New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-05-17
SWITZERLAND.
Political Position Of this Republic.

LONDON May /, 1855
Royal families formerly used to employ whippngboys
who had the honor Of receiving c0ndign punishment
their proane backs whenever any of the scOns of roy
atty had committed Oense against the rules Of good
behavior. The modern European political system con
fnues this practice in certain degree, IN the erection
Of small intermediate States, which have to act the
scapeQoat in any domestic squabble by which the har-
mOny Of the balance OF power" may be troubled And
ia order 10 enable these smaller States to perform this
enyiable part with suitable dignity they are by the
mon consent Of Europe in Congress assembled, and
with all due solemnity declared 'Remrdi' Such scape
coat, or whipping boy is Greece-such is Belgium and
Switzerland The only difference is this-that these
modern political scapegOas, from the abnormal condi
tons of their existence seldom quite undesevng of
the infections they favored with
The most conspicuous of this class of States has OF
late been Switzerland
Qucquid dehTant reyes pectunur
the Swiss. And wherever the people of any European
State come into collision with their rulers the Swiss
equally sure TO in for their share OF the trouble;
until since the beginning Of this year, Switzerland after
having made itself gatuitousy contemplate to the
lutonaTy party has been placed in sort of nterdct by
the rulers of Continental Europe Squabbles about ref
ugees with the Emperor BOnaparte, for whose sake
Switzerland once came very near rskng war; squad
bles with Prussia account OF Neuchatel; squabbles
with Austria about Tessnese and the ManlnsurrectiOn;
squabbes with the minor German States about subjects
which nobody for squabbes all hands, threat
eninQ notes. eXpulsiOns passport Chc8nes bOckades,
raining down upon poor Switzerland thick hastones
In Storm and yet snch is human nature the Swiss
happy cOntented and proud in their way and feel
more at home in this shower of abuse and insult than
the political horizon coudless and bright,
This honorable political position Of Switzerland is by
the popular mind OF Europe rather vaguely and cumsy
expressed in the common saying Switzerland has been
Inverted by the rulers Of Europe in order 10 bring
publican governments into contempt; and certainly
Netternch or Guiz0t may have often said If Swzer-
land did not exist, We should have to create il. To
them, aneiehbor like Switzerland a real god-send
We cannot be expected 20 repeat the multilarous
charges brought of late against Switzerland aud Swiss
institutions by real or would DO revolutonSts. Long
before the movements of lS4s the organs of the revO
lutionary Cannonist parry Of Germany analysed that
subject they showed why Switzerland independent
state, must ever be tagging behind in the march Of
European progress aud why that country, with all s
republican shows, viii ever be reaoOnary at heart
They were even violently attacked. at that time, by
divers democratic spOuters and manufacturers of clan
destine defamation who celebrated Switzerland their
mOdeLrepublic,' until the model institutions were
once tried upon themselves. The subject trite
as can be nobody disputes the fact and lew words will
suffice to put the matter in its true light
The Of the Swiss population follow either paste
raj agricultural pursuits pastoral IN the high noun
tans agricultural wherever the of the ground adj
mits of t. The pastoral tribes for tribes YOU NAV call
sthen rank among the least civilized populations of Eu
rope III they do not cut oil heads aud ears Ike the
Turks aud MoDtenegisns, they perform sets Of hardly
less barbary by their Judicial assemblies and what cru
mercenares sc Naples and elsewhere have proved The
agricultural population quite stationary the pas
toral they have nothing in common with the agricultural
population of the American Far West whose very all
ment is change and who clear every twclycmonth al
amonnt Of land far larger than all Switzerland The
Swiss peasant tls the patch Of ground ms htheF and
grandfather titled before hun; be ts it in the same
slOvenly way they did he about much they
did he lives about as they'd and consequently he thinks
very nearly in the same way as they CID Had Il not
been for feudal burdens and mpots levied upon them
partly by aristOcrac families partly by pstucian corpo
ratons in the towns the Swiss peaSantry would always
have been quite stationary IN their political existence
as their neighbours the cOWkcrd up % the
day The third componsus Of the Swiss people the
dustral population, although necessarily far more adj
yaneed in civilization than the two classes mentioned b.
fore, yet live under circumstances which exclude them
in a great degree from the progressive giant impulse
which che modern manufacturing system has impaired
to Western Europe Steam is hardly known Ia Swtzer-
land large factories exist in few localities only tho
cheapDcss Of labor the sarsene>S Of the population,
the abundance OF small NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. &c Tor mills
al these snd many other circumstances tend 10 produce
petty and sporadic sort Of manufactures mixed up,
with agricultural pursuits. the most eligible Industrial
system for Switzerland. Thus watch-msking ribbon
wearing plating, embroidery Nc are eserede On
in several cangons without creating or even IN
ereasne town and Geneva and Bamle the richest and
with Zurich the most industrial TOXINS, have hardly Ia
creased for centuries III then, Switzerland carries GA
her manufacturing production almost extensively upon
the system in practice all over EUTope Soos the nven
ton steam how We expect 70 hnd other than cor
respondne deas inthe minds OF the producers II steam
has not reyolutonized Swiss production and
nicaton how could overthrow the hereditary vaysot
thinking
The Hungarian Constitution bears a certain reSem-
blance 10 that Of Great Britan which circumstance has
heen turned 10 good account by Magyar politicians, who
thence would make US jump to the conclusion that the
Zimmerman nation is almost advanced as the Englsh
ard vel there are many hundreds Of miles and Of years
rtween the petty tradesmsn OF Bads and the Cotton
icd Of Lancashire or between the travelling tinker OF
.he Prszta and the Chartit working man Of British
- a(ntts,rnQ metropolis Ihss, switzerland would