This institution is of immemorial antiquity, and the meetings in either case are always held on the last Sunday in April. The "Landsgemeinde" is the supreme legislative authority, and elects both the executive (in Inner Rhoden composed of nine members and called "Ständekommission", and in Ausser Rhoden of seven members and called "Regierungsrat") and the president or "Landammann"; in each half-canton there is also a sort of standing committee (composed of the members of the executive and representatives from the communes—in Inner Rhoden one member per 250 or fraction over 125 of the population, and in Ausser Rhoden one member per 1000 of the inhabitants) which prepares business for the "Landsgemeinde" and decides minor matters; in Inner Rhoden it is named the "Grossrat" and in Ausser Rhoden the "Kantonsrat". As various old-fashioned ceremonies are observed at the meetings and the members each appear with his girded sword, the sight of a meeting of the "Landsgemeinde" is most striking and interesting.