Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1918 — OBJECTORS GET HEAVY TERMS [ARTICLE]

OBJECTORS GET HEAVY TERMS

Forty-Five Sentenced in Texas, Some to Twenty-Five Years. San Antonio, Texas, June 13. — Forty-five drafted men, tried by general court-martial here for refusing to wear the uniform of the army because they said they were “conscientious objectors” were Sentenced to life imprisonment, it was announced here today. Their commanding officer in each instance reduced the sentence to twenty-five years.

The men are nearly all from Oklahoma and members of the Mennonite faith. Some of the Mennonites have refused to bear arms, * but donned the uniform and accepted work in noncombatant units. The men who were tried refused to put on the uniform and refused to ■work in any capacity connected •with the army. The trials were held Friday and Saturday and no evidence was offered by the defense beyond the statement that the men were of a faith objecting to physical force. None of the defendants offered any explanation of their failure to obey the command to put on uniforms. Brigadier-General J. P. O’Neil ■designated Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, prison as the placp of confinement. The men will be sent to prison immediately.