Amador Ledger-Dispatch, Volume 1903, Number 9, 9 October 1903 — No Language of Their Own.' ~ [ARTICLE]

No Language of Their Own.' ~

Among the peoples of the world the Swiss are alone in having no language they "can call their own. According to a recent visitor to the little country, about three-fourths of the people of Switzerland speak German, while the remainder divide four other languages among them, mainly French and Italian, the languages varying as a rule according to the proximity of the'people to each country whose tongue they speak/ Public documents and notices are printed in both French and German.

In the Swiss congress, or national parliament, the members make their speeches either ln"Frencn''or German, for nearly all the members understand both languages. The orders of the president are translated by an official interpreter and fnrnisbed to thejnewspapers ln both languages. . . '