World War I and Reconstruction Work / 179

To the Military Camps

A quota of young men from Ohio churches, of course, faced the draft. Over twenty were sent to Camp Sevier in South Carolina. Others went to Camp Taylor in Kentucky, to Camp Sherman in Ohio, and to Camp Jackson in South Carolina. A total of twentyseven men came from the Fulton County churches to take the conscientious objector position, spending their conscripted days either in army camps or in farm service. Wayne County Mennonites who were drafted were sent mostly to Camp Sherman, Camp Taylor, and Camp Jackson.

While in the camps some men decided to take noncombatant service. Others consented to wear a uniform and perform routine camp duties. Others refused to don the uniform. In a number of cases there was pressure applied on the part of some officers to force the men into uniforms and into military service. Every conscientious objector who was drafted in World War I has his own story to tell of the trip to camp, his reception there, his decision on "how far to go," and finally his disposition by the officers of the camp.'

The passage of the Furlough Law helped the situation, with many of the Wayne County conscientious objectors going to work on farms. In July of 1918 a number were transferred from Camp Jackson to Camp Sevier where, with the exception of J. C. Meyer, they were confined to a separate area of the camp. Meyer served as a liaison between the conscientious objectors and the authorities of Camp Sevier. He had been certified for reconstruction work in France and in the meanwhile engaged in work at Camp Sevier which was compatible with his conscience and helped in the handling of the conscientious objector problem. At the end of the war he helped the authorities to prepare discharge papers for the men.'

A committee consisting of E. L. Frey, S. H. Miller, E. B. Stoltzfus, S. E. Allgyer, and J. S. Gerig was appointed to conduct services and other ministries to the men at Camp Sherman, near Columbus. E. L. Frey took an active role in the work, making in all fifteen trips to Camp Sherman.

Incidents on the Domestic Scene

Conscientious objectors in their home communities during World War I found themselves in the midst of intensive war propaganda and a stepped-up economy. Freedom of speech, as in all