COPY
To the Honorable Newton D.
Baker.
Secretary of War:
Petition of the Russian
Colony of Sectarians,
Spiritual
Christian - Jumpers, -
domiciled at
Glendale, County of
Maricopa, State of Arizona,
and other parts of the
United States of America.
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We have
the honor to herewith report to you that
we are Russian farmers, followers of the
faith of Spiritual
Christians,- Jumpers,- said faith
being opposed to military service and the
bearing of arms. Our forefathers were
persecuted for their faith by the
Government of the Czar of Russia, and we
suffered much bitter persecution, were
tortured, flogged with rods and the knout,
sometimes with fatal results, were also
confined in fortresses, convents, mines,
and we were banished from the beautiful
parts of the interior of Russia to Siberia
and dreary Asiatic Trans-Caucasia. Much
innocent blood of the members of our sect
was shed and many were put in irons and
hand cuffs.
When
military conscription was established in
the Trans-Caucasia, rather than bear arms
and perform military service, we
determined to leave our Fatherland, our
homes, our cultivated lands, as well as
all of our belongings and come to America,
the land of freedom and peace. We arrived
in America the first decade of the present
century, and we have since been toiling
here, performing hard labor and farming in
order that we might maintain ourselves and
our families and not become a burden to
others.
The
present military conscription law seems to
apply to us as aliens, and the filing of
our names on the roster of the military
recruits seems to us to be in violation of
the tenets of our faith.
Therefore, we deem it wise and beg leave
to advise you at this early date, that on
account of great violence to the doctrines
of our faith and to our conscience, we
cannot willingly agree to enlist In the
Army of the United State, and beg to claim
exemption from military duty and to
petition for protection in future, in case
of possible persecutions for the refusal
to bear arms.
We
further beg leave to transmit to you
herewith, a copy of a declaration made by
the members of our Community at Glendale,
Maricopa County, Arizona, on the 2nd day
of June, 1917.
All
told, the followers of our Sect in America
can be estimated at approximately four
thousand (4,000), of both sexes including
children.
Asking
that our people may be granted exemption
from military service, on account of their
religious faith, this petition is most
respectfully submitted to you for
consideration.
Signed
by the authorized Delegate of the
Community on this second day of June,
A.D., 1917.
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