The sun., 1915-06-20
SWISS HAVE MODEL
CONSCRIPT ARMY
Consists Of 100000 Men and
Cost Is Only S8.8OO,OOO
Year.
MlLlTARISM PREVENTED
Special cory,spo,d,,c, fo rur s,v


LONDON. June I'm the continuan nee
OF Its campaign for conscription the
Times prints an article from Neuchatel
telling OF what Switzerland does to de-
fend her borders. The article follows
in part:
Tout Suisse doit le service militaire. :
This sentence. which I take from Col.
Eslfs excellent book on the Swiss army.
has been the root principle OF switzer-
lands military system for centuries
tas 1t once was In Engiand). though II
is only since the reorganization COM
pleted in 1912 that the army has been
brought to Its present high state Of
efficiency. The results OF that reor-
ganization are remarkable. At the be-
ginning OF the war Switzerland. this
little nation In arms with less than four
million Inhabitants, had completed the
mobilization of her army before either
Germany or France. In the nrst week
OF August she was able to post on her
frontiers over a quarter OF a million
hghting men. well armed and well drilled
"A much bigger force than Great Brit
ain. thirteen times her size. was able
to concentrate In Belgium nt a much
later date-simply and solely because
she has compulsory service. Since then
her troops have had seven months hard
training In war conditions and are far
more formidable force than they were
and surer defence than many scraps
OF paper.
The striking force OF the Swiss army
consists OF about 900. 600 men and the
grand total OF the whole army IL just
short OF half million. or one-eighth
of the entire population. The longest
periods OF training are the recruits
course which every man goes through
in his first year of service. IS days for
the infantry, IS for the artillery and 90
for the cavalry. besides which there
are compulsory courses in shooting.
Every wouid-be officer starts as q
private with the ordinary recruits
course. and promotion to the commits
stoned and on-commlssioned ranks is
by merit and not by seniority, except
that 1t q conditional on four years
service In each rank. Although off,
GERS naturally have to do more work
and go through longer courses OF train
ing than the men. instances of shirking
in order to escape promotion do not
occur. on the contrary. all through
the army both officers and men DO a
large amount OF extra voluntary work.
The democracy OF the service (there !
are no generals In the Swiss army ex-
cept In time Of war) due to this system |
OF promotion from the ranks has this I
further great advantage. that II does !
away with all danger OF mlitarisu.
The Swiss compulsory service Is also !
q service OF physical training. IL Is
pr ceded in all cases by compulsory
eymnastic training IN all the schools
and by large amount OF voluntary
gymnastics and voluntary drill and
which last Is partly the cause
y the high standard Of Workmanship
throughout the Swiss army.
THE service is a compa ratively cheap
me. Switzerland spends on her army
II francs S2.20) per head OF the popu-
alton. and % francs (S4.C0) on public
,ducation. Germany. on the other hand,
,pends 2j francs $50 per inhabtant on
he army and ! francs Hi<o) on the
udiments OF Kultur.
The composition and organization OF
he army are thoroughly modern and
The infantry traditionally
,nown as Fusiliers and Carbanlers but
or practical purposes divided into field
md mountain infartrD are the main
,rm. The cavalry consists OF dragons
md guides. The guides are brigaded
With the divisions: the dragons form
divisions under the direct
riders OF the comm a njer In chief. The
onsist Of I5s and laos (howitzers) the
artillery OF 75s t906 modeD.
nd the heavy artillery Of i20s. firing n
hell OF ~ kllogrammes tabout thirty
ire pounds).
There are six divisions in the army.
ach OF which can he worked as a sepa-
ate army corps. The hrst consists en-
rely OF French speaking Swiss, re-
ruited from the cantons OF Geneva.
'ala!s. Vaud and Neuchatel. In the sec
nd division three-quarters OF the men .
re- French Swiss. from Frlbourg. Neu-
hatel and the French Jura the rest I
r- drawn from the Bernese Jura. The
llrd, fourth and ffth divisions con- !
st entirely OF German speaking Swiss
nd come from the cantons OF Berne. !
uC-rro and Soleure Bas l. Argovie and I
I. Gall, and Zurich ana Schaffhausen, !
he sixth italians and Romanches) I
nd s. Gan. At the beginning Of the I
ar all six divisions were mobli2ed {
the present moment only the second. /
urth and sixth are under arms. 2
Little Switzerland manages to main /
lin a highly effective army OF half a
illion men at an annual cost OF v
100 900 Hs,s00 .0oo). because she X
nows her existence depends on II. The c
'rvice Is the same for all. and there h
IRE a handicap for none. It is highly 4
mocratic and does not lead to mill n
rism. 1t interferes neither with per- q
nal freedom nor with tho country's o