THE SWISS METHOD.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 28, 25 May 1914, Page 4

THE SWISS METHOD.

A strange military-civil lawsuit, which could not have taken place in any other country than Switzerland, came to a conclusion recently before the Civil Court of St. Gail, when Private Geiger was awarded £l2 damages against his commanding officer, Colonel H. Stahel, while the other officers of his battalion, who were also defendants in the case, were acquitted. Geiger, who is the proprietor of a cafe at Appenzell, should have served, as a private in his battalion during the recent manoeuvres near his town, but somehow obtained leave. His officers, believing that he had acted from interested motives, issued an order to the men to boycott Geiger's cafe during their stay at Appenzell. After the manoeuvres • the private promptly brought a civil action against his officers for damages as a result of the boycott, claiming £2OO. The commanding officer will have to pay the damages out of his own pocket. The newspapers are indignant at the verdict which, they state, creates a dangerous precedent against discipline and authority in a citizen army where both are difficult to obtain. According to the Swiss law, however, when military service is finished, officers | and meu alik» become civilians and equal.