BASE FEE

base fee, in law, a freehold estate of inheritance which is limited or qualified by the existence of certain conditions. in modern property law the commonest example of a base fee is an estate created by a tenant in tail, not in possession, who bars the entail without the consent of the protector of the settlement. though he bars his own issue, he cannot bar any remainder or reversion, and the estate (_i.e._ the _base fee_) thus created is determinable on the failure of his issue in tail. an example of this kind of estate was introduced by george eliot into the plot of _felix holt_. another example of a base fee is an estate descendible to heirs general, but terminable on an uncertain event; for example, a grant of land to a and his heirs, tenants of the manor of dale. the estate terminates whenever the prescribed qualification ceases. an early meaning of base fee was an estate held not by free or military service, but by base service, _i.e._ at the will of the lord. basel (fr. _bale_), one of the most northerly of the swiss cantons, and the only one (save schaffhausen) that includes any territory north of the rhine. it is traversed by the chain of the jura, and is watered by the birs and the ergolz, both tributaries (left) of the rhine. it is traversed by railways from basel to olten (25 m.) and to laufen (14-1/4 m.), besides local lines from basel to fluehen (8 m.) for the frequented pilgrimage resort of mariastein, and from liestal to waldenburg (8-3/4 m.), from 1803 to 1814 the canton was one of the six "directorial" cantons of the confederation. since 1833 it has been divided into two half cantons, with independent constitutions. one is that of basel stadt or bale ville, including, besides the city of basel, the three rural districts (all to the north of the rhine) of riehen, bettingen and klein hueningen (the latter now united to the city). the total area of this half canton is 13.7 sq. m. only, of which 11 sq. m. are classed as "productive," forests occupying 1.5 sq. m., but its total population in 1900 was 112,227 (of whom 3066 inhabited the rural districts), mainly german-speaking, and numbering 73,063 protestants, 37,101 romanists (including the old catholics), and 1897 jews. the cantonal constitution dates from 1889. the executive of seven members and the legislature (_grossrat_) of 130 members, as well as the one member sent to the federal _staenderat_ and the six sent to the federal _nationalrat_, are all elected by a direct popular vote for the term of three years. since 1875, 1000 citizens can claim a popular vote (_facultative referendum_) on all bills, or can exercise the right of _initiative_ whether as to laws or the revision of the cantonal constitution. the other half canton is that of basel landschaft or bale campagne, which is divided into four administrative districts and comprises seventy-four communes, its capital being liestal. its total area is 165 sq. m., of which all but 5 sq. m. is reckoned "productive" (including 55.9 sq. m. of forests). in 1900 its total population was 68,497, nearly all german-speaking, while there were 52,763 protestants, 15,564 romanists, and 130 jews. the cantonal constitution dates from 1892. the executive of 5 members and the legislature or _landrat_ (one member per 800 inhabitants or fraction over 400), as well as the single member sent to the federal _staenderat_ and the three sent to the federal _nationalrat_, are all elected by a direct popular vote for three years. the "obligatory referendum" obtains in the case of all laws, while 1500 citizens have the right of "initiative" whether as to laws or the revision of the cantonal constitution. silk ribbon weaving, textile industries and the manufacture of tiles are carried on. (w. a. b. c.) basel (fr. _bale_, but _basle_ is a wholly erroneous form; ital. _basilea_), the capital of the swiss half canton of basel stadt or bale ville. it is now the second most populous (109,161 inhabitants) town (ranking after zuerich) in the swiss confederation, while it is reputed to be the richest, the number of resident millionaires (in francs) exceeding that of any other swiss town. both facts are largely due to the opening (1882) of the st gotthard railway, as merchandise collected from every part of north and central europe is stored in basel previous to being redistributed by means of that line. hence the city has an extremely large and flourishing transit trade, despite the rather dingy appearance of its older portions. the city is divided by the rhine into gross basel (south) and klein basel (north), the former being by far the larger. there are several bridges over the river, the old wooden bridge having been replaced in 1905 by one built of stone. the central or main railway station is in gross basel, while the baden station is in klein basel. the most prominent building in the city is the cathedral or muenster, built of deep red sandstone, on a terrace high above the rhine. it was consecrated in 1019, but was mainly rebuilt after the disastrous earthquake of 1356 that nearly ruined the city. the public meetings of the great oecumenical council (1431-1449) were held in the choir, while the committees sat in the chapter-house. erasmus lived in basel 1521-1529, and on his death there (1536) was buried in the cathedral, attached to which are cloisters, in which various celebrated men are buried, _e.g._ oecolampadius (d. 1531), grynaeus (d. 1541), buxtorf (d. 1732). the 16th-century rathaus or town hall has recently been restored. in the museum is a fine collection of works of art by holbein (who lived in basel from [v.03 p.0463] 1528 to 1531), while the historical museum (in the old franciscan church) contains many treasures, and among them the fragments of the famous _dance of death_, wrongly attributed to holbein. the university (founded by pius ii. in 1460) is the oldest in switzerland, and of late years has been extended by the construction of detached buildings for the study of the natural sciences, _e.g._ the vesalianum and the bernoullianum. the university library is very rich, and contains the original mss. of the acts of the great oecumenical council. there are a number of modern monuments in the city, the most important being that set up to the memory of the swiss who fell in the battle of st jakob (1444), won by the french. basel is the seat of the chief missionary society in switzerland, the training school for missionaries being at st chrischona, 6 m. out of the city. the town was founded in a.d. 374 by the emperor valentinian, from whose residence there it takes its name. in the 5th century the bishop of augusta rauricorum (now called kaiser augst), 7-1/2 m. to the east, moved his see thither. henceforth the history of the city is that of the growing power, spiritual and temporal, of the bishops, whose secular influence was gradually supplanted in the 14th century by the advance of the rival power of the burghers. in 1356 the city was nearly destroyed by a great earthquake. after long swaying between the neighbouring rhine cities and the swiss confederation, it was admitted into the latter in 1501. it later became one of the chief centres of the reformation movement in switzerland, so that the bishop retired in 1525 to porrentruy, where he resided till 1792, finally settling at soleure in 1828, the bishopric having been wholly reorganized since 1814. as in other swiss towns the trade gilds got all political power into their hands, especially by the 18th century. they naturally favoured the city at the expense of the rural districts, so that in 1832 the latter proclaimed their independence, and in 1833 were organized into the half canton of basel landschaft, the city forming that of basel stadt. see _basler biographien_ (3 vols., 1900-1905); _basler chroniken_ (original chronicles), (5 vols., leipzig, 1872-1890); h. boos, _geschichte von basel_, vol. i. (to 1501) alone published (1877); a. burckhardt, _bilder aus d. geschichte von basel_ (3 vols., 1869-1882); _festschrift z. 400ten jahrestage d. ewig. bundes zwisch. b. und den eidgenossen_ (1901); t. geering, _handel und industrie d. stadt basel_ (1885); a. heusler, _verfassungsgeschichte d. stadt basel im mittelalter_ (1860), and _rechtsquellen von basel_ (2 vols., 1856-1865); l. a. stocker, _basler stadtbilder_ (1890); l. stouff, _pouvoir temporel des eveques de bale_ (2 vols., paris, 1891); r. thommen, _gesch. d. universitaet b._, 1532-1632 (1889); _urkundenbuch d. landschaft b._ (pub. from 1881), and ditto for the city (pub. from 1890); w. vischer, _gesch. d. universitaet b._, 1460-1529 (1860); r. wackernagel, _gesch. d. stadt basel_ (3 vols., 1906 sqq.); k. weber, _die revolution im kanton basel_, 1830-1833 (1907); g. gautherot, _la republique rauracienne_ (1908). (w. a. b. c.)