Arizona republican., 1919-03-22
HAD
 BAKERS HELP
 CHARGES MAJOR
Funston Officer Declares War Department Policy Aided Slackers-Perfect Pacifist Organization.

KANSAS CITY. Mo-, March 21- Perfection of a pacifist organization in such a clever manner that it has reached the foundations of the most active department of the government the war department" was charged in 'an address today by Major Dick B. Foster, member of a courtmartial al Camp Funston, Kas. that tried lS5 al- legged conscientious objectors. He ac- cused Secretary Baker of intentional ly or unintentOnally aiding and as sisting the 1. W. w., international so- cialists and humanitarians in their program of blocking construction of the army by extending and perverting the acts of congress for the protection. comfort and solace of these obstruc- tiOnists.'
 Tn giving you this story of con- scientious objectors, l want to assure you 1 have no personal reason for do- ing so,' Major Poster declared.
 T am an American citizen, an ex- officer of the United States army and as such feel that every American is entitled to know conditions which sur rounded the induction into the army of the true conscientious objectors and the false conscientious objectors which included Industrial Workers of the World, International Socialists, anar- chists and slackers.
 The gravity of the situation is not realized by the American people,"
 Reads Orders
 The speaker charged that the secre- tary of war had given aid"to the ob- jectors and read paragraphs from what he declared were official orders providing that all those having per sohal scruples against war should be construed as conscientious objectors.' ?
 Let me impress upon you what these secret orders mean" Major Fos- ter continued, it meant that every soldier in the United States army could have at any time gone to his commanding officer and upon stating that he was opposed to war, taken off his uniform and refused to do mil itary service"
 The officer related how objectors in the guardhouse awaiting trial would refuse to line up for mess, throwing themselves upon the ground kicking and screaming. The obiectors set up 2 hunger strike. he said, and rattled their mess kits for hours at a time.
 Tn the midst of this condition, 7 Major Foster went on, i've took from an objector a circular sent out by Upton Sinclair. socialist leader in which he reprinted a letter from New ton D. Baker to the president answer ing the president in regard to a com plaint Sinclair had made of mistreat- ment of socialists. The letter said:
 T think, however, he should be in formed that we are doing absolutely all that public opinion will stand in The interest of objectors and others whose views do not happen to coincide with those of vast majority of their fellow countrymen
 MT. Baker was right He was doing all that public opinion would stand in the interest of objectors.7
 "The objectors sentenced by the gen. eral courtmartial were sent to tn, disciplinary barracks at Leavenworth Kansas. but the pacifist protection die nos leave them. After serving foul months of their sentences one hun. dred of them were given their realeses The order of Secretary Baker was that they should be honarably restored tC duty as soldiers and that they be paiC for the time spent in the guardhoust awaiting trial and the tirHe spent il the disciplinary barracks. Immediately following their honorable restoration to duty, the order read that they should be discharged. This is the history 0 the treatment accorded by the war de pertinent to the conscientious ob jectors."
 Major Foster declared he and othe army officers had the highest regar, for the religious objector, whom, h, said, had been found willing to per form any non -combatant tasks as signed them.