Arizona republican., 1910-04-13
MENNON|TES
 INVESTIGATE Representatives of That Sect
 Visiting Mesa A COLONY ALREADY HERE Into Which They Will Pos sibly Move From Kansas Colony-Their Quaint At tire Attracts Much At tention

C. Coblentz. C. C. AmstutZ and his brother, Moses AmstutZ, Mennonites or the Amish Mennonite branch, that has a colony three or four miles west of Phoenix, were Mesa visitors yesterday for the purpose of looking over this section of the country with a view of possible location. One of the dis tinSuishing features of the members of the faith is their quaint garb and the manner in which they wear their hair and beard. Their appearance on the streets yesterday attracted no little amount of attraction and their visit oc- casioned much speculation as to their nationality and religion. Their per sonal appearance is indeed striking and no better likeness could be had of them than the picture of the Christ us in Oberammergan, or d page torn from an illustrated magazine of Biblic- al characters.
 The Mennonite faith is distinctly Protestant. having its origin in Ger many. and with colonies in Pennsyl- vania and Kansas The men here yes- terday are from the Kansas colony in directly and their purpose was to de- termine the advisability of locating at this place They however expressed a desire to get into timbered country where they could depend upon rainfall to mature their crops and where they would not have to irrigate their lands on Sunday. and therefore be compelled to remain away from their religious worship.
 There are now eight families in the Phoenix colony: some of them are land owners. but the more recent arrivals are Investigating other sections rather carefully in the hope that they may be able to find location where Sun- day labor may be dispensed with.
 The Mennonites are invariably farm CTS and their integrity and philanthro- pic enlightenment always place them in high regard with their neighbors. Their faith has some of the distinctive char acteristics of the Baptists and Quakers. and their principal tenet is the admin istration only upon the confession of faith. They attach much more import ance to the ordering of the Christian life than to doctrinal points. ranking discipline and rectitude of life before learning and the scientific elaoroation of dogmas They also have a similar characteristic to the old fashioned Quaker in that they refuse 10 take oath and will not be sworn on the wit ness stand. but are willing to affirm a fact which accepted in court, and they will not bear arms. even in time of war and they condem every kind of revenge and will tolerate divorce only under the most extenuating cir cumstances. Then again they are in no wise politicians and object to filling offices. both civil and state, holding that all kinds of magistracy to be necessary for the present but foreign to the kingdom of God. In their minds the church is the community of the saints that must be kept pure by strict discipline. Many congregations prac- tice feet washing as one of-the- divine rites of the church. The church has membership of something over 100000 in the United States.
 Contrary to all supposition,> the men who visited this place yesterday are native born Americans. although of course they are of German descent. Their religion to which they hold so tenaeiously is responsible for their ap- pearance and their total indifference to the curious eyes that follow them upon the occasion of their first visit to a place where their views are not known and are not understood.