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II

O voiceful restlessness!

Vibrant soul of the world's coming and going,

Resonant want of it, restive vent of it, and of desire,-desire,
Desire to wander back to the peace of the known,

Or out and away to the anywhere of deliverance,

How many, a-dream, are caught in the net of your ringing!

How many turn in their sleep and are caught away to the sea's roaring— Are caught away over corn tossing and woods waving and rivers,

Past the red-lit or the green-lit stations, clanging,

Away to the dark of the east or the dark of the west!

How many remember, far from mother or wife,
And wonder if there is waking, if there is waiting,

If there are tears falling, for them in the darkness!

How many, under your quaver, under your clamor and evocation,

See sudden again the far-aways of childhood,

Brought forth from the shadowy bourns of years and grief and blind forgetting,
To merge again in the mists of sleep's immuning!

How many, under your riot, under your plangence, under your passion,
Ride again over cattle wilds, again over buttes and mesas,

Unlassoed still by life, lords of its spaces, of its pastures!

How many, mated with sin, disease, and stagnance,

In dens, moonless and loveless, where the free, sweet winds would sicken, Feel, as they hear, the nails of their souls' coffin,

Driven, driven, driven, driven, in!

It passes, as all passes; there is silence.

The huddled roofs dream again in the shadows,

With the blue electric lights lonesomely burning, the streets unbroken;
Night's immemorial opiate rules all.

And the stars come closer, beaten off no more by the sound's urgence,

Intimate now and ready with revelations, with reachings;

For the sky has become the confessional of God,

And, Priest of the Universe, He hears its need, and shrives it,

Till all the crying that was now is comfort,

All want that was is peace, all clanging rest.

[graphic]

A company of mitrailleurs reconnoitering, with their gun-carriages

drawn up under cover in the rear

The Swiss Military System

By F. FEYLER

COLONEL F. FEYLER, author of "La Suisse sous les armes," is generally accepted as leading authority on Swiss military affairs.-THE EDITOR.

I

Do not know whether the militia law of the Swiss Republic could be advantageously utilized elsewhere, but it is certain that it is perfectly adapted to the social, political, and geographical condition of this little country, compact in population, united in patriotism, speaking three languages, and belonging to two different religions. Its value lies in the compact and regulated orderliness, where everything contributes to assure the maximum defensive force of the state not only in point of number, but above all in the diverse aptitudes of the men and the material resources of the people.

The fundamental principle of the law is that every one under the jurisdiction of the state owes it military service. But this principle is not exclusively political and judicial; it has not its sole reason in a law of the state that imposes a duty upon every man. It is as much a moral principle and a recognition of individual sovereignty every citizen has the right to

serve his country, and the duty that here imposed upon him is not only 1 corollary, but the recognition of this rig He claims the duty on the ground that is the manifestation of his quality as free man in a republic that he desires keep free. The obligation to which yields himself does not, in effect, null this liberty. He has established it in own eyes by making the law an act of own will. He has voted for it not or indirectly through the intermediary of representatives in the legislative chambe but personally, by depositing his ballot the ballot-box. "Do you accept the l that makes you a soldier, which subje you to the rigors of discipline, and whi punishes you if you do not submit?" ( the ballot which puts these questions him he has written, "Yes."

Thus military service is his right, expression of his sovereignty. From t time only the physically incapable, a those whom penal servitude or bankrup

II

O voiceful restlessness!

Vibrant soul of the world's coming and going,

Resonant want of it, restive vent of it, and of desire,- desire,
Desire to wander back to the peace of the known,

Or out and away to the anywhere of deliverance, —

How many, a-dream, are caught in the net of your ringing!

How many turn in their sleep and are caught away to the sea's roaring-
Are caught away over corn tossing and woods waving and rivers,

Past the red-lit or the green-lit stations, clanging,

Away to the dark of the east or the dark of the west!

How many remember, far from mother or wife,
And wonder if there is waking, if there is waiting,

If there are tears falling, for them in the darkness!

How many, under your quaver, under your clamor and evocation,

See sudden again the far-aways of childhood,

Brought forth from the shadowy bourns of years and grief and blind forgetting,
To merge again in the mists of sleep's immuning!

How many, under your riot, under your plangence, under your passion,
Ride again over cattle wilds, again over buttes and mesas,

Unlassoed still by life, lords of its spaces, of its pastures!

How many, mated with sin, disease, and stagnance,

In dens, moonless and loveless, where the free, sweet winds would sicken,
Feel, as they hear, the nails of their souls' coffin,
Driven, driven, driven, driven, in!

It passes, as all passes; there is silence.

The huddled roofs dream again in the shadows,

With the blue electric lights lonesomely burning, the streets unbroken;
Night's immemorial opiate rules all.

And the stars come closer, beaten off no more by the sound's urgence,

Intimate now and ready with revelations, with reachings;

For the sky has become the confessional of God,

And, Priest of the Universe, He hears its need, and shrives it,

Till all the crying that was now is comfort,

All want that was is peace, all clanging rest.

[graphic]

A company of mitrailleurs reconnoitering, with their gun-carriages drawn up under cover in the rear

The Swiss Military System

By F. FEYLER

COLONEL F. FEYLER, author of "La Suisse sous les armes," is generally accepted as the leading authority on Swiss military affairs.-THE EDITOR.

I

DO not know whether the militia law of the Swiss Republic could be advantageously utilized elsewhere, but it is certain that it is perfectly adapted to the social, political, and geographical condition of this little country, compact in population, united in patriotism, speaking three languages, and belonging to two different religions. Its value lies in the compact and regulated orderliness, where everything contributes to assure the maximum defensive force of the state not only in point of number, but above all in the diverse aptitudes of the men and the material resources of the people.

The fundamental principle of the law is that every one under the jurisdiction of the state owes it military service. But this principle is not exclusively political and judicial; it has not its sole reason in a law of the state that imposes a duty upon every man. It is as much a moral principle and a recognition of individual sovereignty: every citizen has the right to

serve his country, and the duty that is here imposed upon him is not only the corollary, but the recognition of this right. He claims the duty on the ground that it is the manifestation of his quality as a free man in a republic that he desires to keep free. The obligation to which he yields himself does not, in effect, nullify this liberty. He has established it in his own eyes by making the law an act of his own will. He has voted for it not only indirectly through the intermediary of his representatives in the legislative chambers, but personally, by depositing his ballot in the ballot-box. "Do you accept the law that makes you a soldier, which subjects you to the rigors of discipline, and which punishes you if you do not submit?" On the ballot which puts these questions to him he has written, "Yes."

Thus military service is his right, the expression of his sovereignty. From that time only the physically incapable, and those whom penal servitude or bankruptcy

have deprived of the right to be soldiers, can be excluded from the army. Upon such, moreover, except in the case of hopeless poverty, a special military tax is imposed.

Thus the law is founded on custom and ruling convictions. That explains the rarity of cases of refusal to serve, and, above all, the fact that citizens voluntarily accept the military burden not on a basis of legal right, but on that of the possibility of their social position placing upon them more or less important sacrifices from time to time. For if the obligations of the common soldier are not very considerable, and certainly less than those of standing armies, they increase rapidly through the grades.

These explanations are necessary in order to understand a law that in effect transforms the country into a kind of virtual barracks, and makes no separation between the citizen and the soldier. One may say that the history and tradition of Switzerland have made of the militiaman a soldier in citizen's dress in ordinary times and a citizen in uniform during the periods when he has been called to the colors. In short, the Swiss people is an armed nation in every acceptance of the word.

RECRUITING THE ARMY

THE law that actually regulates the recruiting of the army became an act in 1907. It fixed the period of military service from the age of twenty to fortyeight, but to fifty-two for officers. During this period of twenty-eight years the militiaman passes successively through three classes. The élite retains the militiamen from the age of twenty to thirtytwo. This class is properly the army in the field, and can be utilized for all the duties that war might entail. Its enlistment forms six divisions.

At the age of thirty-three a man passes into the landwehr, where he remains until he is forty. Although composed of men who no longer have the entire activity of youth, this class of soldiers, nevertheless, can be added to the army in the field for

duties that demand tenacity and resisting power rather than activity and dash, such as defensive operations, the occupation of trenches, as seen in the present war, and the garrisoning of strongholds. In a general way, the men of the landwehr are reserved for all duties that will permit. the saving of the youngest soldiers for the most active movements of the army. The superior unit of the landwehr is the brigade of infantry, with its company of cyclists, a park of artillery, sappers, and ambulance corps.

From the age of forty-one to fortyeight a man serves in the landsturm. The landsturm makes up the territorial army, and is charged with the task of guarding the lines of communication, policing the interior of the country, and, if such should be necessary, undertaking the many lesser operations of local or partizan warfare. As a part of the landsturm, with the title of volunteers, may be added all citizens. over forty-eight, or those of any age who have not been accepted as recruits, on condition that they prove their skill in marksmanship.

Having organized the army in this manner, it is kept intact with the least possible loss. Only those who have become useless will be excused from serving. Those whose usefulness has only been lessened, but still permits a reduced use, are turned over to a special body called the bataillons des étages, whose duty it is to provide for the revictualing of the stations at the front. Thus the weakening of the strongest factors in a fighting army is escaped. Into these battalions are also recruited the young men who do not possess the necessary physical strength for active service, but sufficient for these lesser tasks. They receive the same instruction that other recruits of the infantry receive.

On this basis, the recruiting calls to the flags from sixty-eight to seventy per cent. of the young men of the nation, which brings out a drilling army of from 250,000 to 260,000 troops of the first line, and from 80,000 to 90,000 territorials. If one considers that the population of Switzerland is in the neighborhood of

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