Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1911-04-28
FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1911.
Motor Cars on Swiss Passes.

4his lNODClt liz lu dlSiclu, ICpOl 70
from Zurich that the question of auto
mobile traffic upon the roads of the
Grisons, where so far they had been
excluded, was submitted to a popular
vote. with the result of excluding motor
cars from what is admittedly the most
beautiful and attractive part of the
country. For years automobilists have
been trying to get into this Canton,
and both the cantonal and Federal Gov
eminent, with the cooperation of the
Swiss automobile Club, have made eff
forts to overcome the popular hostility
to motors, but whenever the question
has been submitted to a popular vote
it has been defeated. Last year an
attempt of the motorists to gain their
point by giving to the Federal Council
authority to regulate traffic throughout
the Confederation was opposed and the
initiative was resorted to. The result
was the absolute exclusion of motor
cars from the Canton; even the stretch
between Chur and Landquart not ex-
copied.
The Grisons, of course. contains some
of the most magnificent scenery in all
the Alps-the high valley of the Enga-
dine, the Maloja Lakes, and such famous
resorts as st. Moritz, Pontresina and
Davos. besides the wonderful beauty of
the Spldgen, Maloja and Bernina passes,
where the road plunges abruptly and
with terrifying curves down to the
Italian lake country. The Simplon
and st. Gothard passes, fine as they are,
cannot compare with thefglory of the
Spldgen. From the Canton of Schwyz,
also, the automobile is excluded; no
motors on the great Axenstrasse,
stretching along the precipice high
above the Lake of Lucerne.
Why is this? Simply because the
Swiss people say they prefer to avoid
the chances of accidents which the I'M
restricted use of them by automobiles
would invite. The Swiss roads are, in
many instances, badly adapted to motor
traffic, since they are frequently mar
row, with many sharp turns and steep
grades. They are used in summer by
all classes of tourists, and the presence
of automobiles would make them espe-
cially hazardous for horse-drawn We
hicles and for foot passengers, and the
pedestrian tourist is still to be found
in the Alps. 1t seems to the native
population as though these fine
mountain roads, which constitute
good share of the stock -in-trade of
the Cantons, ought to be kept most
available for all sorts of tourists: thew
can't see why the motorists should be
at liberty to enjoy themselves at the
expense of others enjoyment, or at
the expense of the roads themselves.
For the wheels of the motors grind up
the macadam over there Just as thew do
here, and the dust drifts into other
peoples's eyes and noses, and then floats
OIL to do serious damage to crops in the
neighboring fields. 1t is also said that
the lime in the macadam dust INJURIES
animals at pasture near by.
In word, the Swiss people in some of
the Cantons do not accept with equanim-
ity the asserted right of any one class
of tourists to command the whole
landscape, monoplize the roads and fill
with dust and the fumes of petrol the
wonderful sunshine and uncomfortable
air OF their country. The means
OF conveyance used by motorists
works distinct hardship to those who
do not use it; therefore, they will not
have them in their bailwick.
Disappointing to the cheerful motor
ist, no doubt. He selects the gardens
Of the world for his racetrack, with
small concern for the comfort or con-
venience of anybody not in motor car.
And in truth he gets into most places
where he wants to go by sheer bluff or
barney or by more or less reckless
money spending. Those KEYS omen
most doors, undoubtedly, especially the
last. New York Evening Sun.
The above article is very suggestive.
that the people, all the people every
where, but especially in a mountainous