Edmund Schulthess

Edmund Schulthess (1935)

Edmund Julius Schulthess (born March 2, 1868 in Villnachern ; † April 22, 1944 in Bern ; resident in Zurich and Brugg ) was a Swiss politician ( FDP ) and lawyer . From 1893 to 1912 he was a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau . At the same time, he represented this canton in the Council of States from 1905 to 1912 . On July 17, 1912, he was elected to the Federal Council , to which he was a member until April 15, 1935. He was Federal President four times (1917, 1921, 1928 and 1933). He was then the first President of the Federal Banking Commission until 1943 .

During his entire 23-year tenure as Federal Councilor, Schulthess headed the Department of Economics . Despite his liberal political convictions, he took numerous dirigistic measures in economic policy during the First World War and in the subsequent crisis years to ensure that Switzerland was supplied with food and raw materials. Schulthess tried to strike a balance between the interests of the economy and the working class, but sometimes got caught between the fronts. He was just as unable to extend the weekly working hours to 54 hours as he was to extend the state grain monopoly or introduce compulsory pension insurance. There were disputes with his counterpart Jean-Marie Musy on numerous issues .

biography

Youth and Studies

Schulthess was a descendant of the clergyman Johann Georg Schulthess , who founded the Monday Club in Berlin in 1749 .

His father of the same name had trained as a farmer in Germany and had acquired the Aarhof, an estate on the Aare near Villnachern . The mother Brigitta Cornelia Marth came from Hanau . All four Schulthess children received an education that was expensive for the time. Edmund was the youngest and had a sister and two brothers (his eldest brother Wilhelm Schulthess later became a well-known orthopedist). His niece was Tina Truog-Saluz . He attended the village school in Villnachern, and that in Schinznach for a year . After graduating from the district school in Brugg , he went to Aarau to the old canton school . There he was a member of the Argovia school association .

In 1888, Schulthess passed the Matura and then studied law at the universities of Strasbourg , Munich , Leipzig , Bern and Paris . From 1892 he was married to the French Marguerite Disqué, who came from Saint-Quentin in Picardy ; the couple had a daughter who was born in 1902. In 1891 Schulthess worked in Aarau for a few months as a trainee in the law firm of the influential National Councilor Erwin Kurz . In the summer of the same year he ran for a seat in the Aargau Grand Council for the first time , initially without success. Also in 1891 he settled in Brugg and opened his own law firm there.

Canton politics and profession

On March 6, 1893, Schulthess ran again for a seat on the Grand Council. However, the polling had to be canceled and repeated due to formal errors in the election office. At the second attempt, on April 30, he was elected to the cantonal parliament. In the council operation he proved his competence, especially in economic questions, so that in 1895 he was appointed chairman of the commission that was supposed to draft a new tax law. At the age of only 29, Schulthess took over the presidium of the Grand Council under unusual circumstances. On March 30, 1897 he was in the election for the presidium still inferior to the Catholic-conservative Karl Frey. But this did not make it back into parliament in the following popular election, so that the presidium was orphaned. The council elected Schulthess on May 25, 1897 to replace Frey. He held the office of Council President until March 1898.

In April 1898, Schulthess submitted a motion calling for the canton's equity stake in Aargauische Bank to be increased. The canton was to acquire the majority of shares and the institute, founded in 1855, was to be converted into a state bank, as had already happened in several other cantons. The project met with resistance from Councilor of States Peter Emil Isler , who was also the bank president. After long deliberations, the Grand Council adopted the necessary constitutional amendment. However, this failed in the referendum on July 22, 1900 with 51.7% no votes. Only when the people agreed in a second vote on June 23, 1912, the Aargauische Kantonalbank could be founded. Schulthess had to accept another vote defeat in 1901 when the people rejected the revision of the tax law, which he had largely influenced. Then three years later it adopted a revised template. Schulthess advocated the election of councils of government and states by the people - a concern that could be realized in 1904 with a corresponding constitutional amendment. On the other hand, in 1909, as President of the Commission, he fought against the proportional representation of the Grand Council demanded by the Social Democrats .

In addition to his work as a politician, Schulthess practiced his profession as a lawyer and primarily represented the interests of the rapidly expanding electricity industry , which gained a leading role in Aargau due to the abundant hydropower. As a result, Schulthess acquired extensive knowledge in the field of water law . From 1900 he was legal advisor and auditor in Baden -based Brown, Boveri & Cie. (BBC). In 1904 Walter Boveri appointed him to the management of the BBC, but after only six months he gave up this activity again. On the question of the nationalization of the United Swiss Rhine Saltworks , which came about in 1909, Schulthess acted as legal advisor to the Canton of Aargau.

Council of States

In May 1899, the Great Council voted for the two Aargau Council of States . Without being an official candidate, the then 31-year-old Schulthess surprisingly received 74 votes, only five fewer than the necessary absolute majority. On October 29, 1905, the first election of the Council of States took place by the people, the seat of the late Armin Kellersberger was vacant. During the election campaign, Schulthess received support from the farmers' association and the Catholic Conservatives; his opponent was Hans Siegrist , the mayor of Brugg. Schulthess prevailed with a lead of around 5400 votes. He now represented the canton of Aargau in the Council of States, but remained a member of the Grand Council. In addition, he took over the chairmanship of the FDP of the Canton of Aargau.

Due to his connections both to the electricity industry and to the farmers (he was a friend of the farmers' association director Ernst Laur ), Schulthess soon exerted great influence in the Council of States. With his experience in finance and labor law, he significantly influenced the economic debates in the Council. In 1909 he chaired the commission for the State Treaty with France on access lines to the Simplon Tunnel ; Thanks to Schulthess' thorough preparatory work, the Council of States ratified the treaty unanimously.

Federal Councilor Marc Ruchet announced his resignation on July 10, 1912 and died three days later. Federal Councilor Adolf Deucher also died on July 10th , leaving two vacancies to be filled in the state government. On July 17, the replacement elections were held by the Federal Assembly . Camille Decoppet took the place of Ruchet . The replacement of the Deucher seat was controversial: The FDP parliamentary group needed three ballots to agree on a candidate. Within the faction, Schulthess prevailed against Felix Calonder and Carl Spahn . In the actual election by the Federal Assembly, he managed the election in the first round with 128 of 194 valid votes; Calonder received 23 votes, and other names 25 votes. The distribution of departments was undisputed: Schulthess was assigned the trade and industry department ( known as the national economic department from 1915 ). He gave up his mandates at cantonal level, as well as his work as a lawyer.

Federal Council

Until the end of the First World War

Edmund Schulthess (ca.1916)

Schulthess took office as Federal Councilor on August 19, 1912. The first business he had to represent in parliament was the ratification of the controversial Gotthard Treaty . The German Empire and Italy contributed financially to the construction of the Gotthard Railway in the 1870s . In 1909 the federal government wanted to buy back the Gotthard Railway and integrate it into the Swiss Federal Railways . As compensation for the waiver of capital and operating profit-sharing, the two neighboring states were to receive tariff concessions that were equivalent to granting the most-favored-nation clause on the transit railway lines. Against strong resistance, especially from French-speaking Switzerland , Schulthess defended the treaty in April 1913 and was able to convince a majority. The signing of the treaty, viewed by many as a restriction on national sovereignty, sparked widespread protest. At that time the people could only make themselves heard in state treaties with petitions . A committee launched a popular initiative to introduce an optional referendum on international treaties. It was not until 1921 that the initiative was voted on and was clearly accepted.

The outbreak of the First World War hit Switzerland completely unprepared, and a war economy organization had to be created immediately. On August 3, 1914, Schulthess invited the cantonal governments and business associations to a conference. A major problem was the lack of coordination in the supply of the country . It took several years for the most important departments to be united in one department. When Schulthess ordered that the milk price should not exceed 20 cents per liter, Ernst Laur saw this as an insult to the peasant class. Despite an ordinance against the rise in food prices issued on August 10th, the purchase of hamsters and massive price increases could not be prevented. It was not until February 1916 that the federal government was able to confiscate hoarded supplies. In general, the centralized measures of the war economy encountered strong political resistance throughout the war, as freedom of trade and industry was deeply anchored in the consciousness of the economy. With the approval of the state, individual companies created an import center for the supply of coal , which achieved a monopoly-like position.

The federal government had to take the import of grain into its own hands and issued a state monopoly for this purpose in 1915. However, food was not rationed until 1917 . Although the government and the Department of Economic Affairs passed over 200 resolutions to secure national supplies, the situation became more and more precarious until the end of the war and inflation rose inexorably. Federal Councilor Arthur Hoffmann had to resign in June 1917 after he and Robert Grimm had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a separate peace on the Eastern Front . One of the effects of the Grimm-Hoffmann affair was the allocation of the trade department from the Political Department to the Department of Economics, with Schulthess now being responsible for both imports and exports. The economic blockade of Switzerland by the Allies came to an end in April 1919, but numerous restrictions remained in force until 1922.

Shortly before the outbreak of war, parliament passed a new factory law that restricted working hours to ten hours a day. Because of the war it did not come into force until 1918, but was already considered obsolete. Under the influence of the state strike in November 1918, Schulthess was able to convince the trade associations in April 1919 to limit the weekly working time to 48 hours. From the right-wing political camp, this brought him the accusation that he was far too yielding to the demands of the Social Democrats. The new law came into force in 1920.

1920s

After a brief economic recovery, Switzerland was hit by an economic crisis in the early 1920s. Several branches of the economy made demands for protectionist measures, as their products are hardly competitive because of the devalued currencies of neighboring countries. Instead of accommodating individual industries, Schulthess relied on a revision of the customs tariff law . He considered this to be urgent and in 1921 had Parliament give him the provisional power of attorney to set the customs tariff himself. Two years later, parliament extended the relevant urgent federal resolution for an indefinite period. This interventionist policy met with resistance from social democrats and trade unions. They brought about a popular initiative that demanded the lowest possible tariffs on food and raw materials, but the highest possible tariffs on luxury goods. In the vote on April 15, 1923, however, it achieved an approval of only 26.8%, which was interpreted as an indirect approval of the customs tariff of 1921.

The 48-hour week remained controversial. Heinrich Roman Abt submitted a motion, supported by 101 co-signatories, in 1921, which called for the revision of the Factory Act. Schulthess assured the trade union federation that the Federal Council would not obey the motion. But in May 1922 he presented a bill (the "Lex Schulthess") which provided for a three-year extension of the weekly working time to 54 hours. Schulthess argued that lower production costs through more intensive work would increase sales opportunities for Swiss industry. The opponents of the bill accused him that this would only increase the army of the unemployed and that it was precisely with his customs protection policy that he had contributed to the crisis. On February 14, 1924, he suffered a severe defeat in the vote when the "Lex Schulthess" was rejected with 57.6% no votes, with a high turnout of 77%. He could never really come to terms with this referendum, which earned him the reputation of being a bad loser.

Together with Foreign Minister Giuseppe Motta , Schulthess took part in the Genoa Conference in May 1922 . In the Federal Council elections in December 1922, he achieved the worst result of all seven Federal Councilors. Schulthess strove to put the grain monopoly passed in 1915 on a permanent legal basis. In November 1924 he proposed to parliament that the federal government should renounce the import monopoly, but continue to allow other domestic measures such as price controls and sales guarantees. The National Council and Council of States approved the proposal, but three influential business associations that wanted to abolish the grain monopoly altogether managed to hold a referendum against it. Schulthess was passionate about the proposal, although he did not shrink from polemical simplifications. With his adherence to state interventionism, he disturbed many liberal like-minded people. Finance Minister Jean-Marie Musy , with whom Schulthess never got along very well, openly agitated against him and led the counter-campaign. In the referendum on December 5, 1926, the opponents of the monopoly won extremely narrowly with 50.4% no votes. A compromise proposal, which included numerous measures to promote grain cultivation, but not a state monopoly, was adopted on March 3, 1929 with 66.8% yes-votes.

1930s

Edmund Schulthess

In 1925 the people clearly agreed to an article in the constitution that gave the federal government the power to introduce old-age and survivors' insurance ( AHV) and, at a later date, disability insurance (IV). However, this was only a fundamental decision. Schulthess' economics department first had to draft an implementation law, which took more than five years to complete. The National Council and Council of States approved the implementation law, as did a new tobacco taxation law that was supposed to secure the financing of these social works. Resistance arose against both proposals in conservative and ecclesiastical circles, among supporters of a corporate state and anti-statists, who denigrated the project as "socialist" and "Marxist". Jean-Marie Musy openly opposed his Federal Council colleagues and also fought the bill. In the referendum on December 6, 1931, the implementing law for the AHV and IV failed with a no-vote share of 60.9%, the tobacco taxation for the financing of these social benefits with 50.1% no (the difference was only 1926 votes). After the rejection of the grain monopoly and the 54-hour week, this was Schulthess' third major defeat. Another 16 years should pass before the introduction of AHV and IV.

In the meantime, the global economic crisis had also fully gripped Switzerland. The welfare benefits increased massively, while tax revenues collapsed. Since the Federal Constitution did not provide any effective instruments for such a crisis, the Federal Council had to proceed through exceptional ordinances based on urgency. On December 23, 1931, the Federal Assembly authorized the Federal Council to take measures “to protect national production”. Schulthess used these powers to quota the imports; in addition, prices and wages should be reduced so that the Swiss economy regains its competitiveness. Schulthess had to put up with the accusation that he was pursuing a policy of deflation, and Ernst Nobs accused him of having fallen victim to the "dismantling mania". On November 29, 1934, Schulthess gave a speech in Aarau, in which he called for "connection to the world economy". The reduction in wages and the cost of living is the lesser evil than the collapse of public finances. The reactions to the “Aarau Speech” were fierce: the liberals condemned the “price dictatorship”; the Catholic Conservatives reproached him that he was now suddenly representing the positions of his retired arch-enemy Musy; the unions felt betrayed because Schulthess had previously fought the crisis initiative . Tired of office and suffering from chronic asthma , Schulthess submitted his resignation on April 15, 1935.

further activities

On March 1, the new Banking Act came into force and the Federal Council elected Schulthess as President of the newly created Federal Banking Commission around three weeks before his resignation . In this function he was involved in the preparations for the devaluation of the franc , which took place on September 24, 1936. The banking commission had to save numerous financial institutions with deferrals and restructuring over the crisis years. It was not until 1942 that such measures were no longer necessary. Also after his resignation as Federal Councilor, Schulthess officiated as head of the Swiss government delegation at the International Labor Organization (ILO). In July 1939 he was elected President of the ILO Conference, but the outbreak of World War II rendered this office virtually meaningless.

Schulthess made headlines when it became known with a three-day delay that he had used a private trip to Berlin on February 23, 1937 to meet with Adolf Hitler . The German Chancellor had assured him that the German Reich would respect the inviolability and neutrality of Switzerland at all times. In the midst of the chaos of war, Schulthess traveled to Portugal in the spring of 1943 to visit his daughter. He returned sick, suffered successive strokes and lost both hearing and eyesight. He lost consciousness in mid-April 1944 and died on April 22 at the age of 76.

literature

• Hermann Böschenstein : Edmund Schulthess . In: Urs Altermatt (Ed.): Das Bundesratslexikon . NZZ Libro , Zurich 2019, ISBN 978-3-03810-218-2 , p. 275-281 .
• Hermann Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess: War and crises. Paul Haupt Publishing House, Bern 1966.
• Decree for Federal Councilor Dr. hc Edmund Schulthess. Zurich 1938 (held by: Swiss National Library , Sign. N 41 689)

Web links

Commons : Edmund Schulthess  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Andreas Steigmeier : Edmund Schulthess. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Edmund Schulthess in the History of Social Security in Switzerland
• Lecture 2007 by Hans Georg Schulthess, Zurich; with details of all branches of the family over centuries as well as lit.
• Edmund Schulthess in the archive database of the Swiss Federal Archives
• Newspaper article about Edmund Schulthess in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 9-10.
2. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 11-12.
3. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 14-18.
4. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 20-23.
5. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 25-26.
6. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 33-34.
7. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 43-46.
8. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. P. 51.
9. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 57-59.
10. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. P. 67.
11. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 61-65.
12. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 70-73.
13. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. P. 94.
14. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 104-105.
15. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 108-109.
16. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 125-127.
17. ^ Federal popular initiative 'Respect for people's rights in the customs question'. admin.ch , August 6, 2013, accessed on August 11, 2013 . 
18. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 130-133.
19. ↑ Referendum of February 17, 1924. admin.ch, August 6, 2013, accessed on August 11, 2013 . 
20. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 150-152.
21. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 153-156.
22. ↑ Referendum of December 5, 1926. admin.ch, August 6, 2013, accessed on August 11, 2013 . 
23. ↑ Referendum on March 3, 1929. admin.ch, August 6, 2013, accessed on August 11, 2013 . 
24. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 166-171.
25. ↑ Referendum on March 3, 1929. admin.ch, August 6, 2013, accessed on August 11, 2013 . 
26. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 172-173.
27. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 174-178.
28. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. Pp. 194-195.
29. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess. P. 196.

predecessor	Office	successor
Adolf Deucher	Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1912–1935	Hermann Obrecht