Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and Referendum — John Shaqi
Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and ReferendumSullivan, J. W. (James William)
General
Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and Referendum
Sullivan, J. W. (James William)
Referendum
Several communes in Ticino, notably Airolo, have much public wealth.
Airolo has seventeen mountain pastures, each of which feeds forty to
eighty head of cattle. Each member of the corporation has the right to
send up to these pastures five head for the summer. Those sending more,
pay for the privilege; those sending less, receive a rental. On a
specified day at the beginning of the season and on another at the
close, the milk of each cow is weighed; from these amounts her average
yield is estimated, and her total produce computed. The cheese and
butter from the herds are sold, most of it in Milan, the hire of the
herders paid, and the net revenue divided among the members according to
the yield of their cows.
In Glarus, the produce of the greater part of the communal lands,
instead of being directly divided among the inhabitants, is substituted
for taxation. The commonable alps are let by auction for a term of
years, and, in opposition to ancient principles, strangers may bid for
them. Some of the Glarus communes sell the right to cut timber in the
forest under the superintendence of the guardians. The mountain hotels,
in not a few instances the property of the communes, are let year by
year. Land is frequently rented from the communes by manufacturing
establishments. A citizen not using his share of the communal land may
lease it to the commune, which in turn will let it to a tenant. The
communes of Glarus are watchful that enough arable land is preserved for
distribution among the members. If a plot is sold to manufacturers, or
for private building purposes, a piece of equal or greater extent is
bought elsewhere. Glarus has relatively as many people engaged in
industries aside from farming as any other spot in Europe. It has 34,000
inhabitants, of whom nearly 15,000 live directly by manufactures, while
of the rest many indirectly receive something from the same source.
Distributive cooeperative societies on the English plan exist in most of
the industrial communes. The members of the communal corporations in
Glarus, though not rich, are as free and independent as any other
wage-workers in the world: they inherit the common lands; their local
taxes are little or nothing; they are assured work, if not in the
manufactories then on the land.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account