The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-20
0UAKERS IN US. DECL ARE ATTITUDE {. ON WAR QUESTION Are Pacifists But Not Pas
 sivists, Says General Sec
 retary at Convention.

Richmond, Indiana, April 1S.- American Quakers are pacifists but not passivists, according to state ment from the Central Office of the Five Years Meeting of Friends in America, issued here today by Walter c. Woodward, general secretary. The Friends may be expected to maintain their historic position against war, he declares, both as a matter of prin- ciple and of policy. They are none the less loyal to the governrnenr and will be found doing their bit in ways consonant with their convictions. At tention is called to heroic and self sacrificing service rendered by Eng fish Friends in Epelgium, France and Russia, as indicative of the practical, constructive service that may be ex- pected of the disciples of George Fox on this side of the Atlantic. A nation wide organization of Friends toward this end is projected. MT. Wood wards statement follows:
 s"The Friends in America enter wig orous protest against the tendency in the present crisis to identify pacifism with disloyalty. There may be dis loyal pacifists, but we maintain that the history of Quakerism should place it pacifism above suspicion. We Friends are pacifists, but not passiv- ists We believe all war wrong as g matter of principle and wrong as a matter of policy, and must therefore refrain from bearing arms. We are conscientious objectors,' but we are more. We do not propose to stop with objecting. Though. against war ri nd Q manity, for which they are prepared to suffer and to sacrifice They are ready to prove their patriotism no less than their pacifism.
 "As proof that this has been their record, in the past, Friends point to their Course through the Civil War. Though they could not as a body en- ter the military service, they rendered invaluable aid to the government in other ways and no peuple were re- garded as more loyal. In the present war. the English Friends, through various kinds of constructive relief work, both at home and on the con- tinent and financed and manned by themselves, have commanded tke re- spect and commendation of the world. Their loyalty is beyond doubt.
 ''As national organization we are already taking steps toward Quaker mobilization The young men of our colleges are being called upon, some for hospital service and for relief work. Others will serve in the fields of industry and agriculture, yet oth- CTS in the Youn Mems Christian asso- citation at the front. A systematic canvass of the church will be made to secure adequate funds for various phases of war relief, to be carried on both here and abroad. Since with them this work is a matter of con- science, and since they cannot direct iy or indirectly participate in war. such service as the majority of them render cannot be performed under the auspices of the military branch Of the government The fundamental doctrine of Quakerism is that of the inviolability of the individual con- science. We do not therefore pre- sume to tell our members what they shall do or not do, as individuals. but Tn the assurance that in the present as in the past, Friends will render their full measure of devotion,' we confidently pledge the Friends in America, to this, their immediate task"