coupled with free industry under the limitations of that control. In the
ripest judgment of the nation up to the present, this system yields
better results than any other: by a referendary vote taken in December,
1891, the people refused to change it for State ownership of railroads.


_Mails, the Telegraph, the Telephone, and Highways._

The Swiss postal service is a model in completeness, cheapness, and
dispatch. Switzerland has 800 post-offices and 2,000 dépôts where
stamps are sold and letters and packages received. Postal cards cost 1
cent; to foreign countries, 2 cents, and with return flap, 4. For
half-ounce letters, within a circuit of six miles, the cost is 1 cent;
for letters for all Switzerland, up to half a pound, 2 cents; for
printed matter, one ounce, two-fifths of a cent; to half a pound, 1
cent; one pound, 2 cents; for samples of goods, to half a pound, 1 cent;
one pound, 2 cents.

There are 1,350 telegraph offices open to the public. A dispatch for any
point in Switzerland costs 6 cents for the stamp and 1 cent for every
two words.

The Swiss Post-Office department has many surprises in store for the
American tourist. Mail delivery everywhere free, even in a rural commune
remote from the railroad he may see a postman on his rounds two or three
times a day. When money is sent him by postal order, the letter-carrier
puts the cash in his hands. If he wishes to send a package by express,
the carrier takes the order, which soon brings to him the postal express
wagon. A package sent him is delivered in his room. At any post-office
he may subscribe for any Swiss publication or for any of a list of