Norwich bulletin., 1919-10-30
IN THE DAYS NEWS
Switzeriand's Army.

In connection with the frequent 1 agitation for universal training in the i United States, it is interesting to l study the systems of other countries 1 where such service has been testd. The National Geographic Society has issued a bulletin concerning the citizen army of Switzerland, based on a communication to The Society. which says.
 Universal compulsory military ser vice in Switzerland dates from 1874, when the old system Of requiring each canton to raise an allotment or three men for every hundred men of its population was done away with, and the system or requiring every able bodied man to meet for training was substituted. The new system worked with very little trouble or friction from the beginning, and the Swiss people are very proud of their citizen army.
 -In it's fundamentals the idea of the citizen soldier laid down by the man who framed the Constitution of the United States is the same as that followed in the organization. of the Swiss army. The Swiss do in prac- ] tice what we do in theory. Every able bodied man in America is SUD-
 posed to be a member of the militia,
 and yet how few have ever shouldered
 gun or marched in company for
 nation?
 '"The Swiss boy at the age of ten,
 is put into the gymnastic class at
 school, and begins learning the ele-
 ments of the soldier drill on the school
 house playground Long before he is
 old enough to be called upon for ser vice he has learned to do the manual
 exercises and to go through much of the drill that afterward fits him for soldier.
 When a boy reaches IT years he is
 lilble to service-a liability w.hscl
 continues until he is 50 years of age
 Even after that he may be lia ble, if he is capable or aQcInS any other army work than soldering, such as acting
 as baker. verterins%-y surgeon, or otherwise.
 Yet with all this universal training,
 the only people in Switzerland who make arms an exclusive profession are the Commander-in-Ch Chief, selected by the Federal Assembly, and the General Sta. These form the brains of the army. The rank and file belong to the cantons, just as the militia do to the States in this country.
 'Entrenched behind it's native rocks, the citizen army of Switzerland con- tais 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 his life away from home in the army, and yet every man is re- quired to contribute his share to that army's maintenance and the nations safety.
 At the age of 20 every able-bodied Swiss youth becames member of the -AuSzug and every one who lacks the necessary qualifications regrets that he is unable to cooperate with other young defenders of his country. Dur ing the first year of liability he must for each successive year he is called to the standard. It is no excuse that he has brothers already in the army, or that he has a wi<Nwed mother de- pendent upon him. The burden of preparedness spread over nation, becomes no onerous task for any one. and the average young man in Switzerland looks upon this time spent in training camps as a pleas ureable vacation, profitable to the safety of his country.
 Service in the Auszug,' or Elite continues until the citizen reaches the age of 32. Thereafter he passes into what is known as the Iandwehr' or he has completed his 44th year. He must give in that time nine days of service during each four years that he l belongs to the Iandwehr.' After he | has passed A he goes into the Land | or Second Reserve, where he | stays until he is 50, and even beSond 1 that if national necessity calls him.
 At the various stages in his ca reer proper exemptions become the | lot of the soldier. Those in the m- | pfOy or the State railway and steam | boat men. hospital officials, and others reach their exemption early; 1 preachers, doctors, prison officials, postal and telegraphic officials. are exempt; but the man who has to go | Into the field has the consolation that the man who may stay at home also has his burden to bear, for, in addition to all other taxes, he must | pay a special military poll tax of $1.2o. military property tax of IS cents per $1G0 (wfth roerty under $200 exemed), and military income tax of l11s CT cent The total tax thus paid by any one person cannot ex- eeed $6o0. The assessments are rig orously made and every penny exact- ed.''