ventable disaster in the Rio Tinto copper mines in October, costing a thousand lives, provoked intense excitement; the company replied to protests by blacklisting the agitators, including Socialist members of the town council. There was a long strike of sailors on the northwest coast in the summer and fall, ending in partial victory; the authorities closed the union halls, used police against pickets, and arrested many leaders on charges which the court of appeals afterwards declared groundless. In January, 1916, 8,000 bricklayers, 4,000 metal workers, and many of other trades in Barcelona struck for a 25% wage increase to meet the high cost of living. In February the unrest spread to Murcia; in March the troops fired on strikers in Cartagena, killing five. Despite such repressive measures, a number of victories were

won.

The twelfth national congress of the labor federation, at Madrid in the spring of 1916, gave most of its attention to the questions of unemployment and food prices. It also demanded state insurance against accidents and legislation to protect the Asturian and Galician fishermen.

The co-operative movement is hardly more than a dozen years old. Socialistic co-operatives exist in Madrid, Bilbao, Oviedo, Eibar, Vigo, Algeciras, and Santander, besides the "neutral" ones in Barcelona. In the capital is a "Casa del Pueblo" or People's House, an old ducal palace, bought and remodeled at a cost of $200,000, which houses the central organizations of the party and the labor federation and also the local co-operatives, which latter do a business of several hundred thousand dollars a year.

The war has caused great suffering through high prices and unemployment. The party and the federation have made a joint campaign, with large street demonstrations, to demand relief. In the spring of 1916 the government tardily took measures to fix a maximum price for wheat, promote its importation, and keep down freight charges.

The Secretary of the Socialist Party is Daniel Anguiano, Calle de la Fuentes, Madrid.

The Secretary of the Labor Federation is Vincente Barrio, Calle de Piamonte 2, Madrid.

SWEDEN.

Constitutional monarchy; King has only executive power exercised under advice of a Council of State. The Parliament has two Chambers; the Upper House elected by the municipal Councils, the second by uniMembers versal suffrage over 25 years of age with proportional system. of both Chambers receive about $320 for each session of four months.

The Swedish Social Democratic Labor Party is one of

the Parties whose unity was destroyed by the war. For years there have been differences in the Swedish movement on questions of principles and tactics. Bitter conflicts have taken place between the so-called Young Socialists on the one hand, and the Party and Labor Union movement on the other, conflicts which came to a head at a congress of the Young People's Federation held in Stockholm on March 18 and 19, 1916. It looked at that time as if Sweden would be likely to be drawn into the world struggle. The discussion centered chiefly on an anti-war resolution which disregarded the need of military defense for the purpose of preserving the neutrality of the nation. The resolution also recommended extra-parliamentary mass-action, culminating in a general strike, for the purpose of discouraging all war-like plans on the part of the class in power. The threat of a general strike alone would, the resolution declared, effectually cool the warlike ardor of all military propaganda and should this not be the case, the struggle must be carried to its bitter end. The Resolution closed with the following words: "Our watchword must be 'Peace at all Costs!' After Lindhagen, the Socialist Mayor of Stockholm, had spoken on the necessity of parliamentary action against the war-like spirit of the "Activists" a second resolution was adopted which attacked the majority in the Socialist parliamentary group. A committee of seven was elected with instructions to organize Party Opposition in order to force the Party leaders and the national head of the Swedish Labor Unions to call a special national congress.

Three delegates to this conference, which included 30 representatives from Party organizations and 70 labor union delegates, were later arrested for incendiary, which indictment was later changed to one of high treason by the government. The trial ended in the conviction of a member of Parliament, Z. Höglund, to three years in prison, of Dr. Heden and of the representative of the anarcho-syndicalist organization E. Olielund, to many months of imprisonment. These sentences were later reduced to a third upon appeal after a protest movement had made itself felt. But the Congress had still another effect. The majority of the Socialist parliamentary group voted, by 62 votes against 4, against the proposal of the minority, that it be allowed to represent its own views in Parliament, and further declared that matters had reached a point where a reconciliation between the majority and minority was out of the question; especially since the radical wing had undertaken to issue an opposition newspaper against the Social-demokraten, the official Party paper, and had already established itself as an independent group, holding separate meetings. At the same

time they publicly protested against the opposition movement, which had expressed itself by affiliating itself with the Zimmerwald Conference in spite of the Party's objection to that movement. The Party leaders maintained that a new Party had grown up within the old, with its own organs, its own executive board, its own press, all in bitter opposition to the old Party. They called upon the Party membership to combat, most determinedly, this opposition movement within the Party. Because of this declaration three members of the Executive Committee-three deputies-resigned from office. The Executive Committee likewise published a declaration in opposition to the Zimmerwald movement, which action brought forth a flood of protests from Party branches and locals.

The Swedish Social Democracy is thus faced with a split, the importance of which will be determined only when a general Party Congress takes final action. The Party, which was founded in 1889, had become the strongest and best organized in Sweden. The election of 1915, resulted in the election of 87 representatives against 86 Conservatives and 45 Liberals in the lower House; in the Senate the Party holds 14 seats. The first Socialist to enter the Swedish Parliament was H. Branting, who was elected in 1895 and is still to-day its most powerful leader. The election returns since 1902 are as follows:

The first election held in 1914 was a special election, which did not interfere with the regular triennial election. The following shows the growth of Party membership:

In the city councils there are 426, on the town boards, schools, and taxation boards 4,795 Social Democrats. The election to the Landsthing (Provincial Parliament), held on March 25, 1915, also resulted in substantial gains everywhere; 126 deputies, a direct gain of 45 deputies.

The great victory at the last election, which made the Party the strongest Party in the country, raised the question of ministerial participation. A Congress was held in

November, 1914, in Stockholm, to discuss the matter, and it was decided to form a Coalition Ministry with non-socialist parties, after the war. This decision aroused violent opposition on the part of the Young Socialists, but was carried by a majority of 90 against 58 votes. A motion to demand gradual reduction of armaments in Parliament was lost, with 70 against 61 votes. At this Congress the member of Parliament Steffen was expelled from the Party because he favored intervention in the war on the side of Germany.

The Social Democratic Party of Sweden has 20 organs with a circulation of 160,000. The Young People's Federation with a membership of 12,000 in 400 branches has its own monthly organ Fram, and a weekly Stormkloken, which are mainly responsible for the radical spirit of the Young Socialist movement. The 2,000 organized Socialist women support a woman paper, Morgonbris. The number of "People's Houses" and People's Parks has grown considerably and are valued at six million crowns.

The labor union movement in Sweden, as in all Scandinavian countries, works in closest harmony with the Socialist Party. In 1913 the General Federation had 93,600 members; now it numbers 150,000. In 1908 the General Federation already had 186,226 members. The general strike of 1908 led to a decrease, the membership falling to 60,000. From this blow there has been only a slow and partial recovery. There are also 36,000 workingmen organized outside of the Federation, a large proportion of them belonging to syndicalist organizations. The General strike of 1908 was in reality a general lockout by the employers, which, however, extended immediately also to those workers whom the capitalists had intended to lockout gradually. In this way 290,700 workingmen and women were at once affected. This gigantic classstruggle began on August 4, and came to an end only on November 13, when the Swedish Employers' Association rescinded the lockout order. Neither side had won a victory, but the workers had suffered the severest wounds. The International Labor and Socialist movement showed a splendid spirit of solidarity; in Sweden the working-class raised 3,000,000 crowns, the organized workers and Socialists of other countries the same sum, so that altogether 6,000,000 crowns were collected for the fighting fund of the Swedish general strike. One of the most noteworthy effects of the general strike has been the remarkable decrease in strikes in subsequent years.

The Swedish Co-operative movement has gained in strength from year to year. Beginning in 1889 with a few insignificant organizations, the "Co-operative Federation" in 1909 had 391 branch organizations with 65,652 members.

Since then the business has doubled, the membership increasing to 146,800 members. The co-operatives, too, work hand in hand with the Party and spend a large part of their income on Socialist propaganda.

The Party Secretary of Sweden is Gustav Moller, Swedish Social Democratic Labor Party, Folkesthus, Barnhusgatan 14, Stockholm.

The Secretary of the Labor Federation is H. Lindgvist, Barnhusgatan 16, Stockholm.

SWITZERLAND.

Federal republic, composed of twenty-two cantons. Legislative power vested in Federal Assembly of two houses-National Council and Council of the States, roughly corresponding to House and Senate in the United States. Executive power in Federal Council, seven members, chosen by Federal Assembly in joint session. Initiative and referendum largely used in both federal and cantonal affairs. Proportional representation in some

cantons.

German is the prevailing and official language in sixteen cantons, French in five, and Italian in one.

Swiss social-political history has some peculiar features. One is the early establishment of republican institutions-in the small mountain cantons a primary democracy; in the larger and richer ones an urban oligarchy of merchant and landlord families. The mass of the people were till recently peasant-proprietors. Certain hand trades (such as watch making) have long been extensively practised in some cantons. In others there is a vast number of hotel and restaurant workers, catering to tourists and health-seekers. None of these furnish a sound basis for a labor movement. Only within the last thirty years, with electric transmission of power derived from waterfalls ("white coal") has great industry and a modern proletariat begun to develop rapidly in certain districts. Finally, Switzerland has a great number of immigrant wage-workers (German, French, and Italian) who are not citizens.

The oldest political working-class organization is the Grütli Union, founded in 1838, composed chiefly of artisans and hand-workers. At first merely democratic-radical, in 1878 it accepted Socialism in principle and in 1901 it joined (though keeping its autonomy) the Social Democratic party, which had been formed under Marxian influence.

The party has not neglected to use the initiative and referendum, but its successes have been mostly negative. Thus in 1903 it overturned a press-muzzling law and in 1906 a reactionary election law; but its positive proposals for social and labor legislation have in most cases been defeated by the votes of peasants, shopkeepers, and hotel workers,