Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-09-05

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colony are hooked into their clothes.
Each community has boss. or spir-
itual leader, who is also the minister
and school teacher, and usually BUS
mess head as well. They have COM
munity bakery. wash house, shoe shop,
blacksmith shop, carpenter shop and
sewing room. The community dining
room is huge, bare place furnished
with primitive benches and tables.
The young people are usually kept
apart, but arc herded together at GER
tain sessions OF the year for social in
ltercourse. The elders, however, keep
the arrangement of marriages mostly
| in their own hands.
Mennonites Not Disturbed.
When the war clouds gathered over
the world the Mennonites were not
disturbed, for they did not believe in
war. They kept on living plainly,
peacefully and primitively, as they had
been doing and meant to keep on do
ing, and meant their children's child
rem to keep Ion doing, as their sane
tilted leader had taught their forefath-
ers to do. They did not contribute to
Liberty Bonds, for their money must
not go to support wars. They did not
give to the Red Cross and their young
men did not volunteer. t,s
And then. one day they found that
the United States, to which they paid
taxes, did not think it sufficient that
they live in peace among themselves
and with their neighbors. 1t expected
more of them. 1t was in danger and it
demanded their support. Their pro-
test that they did not believe in war
did not seem to be understood. Their
young men were drafted either to q
service they disliked or to q prison
term. A Liberty loan committee wait
ed upon them. When they would not
subscribe a way was devised by which
the committee started back to Yank-
ton in charge of thousand head OF
sheep, which were sold and the pro-
ceeds given to the war fund.
And then quietly and resignedly the
Mennonites started to look up a new
refuge. They chose Canada. especially
the Saskatchewan district, and the ex-
odus began. In little communities and
groups they went as fast as they could
sell their land, Their rich fields were
bought often for but half their value,
for the Mennonites are not mercenary.
Things Not All Right.
But now, even before all the breth-
rem have left South Dakota, word
comes from Canada that they are not
all right there. Already the Saskat-
chewaf, colony is selling its land to go
to Argentina, for the members refuse
to obey the new law abolishing for
eign language schools in the Dominion,
and will not send their children to
the school provided for them. AL
though Mennonites speak, Russian, the
Saskatchewan colony speaks German.
In a test cast last month in Manitoba
eleven Mennonites were fined for neg
lecting to send their children to school
or make satisfactory provision for their
education So the few still remaining
in South Dakota are undecided wheth-
er to join their dissatisfied brethren
in Canada or go directly to Argentina.
One little story that has escaped the
Mennonite censor is so appealing as ito
stimulate an appetite for more, such
as must be hidden away in a social
fabric that is even thus thinly crossed
with threads of self-determination and
individual will.
A young man of the. colony had
reached the age where he was to be
sent out into the world. He was to
drive alone to Yankton. twenty miles
away, with a load of grain anrd bring
back the money for it. He was given
S5 cents for his expenses; 25 cents for
something to eat and tent cents for
something to drink, for the Mennonites
are not prohibitionists. He was not
told what he should receive for his
wheat When/he came to sell the
wheat the young man found that he
could get 81 more for 1t than he had
been expected to get. and yielded to his
instinct to take it. Then question
entered his mind as to whom the 81
belonged. 1t was in his pocket. He
was not expected to bring it back with
him. He had never had any money
or anything else of his own in all his
life. He had worked hard for many