Jacques Schmid

Jacques Schmid (born April 2, 1882 in Altstetten , † September 7, 1960 in Solothurn ) was a Swiss politician ( Social Democratic Party ). From 1917 to 1955 Schmid was a member of the National Council, and from 1931 to 1949 he was also a member of the government council of the Canton of Solothurn .

Life

Jacques Schmid was born in Altstetten . His parents came from Urdorf , the father was a railroad employee. When he reached the age of school enrollment, Schmid lost his mother, who died of tuberculosis . His father denied his career aspiration to become a sculptor , who doubted the possibility of earning a job as an artist. Jacques Schmid began an apprenticeship as a typesetter , first with the advertisement sheet Der Limmattaler , then in Burgdorf BE , where he passed the apprenticeship examination after three years. At the age of 18 he went on a journey through France and Germany. After attending the recruiting schoolhe went to Wiesbaden , from where he was called back to Switzerland for the NCO school . When a strike took place at the Arbenz automobile works in Albisrieden in 1906 , troops were called up by the Zurich government. As a corporal, Schmid belonged to a regiment that was supposed to be placed between the workers and the employers as a “neutral power”. When soldiers in his group were called in to do handyman work, he forbade them to do scabs and intervened when police officers and the military picketed picket lines violently. Schmid had to hand over his rifle and was taken away. Schmid's protest letter to the government council of the canton of Zurich remained inconclusive. As a result , he refused to work in 1907 and was sentenced to six and a half months in prison.

Schmid then worked as secretary of the Zurich Workers' Union and from 1910 as editor of the social democratic Zurich newspaper Volksrecht . In 1911 he went to Olten in the canton of Solothurn , where he took over the editing of the Neue Freie Zeitung (later renamed Das Volk ) and held it for the next 20 years. At that time Olten was a center of social democratic workers' newspapers; In addition to the New Free Newspaper from Solothurn , Der Freie Aargauer and the Lucerne Newspaper Der Demokratie were also published by the Trösch printing press in Olten . These three newspapers only differed in terms of content in the local section; Schmid was responsible for their general part. Since 1920 the Neue Freie Zeitung appeared under its new name Das Volk , while the other two papers moved to their respective regions.

During the First World War , Schmid positioned the Neue Freie Zeitung on the side of the Entente and against the Central Powers , while the liberal and conservative papers of the canton of Solothurn maintained a pro-German stance. As early as January 6, 1916, Schmid declared in an editorial that Germany would lose the war. The Russian February Revolution of 1917 was enthusiastically celebrated by Schmid. His work, The Choking of the Social Revolution in Russia by German Militarism , written in February 1918, caused quite a stir. Ernst Nobs , the first Social Democratic Federal Councilor in Switzerland, remembered Schmid at the Neue Freie Zeitung as a young editor "with a thick head of hair, glowing eyes, a lot of temperament and a very poisonous pen."

Schmid was violently attacked by the bourgeois press, especially by the liberal Solothurner Zeitung . Schmid was supposed to give a lecture in Geneva in February 1918 , but it could not take place as planned. The Solothurner Zeitung, not informed about the postponement, published an alleged report about the lecture, which was not given at all, in which it was claimed that the “red Mephisto ” and “irresponsible agitator” Schmid had given a “bloodthirsty incendiary speech”, according to which “the anarcho-socialist agitator ... amicable over wine and roast ”. At the time of the Spanish flu , Schmid, like the strikers in the national strike in 1918, was even accused of being responsible for the “Bolshevik epidemic”. In reality, Schmid took a more moderate viewpoint. For example, he initially opposed both the rejection of national defense and the postulate of the dictatorship of the proletariat , but complied with the party's majority decisions on these points. However, he always saw himself as a Marxist .

In 1912 Jacques Schmid was elected to the Solothurn Cantonal Council. After the parliamentary elections in 1917 , he was also a member of the National Council until 1955 . He developed a great deal of parliamentary activity and was a member of several standing commissions. As the end of 1930 Hans Affolter , the first Social Democratic Government of the Canton of Solothurn, the federal judge was elected, the Solothurn SP Schmid nominated as a council candidate. Against strong resistance from the bourgeoisie, Schmid was elected in the second ballot on February 8, 1931. In an effort to prevent Schmid from being a councilor, the bourgeoisie had brought up several other SP politicians as acceptable candidates; the Solothurn Liberals agreed on Arnold Kamber for the second ballot , but he was not prepared to accept an office without a mandate from his party.

Schmid was a member of the Solothurn government council until 1949 as head of the finance department. In 1934, 1939, 1944 and 1949 he served as Landammann . Schmid was President of the National Council for 1950. As a member of the government, he brought several major reforms to a successful referendum , including a new tax law in 1939 that brought the canton in an extremely difficult financial situation significantly higher tax revenues, and in 1941 a reform of civil servants' salaries that improved the Wage situation of the state personnel was brought about.

In addition to his political activities, Jacques Schmid also wrote poems, novels and stories. He was married to Dina von Hayn from Germany, who was active in the workers' movement.

effect

Jacques Schmid played a formative role for the SP in the canton of Solothurn , which he headed from 1912 to 1936. Schmid was also recognized as an important statesman by his political opponents in their obituaries. The Solothurner Zeitung wrote : "He may have closed his eyes in the knowledge that his commitment was not in vain and that whoever has served the people as he did, will leave his mark on the people."

Works

• Defense speech by ex-corporal Jacques Schmid . Before the war court, March 22, 1907. F. Hinnen, Zurich 1907.
• Criticism of the liberal workers policy in the canton of Solothurn . Book printing of the "Neue Freie Zeitung", Olten 1913.
• In the noise of guns and the war fire . Poems. Self-published, Olten 1914.
• Forward! The Swiss workers under the truce; The European War and Social Democracy. SP of the Canton of Solothurn, Olten 1915.
• The strangulation of the social revolution in Russia by German militarism . Book printing of the "Neue Freie Zeitung", Olten 1918.
• Before, during and after the general strike . Book printing of the "Neue Freie Zeitung", Olten 1919.
• The Communist International (Third International) and how do we face it? W. Trösch printing works, Olten 1919.
• The red village . Social novel. Hambrecht, Olten 1922.
• Justice . Social novel. Self-published, Olten 1925.
• 100 years of liberal rule in the canton of Solothurn . Cooperative printing house, Olten 1930.
• Cheerful folklore in verse and song . Published by Ernst Kempter, Muzzano-Lugano 1933.
• Granita . A story from the time of the Second World War. Hauenstein-Verlag, Olten 1951.
• On the move 1900–1950 . Experience and knowledge. Hauenstein-Verlag, Olten 1953.
• Noth family . Pictures of life show how fate plays with people. Hauenstein-Verlag, Olten 1956.

literature

• Management of the Social Democratic Party of the Canton of Solothurn (Ed.): Jacques Schmid, 1882–1960 . A life in the service of the people. Cooperative printing house, Olten 1961.
• Jean-Maurice Lätt: 120 years of the labor movement in the canton of Solothurn . Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-64-2 .

Web links

• Jean-Maurice Lätt: Schmid, Jacques. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Jean-Maurice Lätt: Schmid, Jacques. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Gottfried Klaus: Jacques Schmid, an appreciation for the 60th birthday . In: Management of the Social Democratic Party of the Canton of Solothurn (ed.): Jacques Schmid, 1882–1960 . A life in the service of the people. Cooperative printing company, Olten 1961, p. 9-23 .
3. ^ Jean-Maurice Lätt: 120 years of the labor movement in the canton of Solothurn . Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-64-2 , p. 146 .
4. ^ Jean-Maurice Lätt: 120 years of the labor movement in the canton of Solothurn . Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-64-2 , p. 147-148 .
5. ↑ Ernst Nobs: Memories of the "Neue Freie Zeitung" . In: Management of the Social Democratic Party of the Canton of Solothurn (ed.): Jacques Schmid, 1882–1960 . A life in the service of the people. Cooperative printing company, Olten 1961, p. 34-36 .
6. ^ Jean-Maurice Lätt: 120 years of the labor movement in the canton of Solothurn . Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-64-2 , p. 147 .
7. ^ Jean-Maurice Lätt: 120 years of the labor movement in the canton of Solothurn . Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-64-2 , p. 156 .
8. ^ Jean-Maurice Lätt: 120 years of the labor movement in the canton of Solothurn . Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-64-2 , p. 166 .
9. ^ Jean-Maurice Lätt: 120 years of the labor movement in the canton of Solothurn . Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-64-2 , p. 211 .
10. ^ Rudolf Kämper: 18 years member of the government . In: Management of the Social Democratic Party of the Canton of Solothurn (ed.): Jacques Schmid, 1882–1960 . A life in the service of the people. Cooperative printing company, Olten 1961, p. 24-28 .
11. ↑ From fighter to statesman. On the death of former government councilor Jacques Schmid . In: Solothurner Zeitung . September 8, 1960 (quoted from Jacques Schmid. A life in the service of the people. P. 52).