Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1916-02-18
THE SWISS ARMY AND THE u. S.

Hbh ~ ~ t-tA NY ~
and bravery Of the Swiss cor1mcmo-
rated in Thorwaldsen's monument tDc
Lion of Luccrne.'
This martial inclination OF the Swiss
found its outlet in 'mcrcciary service
for other nations until July 80, 1859.
when a fedora. act prohibited enlist
ment in foreign armies under heavy
penalty.
Almost the earliest training Of even,
Swiss boy was of a miliI;rr nature. lis
torians tell US that as so'n a. Ihcy Wei,
able to walk they hung ewor.i> over liz.
left legs. feathers in their caps. march
ell behind the drum AMI rractIc4l with
carbines. There was 10 fair. TO church
festivals. no town meeting without its
review and shooting practice. Even the
lame had arms, and the priest s;r,lcd on
his sword.
The spirit thus incul 'a:,.l IN ong the
people leaves small room for wonder
the federal constitution adopted ~ 1915
by q popular vote Of 170. Up against
40 1000 and with L. Il "anton> in he
diili fiidAlNt. lloN wv INA lsfFiN NNlNN
is bound 10 do military service max
ing Switzerland the first nation IN in
troduce compulsory service IN mndcrn
times.
The federal government to-k over IN,
business of inStructirg The engineer
corps, the artillery anil cavalry and the
training Of the instructors for The in
fantry and the higher office r.. while he
instruction itself IF lhr infantry WAS
left to the various cantonS.
BY still another revision of The con
situation in 1874 mil,t,r; almmIstra-
tion was further ccutr; lied. Hy these
last provisions the ann. oi the republic
was made Ia consist IF t.lr cOntin.eats
from the cantonS. The cnrnllmcrt Of
the contimgentS, their care ahd the ;.p-
pointmcnt and promotion Of IL" "%IItsrs
remained with the c~antons, guided by
general rules laid down bv til, federal
government. The latter. however. cook
over all instruction. training. armihe
free of CHARGE and right 10 enact mill
tary legislation. The cantonS may APP
I'lit anu Iplil'it piii'tiS up " n
grade of major. but only when mace
permissible by Il federal certificat. Of
ability.
Until lS9J many ether changes in
military administration took place, but
there was still room for improvement.
The officers societies membership N
compulsory for every o%ficcr), especially
the Younger officers. worked hard to
bring about another revision of the mil
itary clause of the constitution, having
a complete Capitalization Of the system
in view.
| rcmcmlc r well how we set ont III
was then u half baked lieutenant and
student IL Zuri.hl in mass meetings.
through patriotic pamphlets and in 9th
or wayS 10 let our lear citizens know
that if they did not vote for the revision
the end IF the republic (which had stood
at that time fer 60l YEAR, was surely in
sight.
But vast expenditures for the creation
Of the I.andStrum i'm 1856. the FORTH a
tionS around the II. Gotthard and
around ~. Maurice tthcSr two fortiti
cations a. ne costing Il. 900 ,000l and
the rcarmiug of the infantry (~co>ting
over ~. 600. 'n0l aud demands Of some
over jealous instructors, had provoked a
widespread diSSatisfa,rdo throughout
sober Switzerland. These DAYS gave
birth To aniimilitaIiSm.' Several in
ilucntial newspapers nourished the dis
aud began to attack aud seek
To diScrcdit the officers. charging them
with Il desire "a 'pru>>ianizc' the army.
Thus nm undermining of discipline was
brought about that Saddcncd every truc
Swiss soldier.
Some able officers sought 10 stem the
luhlic opinion that seemed running
against them. but with little s1rce>s.
The popular chord was tuned for the
time being To- anti militarism. \ cap
tain ~ the general >tafi. a da>hing and
intelligent oniccr. Fritz GcrtSch ~
name. undertook to cnlighten the pco
DE nn the necessity ~ good discipline
toward the cficicn y of an army. lie
published \ pamphlet entitled Arm or
Di>arm. which in logical language
There i onl, one Swiss soldier,
DULY one Swiss army possible and
that l. \ soldier whose obedience -
unconditional and an army with the
>tricteSt dis 'ipline always enforced
In pointed words he attacked the
newspapers that had melted a disregard
If discipline among the soldiers
The first thing | would do IN case
~ wal be! wccn the Republic and IN
other nation" he wrote would be