The Genevese people have come to a remarkable decision. Their
Grand Council recently recommended them to abolish the Budget of Public Worship, which is principally devoted to the maintenance of the historical Protestant Church in the canton. It was decided, under a constitutional provision now adopted by the Republic as a whole and in several Cantons, that the proposal should be submitted to a. mass vote of the whole body of the electors. As the Catholics were ardent for the suppression of the Budget, and as the majority in Geneva is Catholic, it was expected that the proposal would be easily carried, but the result was a surprise. Out of 17,000 voters 13,000 went to the poll, and 9,000 of them voted for the continuance of the Budget, showing a positive majority of the whole electors, and. 9 to 4 of those who voted, in favour of the Established Church of the minority of the people. As explained elsewhere, the Swiss, when consulted by "referendum," almost always vote for what is ; and in this instance they were moved partly by a dislike for the priesthood shared by many Catholics, and partly by a strong feeling for the historic unity of their canton. It is illustrious, not for its religious freedom, but for its Calvinism.
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