A third type of enjoyment by the commoners is found in Valais. In that district, the fraternal relations of the patriarchalepoch are still to be found in all their simplicity. Almost all the communes have property of considerable extent, consisting offorests, alps , vineyards, and corn land. As in Uri, the right of using the alp is dependent on private property, insomuch as thenumber of head of cattle, which each may send on to the common pasturage, depends on the number he can keep throughthe winter: the forest, however, is divided into parcels, which are distributed by lot among the occupiers. Very minute rulesnow regulate the management of the woods; and the Union forestière suisse has succeeded in introducing its ideas. It wastime for such a measure, as Valais has destroyed its woods in the most disastrous manner. Almost all the gorges, which openinto the valley of the Rhone are diswooded to a terrible extent, and are consequently stripped and ravaged by storms andtorrents.
The communal vineyards are cultivated in common. Every member of the commune devotes a certain number of days'
labour until the wine is bottled. In different localities there are also corn-lands cultivated in the same manner. Part of thecommunal revenue is expended in the purchase of cheese. The wine and bread, which is the fruit of their joint labour, formsthe basis of the banquets, at which all the members of the commune take part, Gemeindetrinket . These are exactly identicalwith the common meals of Sparta and Crete, or the agapae of the primitive Christians. By these banquets, at which prevailsa cordiality animated by the generous wine of Valais, a real brotherly intimacy is maintained among the inhabitants. Thewomen are often present, and moderate the excessive drinking and the words to which, as Rousseau avows, the Swiss wineis apt to lead.
Independently of the communes, societies of riflemen also own common lands, growing wheat and vines, -- bread and wineanswering, in the view of the " seigneurs tireurs ," to the first necessities of man. Each member of the association furnisheshis number of days' work, and the produce is consumed in common repasts, which take place every Sunday, after the riflecompetition. The curé of Varne, M. Kaempfen, who supplies these details, says much in favour of the influence exercised bythese brotherhoods, alike in a moral and economic aspect. Much is said, in the present day, of fraternity; but little is done tocreate or maintain the sentiment, which is the soul of human societies. The banquet of equals, the Caenum of the early daysof Christianity, is now, unfortunately, nothing more than a liturgic ceremony, a cold symbol instead of being a living reality.
Although taxes increase every year, and the communes have often been pressed to sell their lands, the occupiers havealways refused to do so; and have done wisely. As the curé Kaempfen remarks, a vineyard-commoner, Weinbürger, wouldrather let his wife and children starve than give up these common banquets. In a few localities, for the assistance of the mostnecessitous, the allmends of the plain have been divided into parcels, which are distributed by lot, to be held for life.
In French Switzerland the communal lands have been reduced since the fifteenth century by partition among theinhabitants. (9) There are still, however, 202 communes owning common lands, which, in 77 villages, represent a revenue of20 fr. for each inhabitant. On July 13, 1799, the Swiss Republic forbade all partition for this very just reason: -- "These landsare the inheritance of your fathers, the fruit of many years of toil and care; and belong not to you alone, but also to yourdescendants." The regulations for the enjoyment of the meadows, the woods, and the arable of the commune are the same asin German Switzerland. In 1826, the commune of Pully-Petit put all its lands, previously divided, once more intocommunity, and subjected them to a periodic partition among all the inhabitants every 15 years, a part being reserved fordistribution among new families. In the work of M. Rowalewsky, we see how the communal lands became private propertyby the periodic partition becoming more and more rare, and finally falling into desuetude.
There seem to be no complete statistics of communal property in Switzerland. We must, therefore, be content with whatdata can be collected conceding certain cantons or certain towns. In the canton of Unterwalden, the value of the communalproperty is computed for Obwald, with 13,000 inhabitants, at 11,350,000 francs. In Appenzell, the seven Inner Rhodes, with9,800 inhabitants, own property estimated at about 3,000,000 francs. The property of the commoners of the town of Soleureconsists of 5,409 juchart of forest (the juchart being equivalent to 3 1/2 roods); 1,041 juchart of pasture land, and 136 juchart of cultivated land; with the capital and buildings they are estimated at 2,330,338 francs, but they are actually worththree times as much. In the canton of Saint Gall, communal lands are very extensive. Out of 236 alps in the district, whichcontain 24,472 stoessen, (10) 143 alps with 12,407 stoessen are common domain. The common property of the citizens oftown of Saint-Gall itself is valued at 6,291,000 francs. In the canton of Schaffhausen, communal lands comprise 28,140 juchart . The whole territory of the canton being only 85,120 juchart, collective property occupies one-third of it. Thegreater part of the forests belong to joint owners, who possess 20,588 juchart out of 29,188. In the cantons of Uri, Zug andSchwytz, the allmends are also very extensive.
