Appenzell : a Swiss Sludy. By Irving B. Richman. (Longmans.)
—Appenzell Inner-Rhoden is, with the exception of the city of Basel, the smallest of the Swiss cantons. It is, indeed, a "half- canton," constituting with the other half, Ausser-Rhoden, the
whole Appenzell. It exhibits in a highly interesting way the features of a primitive democracy. The whole of the male popu- lation, excluding persons disqualified by felony or bankruptcy, wets once a year in a General Assembly. This Assembly is the ultimate seat of power. The functions of the Executive are dis- charged by two Councils. The power of the paler-families is almost Roman in its absolutism. "Women's rights" are nowhere. The Church exercises a very strict authority. The law takes cognisance of moral offences. (It would be interesting to know what are the results as shown by statistics.) Almost every head of a family is a freeholder, but all the land is heavily mortgaged. The highest salaried official in the canton is the Registrar-General, who receives £43 per annum. A peasant's family can live at a total cost of £40 per year ; a tradesman's at about 10 per cent. more; £2,000 capital is enough for an inde- pendence. The population is a little more than thirteen thousand, one-sixth of them have savings-bank deposits, amounting in the aggregate to £56,200. The percentage of illiteracy is higher than in any other canton.
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