A special federal law enumerates the crimes for which one Canton may demand from another the extradition of criminals. It embraces both statutory and common-law crimes, and only stops at the limitation fixed by the constitution, which declares that extradition may not be rendered obligatory for political offences and those of the press. But extradition may be refused, in any case, of persons who have acquired citizenship, or who have settled in a Canton, when this Canton binds itself to try and punish the accused according to its own law; or allows a sentence already pronounced in another Canton to be executed by its own officials. The Cantons, not being limited by the terms of the federal constitution, are left sovereign in matters of civil law (except as regards the civil capacity of persons), the law of land, land rights, descent and distribution, criminal law, cantonal and local police, organization of the Communes, public works in general, organization of schools (within limits of the constitution), the conclusion of conventions with each other (called concordats), respecting matters of administration, police, etc. The changes introduced by the present constitution have had the effect to supplant many of the cantonal laws, often very dissimilar and conflicting, by federal laws applicable to the whole Confederation; establishing a uniformity upon many important relations between the citizens and the state. Revisions of the fundamental laws of the Cantons have been frequent; most of the cantonal constitutions are of a recent date. From 1830 to 1874 there have been twenty-seven total or partial revisions of the cantonal constitutions. In a large measure these were required to harmonize them with the federal constitution, first of 1848 and then of 1874. An amendment to a cantonal constitution becomes valid only when ratified by the federal authorities; no concrete case being necessary to test it,--the Swiss procedure to assure the supremacy of the federal constitution being political, not judicial. Cantonal constitutions present an infinite variety in their organisms and operations; but it will be sufficient to give the general features of one of the two distinctive types, the representative system; the other, the _Landsgemeinde_ or open Assembly, composed of all the people possessing votes, is reserved for a separate chapter. In the Cantons of the representative system the legislative department consists of but a single house, called the Greater or Grand Council (_Grosser Rath_), and in a few of the Cantons known as the _Kantonsrath_ or _Landrath_. The members are elected by direct popular vote, and, with few exceptions, by the secret ballot; from electoral districts and by _scrutin de liste_. The average representation is about one to every one thousand inhabitants. In a few Cantons, representation is not based upon the population, but is determined by the number of active