The people's voice., 1959-01-16
Our Neighbors; the Hutterites

teau group, similar committees were
formed in Glacier and Cascade coun
ties. A spokesman for the Cut Banl
group explained, "We are running tt
lock the barn before the horse i:
stolen.
Among the charges laid at the door
of the Hutterites were the contentious
that they did not take part in civic
affairs, that they opposed the system
by which American agricultural land
has traditionally been managed and
that the sect was acquiring all of the
"good" land and reducing the valu-
alton of surrounding property.
A cursory glance at the tax re-
ceipts of the Milford Colony dispels
these illusions in short order. The
increase in property taxes there,
for example, indicates that the val
uation of Hutterite land has in
creased several times over since
1945, producing favorable effect on
the value of surrounding farm
properties.
If the property taxes paid by the
Milford Colony in it's infancy are an
indication of the land value, it was
not unusually "good". 1t was after
the institution of chronological ad-
vances by the Hutterites that land
valuations scared.
In 1948 the Hutterite tissue" was
injected into state politics when the
Democratic nominee for Congress
from the Eastern District, Willard E.
Fraser, advocated a special session of
the Legislature to cope with the
problem.
Unless the law stopped the prac-
tice of Hutterite segregation, Fraser
asserted, serious reprecussions would
be manifested in communities in which
the sect settled. "The Hutterites," he
added "want the privileges of citizen
ship but refuse to accept the duties".
The year 1948 also witnessed the
first general, concerted attempt by
Montanans to mobilize against the
"Hutterite INVASION. At a meeting
in Great Falls, Gov. Ford suggested
that laws be enacted to enforce Hut
terite attendance in public schools.
From 194s until the second year
of the Korean War when the paci-
fist convictions of the butterflies
again became an object for criti-
cism, the sect in Montana expert
enced little public animosity. In
1851, however, several d r a f t
boards, supplemented by the ef-
forts of the American Legion in
some areas sought law compelling
Hutterite youth to be subject to
military induction. 1t was charged
that the sect was using "1oopholes"
in the law to evade military obliga-
tions.
To the butterflies, service in the
armed forces in any form is forbid
len. Pastor Kleinsasser of the Milford
Colony explained that the sect, be-
cause of the principles on which it is
based, may support the government
only through alternative service,
hat is, service rendered in defense
outside the military.
During World War III, before the
'izeable migration of butterflies into
Montana, sect members, Kleinsasser
said, were engaged in employment
deemed essential to the war effort by |
he Canadian government. In official |
Y approved work camps, wartime
service was rendered the government |
n the lumber and related industries.
Hutterite support of what may be
,alled the war effort did not stop with
alternative service. Their contribu-
ions to charities linked to the military
include sizeable and regular dona-
ions to the American Red Cross.
Ito Be Continued)