The Swiss have modified the Referendum so as to give
an initiative to the people. The project was put to the vote on Sunday, and it was accepted by a mass-vote of 169,142 votes to 117,388, the innovators triumphing in 18 Cantons out of 22. According to Renter's telegram, the action of the initiative Referendum is limited to constitutional reform ; but that illogical restriction is, we believe, an error, arising from an accidental misuse of the word "constitutional." As we understand the vote, 50,000 electors can noworder a Bill to be drafted on any subject within the constitutional purview of the general government of Switzerland, and can demand that it be " referred " to the mass-vote, which rejects it or makes it law. The proposal marks a considerable advance towards pure democracy, as distinct from representative government; but it has been already tried in one or two Cantons without ill-effects.
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