Mennonites in the World War/VIII

The Conscientious Objector
Those who refused to take any part in winning the war soon found themselves branded as "yellow," "slackers," "cowards," "Huns," "pro-German," or something else equally unkind. The name (borrowed from England) used by the war department to designate the drafted men who took such a stand was, "Conscientious Objector," and at first was in tended to apply only to such as took this stand be cause they belonged to a Church which embodied nonresistance in its creed and because the men themselves believed that it would be wrong for them to have a part in carnal warfare. Later it was applied also to those who for other reasons refused to take part in this war. This was unfortunate. If the two classes had been kept separate, the first class would have been better understood.

General Crowder's View
The religious and political objectors were two distinct classes and were so considered by Provost Marshal General Crowder as well as by all other right thinking people. In the general's report to the Secretary of War on the first draft, made Decem ber 20, 1917, he says:

"Some boards treat religious and other conscientious objectors as one class, and say that when found honest, they

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might as well be assigned to noncombatant service. But it should not be forgotten that the two classes are entirely distinct legally, morally, and practically. They are legally distinct because the act of Congress expressly recognizes and gives a legal status to the one, but wholly ignores the ether. They are morally distinct, because the one obeys what he regards as a divine mandate, binding the conscience of the believers and sanctioned by a settled tradition of their Church; while the other is merely choosing to accept the loose and untried speculation of modern theorists who avow no respect for religious Scriptures and profess no au thority over the conscience. They are practically distinct, because the one includes an ascertainable group of indi viduals, registered in their sect, definitely fixed on May 18 (the date of the passage of the selective service act) and not capable of enlargement at will; while the other may include any one whomesoever who has chosen, after May 18 last, to make profession insincerely, of an opinion opposed to war; and thus this group, if recognized in practice, would inevitably become an easy and impregnable refuge for an unlimited number of slackers."

In speaking of the religious and political ob jectors, General Crowder further says:

"Only those men whose convictions against war were so deep as to risk any consequences of their stand, seemed to resist. The men whose principles were not real, or whose courage was weak, compiled with orders and are performing

military service The whole experience of England and

United States shows that either deep religious convictions or unusual intellectual independence is required to maintain so unpopular and heretical a position."

View of Norman A. Thomas

In the same report is this quotation from Nor man A. Thomas :

"It is natural to think of the conscientious objectors as

essentially religious Not all conscientious objectors are

avowedly religious, nor is religious conscientious objection confined to relatively small sects which have incorporated it in their creeds. Within the last generation there has been a wide growth of peace sentiment in the churches. Then you have the young idealist among the intellectuals with whom humanity is a reality never served by the horrors of war, and a very much larger group of working men who have learned too well the solidiarity of the working class to

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believe that the organized destruction of their brethren who march under a different national banner will hasten the dawn of real liberty and fraternity."

Denominations Represented

It is perfectly natural that people who held that it was a Christian duty to help win the war should claim that the conscientious objector was absolutely in the wrong, and especially so if he was a religious objector. The religious objectors came from about forty denominations, and the larger the number of their young men who refused to accept service, the more that denomination was reviled, and the more things were said about them that were absolutely untrue and that very often by men who had every opportunity to know the truth. They were called, "stupid," "dull," "ignorant," and a score of other things which suggest mental deficiency ; this, too, in spite of the fact that in at least several of the camps the C. O. detachment stood the best psychological test of any detachment in the camps, and despite the fact that a goodly number of them were college students and graduates, and even a few college pro fessors.

Political Objectors

Among the political objectors were to be found the anarchist, whose purpose it was to break down all rule and order; the socialist, who had not the least religious objection to war but was opposed to this war regardless of his reasons for it; the man who would not fight because he was pro-German ; and the idealist who chose "to accept the loose and untried speculations of modern theorists." Possibly one-third of those who held to their views as con scientious objectors and were court-martialed and

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sent to the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas, were political objectors. Whether or not this class should have had the same rights to exemptions as the religious objectors is not ours to discuss here. Our subject is primarily the religious objector.

Religious Objectors

The name, religious objector, may well apply to nearly all, if not all, the Mennonites who were called to camp. They were such, not simply be cause it was the creed of the Church, but having learned the Scriptures on the subject of war, they were ready to stand for those teachings regardless of results. They knew that children of God are not to be world rulers, but "strangers and pilgrims," that it is the business of the world to rule the world, and that this at times may mean war; but if they wanted t6 be fellow-heirs with Christ they must ab stain from all wars, and with -equal propriety from all that abets war.

On going to camp the religious objector with others was asked to do military service; but he real ized that thereby he would be helping the war. He icalized, too, that he must stem the tide somewhere, for everything in c&lt;imp had for its object the ver^ thing which in his mind was wrong the taking of human life and the destruction of property. He wanted to be true he could go no farther. If he had sought the easiest way he would have gone with the crowd. It would have required less cour age to enter the trenches, to face the machine guns yea, the cannon than to stand against such odds.

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But he is not his own; he must obey God at all costs.

Captain Hough

In some camps all that was necessary for the religious objector to do was to state his position plainly and honestly and show his card (form 174 or 1008) or write out a statement and send it to the commanding officer, but in other camps that seemed to avail nothing; all seemingly depended upon the officers. Captain Hough at Camp Sherman (Ohio) will always have the grateful consideration of the religious objectors at that camp for the way in which he dealt with the problem. At the same time, those who were not well founded or were untrue were more likely to be brought into service than under the methods used in some other camps. If there was any spirit of revenge in the hearts of the C. O/s in some camps, the treatment would not soon have been forgotten. Curses and scoffs were not consid ered sufficient; kicks and blows became a part of the treatment.

The Board of Inquiry

On June 1, 1918, Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, appointed as a Board of Inquiry, Major Richard C. Stoddard; Julian W. Mack, judge of the United States circuit court of appeals; and Harlan

F. Stone, dean of Columbia University Law School. About two and a half months later Major Stoddard was detailed for service in Europe and Major Walter

G. Kellogg was appointed chairman in his stead.

The purpose of such a board was to examine all the C. O.'s in the various camps, to determine which ones were sincere, and to find the "slackers"

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who were not slow in trying to find shelter under the plea of religion. It was originally intended that all the C. O.'s should be gathered into one central camp and all be examined there; but this was not done, and the board traveled from camp to camp, making long journeys and spending much time on the railroads.

Classification

To determine the sincerity of each and not do an injustice to anyone was not an easy task. A big job, little evidence, the unnatural environment for the C. O., all aided in making it more difficult. If he had joined the Church before April 6, 1917, had a certificate showing him to be a consistent member, had his card from the local board showing that it believed that he was entitled to the claims made in the printed form, and his answers were clear and satisfactory he was usually considered sincere. This board divided all parties examined into different classes and recommended them accordingly to the war department at Washington. Classifications were as follows :

1 A. Those found to be sincere religious objectors and recommended for farm or industrial furlough.

1 B. Those found to be sincere non-religious objectors and recommended for farm or industrial furlough.

1 C. Those found to be sincere conscientious objectors who are recommended for Friends Reconstruction Unit.

2 A. Those found to be sincere conscientious objectors as to combatant but not sincere as to noncombatant service, and who are therefore recommended to be assigned to non- combatant service.

2 B. Those found to be sincere conscientious objectors who are willing to accept, and who are therefore recom mended for noncombatant service.

2 C. Those found to be sincere conscientious objectors who are willing to accept service in and who are assigned to, reconstruction hospitals.

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3. Those found to be insincere and assignable to any military duty.

4. Those objectors who are recommended to be sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for further examination.

5. Those objectors who upon examination withdraw their objections.

6. Those found to be sick or unfit for examination, and recommended to be sent to a hospital for treatment.

7. Alien enemies or neutrals.

8. Those objectors who are recommended for mental examination and discharge, if not found competent.

9. Not in camp not seen by board.

10. Under criminal charge the board expresses no opin ion until the decision of the court-martial.

In 1 A of the foregoing list reference is made to the farm furlough. Farm help was scarce before this country got into the war and was made much more so when thousands of young men were taken from the farms by the draft. There was a general cry for farm help. Women worked in the fields, but that was not sufficient. This demand for help was made the more positive because there were many C. O.'s in the various camps who were thoroughly familiar with farm labor and who would have been very glad to devote their time to such work instead of being in camp Where they felt that they were no good to themselves, their country, nor any one else, at least so far as the food problem was concerned. Various plans had been proposed and finally the war department decided to have the C. O. s, so recom mended by the board of inquiry, put out on farms at such a price as would be satisfactory to both the camp officials and the farmer. In some cases the farmers were compelled to pay as much as sixty dollars per month, others from forty to fifty dollars. The C. O. received thirty dollars and the balance, in accordance with Government requirement, was given to the Red Cross. Some of the young men

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were so anxious to be furloughed to some good farm er that when the camp officials asked more than the farmer was willing to pay the C. O. gave the farm er part of his thirty dollars. Some camps had ar rangements by which all the money was paid to the camp, and the C. O. did not receive anything until he was discharged. At the same time he must furnish his own clothes and pay his incidental ex penses. Either the farmer or the young man must pay the railroad fare. In many cases the farmer would not; the young man had not been earning anything as he had refused to accept the soldier's pay while in camp. In some cases at least there was something for the Church to do in seeing that this need was supplied.

Lack of Uniformity in Furlough Plans

It was intended that none should receive a farm furlough until after the examination by the board of inquiry, but that was not strictly adhered to. Nearly all the Mennonite boys were very glad to accept such furloughs so that they might be produc ers and not only consumers, as they must necessar ily be in camp. The plan of getting the young men out depended almost exclusively on the camp offi cials. In some camps the farmer would have to appear and sign the necessary papers before the young man would dare leave the camp. In one case a. young man was allowed to make applications for the furlough, sign up for the farmer, stop on the way to get his trunk and proceed to the farm eight hundred miles from the camp without any question as to whether he would get to the place alone.

It was generally understood that none of the

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C. O.'s were to be furloughed to their home com munities. One case, however, was found where the young man lived with his father before the war with in two miles of the Ohio line, in Indiana. He had been sent to Camp Sherman (O.). One day a farm er came and asked for a C. O., and this boy was pointed out to him. The farmer and camp officials made the bargain as to the wages to be paid. On the way back to the farmer's home, the young man inquired as to the place where the farmer lived, his address, etc., and found that although he would be on a farm in Ohio, he would be only five miles away from his home.

In the majority of cases no attention was paid by camp officials as to whether the young men got into neighborhoods where they could worship with co-religionists or not. Many of them got into such communities because the farmers applied for certain boys and thus the desired end was reached, but this did not always work. One farmer went to camp and asked for a certain C. O. He was told that no word bad come as to whether the board of inquiry had recommended him for a furlough. The farmer asked whether he could engage the young man condition ally, and whether it would help if he would wire him as soon as he heard that such recommendation had come. The officer said, "I promise nothing. If you wired me that you would be here at four o clock this evening and a man came at three that wanted him I would not keep him for you. The man who is here when the recommendation comes is the man that gets him."

In some communities there were threats of vio lence when it became known that people who would

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do nothing toward winning the war, were getting help for their farm work through the C. O/s. In one neighborhood those who had received such young men decided that for their own safety as well as for the life of the young men it was advisable to send them back to the camp. In another com munity to which a goodly number of young men had been furloughed the feeling became so intense that threats of murder and incendiarism became frequent. Especially the C. O.'s were threatened. A party from the community phoned to the captain who had the C. O.'s in charge. He at once boarded the train, came into the neighborhood, and calling a meeting, told the people that they had better be careful ; that these young men were in the service of the United States; that it had been planned by government au thority to place these young men here, and that they were going to stay and they will be protected even if it is necessary to bring troops to defend them. That quieted the mob spirit, and the boys were not molested.

About sixty C. O.'s were furloughed to one of the western farms of more than six thousand acres devoted largely to corn-growing. Major Kellogg visited this farm and, speaking about the large corn crop, says, "Without the objectors it would have been impossible to harvest the crop. Certainly they proved a God-send to the farmer, and indirectly to the country at large. And the American Red Cross benefited substantially, as the treasury of that little country chapter would show.... the report that he (the farmer) gave of them was most reassuring. They had, as a rule, worked faithfully and had

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proved very capable farmers in fact, he never had a better force of men on his farm."

Better Segregation Necessary

It would have been much better for the con scientious objector, religious or political, as well as for the soldier if the former had been hundreds of miles from any camp, or if there had been some civ ilian work which he could have taken up at less pay than the soldier received. At camp every line of work had for its purpose the abetting of war. The C. O. felt that this was wrong and hence he must refuse to work or violate his conscience. The former meant persecution; the latter a serious effect upon his character. The soldier would have been better satisfied with his lot and entered more enthusiastically into his work.

A suggestion was made to R. C. McCrea, civil ian commissioner for conscientious objectors, that a number of churchmen be given the use of several thousand acres of land in the Pima Indian Reserva tion in Arizona during the war and have several hundred furloughed to this ranch. All that would have been above actual expense (all parties working for board and clothes) would have been given for reconstruction work. The commissioner approved of the plan, who soon after went to Washington to lay the plan before the authorities there; but just then the Germans began to retreat, and it was de cided that it would hardly be needed. If the pro posal had been made at the proper time, it is pos sible that the plan would have been adopted and that much of the dissatisfaction in camp might have been avoided.

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Discharges

Those who had received farm furloughs were called back to camp some time after the signing of the armistice, and with those who did not receive furloughs, were discharged among the first after de mobilization had begun. Many of those who had accepted noncombatant service were held longer. As a rule the discharges given at camp and at Fort Leavenworth disciplinary barracks were on blue pa per which meant that they were neither honorable nor dishonorable. A very few C. O.'s who were among the first to be discharged received a white paper, or an honorable discharge, while some who were never court-martialed, had spent little or no time in the guard-house, and even before given their final release, were permitted to go to France for re construction work, were given a yellow paper, or a dishonorable discharge. Surely the ways of war are peculiar.

Accepting Pay

Most of the Mennonite boys refused to accept pay for the time spent in camp, but before being discharged they were required to sign the pay roll. A few signed, and then refused to accept the money. It is not very difficult to imagine what was done with it. A large number accepted the money and re turned it to the United States treasury or to the war department, a few used it to buy equipment to go into the Friends reconstruction work, others gave it for relief work, and a comparatively small number accepted it and kept it, claiming that whik they din Government no good, after all they were required to lose the time, hence had a right to the money.

The experiences of the C. O.'s were not pleas ant, but many of them had an opportunity to live out a Gospel principle in such a way that even those who opposed them and persecuted them were bound to respect them for having a principle and living it regardless of results. The young men were made decidedly, stronger by their experiences, provided they have been drawn closer to God and have be come more like Christ. On the other hand, any exaltation that may grow out of these times of test ing will mar that which should have proved a great blessing.