The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-18
COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE.

Advocated for England on the Model O
 the System of Switzerland.
 To multiply our present mercenar!
 British army with it's short service an( reserve men by three, or four or five, i
 no doubt possible. I presume that i
 can be done at a price; but the pria'
 would be prohibitive. Even as 1t l.
 we can barely attract recruits enough many of them of utterly inadequate quality, to keep up our home and coloni
 al establishment of 1S3,000, which meani 131. ,000 in these islands, including de partmental corps and -combatant' of all kinds. To go into the labol market and attract a much larger body would involve a large increase of thi soldiers and the reservists pay, pension and allowances. We could have, dare say, 100000 men as good as the Metro poitan police or the Gordon Highland CTS if we chose to find the money fol them; but even the British Empire can not afford so costly luxury
 Compulsory service seems the only way of meeting the difficulty; nor can one believe, after the warnings of the
  sisted That we should have a conscrip- ton in the continental sense it. seems unnecessary to propose. There would be no occasion to lox up the youthful man. hood of Britain for two or three years in barracke, It would seem that an adoption of the Swiss system would fulfill most of our requirements. In Switzerland there is a militia which has gained the praise of some of the best French and German writers, and which is said to be at once cheap, practical, popular and efficient. Every male per- son in the Confederation is liable to military service from the ages of twen- ty to fifty. For the first twelve year; he is in the Auszug, or Elite for eight years more, from his thirty-second to his fortieth birthday he is in the Landwehr; and after that he passes into the Landsturn, or final reserve, which would not be called out except in the last extremity.
 There is a permanent general staff, with certain departmental and scientific officers and regmental instructors; otherwise the officers and 'non-coms, are civilians like the men. The Federal Government and the Cantons provide arms, equipment clothing, stores, uni forms. drll-halls. and shooting-ranges The troops of the Elite or active army, are sent on joining. to school of re- cruits," where they are trained for eighty days in the cavalry, fortyfive days in the infantry fifty-five days in the artillery, and fifty days in the en- gineers, with shorter periods for the transport and departmental corps Af- ter this they discharge their military obligations by ten-days training, in barracks or under canvas, annually, for the cavalry, and sixteen or eighteen days every two years for the infantry and artillery The officers are promoted from the ranks, and are required to qualify by examination and by various periods of study at the military school For the Landwehr and Landsturm man there is a weeks training every four years; and when he passed into the Lapdsturm it is enough for the citizen to attend one long days parade an nually to show that he has his weapons in good order, and has not forgotten how to use them
 It will be seen at once that the Swiss system does not devote too much time to the citizen soldiers military educa- ton A private of infantry would have from 103 to 145 days training, ser geant 222, an artillery sous-ofticer 290 days, Captain of cavalry 500, during his term of service in the Elite.
 The Swiss militia is in theory and in tention what the Boers have proved themselves in fact Our brave and skilful enemies have shown to our cost what an army of citiZena, elf-disciplin- ed and half-drilled, but acquainted with Petdue du terrain ct de Parme can do when directed by leaders who under stand the principles of strategy and tactics. The Boers have had ''the brain of an army provided for them by for eign scientific officers; the Swiss supple ment their peasant levies and bour- geois Majors and Colonels by profess slonal EtatMaior which is said to be one of the best in Europe The system could not be transpIanted bodily to this country but it might be adopted with certain necessary variations. We, too, might have our burgher army, all the more easily since our existing military
 
 The compulsory power could be obtain ed, and I think will be obtained by re- viving the ballot for the militia, which is thoroughly constitutional resource that we have always held in reserve for There should be very few exemptions permitted, except for phys ical disabilities, and perhaps in the case of certain professions, such as that of the clergy; and the recruit once drawn, should be bound to serve his course of annual trainings, and to pass a militia reserve afterward. But any man might escape liability to the ballot by quali- | flying himself in the Volunteer force, | which should be reorganized more or less on the Swiss model It may be asked whether the pro- posed burgher army should be liable | for foreign service. | am afraid the 1 question must be answered in the af- frmative, To limit it exclusively to | defence against the invasion of these | islands would not get us out of our l