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'CONSHIES' AT U. OF W. ARE LED BY NISEI YOUTH

'Defense or Aggression, War Is War,' One Conscientious Objector Says in Explaining Refusal to Serve

By MARK S. SULLIVAN

Seattle has three extensive pacifist groups, centering around the University of Washington -- with an American-born Japanese youth as leader of one organization called the Conscientious Objectors' Group -- a survey disclosed yesterday.

About 250 persons, including 100 eligible for military service, attend the Conscientious Objectors' Group meetings monthly at Eagleson Hall, the off-campus University Y.M.C.A. building.

To Other Large Groups

The other groups that account for a large number of "conshies" or "c.o's" are the Seattle branches of the American Friends Service Committee and of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

The Friends group is headed by Floyd W. Schmoe, University forestry instructor who is on leave to devote his time to the Friends work. The Fellowship of Reconciliation is led by Prof. F.B. Farquharson of the University civil engineering staff.

Women and older men, in addition to University students, make up the various groups. Less than a dozen University students have gone to "conshie" camps at Cascade Locks, Or. and in California.

One group of "c.o.'s" said their philosophy on "a way of life" was reached in varying degrees, through University courses, seminars, student meetings and student camps.

Most persons describe conscientious objectors as slackers, but the anti-war youths reply: "There are other ways to win a cause than by carrying arms and killing. They say the conscientious objector who bears the stigma of a slacker is as brave as soldiers at the front.

Do Not Fear Death

Most of the objectors show strong sympathy for Japanese Americans, some believe Germany is fighting for existence even more than England, and many approve of Gandhi's anti-English opinions.

Thomas R. Bodine, youthful assistant to the American Friends Service Committee and a "c.o.," said objectors are opposed to carrying arms and fighting in the military forces of the United States, but do not fear death and are eager to make sacrifices for their nation.

Bodine is at the Friends Center, just off the campus, and confers daily with students who seek advice on classification as "c.o.'s." He assists Schmoe.

In the First World War, Schmoe was with the Friends in Europe doing relief work.

"We don't mind Gen. Hugh Johnson calling us 'sissy britches,' because we know he has to talk that way," said Bodine, "but he doesn't credit us with any desire to help our country."

Brig. Gen. Hugh S. Johnson, in his column in The Times last week, said conscientious objectors are "a lousy lot" who accept the benefits of their country but will not pay for them when called to do so.

"In the last World War," Bodine said, "the Friends were in France,

reconstructing homes while the war was still going in. They were in the danger area at the risk of their lives.

"One 'c.o.' here wants to go to Mexico to work on malaria study. That would be his contribution to the good neighbor policy and he would be risking his life in the work."

Bodine was excused from military service because of his religious beliefs. He was graduated from an eastern college five years ago and obtained leave of absence from an insurance company in Hartford, Conn., to work with the American Friends Service Committee. He has been a Quaker since 1935.

Since Here to Aid Japanese

"I was first assigned to Europe and was to leave for Lisbon," Bodine said, "but later I was ordered to Shanghai to help German Jew refugees. I didn't get to either place, but was assigned instead to the West Coast to help the Japanese."

But, besides assistant the Japanese in evacuation problems, Bodine gives advice to youths seeking "c.o." classification.

He is strongly sympathetic to Japanese Americans.

"The government is building rabbit hutches for them at Puyallup," he said.

The leader of the Conscientious Objectors' Group is Gordon Hiribashyi [Hirabayashi], who is about to leave for a "c.o." camp. About a year ago, Hiribashyi [Hiribayashi] said, he became a Quaker.

Hiribashyi [Hirabayashi] does janitor work in Eagleson Hall.

The C.O.G. leader is one of the most popular frequenters of the "Y" and is admired by all his "c.o." friends.

"Gordon is just a swell guy," they comment. "He has no inferiority complex like some Japanese. On parties and outings he is always organizing something, taking part in all activities and making himself useful."

Y. Not Harboring 'C.O.'s'

M.D. Woodbury, secretary of Eagleson Hall Y.M.C.A., which is dedicated to Lieut. James M. Eagleson, Seattle boy who lost his life in the First World War, said he wanted it understood the Y.M.C.A. "is not harboring 'c.o.'s'."

"Our doors are open to all organizations," Woodbury said, "and that is the thing that gives me a thrill out of this kind of work."

Woodbury said he was anxious that "no publicity" be given the "c.o." movement.

"A lot of good work can be undone, particularly if Gordon Hiribashyi [Hirabayashi] is mentioned," Woodbury said. "He is one out of 100 Japanese Americans in that he is a conscientious objector."

Hiribashyi [Hirabayashi] said it is difficult to explain the way he feels about war.

"But I've always had religious beliefs -- philosophies -- which make war and the killing of men against my principles," he said.

Cooperation, Not War

"I believe God made the world. I believe we can unite and cooperate to make the world the kind of a place to live in that God wants it to be. It is rather hard to explain, but by talking and working together we can build instead of destroy. War is to destroy, armies are built to destroy -- and destruction is not what I have been taught nor what I believe in."

The Fellowship of Reconciliation is a national organization which publishes booklets with such titles as "The New Testament Basis for Pacifism." It has about 30 members, headed by Professor Farquharson.

Bodine said seven or eight students, or ex-students, have been classed as "c.o." and are in camps. A "c.o." pays $35 a month for his keep in camp. The "peace churches" -- Friends, Brethren and Mennonites -- have a fund to assist "c.o.s" in paying camp board bills.

Recent publicity on Cascade Locks, especially pictures, have been unfavorable, Bodine said.

"The pictures show the objectors eating, listening to radios and apparently having a good time," Bodine said. "They should have shown the men at work, stripped to the waist, clearing land and doing other jobs of hard manual labor."

Draft Boards Excuse Few

Local draft boards in Seattle do not keep records here of men classed as "c.o.," but said "very few" have been excused from military service for religious beliefs.

Classification on the ground of conscientious objection is the last thing the draft boards take up when interviewing candidates, one draft board official here said.

"Many persons deferred from military service are conscientious objectors, but they fail to pass their physical test or are married and have dependents -- so they never are

classed "c.o.'," the official said.

"And, for some reason, the 'c.o.s' are not very good physical specimens, in general. Most of them seem to marry young, too."

Many "c.o.s," however, object to deferment on physical grounds, marriage or dependents, and are appealing such classification. They want their "c.o." status established at once and point out the Army should not count on reaching into deferred reserves when many will prove to be "c.o.s"

Byron Hunt, Roger Johnson. Byron Spencer and Ralph Seaton are "c.o.s" who live cooperatively in a house off the campus at 1411 Northlake Ave.

Spencer is off to Owen Valley, Calif., to see the Japanese, but Hunt, Seaton and Anderson, sharing the operation of a milk truck route, were home yesterday. Charles H. James, a heating engineer who lives in Kirkland, dropped in. He aspires to a "c.o." classification.

Hunt said he was disappointed that the draft board had refused him permission to go to a work camp in Mexico.

"I suppose I'll go to Cascade Locks, the nearest 'c.o.' camp," Hunt said.

Hunt is a graduate of the Central Washington College of Education at Ellensburg and is a former University student. He taught school two years in Ferry County. His mother studied at Drake University to be a medical missionary and his father is a farmer.

Pacifism is not a new belief for Hunt.

In 1934, he recalled, he was excused from training in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at the University because of his beliefs.

"The officer who excused me was at Pullman when my father was in the R.O.T.C. at Washington State College," Hunt said. "For some reason, the R.O.T.C. has always been more strict at W.S.C."

Seaton was another R.O.T.C. dodger at the University.

"I took it for five quarters," he said. "That was when I believed in defense, but not offense. Then I changed. Defense or aggression, war is war, and I am opposed to war. Anyway, there is no good defense, military authorities tell us. I thought Christianity could be applied better than killing to win causes for mankind."

Seaton was excused from the R.O.T.C. in 1935.

Johnson is classed "c.o." He has strong church ties, he said, and plans to be married soon.

Violence Destroys Aims.

"When we go to war we are denying the very thing we are fighting for," Johnson reasons. "I am for the well-being of mankind. The Communist Party is for that, too, but it is willing to resort to violence. I am not."

James is married and has two children, but he is appealing his draft deferment because it is for dependents.

"I want to be classed as "c.o.'," James said. "All of us want to get our status cleared. It will help the Army to know how many of the deferred men it is not going to get."

The young men at 1411 Northlake read books and booklets like "Character Bad, a Story of a Conscientious Objector," written by an international Y.M.C.A. worker: "The New Testament Basis of Pacifism"; "White Corpuscles of Europe," a "no-violence" publication which can be ordered from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

They think this war is "different." Ministers, they point out, are not as much "all out" for war as in 1917, and the public attitude toward "c.o.s" is not as bitter as in the First World War.

Preachments of pacifism already are having effect in this war, they say.

"In Greece, English soldiers in one battle killed so many Germans that they quit firing," said Hunt.

"In India," said Seaton, "the non-violence of Gandhi is setting an example for the whole world."

If Japs or Nazis Win

If the Japs or Nazis conquer, the young men believe, it will not mean the end of the ideals they uphold.

"It may take longer, but the ideals will survive," Hunt said. "A war may be won, but the principles of peace and humanity will exist at all times."

Seaton and Hunt have visited Cascade Locks. Not all is ideal in the camp, they admit.

"There are all kinds of pacifists," they reported, "and a lot of men in camp are going around saying, 'How did he get here?' Many men find they do not want to be in a "c.o." camp and later volunteer for military service.

"A non-"c.o." is as much out of place in a "c.o." camp as a real "c.o." is out of place in the Army.