Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-18
W|LM|NCTON|AN
DEFENDS FRIENDS
Mrs. William c. McCloy, Mem
Der, Gives Her Views OF Their
War Attitude.

Mrs William e. McCloy, loIuei'y
of Wilmington. now of New YORK
member of the Society of Friends, deeiA'"'
mt Friends meeting IN that city, on
Thursday, IN discussing the case o, MISS
Mary 5. Mcdowell Quaker teacher on
trial before the Board OF Educatnh
accused of Conduct unbocoming a
teacher that "the pro-Csermans are max
ing catspaw OF the Qliakers eo pun ''''i'
chestnuts irom the flrc. -. :.
TIt IL all so insidlo,islv done that II
Is hard to Law a finger on 1t, continued
Mrs. McCioy, "but everywhere the pro
Gerrnans are tryIng to make friends WIN
us. To enter our org tnIzations and diree'
our policies, always harpmg on our ihu-
tlial love for beat tiiui peace
''Df course. | am not implying thnN
Miss McDowel's sentiments are Ill any
degree the result Of pro-German pfopa-
sands. but. unwIttiugly or not, stc Is
certainly nlaying INTO thb hands oi thc
kaisrr's followers And the majority
of her o-rcligiupnsts seriously ooje1'
To being classcd with her and scrious'v
object to the impression that shc III ",'s
way represents the Society ct friehos.
iThe trouble is that the paclfists among
us though very small IN number, arc
large m oratnry, while the vast majority
who are heart and soul IN the war GO
quietly about their business without
comment. In this way the puhic gets
a very wrong impression.
'"rhc attack upon the Quakers recently
published IN the Living Church OF NH
waukpc. and reprinted IN the Literary
Digest of Nav II. has reused some oi our
members out of thcT customary iethatgy
The charge that QuakCrism is ,hn wears
too late to be entitled to the eplthes
Christian and the statemenl lhat'
Russians have surrendered tn the ptih-
cIplcs of QuakcriSm plus Socialism pius
kaIsc1sm are resented by those WI"
know. that. IN proportion to their member
ship 4 larger number Of the members OF
the coclctv III Friends took part IN the
CIVIL War than did tho members OF any
other religious body
'of tho Friends now abroad IN war
work approximately one-fourth arc en-
gagged m hospital and relief work, and
thrco-fnurthS are IN the army and navy
almost All of them as volunteers \
wear arn. when Ioth the Manhattan and
BROOKLYN meetings were besfoged ny
Young men from tho east side ot alien
pareDtarc and within the draft age. who
desired verv suddenly TO hetome Quakcrs
a largo number of Young Friends We're
QUIETLY cnlIstIng to serve their country
and this too. though according 70 law
thcv could clam religious immunity
oUAkERe VAR ron THE RIGHT
DR. John l.. Carver. principal of the
New York Friends Seminary, saai that tbs
members of tho Friends mectlng'considef-
cd Miss NcDmclls attitude ~ most
unfortunate. and any support that shr
was receiving from that body WAS solely
an the grounds that technically she was
within her rights
Il know of only thrrc or fourmemhers
i Of the meeting who are SO conservative
{ As TO remain pacIfsts on doctrlnal'prninds
IN the midst of thls val said n Carver
f'Moet Quakers distinguish between
war Of arEreeson or revenge, which Wa
Whist the founders Of the society had II
mind. and a war Of principle While We
believe IN peace, there are times when We
recognize war as the lesser OF two evils
We have a large American flag u
the BROOKLYN Meeting House, and u
YOU know anything Of Quaker enstoII
YOU viii realige what a significant cte
part,ue that is
During the recent Liberty bond sale
we had a booth for part OF the time
in the lobby Of the meeting house, anC
E, our Mothers Club sold between s4OUs
and SO. 600 worth Of bonds We have
Bov Scout organizations in our schools
We are about to put on historical pageant
showing the progress OF the .QuaseTs
and the very point to II IS that the Quaker
have not been pachsts
The Quakers OF New York are no
paclhsts. and we deplorc and Tescn
being represented as such And th'
same IS true Of Quakers in America gen
orally. in spite OF few old time con
sorvatives among our membership