Berne, Sept. 15.
"The destiny of Switzerland depends to a large extent on our wisdom," Federal Councillor Cello declared yesterday when he "inaugurated a farm fair.
"Let us understand," he urged, "that neither our sympathies nor our antipathies can in any way alter the course of events in Europe, although they may change, to our detriment, the course of our national existence.
"We must remember." M. Cello declared, "that all our neighbouring states, Germany, Italy and France voluntarily respected our independence and neutrality when the fate of other neutral states was a great deal different.
"There is no object in being optimistic or pessimistic, or of adopting the attitude of a prophet. We must only be realistic.
"Thus conceived and practised, our neutrality has been one of the justifications for our existence as an independent state in the European concert of nations," Coùpcillor Celia concluded.—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.