SWISS CITIZEN ARMY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19842, 10 January 1920, Page 8

SWISS CITIZEN ARMY.

PRIDE AND BOAST OF THE PEOPLE. _ Universal _ compulsory military service in Switzerland dates from 1874, when the old system of requiring each canton to raise an allotment of three men for every hundred men of its population was done away with, and the system of requiring every able-bodied man to meet for training was substituted. _ The nen system, worked with very little trouble or friction from the beginning, and the Swiss people are very proud of their citizen army. The Swiss hoy, at the age of ten, ia put into the gymnastic class at school, and begins learning the elements of the soldier drill on the schoolihouse playground, Long before he is oldi enough to be called for service he lias learned to do the manual exorcises and to go through much of the drill that afterwards fits him for a soldier. When a boy reaches seventeen years he 13 liable for service—a liability which continues until he is fifty years of age. Even after that he may be kfhle, if he is capable of doing any other army work than soldiering, such as baker, , .'torinary surgeon, or otherwise. lu with all this training, tho only people in Switzerland who make arms as exclusive profession are the commander-in-chief, selected by the federal assembly, and the general staff, those form tho brains of the finny, the rank and file belong to tbe cantons. The Swiss man. sacrifices cheerfully a definite amount of his time to preserve his independence as a citizen of a free country. Entrenched behind its native rocks, the citizen army of Switzerland contains every element of the nation. The man of wealth and the peasant are found shoulder to shoulder. No man is compelled to spend the crucial years of life away from home in the army, and yet every young man ts required to contribute Ins share to that army’s maintenance and the nation’a safety. i . ago twenty every ablebodied bwiss youth becomes a member or the 1 Auszug,” and everyone who lacks the necessary qualifications regrets that he is unable to co-operate with other young defenders of his country. Ihinng tho first year of liability he must serve seventy-five days or more, and eleven days for each successive year he is called to the standard. It is no excuse that he has brothers already i„ the army, or that he has a widowed mother dependent upon him Ibo burden of preparedness spread over a nation becomes no onerous task tor anyone, and tho average young man m Switzerland looks upon His time spent m training camps as a pleasureable vacation. profitable to the nafetv or his country. _ Sendee in the “Auszug” or ivite, continues until tho citizen reaches tho age of thirty-two years. 1 hereafter he passes into what is known as the Landwehr,” or First. Reserve, where he remains until ho has compjeted his forty-fourth year. He must give in that time nine days of service during cadi four years that he belongs to the “Landwehr.” After ho has passed forty-four he goes into the Landstrum.” or Second Reserve, where he .stars until he is dl), and even beyond that if national necessity calls him. At the various stages in his career proper exemptions become tbe lot of the soldier. Those in the employ of state, railway mid steamboat men,'hospital officials, and others roach their exemptions early; preachers, doctors prison officials, postal and telegraphic officials are exempt : hut the man who lias to thi; field has the consolation that the man who stars at homo ■J.'? n ; ln : 1 h,,, ; ,1 “n to bear. f or . i n addition to all other taxes, he must pay a special military tax of (is fid. a military property lax of Id cents nor £2O (wilh property under (MO exempted) and a military income tax of U cent. The total tax thus paid hv anv one person cannot exceed .Cl2O. Th'e assessments are rigorously made and every penny exacted.