CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16156, 9 March 1918, Page 10

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS.

TO I'lIE EDITOR 01' "THE TItESS. Si r —Tho correspondence going on in your'columns in reference to "con-, sciontions objcctors" is one ol so inucn interest at present, that no excuse pe - haps is jiecvkvuy, lor asking a pronnnciny suggestive (jucation, or those wfto are taking ilie part, if not tne side, or tho would-be non-combatant. How co .Miss baughan, .Mrs Hollow, and others, propose to distinguish between objectors whoso conscience is truly tcnuer iu ont direction, a-.rl tho cowards w,io " !e merely sinrlcing a man's part. pears to "" A '> tnafc u IS , : V ,S 2. d-ui"eioi:s thing for non-combat„ut a to l,Scai> liio -"-"SfLi? ".backing up" men wiio will not hgbt. oh whatever grounds they prolo.B to take their stand. J'bo hopeiess u ni-jx-tiealness of the position, ior the . »m 'jathisers of those unhappy men, co.ucs out startlingly iu Miss iia ugh an s answer, in to-day's issue, to a poudont without sympathy. blie &ajs ilio ffenuino conscientious ob3.ee o»ly t» thing that aids and abeLa a s tnc doing i.on-combatant work merely another man freo to fight, and makinn- lecognition of the"vol y system that he thinka wrong." But it cue forcibly that it the objectoi dreads violating his own conscience, still he thus claims tne right also b hinder another man from cxercismgthe conscientious necessity of defending what he deems the right, and scotching the wrong, in the form of oppression and tvranhv. The C'.O. man ts so liopelesslv" self-centred that altruism is the onlv giant lie is out to slay. -i-C iumself as an individual fills tile universe. As Miss Baughan has luminously shown, to be consistent as a C.O. he cannot even bind up the wounds of those who think not with him. It is true that it is an embarrassing position lor authority, and, in the opinion of tho community in general, it is far too dangerous a thing, farther to embarrass ilinisters, Pre:*, military, atui civil authorities, by sympathy with the C.O. attitude, at tne nretient dreadful crisis of the world's a'lt'airs. It is self-eyideut that the C.O. men being regarded as "martyrs'' by a small section of the. population, cannot really touch the | position. How many thousands of "martyrs'' are there daily and hourly making, alas! the supieme sacrifice, for a belief—a pubs-apart altruistic belief —that oppression and cruelty are the monsters we must set aside our prejudices to slay. The worst that tho?e C.O. people of extra tender conscience (in one direction) can suffer, at the hands of military or civil authority, is but a frathf-r-iveipht in contrast, tc tho mountain loads of suffering and hardship being ehevi fully beme by our modern crusaders in.the narrowest and stoniest way of all. Let the C.O. then shoulder the gun, or, if unconvertible (which we fear he is), then lot him shoulder his very moderately heavy cross, and bear it with philosophy. It is "up to hinv' to do so, if he Jis thn real thing he claims to be, and tho militaiy are ;n no way to blame. Surely the hitter are as worthy of bein« yarded as possessing good conscience, rnd nit.ch more worthy of a claim for good sense, than the C.O. freaks. ° The C.O. attitude strikes me as bearin"- a remarkable resemblance to that of°a "hen on a hot 'jiriudle." Killing and wounding he Qinnot. do. nor healnor earrving. r.or flying, nor bearing messages by flood and field, nor driving cars rnci train-.ng horse?, ior thev avp :u'i military work. 'But neither can he con silently grow wheat or wool, 1,0 feed or clot-fee the soldiers, dig coal to drive the transports, nor even supi port the people at home, that the soldier may he fieed. His cold feet bu&

like the embarrassed fowl, as it hops on to each and every point of tne griddle. He cannot oven •'consistently" commit suicide either, to get out of the dilhculties he meets on every side. The only hope for him is that tho hot griddle of war may soon coo and he be left free to seek pea«e, suid pursue it, thanks to the men whoso glorious consciences did not prevent their doing their duty to humanity. Miss Hangnail's proposal that meanwhile tho C.O.s be made to do civil duty is excellent, but surely they must "consistently" object to this likewise. Civil authority, in taking these men off the hands of' the military authority— are they not merely assisting ''militarism" out of embarrassment. Xo! Your true blue C.O. could not possibly agree to be taken in hand, if he is quite stiff in Ir.s C.O. attitude. There seems "no way out'' for him hut to cease thinking of himself, and as he thinks of the world's predicament, drop liis light cross, and get a gun on his shoulder. — Yours, etc., K. J. FOSTER. P.S. —I should like to say that though I have voiced mv protest against back-ing-un the C.O. attitude, I fully recognise tne nobility and kindness.of feeling which leads Miss .Baughan and others to deplore the miserable position or those mistaken men.