Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-11-26
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A PROTEST OF "FkIENDS'

The Society OF Friends, commonly
known as Quakers. In Western Indiana
and Eastern Illinois, has issued an open
letter to tSeir brethren Of other de-
nominations" calling upon them to 'llft
up their hearts to God and their voices
to men to check this greed upon the
public treasury" which Is manifest in
the growing spirit of mllitarism.
The Friends, as Is well known, deny
the lawfulness of war, whether de-
fensve or offensive. and refuse to take
any part In military affairs They hold
that the blood Of the Savior was the
last drop that that was necessary to
be spilled for the human race, and that
II is the duty Of His followers to SO
testify, both by words and acts.
On this point opinions differ. The
great majority Of professed Christians
cannot view all wars from this stand
point. They believe that Soldiers Of
the cross can 80 wherever the SER
vice Of the country calls them, and
that they should he ready to lay down
their lives on the altar of patriotism,
particularly in the defense of home and
families, or for the maintenance Of llb-
erty and the overthrow Of tyranny I'M
der the heel Of which fellow beings
,,,,,, No ,V.,pd to Hath
But although opinions are divided
on the lawfuness OF an appeal to arms,
there can he no doubt that mlitarism,
II permitted to become the ruling force
OF n nation, Is a curse,
The open letter Of the Friends calls
attention to this fact 1t quotes NJ.
Drumont. the editor of the Libre Parole,
on the effects of militarlsm in France,
as follows
Compulsory military service, FAR
from being q school Of morals, IS a
school Of drunkenness, idleness, and
| dcbauchtry | deem the universal mil
| itary service one Of the greatest and
| II "a sometimes one of the saddest sac
| ridoes that our country calls upon us
| 10 b ar, | know Of few ~, ctacles more
! soddcnlng than that Of the young yeas-
ant taken from his field or his villa re
and thrown for three years into the
barracks All these sons OF the soil.
who would In time have married some
honest woman and given TO France a
new race OF strong and wholesome men,
return to their homes al more or less
diseased having lost all notions Of Tod
and respect for woman having lost the
taste for their former honest work by
the wcarisome and meaningless "a.
tigues Of the barracks"
Father Forbes, Roman Catholic
probate, Is also quoted He says:
"The family in France gives to the
army a young man clean in mind and
body; the army gives back that same
young man STEPPED to the very lips In
deb9uchery, SUI rims from disease and
degrading Vices
The authors Of the open letter. fur
Their, claim to know on good authority
that the United States soldiers now en-.
gagged in military operations In the
Philippines, are being subjected to the
corrupting influences that seem to fol-
low militarism everywhere When the
concomitants Of wars are considered, Il
is impossible to deny that the Friends
have a strong case Total abstinence
from mllitarlsm. It cannot be doubted,
would be a radical and effective cure
Of all its evils.
And yet, the wargod win have lis de.
votes, as long as men and women adj
mire and sustain them, in the work Of
their hands, And they viii not always
stop and consider whether they ere en-,
gagged In just cause or not