NATIONAL COMPULSORY SERVICE.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17460, 22 May 1922, Page 8

NATIONAL COMPULSORY SERVICE.

PROPOSED LAW IN SWITZERLAND (specially written for "the press.") (By Mrs Julian Grande.) GENEVA, March 28. In the Swiss Parliament a proposal has just been introduced for universal compulsory - civilian service for all young people of both 6exes. Switzerland, of course, has military service for every able-bodied youth. This new bill, however, proposes that all young men turned twenty and all girls turned eighteen shall spend six months in learning to do useful work for the State, under State supervision. Tho young men should be primarily engaged in physical, open-air labour, in such work as improving or reclaiming land, ! either in the plains or the highlands; in forestry, or agricultural occupations and gardening, fruit-growing, etc. The girls, it is suggested, should chiefly acquire some notions of sick nursing and the care of young children, as well as learning something of gardening. The bill proposes that young men and girls undergoing their civilian service should be as far as possible sent to some other part of the country. Thus, did such a bill become law in Great Britain, a Londoner would be sent to Scotland; in Canada a recruit from English-speaking Canada would be sent! to French Canada and vice versa. In j Switzerland, where there are three na- ; tional languages, the French-Swiss would be sent to German or Italian ; Switzerland, the Italian Swisa to Oer- i man or French Switzerland, and so on. It is not proposed tiiat there ] should be any living in barracks either for young men or young girl*. but that the recruits should be lodged m iarni houses, approved private homes, and, in the cass of girls, in charitable institutions, children's and other hospitals. This' proposal was accepted by the Swiss Parliament, which means that the Government must consider it, not that it has become law, and should it become law when finally considered by Parliament, then the world will watch with interest an experiment which has been suggested, or something like which has been suggested several times already (by Plato, Sir Thomas More, and Fenelon), but haa never been put I objection raised to the proposal in the Swiss parliament was that it would be very to carry out, and would require 20-30 million gold francs at a time when bwitzerland is heavily indebted, and has a seriously depleted exchequer. Ot course, once civilian service was organised, it might to a great extent pay for Itself, and even bring in something to the State. A good deal of land could still be reclaimed, and a good deal of afforestation could be done, besides more fruit being grown. Afi for the girls' civilian service, it would be more likely to pay;ite way than that of the men, provided .each girl were kept to one of the subjects proposedrnchiidThenW m 'something ists in the owiss Parliament should have been absolutely divided on this question of civilian "service. Some considered that it would oniv further strengthen military, service considered that it would do P r «<f contrary. The result was that some Socialists voted one way and some the contrary way, while the other parties were also mostly divided, indeed, has voting had eo little to do Wl The P idea behind this proposal aa resards girls has probably come direct from Germany, where tberehasbeen much talk of n "year of service tor women"—a year in which women would learn the best way of doing work which will be directly useful to them as wives and mothers, and obviously indirectly useful to the State in training women so that they will be capable of bringing up healthy children and keeping homes as homes ought to be kept. This might be a way, also, of ensuring a sufficient supply of domestically capable women, avoiding the risk, or mothers being overworked and overstrained when they are bringing up young families, and thus preventing their shrinking" from the burden of children because they are unable to procure enough help at a time when thev really need it. Looked at from this standpoint—its effect on population, and its tendency to promote the health of a nation —the question of universal civilian service for girls is far from being petty. According to this Swiss Legislative Eroposal, the only youths who would e exempt from civilian service would be those unfit for military service; the only girls exempt would be the physically unfit and the feeble-minded. Otherwise it is for all classes, without onv whatever. Sir Thomas More would have rejoiced at the .suggestion .of universal civilian service, for, as may -be - remembered, one of the main principles of "Utopia, published 406 years ago, was that "■no man may live idle," ' and man in this case evidently includes woman, it was to be almost tlie only business of the "syphogrants," .or magistrates, to see that 11 u one was idle, that everyone worked his op.her six hours a day. "Women, for the most part, deal in wood and flax, which suit better their feebleness, leaving the ruder trades to the men." Although the proposal was passed for Government consideration by' a very narrow majority, the interest felt in it hy the public is keen, and considering that Switzerland wa« one ol the first countries to introduce compulsory military service for ev-ory able-bodied youth, she may eventually be the first to introduce compulsory civilian service for- every able-bodied youth and girl. One. proposal is that the time spent by young men beginning their military service in a recruits' school should be deducted from their period of 'civilian service. . Anyone who reflects , upon the immense numbers of girls, doing mostly quite mechanical work in factories or

offices, who are utterly incm.ii.: ticahy, will find it hard ft 4 * that some such institution2 N of | domestic training, corap&M 11 i every c ' aS3 > witfouuSW will have beforeffoen e fa attention of the legislate ( surely, is a field for the *2? S and the woman member It is especially in lare e i,vS countries that a Deriod j\ ,a U training seems increasinXljS even in some British might now be desirable. 0 * i bo far as I can gather thaU. would have had no a small country with leffi'C lion population such a Z the feast sf rs P e r head™^ l most nearly Bfrs 1