MEMORANDUM ON OBJECTORS' CAMPS

        Under the present Selective Service Act, conscientious objectors who refuse auxiliary military service are to be assigned "work of national importance." It has now become a moot question how this can be done―and, beneath this question, there is the more fundamental question as to what is meant by that innocent-sounding expression.

        At present, certain anti-war sects and organisations have been assigned the task of managing what appears to be labor concentration camps for absolutist objectors, and these supposedly anti-war groups have been sold a bill of goods by the government in that they are now managing, for the government, a project of putting conscientious objectors at tasks of forced labor which it would take a long stretch of imagination to interpret as work of national importance.

        That a sincere absolutist objector could only regard those labor camps as auxiliary military service, should be obvious to anyone familiar with objectors of that type. Such an objector must regard his alleged anti-war masters, regardless of the fact that they were drawn from pacifist sects, as mere agents of a militaristic administration.

        If the question is, what type of labor camps should be set up, and how they should be managed, a true conscientious objector must refuse to answer such a question, in the same way as he would refuse to give advice to a board of strategy as to how to run a military campaign―and for the same reasons. A conscientious objector must object alike to all forced labor camps, and regard as traitors any pacifists that undertake to operate them.

        The broader question, however, is: Just what should be done by way of assigning work of national importance to conscientious objectors who refuse to do any work auxiliary to the requirements of military bodies? In getting at this question, several fundamental facts must be recognised as premises. First, every individual objector has his own reasons for refusing work of a military nature, so that no two of them will completely agree as to the extent of their "forbidden area," and no forced labor can be guaranteed to be acceptable to all absolutist objectors. Second, much civilian work, now employing conscientious objectors, is of more actual national importance than clearing timber or planting trees, or suchlike work as actually given to the prisoners of objectors' concentration camps. Third, many conscientious objectors will refuse to do work intended as a substitute for war work (alias "defense work" at the present time). Fourth, absolutist objection is, to some extent, a protest against forced labor and war dictatorship, and many such objectors will refuse to do anything involving this type of enslavement or the sort of quasi-military discipline represented by camps. Fifth, the people with whom it is sought to deal are of differing abilities, and should be given different sorts of work if it is sincerely attempted to do work that is of national importance in peace time, rather than just to punish people for having beliefs differing from those of the administration, and for sticking to their beliefs. Sixth, that "work without wages," so glibly talked of among supposedly pacifist organisations, means labor concentration camps of the German-Italian militarist style, and a sort of slavery that most absolutist objectors must resist if they are at all worthy of the name of objector.

        These premises mean that labor camps are out, at least as a general means of solving the problem. Such camps might provide an outlet for a few objectors, especially from the rural districts, whose normal work is of the same nature; but if maintained in any other way than as an alternative for which objectors might volunteer, they could only arouse the same sort of objection as would result from forcing these objectors into the army. In many case, camps now being established by pacifist organisation look suspiciously like thinly veiled auxiliary military units. For example, the Quaker project of clearing hurricane-felled timber in the Petersham Forest in Massachusetts, is certainly not "work of national importance"―unless there is some special use to which the military machine intends to put the clearings, such as an artillery range or a camp site; in which case, the Quakers will be forcing absolutist objectors to prepare ranges or camp-sites for the army. Likewise, forced labor on farms is very likely to be a special project of growing food for the army, or for defense workers; and any absolutist objector would be almost bound to resist as long as he does not know definitely to the contrary.

        Again, take the fact that much civilian work is actually of national importance, and totally apart from the quasi-war situation at present prevailing. Is there any reason to ship such people to camps, where the work is not of "national importance," but is rather given as a punishment for unorthodox beliefs? And should any conscientious objector allow himself to have anything to do with any such attempts?

        This brings up the first definite practical suggestion. CLASSIFY CERTAIN EXISTING EMPLOYMENT AS "OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE," AND ASSIGN OBJECTORS ALREADY EMPLOYED IN SUCH WORK BACK TO THEIR OWN JOBS. Not even the strongest anti-alternatvist will object to that; and it will take out of the problem a large proportion of the objectors whom the authorities find it so hard to dispose of, in a way that will not enslave them at all. As to that can legitimately be put into such classification, we might begin by including (1) Supplying the civilian population with food, clothing, shelter, and other items (both goods and services) regarded as necessities under normal American standards for the average inhabitant of American urban communities; (2) Maintenance of transportation and communication used by the civil population of the United States; (3) Relief work for persons in need of such help, whether for financial reasons or by reason of disaster; (4) Civilian medical work and all auxiliary thereto; (5) Research directed towards discovering facts or processes to aid the civil population of America in carrying on its ordinary activities of life; (6) Issuance of information to aid the civil population of America in its ordinary activities of life, and to maintain ordinary American civil rights and economic standards; (7) Such work under governmental units as in essential for any of the above purposes, or to maintain the ordinarily recognised civil rights of the people of America. In any of these occupations, advertising or sales work will be excluded, because there is no national importance in one firm being patronised rather than another; similarly; owners or officials who merely hire others to work without being active themselves would not be doing "work of national importance," because the work would go on just as well without anyone even substituting for them; but active mangers are in a different category. All steps in the work, from start to finish, would be included. The next step is, that objectors not already in such work should be placed in such work. If pacifist organisations get together on the placement problem, this should not be too impossible too impossible a task. In such a case, the arrangement to be made with draft boards would be, that conscientious objectors who refuse auxiliary military service should be turned over to a pacifist placement committee, which various anti-war sects and societies could set up in the various important centers of population in the United States. These committees should make a point of contacting possible employers (including governmental units) for positions classified as "of national importance" as above―not merely to receive their calls for "help wanted," but, where a registrant does not come under the normal run of qualifications specified in the calls, to sell him to the employers Such placement committees would also be doing work of national importance themselves. The registrants would, under such arrangements, receive deferment from the draft boards if they started employment within a certain period (let us say, four weeks), to last for the duration of that employment, and, and if they re-register with the pacifist placement committees after the termination of such employment, for that same period (for weeks, as we have supposed) thereafter, the deferment to be renewed if the registrant is again placed in work of national importance.

        This arrangement would still leave a small residue of conscientious objectors unaccounted for; but the vast majority of absolutists will be handled easily on the above plan if regarded as free workers, not as prisoners. Some may also be handled on the present "camp" plan if they are allowed to volunteer for such camp instead of being in; but the placement plan outlined above would probably be the best for handling the most of them, if the organisations concerned can see to it that there is no partiality and an honest attempt to place everybody. But, for those who actually cannot be placed in anything against which they do not have conscientious scruples, and for which they are qualified, special projects will have to be designed. These should not be exclusively farm projects or forestry projects, urban activities should be included as well as rural. They should not be operated by the government, as conscientious objectors will undoubtedly have strong qualms against serving it, in many instances; but they should, as far as possible, be self-supporting projects, for which the government should contribute capital (it owes us at least that, for forcibly yanking us out of our peacetime occupations) but should not try to interfere with the management. Management should start initially under the supervision of pacifist groups, but should preferably be organised all in a single national organisation incorporated federally as a non-profit membership corporation, controlled exclusively by those assigned to work under it, and without regard to questions of capital, and labor being the only membership dues. (A form of national productive organisation of the sort has been outlined some years ago, and some of the organising committees that have attempted, in the past twelve years, to set up such a membership corporation, might well be given charge of the organisation work, under supervision of pacifist organisations.) This organisation would handle various units of production and distribution, initially as a cooperation of the workers of all such units in a group-federation plan, and could support itself and eventually pay off any loans of capital, and continue on its own after the "Selective Service" issue is over.

        There are others activities wherein objectors might make themselves useful. They could, in many instances, organise civilian relief projects. And, even in the Selective Service system, conscientious objectors could fit in, if any have legal or medical knowledge, to organise what we may call Registrants' Defense Committees, as advocates for draft registrants in prosecuting their claims for deferment or exemption.

        The above plan should handle absolutist objectors much better than labor camps.