY TO

THO UVEXEL.

This rejoinder was presented on Monday after-
noon to M. Thouvenel by M. Kern, the Swiss
Minister in Paris. It commences with the usual
recapitulation of M. Thouvenel's arguments, and
which, being already in your hands, it is useless to
repeat. The note continues thus :
"The Federal Council can the less refrain from
answering this note that it has not the same man-
ner of viewing matters as is expressed therein, and
that it does not consider as proved by history the
facts which are alleged in it. It will take the
liberty, in commencing, to examine the last part of
the' note, which treats of the stipulations as of the
value that should be given to the said treaties. For
all that is essential it refers to the detailed memo-
randum on the relations between Switzerland and
neutralised Savoy, which appeared under its autho-
rity at the close of last year, and which has been
communicated to all the high Powers. Neverthe-
less, it cannot do otherwise -than insist on the fol-
lowing special points, to which, in his opinion, the
note of the 17th March (M. Thouvenel's reply to the
protest) attaches too little importance, or which it
passes over in complete silence.
" The Treaty of Peace of 1564 was not concluded
exclusively between Berne and Savoy. It was the
result of an intervention by arbitrement exercised
by the eleven non-interested States, and it was
guaranteed formally by France and Spain, since the
signatures of those high guaranteeing Powers are
to be found on this peace treaty.
" There exists no sufficient reason to prove that
this treaty has been abrogated by the events which
have taken place since then. Even on recent occa-
sions France appears to have had a different mode
of viewing this matter, as in 1798 she grounded on
those very treaties of 1564 the right to a military
occupation of the Pays de Vaud. Can, then, this
treaty have lost all value, merely because it is now
appealed to by Switzerland?
" The 23d article of the Treatyrof Turin, of the
16th of March, 1816, comes in support of the actual
validity of this treaty. The article is couched in
these terms :—' The provisions of the ancient
treaties, and particularly of the 3d of June, 1754,
which are not expressly abrogated by the present
treaty, are confirmed.' Now, we find nowhere an
express suppression of the Treaty.of 1'464, and we
are consequently authorised in maintaining that it
has been confirmed by the article alluded to.
" As to what concerns the origin and the bearing
of the Treaties of 1815, in so far as they concern
the rights of Switzerland on neutralised Savoy,
the minutes of the deliberations, and the notes
exchanged, supply sufficient information. The
report has been treated in full detail, and is
founded on authentic letters in the above cited
nzenzoire. It appears positively from it that it
was the declaration from Geneva to the Congress
of Vienna that suggested the idea of a partial neu-
tralisation of Savoy. and defended it with great
energy. It was then clearly demonstrated that
this neutralisation was as much in the interest of
Switzerland as in that of Sardinia; that without
it the cantons of the Valais and Geneva, and espe-
cially the passage of the Simplon, would be con-
stantly menaced ; and that without the neutraliza-
tion it would be impossible to maintain the neu-
trality of Switzerland with any chance of success,
and consequently to defend the independence of the
Confederation. _ _

" For these reasons, based completely on the geo-
graphical position of the north of Savoy, some well
known clauses were inserted in the treaty of the
29th March, 1815, which, at the present moment,
have acquired fresh importance. The provinces of
Chablais and Faucigny, and all the territory situate
to the north of the Ugine, wore declared to be com-
prised in the Swiss neutrality. It was stipulated
that in case of war no troops of any PoVver could
either remain in or traverse them. Finally, power
was given to Switzerland to place troops in the neu-
tralized provinces, in order to defend her own neu-
trality with a chance of success, and that without
prejudice to the civil administration of the provinces.
The European treaties of the 29th of March and
the 20th of November, 1815, evidently did not give
Switzerland simple duties; on the contrary, they
conferred on her very important rights, which are
intimately connected with the right of her own
preservation. There can, therefore, be no question
of an obligation imposed for the performance of a
certain duty. Switzerland made no objection as
far as regards the north of Savoy ; but she offered
opposition only when the second peace of Paris
placed the territories beyond the mountain in the
same category as Chablais, Faucigny, and Upper
Geneva, and for which there did not appear to
exist sufficient motives to call for their being made
part of the Swiss neutrality.
" To the surrender of the neutralised provinces in
the restricted sense, or of the north of Savoy, has
been often suggested the opposition that the pas-
sage through Savoy would meet on a certain side.
It has been demonstrated in another place that such
a dismemberment would not be a new fact in the
history of Savoy. Even a recent period supplies a
formal proof in support of this allegation. In 1815
some portions of the territory of Savoy had already
been restored to Sardinia, while other parts re-
mained in possession of France.
" If attention be paid to the feelings of the people,
who on this occasion appear to supply the motives
for decision, and of which the Federal Council by
no means disregards the importance, a claim may
be made for the population of the north of Savoy,
in conformity with all the rules of equity—the
right to express freely their opinion. Or perhaps
no attention should be paid to the 12,000 citizens
wbo have already declared for annexation to Swit-
zerland, who have declared that their interests and
their wishes—their tendencies, their wants, their
sympathies, are quite different from those of the
southern provinces.
" If at present Switzerland has been the first to
declare for the maintenance of the status quo, she
has taken no step from which an absolute resistance
to the cession of Savoy can be inferred—she does
not wish in any manner to infringe on the preroga-
tives of his Majesty the King of Sardinia. She ab-
stains from all new political discussion on that
subject. What Switzerland demands, and on
which she thinks she has a right to insist with-
out in any manner violating the principles of
justice and equity, is, that regard shall be paid
to her rights, duly acquired and solemnly guaran-
teed by the Powers, and that they shall not be dis-
posed of without her knowledge and concurrence.
The Federal Council have set forth their pretensions
specially in the notes of the 9th of March addressed
to Paris and to Turin.
The Federal Council have not for a moment for-
gotten the proofs of friendship and good neigh-
bourhood aftbrded by France. They have accepted,
with full confidence, the promises made to them
on the 6th of February; and they feel pleasure in
remarking particularly that the note addressed on
the 24th of last month, by M. Thouvenel, to the'
French Legation at Turin, expresses the decided
intention of taking into account the interests of
Switzerland in a suitable manner in the new ar-
rangement.
" Now that the question of the cession has been
submitted to the great Powers, no one can offer any
reproach to Switzerland for having addressed her-
self to the Powers guaranteeing the treaties, to
demand of them that a matter in which her gravest
interests are at stake shall not be decided upon
without her concurrence. On that, in fact, rests
all the importance which must be attributed to the
steps taken by the Federal Council, and Switzer-
land may hope that her reasons will be considered
with impartiality, and that France in particular
will be disposed to take them into account.
" The point of view which in this matter is the
dominant one for Switzerland, may be noticed in
the following terms :—For the maintenance of her
neutrality and of her independence the rights
which the treaties have guaranteed to Switzer-
land on neutralised Savoy are indispensable
to the Confederation. Those rights were
stipulated by the Powers for the interest of the
whole of Europe.
"Now, according to the principles of interna-
tional law and the rights of peoples, it is not lawful
to dispose of such rights without the concurrence of
one of the parties principally interested. Therefore,