to every one according to his wants: as, however, wants vary not according to personal requirements, which are nearlyidentical, but according to those of each iudividual property, which differ widely, it follows that the rich are benefited andthe poor sacrificed. In practice, he who has no cattle gets no profit from the alp: while he who has twenty or thirty cows tosend on to it derives a considerable revenue from it. The commoner, who has a large châlet in the village and another on themountain, with large lofts and stalls, requires much wood for repairs and for burning. He is entitled to six large trees forfiring, and to as much timber as experts shall deem necessary. The commoner who lives with another has but two fir trees.
Equality only asserts itself in the allotment of cultivated land. As the Pastor Becker says, in the words of the Gospel, "to himthat hath shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly; but from him that hath not, shall be taken even that which hehath." The system was strictly just at a period when there was no private property, and when consequently each family couldderive the same profit from the common stock, but at the present time each commoner profits by the communal domain inproportion to the extent of his private property.
The general principle being that a commoner can only send on to the common pasture the cattle which he has kept in hisstalls during the winter, it follows that unless he has a separate meadow of his own to grow hay he has no fodder for cattlein winter, and consequently in the spring has no cattle to send up on to the alp. To put some limit on the privilege of thepersons most rich in herds, it was decided that no one should send more than thirty cows or their equivalent on to the alp.
This rule, however, was inadequate, and for long past, here, as in Florence, Athens, or Rome, the great and the small, the fatand the lean, have been at issue. The matter in dispute bears a strong resemblance to that which set patricians and plebeiansat strife with regard to the occupation of the ager publicus . There is, however, this difference that, contrary to what is thecase in most of our large States, in Uri the "fat" are in the majority. Out of 2,700 families, 1,665 own cattle: there are only1,035 without any. The malcontents are therefore in a minority, and neither by their vote nor by use of force -- to which infact they have never thought of resorting -- have they been able to obtain an alteration of the primitive system, which datesfrom the time when there was no distinction of rich and poor. To silence the most clamorous demands, 15 or 20 ares ofgarden have been granted to each commoner for the growth of vegetables; besides which they have wood for fires andbaking.
As a right of equal enjoyment is, in theory, recognized in every commoner, which he can enforce the moment he fulfils therequisite conditions, to secure greater equality the extent of the arable Allmend should be increased so as to realize as large arevenue as the alp. This is very much what has been done in the canton of Glaris, which presents the type of the secondmode of enjoyment.
Among the primitive cantons, Glaris is the one which has departed furthest from the ancient modes of partition. Theproduce of the greater part of the communal lands, instead of being divided directly among the inhabitants, is employed tocover the expenses of the commune. There is here no longer any trace of the primitive mark comprising the whole district.
What remains of the collective domain has become the property of the communes, which have attained full development.
These communes have ceased to possess alps; which were nearly all sold, after a great calamity which nearly ruined thedistrict. At the present day, the commonable alps are let by auction for a certain number of years; and, in completeopposition to ancient principles, strangers may obtain them as well as citizens. The rent goes to the communal treasury.
Formerly, the lessees had to render annually a certain quantity of butter, Anken, which was divided among the commoners;and newly-married couples were also entitled to a chamois for tbe marriage-feast. But now the chamois is rare, and thebutter is exported to a distance, instead of being distributed among the inhabitants. Some communes also sell by publicauction the timber cut from the forest: others divide it among the commoners, reserving a certain proportion. The dry leavesfor litter are equally divided; they are distributed by lot, or else every one goes on a fixed day and collects what he can ofthem. As the forests, in which they may be gathered, are generally situated on the steepest slopes, it frequently happens thatsome of the inhabitants are killed by falling from their giddy heights.
