Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1916-02-23
THE SWISS ARMY AND THE U.S..


vio will volunteer for The training may
be- made familiar with he ne .. n%rrltrn
arms. the rndimcnts y: drill and ma
n9uyre and the maintenance ami ,.lni.
tation Of camps"
In these few sentences lies The eist If
the whole argument and III. on.ili,in- af
"A foundation upon which might we'll II
transplantel such parts % he Swiss
system a. 'onld he male applicable 20
America. al The same time !cnpting :hr
notifications that would be necessary
As | pointed out Switzerland h : ~
stead Of a large standing army. dccrer.l
by the President and every Other true
American, n citizenry trained and nc
ustomed to arms That this armed
and trained citizcnry j. quite ample for
the defense of the lite alpine republic
D. proven beyond question by the annals
Of her glorious history. That il cosi
pares favorably for efficiency with IA.
great standing armies Of Furope's maj
tial powers j. demon>rratcd bv recent
record breaking mobilization if ~ nc:b
ing else. IL rndonbtclly q. c'. Al IL,
ers IN the matter Of craftsmanship.
Granting. then. The efficiency Of ti.
swiss system. granting that "a ciiizcnrt
trained and accustomed IL arms" wnulf
in - ~isr lc i%cpugnant To our natl ma
principles. what 10 hinder the establish
mcnt II y similar >v>trm OF mili;ur,
training in the United States.
President Wilson mucOn, lousy per-
hal's. layS stress on the very detail of
the Swiss system which would hav. IL
he M difietl in the event Of its aioition
here. lie suggests that the Amc iran
Government i willing to provide 1 >ys
TEN hy which every -itizcn who IL vii.
ling wW volunteer for training in the
use of arms. etc.
Military training in Switzerland j.
compulS, ~. In Amcri "A il would have
To be voluntary. Let me 20 further and
state that in America Voluntary train
The needs Of little switzerland. hem.
med in on all sides by powerful ami
jealous nations. are widely separated
from those Of this great republic, splen-
didly isolated as she il. We speak for
l%iistalae III the present European war
of the '~neutra.iiy' of the United States
meaning that tins country remains aloof
from the struggle without aid or undue
sympathy for any of the belligercnts
more than the others.
But the neutrality of Switzerland in
the present wal is "A mere far reaching
characterization. Ii is hard to conceive
Of Americas neutrality being violated
cN cpt by her own act in taking sides
with one or the other bclligerents. But
Switzerland's neutrality is something
that she herself must defend and pro
tcct. Ii is apt To be violated at any time
as was that of unfortunate Belgium. by
a power that would see in the occupation
Of Swiss territory an opportunity Of adj
vantage against the enemy.
So in the same breath, are demon
Stratcd cogcnt facts:
That Switzerland. because of her I'm
mincnt and everlasting danger, had TO
adopt every possible safe guarding meas
urc, even to compulsory military train
ing. although that be rcpugnant 10 re-
pub.I-an institutions; and,
That because of her situation being
exactly reversed the United States can
attain the same efficiency for defense by
voluntary, instead of compulsory train
ing. q
On the assumption that the Swiss
military system. with voluntary train
ing substituted for compulsory, might
advantagcously he established in Am
" come 70 another phase Of the
question.
What foundation is laid in Switzcr-
land for developing her grown mae pop
ulation into a "citizcnry trained and
accustomed to arms" And could such
Il fo ndation he begun and built up 10
like perfection in the United States?
Only a small fraction Of the time con
sumcd III the training of the best stand
ing armies of Europe is used in bringing
Switzcrland'> citizen >%Ildicry 10 the
same or a greater degree Of efficiency
and 10y all who have sought IL the ans
wcr has been found in the schools of
Switzerland.
At the age Of eight ever. Swiss school
boy begins his course of physical train
ing. II gradually takes up more of his
time aud endurance is taxed more and
more until he completes his sixteenth
year.
The whole course of physical m>truc-
tion. even during the years Of immatur-
ity. j. under the supervision of the Fed
cral War Department There is but
one primer for the nhysical training i'm