The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-10-28

among themselves whatever profits may
ARISE from It's management
EFcft male citizen of switzerland who
mas come ~ ago U.s. legally entitled 20
vote. DIR % be hlrgher ia ary conn
mlne you must be householder and "a
native q the place - "a uaturalIzod cite
zen IT. some coumlnes SOU would have
no trouble 90 becoming q hurgher. having
iiihl"a these conditions. even Il born
OUTSIDE ~ Switzerland. bat . le not 80
lu Lermatt There are certain legal tech
n-rdiltics which may be Insisted upon.
and the man not bv hereditary right "a
burgher. who wishes 10 become q mem
Der % this commune. has "a hard road 70
travel
Tor Hermatt is profitable courrune-so
profitable In fact. that IL Us more like what
We in tie States would cali snug itt.e
close corporation than anything else I'-
six score burghers enjoy slx-score snug
niue communal incomes and. being
tnfifty souls. DO not propose 90 Increase
tNe'r own members. and -o decree So treir
Incomes y tleE can help o. This was
discovered "a ynar or two ago fv "A r~a-
who had established himse,: in business
here. and naturally wished o. place him
self upon the same footing az his fell0ws.
re succeeded in becoming "A iurrher.
but ne had 20 iay 1900 francs for the
privilege later Applicant was refused
altogether he - sad 90 have offered
5000 francs. and 70 have been told that
he could not get Or were he 20 orer 81. 600
francs.
Much % the best hand in zerrnatt has
ben sold. and s. now owned lrrey0rably
hy private individuals ana corporations.
BUT the property Ot rlc commune is sum
very valuable T. Includes NOT only the
pasture land. the stone 1lsed o. some
extent for building Vurqoeesl and tie
timber. but also three 90 the largest and
finest hotels. II - from these hotels nnd
tae ground rerts paid hy some ~ tie
various dealers ST. Zermatt spec!alries VIC
occupy communal property that the COM
muse derives is profits
BLENDERS y the commune try uot %
TEL. now large the profits aye. and nobody
n1t a hlrEner is entitled 10 know bat
~ ~ admitted that tie total ls 30 1Gs
or 10000 francs year. and that each bur-
rter receives set eral hundred francs ms
hls share. i isn't surprising that the
orrghers DO not ike 10 LEI new men .r.
The famous family whose members
own ana operate three or four % the BIKE
ge-t hotels he.e. though nor winter res-
dents. aye well represented iu the COM
nlne. This family owns some ~ Tic
land also but Il is hardly likely that its
members or any one else viii ever bee
able % buy foot OF Zernatt's communal
ground IN the future
The commune OF Zermatt IS ruled bv a
council consisting OF seven elected mem
hers--p president. yl~e-pres. dent. se-<tarv.
treasurer and three others. one ~ these
looks after tie roads bridges and other
public works. one supervise Tie Schools.
and the third sees 10 - THAI the church
IS properly provided for
Herniatt and. in fact tho entire can
Ton q Nalais. . which the valley be-
longs. is strongly Roman Catholic and
the commune as whole supports the
church. Meetings % the council are held
about once "a month. though not with
positive regularity. and may Doe called
80 any time iu case of an emergen..,
like the destruction OF stretch OF road
by an Alpine storm. which Of course.
would cal for speedy communal action
The present president o. the commune