The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-07

vasion. and whether 1t might not be in- l creased fer the benefit of both coun- tries. The Swiss President replied that 1 he was anxious to see closer trade rela- tons between the two republics. He said l that Switzerland regards the United
 States as It's younger and greater sister. and that the spirit of democracy ought | to bring us closer together. He spoke of | the Swiss who were living In the United | States and of the high estimation in | which they held our country. He object | ed to our tariff as being to great on many l of the Swiss exports. and thought mu- | tual reduction might be made in the in- | terest of international trade.
 l asked him as to the Swiss tarif | measures which are now before the coun- l try, but he would not prophecy whether they will be accepted or rejected.
 The Government Owns the Railroads.
 The question of Government control of
 railroads came up. and I asked President
 Zemp what he thought of it. He replied: Tt is So far only in its experimental stage as regards Switzerland, but l be- lieve that it will be a complete success.
 Our Government is taking in the rail
 roads. We have already three of the five
 principal lines. and we shall in time &C.,
 quire the remainder. We do not want
 to make money out of the railroads, nor
  enues We are operating them for the good of the people The earnings will be applied to improving the service, ex- tending the lines and to cheapening trans | portation This we are now doing, and we can continue to do so. and at the | same time make such a profit that the whole cost of the roads and the interest upon the debt will be paid back within sixty years, and the roads then belong tn NJH,-ay, Railroads tu be Run by Waterfalls.
 President Zemp told me something as to the extent of the roads. There are now about 2.500 miles of rails and 200 miles of tram%ays. One of the queer propositions In regard to the lines Is to run them by electricity. As now consti- tuted the roads require 5000 horse power. and 1t is estimate that double that DOW CT will be needed for a high-tension ai- ternating electric current system.
 The engineers have alre~dy figured up- on 1t. and they find that there are twen- ty-one waterfalls in the Alps already used for electrical generation. which can produce s6,0O0 horse power. The engi- neers estimate that it would take $3O 000.- 900 to apply this power to the railroads and that in addition 1t could run numer- ous factories.
 At present Switzerland is operating her roads with coal brought in from Eng land and the continent She is thus en- tire,y dependent upon outside countries, and if her foreign coal supply was cut off her railroads would stop. The matter Is a very important one. and I under stand some of the parties interested have applied to the Government for the right to build an electric standard gauge rail- way twelve miles long for experimental purposes This will probably he granted. and, If a success. 1t may ha that the waterfalls of the Alps will haul the trains up and down the sides of the mountains. The Government and the Telephones.
 Switzerland finds that it pays the Gov ernment to own the telephones and tele- graphs. President Zemp told me that they were operated without difficulty, and that the Government administration of them had proved satisfactory. The telephones here are connected with the Postoffice Department. and almost every postofiice Is a telegraph office as well. The country Is small. but 1t has 3lS cen- tral stations and more than S2.000 miles of wire. In 1900 there were more than 25, ,0OO,OO0 conversations. and the telephone receipts were more than double those of the telegraph. amounting to $1,200.0O0. This is so notwithstanding the telephone rates are among the lowest of the world, For certain distances it costs you less than cent a message This is the charge in the towns and cities. You can have a telephone in your house or business place for from s10 to $2O a year, and you can send a long-distance message to any part of Switzerland for IS cents. Telegrams at Two Words for a Cent.
 The telegraphs are equally cheap. A message costs you 6 cents as a ground tax and in addition only cent for every two words; that Is, a message of ten words to any part of Switzerland costs Il cents, q message of twenty words 16 cents and of fifty words 31 cents. It