The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-11-26


tho subsequent Federal elections VI. CARRIE
Rrr and his colleague, wer" displaced front
Office. BY II majority OF C,oon IN a total
vote ~ ll.lpp, the MOS, enlightened
of Swiss communities pronounced in favor
Of minimizing the functions Of government
as far as possible, and against the Socialist
theory, which invests the State with abso-
Lutte control over the property aud actions
OF its citizens. Not that the executive head
OF the Genevese rennblic Is Il Socialist; he Is
rather q Jacohin Of the school VI ROBES
PIERRE, who carries out the principles laid
down in RoUssEAU's Social Contract" and
who tried ~ bestow on his native town q
Constitution modelled on that framed by the
French Convention of 30.
OF course what is known as Liberalism is
the precise converse of the intrusive, dicta-
torial Democracy. lately rejected at Geneva.
The former bushes Itself with narrowing the
powers VI the state, and in setting bounds
to encroachmcnts on Individual liberties.
The latter regards private rights az use
less luxury In democratic commonwealth,
and esteems their maintenance against the
peoples sovereign authority species Of re-
belion. The one aims to protect the inter-
ests Of minorites: the other breaches the
duty Of unconditional submission TO the
will OF o majority. The one favors free
Church in free state; the other holds the
religious instruction Of citizens capital
point Of public concern. Indeed. a Liberal
accepts, not without misgiving and not a
few cautious provsos. the principle Of
compulsory education On the other
hand Jacobin or Socialist would
be apt TO supplement the prescrip-
ton VI necessary attendance at one
school or another with q strict super
vlsIon ot private tuition. II was Just such
aggressiops In matters OF religion and edu-
cation which provoked the Genevese to re-
pudiate the CARTERET Government. The
people OF Geneva are well read, and seem to
have detected the scheme of paternal over
sight and Intervention under all the various
names which 1t has worn in history.
Whether personiaed in CESAR or NAPOLEON.
or In LAssALLR, the master of a vast asso-
citation, or in CARrFRET, the President Of
nearly pure Democracy, the Genevese rec
ogni9ed the system as essentially identical
and equally fatal TO individual freedom.
A feature of the proposed Constitution
which aroused special suspicion was
clause providing that the State would see
10 1t that primary instruction was morally
adequate. NJ. CABTEREF and his friends
acknowledged that they meant the word
moral ~ DO taken In the widest sense, and
to cover any religious or philosophical
teachings which might tend in their opinion
To impugn democratic principles. In other
words, had the proposed Constitution been
adopted, any school teacher who professed
the Catholic faith, or any other who accepted
the rigid dogmas OF CALVIN. would have
been liable 10 expulsion at the hands OF
nationalist administration ON the ground Of
Objectionable leanlngs. Again, the organic
law at present in force guarantees the lib
erty Of instruction TO all natives Of Geneva,
except AZ modified by statutes publicly dis
GUESSED and voted under the eyes Of the
whole canton. The new Constitution aimed
to substitute for legislative restrictions the
private and arbitrary regulations OF the
executive authority. In the face OF such a
proposition the Genevese let their rulers
know that they had no mind TO commit the
moral education Of their children to the dis
erection Of half dozen officials
On the sixth Of October the people Of
Geneva not only condemned the encroaching
| spirit Of the Jacobin Democracy in the field
Of public instruction, but gave their verdict
also against the extreme anti Catholic policy
of the late Government Under the CAR
TEREr administration not only was the So
called Liberal or Old Catholicism the sole
| species Of Catholicism recognized and paid
by the State, but even the curates privately
| supported and furnished with chapels by
| the adherents of the Roman Curia Were
harassed in many ways, and in particular
were forbidden to attach themselves to an
orthodox Swiss diocese. Either Roman
pastor must accept the authority Of a
" Liberal" Bishop. or ceass 10 possess any
legal existence in the canton. According 70
the proposed Constitution, all the Roman
| Catholic parishes were to be forcibly
withdrawn from the authority of the Papal
hierarchy, and made wholly subject IN &C.
clesiastioal concerns 20 council made up
Of laymen In the ratio Of five 10 one. No Won
der the result Of 80 much aggression aud
| intolerance has been 10 transform multi
tude al lukewRrin and Indifferent persons
into fervent Catholics, or that the whole
Geneyan community has chosen formally 10
disavow a scheme Of government under
which the most precious of individual rights
seemed upon the point VI vanishing. Nor Is
1t the first time in It's history that the small
Swiss republic has offered wholesome ex-
| ample to more considerable States.