.4
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 28, 1906.
Basic Principle is That the Necessi
ties of Life Should Be Free to All.
ZE3MATT, Oct 12. (Special Corre- -8pondenc
of The Sunday Oregonian.)
There are places in Switzerland
where the ancient, communal organization
of human society runs somewhat closer to
the old lines, but nowhere else has it been
brought more directly Into touch with the
20th century life of the outside world than
in this Alpine valley; nowhere else can
It be studied more readily than here.
Measured by the surveyor's chain, the
distance between the village of Zermatt,
at the valley's upper, southern end, over
shadowed by the weird, obeliak-like moun
tain known as the Matterhorn, is only 2U
miles from the great trunk railway line'
which connects Paris and the civilized
"West with Constantinople and the myste
rious Bast by way of the new Simplon
tunnel. This distance is covered by a
narrow gauge road which leaves the
Rhone "Valley and the trunk line at Visp,
or Viege, and follows the river Visp all
the way here.
In the Summer season, when it 4s
thronged with visitors from the ends of
the earth. Zermatt is only 16 hours from
the French capital and 22 from London.
But its people,. the real Zermatters, who
dwell here the year round, are still almost
as primitive in their ways of living as
were their forefathers, who, crowded out
of the Rhone Valley, climbed tWs steep
and narrow cleft in the heart of the high
Alps-ki search of homes and a livelihood
some 700 or 800 years ago.
They had fairly to force their living
from the scanty patches of soil which
cling to the valley's steep and rocky
walls, and the narrow, crooked strip
which lies at their feet; so also do the
Zermatters of today. They held most of
the land in common, the community de
ciding how much each of its members
was entitled to use every year, and so
do their successors.
The theory was that every man was en
titled to whatever he needed which Na
ture had to give that he was able and
willing to take. Pasturage for his cows
and goats, timber and stone with which
to build his chalets house and barn
waod to cook his food with these were to
be as free as air and light. He had to
work to get them, but no one could pre
vent him from taking them. The same
plan is theoretically in force today. When
there was a surplus it was divided among
alt the householders, and so it is today,
at least ostensibly. But there have been
some changes. Perhaps, in the old days
even there were times and circumstances
which made the practice a little different
from the theory.
The total permanent population of the
commune of Zermatt at present Is be
tween "00 and 800: 715 by the last census,
tluldes. federal and railroad officials, the
keepers of one or two cafes frequented
only by the natives: and a few others ex
cepted, they all make their living mainly
by raising the scanty crops hay, potatoes
and a few vegetables that will grow at
this altitude, 631o feet, and keep cows and
goats.
As a matter of course, the guides profit
directly from the tide of sightseers, which
has surged this way since the 60s,- when
the Matterhorn was first climbed. Indi
rectly, through the workings of the com
munal system, everybody should receive
some benefit from the money spent here
by the visiting thousands every Summer.
Zermatt proper receives a comparatively
small share, however, since the profits of
the hotels and the boarding-houses are
taken away at the end of every season by
the proprietors, who live here only three
or four months every year. So also Is the
money earned in wages by the waiters,
the chambermaids, the porters, the clerks
and all the other hotel employes. So also
are the prollts from the sales of photo
graphs and curios, alpenstocks and ice
axes. Leaving out the guides, of whom
there are about SO. and a very small num
ber of drivers and common laborers, the
1500 to 2u0t people who cater to the needs,
the comforts and the pleasure of the visi
tors leave Zermatt at the end of each
season and take good care to stay away
.til the beginning of the next one. Their
money in not spent for the general good
of Zermatt.
Some of the guides, even, . especially
those not born in the valley, are unwilling
to suffer the dullness of the Zermatt
"Winters, and no wonder.
From the first heavy snowfall, which
generally comes by the beginning of No
vemberthough sometimes by the middle
of October till late In the Spring, the
only way of getting in or out of the valley
is by mule path, through snow that falls
to the depth of six and eight feet on the
level, and even in the valley la blown
into 20 and 30-foot drifts by the fierce
Alpine gales. For when the snow comes
the 39-lnch gauge railroad connecting
Zermatt with the outer world, so steep
that the engine has to climb by means
of cogwheels and toothed rails' much of
the Way, is closed down, not to be oper
ated again until the beginning of the fol
lowing tourist season.
After the last train has left here every
Fall, the Simon pure Zermatt folk are
once more alone. For 40 long weeks aft-!-that
the commune is left practically to
Itself, and the old communal life resumes
full sway, unvexed by the presence of
strangers.
The Communo of Zermatt.
Although the permanent inhabitants of
Zermatt number more than 700. the com
mune has only 130 burghers, who ' are
known as burghers. Burghers only hare
In .the common property. They divide
among themselves whatever profits may
arise from Its management.
Kvery male citizen of Switzerland
who has corr.v of ae Is" legally entitled
to vote, but to be a burg b or in any
commune you mun be a householder
and a native of the place or a natural
ized citizen. In soin- communes you
would have no trouble In becoming a
burgher, having fulfilled these condi
tions, even if born outside Switzerland,
but it is not so in Zermatt. There are
certain legal technicalities which may
be insisted upon, and the man not by
hereditary right a burgher who wishes
to become a member of this commune
has a hard rend to travel.
For Zermatt is a profitable commune,
bo profitable, in fact, that it is more
likp what we in the States would call
a snug little close corporation than
anything else. Its sixscore burghers
enjoy slxscore snug little communal in
comes, and, being thrifty souls, do not
propose to increase their own members
a:d so decrease their Incomes, if they
can hi lp it. This was discovered a
year or two ago by a man who had es
tablished himself in business here and
naturally wished to place himself upon
the same footing as his fellows.
He succeeded in becoming a burgher,
but he had to pay 200J francs for the
privilege. A later applicant was re
fused altogether. He is said to have
offered $000 francs and to 'nave been
told that he could not get in were he
to offer 10,000 francs.
Much of the best land in Zermatt has
been sold and is now owned irrevoca
bly by private individuals and corpo
ration, but the property of the com
mune is still verv valuable. It includes
not only the pasture land, the stone
used to some extent for building pur
poses) and the timber, but also three of
the largest and ft nest hotels. It is
from thes hotels and tha ground rents
paid by some of the various dealers In
Zermatt specialties who occupy com
munal property that the commune de
rives Its profits.
Members of the commune try not to toll
how large the profits are, and nobody not
a burgher Is entitled o know, but It is
admitted that the total is 40.000 or 60,000
francs a year and that each burgher re
ceives several hundred francs as his
snare. It isn't surprising that the bur
ghers do not like to let new men in.
The famous familywhose members own
and operate three or four of the biggest
hotels here, though not winter residents,
are well represented in the commune.
This family owns some of the land also.
but It is hardly likely that Its members
or any one else will ever be able to buy a
toot or Zermatt s communal ground in
the future.
The commune of Zermatt Is ruled by a
council consisting of seven elected mem- !
bers president, vice-president, secretary, '
treasurer and three others. One of these
looks after the roads, bridges and other
public works; one supervises the schools
and the third sees to It that the church is
properly provided for. Zermatt. and. in
fact, the entire canton of Valais. to which
the valley belongs, is strongly Roman
Catholic, and the commune as a whole
supports the church. Meetings of the
council are held about once a month.
though not with positive regularity, and
may be called at any time In case of an i
emergency. like the destruction of
stretch of road by an Alpine storm,
which, of course, would cnll for speedy
communal action.
The present president of the commune
of Zermatt Is named Lauber. He is the I
grandson of the combination doctor and
Innkeeper the first of Zermatt's modern
Innkeepers, -by the way whose house was
almost the only one in the village where
strangers might eat and sleep in the earjy
sixties, when Edward whymper and oth
ers were vainly trying to climb the Mat
terhorn.
Allotting the Communal Property.
A most Important event each year In
all the Alpine valleys is the allotment
of timber and wood. Despite the
shrinkage of the forests and the In
creased use of coal for fuel In most
old countries, and many new ones,
Zermatt, like all the other Alpine com
munes, still warms Itself in Winter and
cooks its food the year round by burn
ing up trees, the pungent pleasant odor
of wood fire smoke being always pres
ent here.
The allotment falls In May. and every
head of a family In the community must
then be prepared to state how many
trees he will require for the year, and
whether he will need some of them for
building purposes or all for fuel.
His statements are received and ex
amined carefully, not with a view to
undue restriction, but simply for the
proper conservation of the supply. If
he calls for about the same as in former
years his requests are granted prompt
ly. If he calls for more, there is a
special inquiry. If the increased ' de
mand is due to the fact that his house
or barn must be replaced by a new
building, he gets what he asks for, but
not if he wishes to use an increased
amount in carrying on any business
enterprise outside of farming. In such
a case the commune could refuse even
to sell the desired timber to him. and
he would have to buy elsewhere. If his
demands are reasonable, however, the
timber must be furnished, providing the
commune has it to furnish.
Down to the present time, despite the
restricted area of the Alpine forest
hemmed in, as it is, on one side by. the
rocky, snowy heights, and on the other
by the fields and pasture lands the
supply of wood in the Alpine communes
has been sufficient for fuel, though not
altogether for building purposes. The
federal government of Switzerland
takes a hand in the timber allotment.
In. order to prevent the extinction of
the forests and to increase their area,
if possible, an admirable Forestry De
partment has been created, and no tree
can be cut without the department's
approval. If there are not trees
enough to go round somebody has to
buy. but that rarely happens. The de
mands of the burghers and others hav
ing been approved by the commune,
they are submitted to an expert sent
by the department. He selects the
trees that may be cut and marks each
one.
After that comes the actual allot
ment, penalties being enforced both
when trees not marked are cut and
when timber is used for any other pur
pose than as stated. It must be cut
within a specified time or the allotment
is annulled. Heads of families not
burghers must pay for their wood;
burghers, as well as" others, must pay a
franc for each tree taken to the fed
eral government for the maintenance
of the Forestry Department. Waste
wood may be taken by anyone without
allotment, but mighty little waste
wood is ever seen in Zermatt.
The pasturage allotment is conducted
along similar lines, and, of course, is a
matter of great importance, since all
the mountain folk keep either cows or
goats, mostly goats. Each cow and
goat wears a bell, so that if one strays
away in the high pasturage lands, it
may be located by the sound, and the
music of the bells in the morning when
the flocks and herds are being driven
from the valley to the feeding grounds
and in the evening when they are re
turning to the valley is somewhat of
an index to the valley's wealth.
Communal Irrigation Systems.
The commune looks after irrigation
also, seeing to it that every man has
the water which his fields demand. It
is law, or if not a custom so od as
to have all the force of law. that, if
necessary, you may dig a ditch across
the field of your neighbor to bring
water to your own, and without pay
ing him for it either. This has been in
force so long that there is probably
not a field needing water in Zermatt
or in any of the other communes in the
valley which is not plentifully supplied
with little irrigation ditches, constant
ly filled with running water, or, at all
events. Into which running water may
oe turned at once in case of a dry time.
Nothing is allowed to interfere with
the water supply. If the commune lays
out a new road it must carry every ex
isting ditch across it either under or
overhead and when the railroad was
built up this valley the company had
to preserve the irrigation system intact
everywhere. In some cases this made
it necessary to set up iron flumes
across the ricrht of way, and the trains
to and from Zermntt pass under a doz
en or more of these.
It might be thought unnecessary to
Irrigate the land in the Alpine valleys,
but the soil is so thin tha even a brief
rainless period dries up the growipg
crops. I vest .Summer there were! sev
eral weeks during which little rain
fell, and the ditches, filled with grayish
muddy water from the melting snows
upon the heights above, were the sal
vation of the farmers in, this valley. -
Aa a matter of eelf-protectlon also,
each Alpine commune must watch the
streams closely. The Visp overflows its
banks in the Spring, when the seasons
break-up comes with such fury thaC
the Church
ATZeRMATT
IS THE SOCIAL
CENTER IN THE
WINTER TIME
were it not curbed, it is conceivable
that it mlpht carry away with it prac
tically all the arable soil of the val
leys! Consequently the various com
munes between the Matterhorn and the
other great peaks at the valley's head
and the point where the Visp joins the
Rhone have spent an enormous amount
of thought in devising ways to control
the stream. These have mostly taken
the form of retaining walls and trans
verse walls built into and partly across
its bed.
Considering the comparative poverty
of the people, the amount of work, and
money they have devoted to this pur
pose seems amazing. The walls are
built with great solidity, and serve
their purpose admirably. Many of the
mountain torrents which feed the Visp
are not only walled , half way up the
mountain sides, but their beds are
"paved" as carefully as any city street,
that the tremendous downrush of
water in the Spring or after one of
-the great- storms to which the Alpine
regions are subject may not run amuck
and carry tons of earth, and rock from
the slopes to the valley below, to the
ruin of many cultivated acres. The
bigger irrigation ditches are " also
walled and paved with care.
In view of the growing scarcity of
timber, it !s surprising that the people
in the Alpine communes do not build
their houses and barns of stone, in
stead of wood, particularly as the stone
may be had for the gathering. The
majority of the chalets, however, are
still of wood, and a fair proportion of
them are. new, the brilliant reddish yel
low surface of their freshly dressed
three-inch planus forming a striking
contrast to tho deep green of the
fields.
It is curious that the few stone
buildings which are put up are built
almost wholly by Italians, the Swiss
E2 I : s :!'.'; ; Sitt I (SsaZ ZZ
fir-' --"'I " ? 2 fcxi I ; - i i .f. , 4 1 1 Lit I
3 i? J : :s M . ml f.J'; fere Wi . &3&t 1 1
rfOr7rJ,f " - : - ( i - - - , 4
- jf&i-: xrrA Jri T- 111 I u I '- " - w !
lfe--- Hili tm vl-.' 11 ryjfCALJWss Chalet ma
W 1 ? ; : P Ih1 L - -7"JB. SCENE ON TBE EJDGE Or ZE&nlTT- .
r- V" !v" i 1 eT' 'T- ,1 H - -. , , If
I
D&IVING COATS AND COWS TO PA5TCTRE
MA JZHONE VALLEY COMMUNE.
seeming to despise stone mason work.
Practically all the heavy work in most
Swiss communes outside of farm work
is done by Italian laborers, who in
vade the Alpine republic every Spring
and remain till driven out, along with
the- visitors, by the season's close.
Few of the houses in the communes
of Zermatt or those lower down the
valley either were ever painted. On the
lower levels the wood turns to sepia
browns as it weathers, on the high
ones to blackish grays. Both sets of
tones harmonize admirably with the
grays of the flat stones used to cover
the roofs.
Zermatt's A'ale In AVlnter.
The stranger of almost any grade
would And the Zermatt Valley a pretty
dull place to live In after the snows
have come, but the native enjoys the
Winter season better than any other.
There are no outsiders here then to be
amused by his ways, to criticise his
comparative poverty and his superla
tive dirt or to excite the envy and am
bition of the most capable young men
and women to the emigration point.
In the Winter time the guides are in
fcheir glory. They have by far the
best income of all the permanent resi
dents, being able to earn at least 2500
francs ($500) in each season of three
or four months. Most guides can earn,
say. 800 francs more at their favorite
trade of carpentering during the two
periods of about six weeks each, be
fore and after the mountain-climbing
season. In which carpenter's work is
possible.
As the guide's pay. when engaged by
tourists, generally Includes his keep, he
has the greater part of his $800 or JT00
gross income to spend In the cold weather
if he 0 chooses. He doesn't do this as
a usual thing; still he spends more money
while the snow is on the ground than
most men do here, and is correspondingly
popular.
The chief amusements in the Winter are
Oregon and
Valleys as
cardplaylng and billiards. The cards used
are immense pieces or pasteboard and
their designs and the games played with
them are quite unlike anything to be
found in the United States, unless by
accident. Billiards are free to the habi
tues of the two cafes which keep open
the year round in the village.
For the young, folks there are dances,
the waltz being their favorite dance.
There are also coasting, skating and
snowshoeing. The Christmas season is a
period of great festivitieo. These festivi
ties last 12 days, and include many an
cient, semi-pagan observances. At Car
nival time there are more festivities;
much masquerading goes on and there Is
a dance almost every night in the week.
The church is a great social center all
the year round in all the communes of
the Zermatt Valley; in the Winter it
reigns supreme, service being held dally,
of course, and all the village attending.
The people of this valley sing s good
cl?aj, but there is little instrumental mu
sic; a clarinet and one fiddle furnish what
is required for the Zermatt dances. The
oldfashloned dulcimer, prototype of the
piano, is found in many of the mountain
chalets, and some of the clumsy-handed
Alpine women who spade the soil plows
are almost unknown in most of the valleys-rare
pretty nimble at pounding the
dulcimer wires.
Courtship goes on the year round among
the Alpine lads and lassies, as in the rest
of the world, but most of the marriages
take place in October, after the tourists
have gone and the scanty crops are gath
ered. Zermatters say all the marriages
In the valley are made for love, and that
It is no disgrace here, as In some parts of
Europe, for a girl to crow up an old
maid.
Once in seven years the children of the
valley are confirmed. The Bishop of Sion
attends to this ceremony, making a spe
cial tour up the River Visp for that pur.
pose, and receiving 200 francs, or J40. from
each of the villages as compensation.
This happens in May, before the season
Washington Have Hundreds of Such
Are Here Pictured and Described.
opens, and the visitors never see the cere
monies. Sion, by the wav. is down the Rhone,
not many miles from the mouth of the
Visp. It was a bishop of Sion who is
fabled to have fooled the devil a thou
sand years or more ago in transporting a
bell given to his church by the Pone
across the Alps. It was the
Bishop of
Sion who for many pears in medieval
times ruled the vale of Zermatt tempo
rally, as they now rule it spiritually.
Besides Zermatt there are six com
munes in this valley Teasch, Randa Her
origgen, St. Nicnolas, Kaipetran and Stal
den. This last is next to Visp, at the
.Rhone end of, the valley, and is less than
half as high as Zermatt, its exact level
above the sea being 260S feet.
Nature is kinder to the lower than to
the upper communes, grapes being raised
as far up the valley as two miles beyond
Salden and maize (Indian corn) almost
as far. It is famous as the "highest corn
in Kurope." . The lower communes are
not so rich as Zermatt, however, since
their tourist visitors are much fewer.
It is due to the poverty of these com
munes that no wagon road, but only a
mule path, exists between Visp and St.
Nicholas.
At Stalden a fork of the valley known
as the Staas-Fee branches off. It con
tains several communes which are much
more primitive even than those of the
Zermatt, and which are accessible only
by way of a muleback journey, or the aid
of that famous team. Shank's mares.
Supplies as well as people are taken up
the Staas-Fee on the backs of mules, and
in consequence the ancient mule train
and attendant muleteers, long since dis
placed by the locomotive in the Zermatt
Valley proper often called the Valley of
St. Nicholas are regular and- picturesque
features of the ''Fee."
The people of the "Fee" communes not
only still adhere more closely to the old
communal form of government than the
Zermatt folk, but they have preserved
several old customs long since forgotten
in the Zermatt Valley communes. For
instance, when a son is born a cheese and
a cask of wine are made for him. If he
lives to a man's estate the wine is drunk
and the cheese is eaten on certain occa
sions, his majority birthday being one.
his wedding day another, his 25th wed
ding anniversary another, and so on. In
any event, there is solemn eating and
drinking of his cheese and wine at his
funeral.
IJttle by little the communal organiza
tions are undergoing many changes in
most of the Alpine valleys, but it will be
many years before either the pasturage
or the timber will be held otherwise than
as common property in any of them.
Zermatt's profits from the building of
hotels instead of selling hotel sites have
checked the gradual increase of privately
held property, which was at one time be
coming quite general in this valley. The
l.rofits realized of late years by the com
munes holding mines are proving strong
incentive! to their burghers not to aban
don the old plan of common ownership.
LSome of these mlneownlng communes
make enougn out of their property to pay
all local exoenscs and the federal taxes
of the burghers besides. .
It should not be understood that the
communal system is limited to the Al
pine regions of Switzerland. On the
contrary, it extends into both France
and Italy. Local affairs in the French
vale of Chomonix, near Mont Blanc,
are carried on much as is the Zermatt
Valley. In some of the Italian Alpine
valleys the members of the communes
are cutting; their timber extensively
this year and building really expensive,
though not very pretty, stone houses
for themselves with the proceeds.
But everywhere, as here in Zermatt,
the communes are being run on busi
ness principles strictly more and more
each year, and no more new members
are being admitted than is found posi
tively necessary under the laws of the
land.
The Bay of Dublin.
T.,ady Dufferln.
O, Bay of Dublin! my heart you're troulln'.
Your beauty haunts mf like a fevered
dream;
Like frozen fountains that the sun sets
bubblin'.
My heart's blood warms when I but hear
your name.
And never till (his life-pulne reanes.
My earliest thouieht you'll cea to be!
O. there's no one here knows how fair that
place la.
And no one cares how dear it is to me.
Sweet WtcVtow Mountains! the eunlirht
leaping"
On your green banka is a pictura rare:,.
Tou crowd around me ilka young . girls
peeping.
And puzzling me to say which is moat
fair;
Aa though you'd see your own sweet faces
Reflected in that atnooth and silver sea.
O! my blesainff on those lovely places.
Though no -one carea bow dear they ara
to me.
How often, when at work I'm sitting.
And musing sadly on the days of yore,
I think I aee my Katy knitting-
An' tha children playin ground the cabin
door; .
I think I aee the neighbors faces.
All gathered round, their long-lost friend
to ae.
O! though no one knows how fair that
place iff.
Heaven knows how dear my poor home
was to me.