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Show PREMIER ORLANDO of Italy, who announces that his delegation delega-tion will insiat on Fiunic as an Italian possession or. the conclusion of peace. i T 9 v' v1 f(,'t v 5 r t BffitR ACCUSED 81 fflfiJOI Secretary of War Charged With . Coddling Con-, scientious Objectors. KAXSAS CITY, March 21. Perfection of a pacifist organization in such a clever i manner that it has reached "the foundations foun-dations of the most active department of the government tlie war department." wsa charged in an address today by Major Dick B. Foster, member of a court martial mar-tial at Camp Funston. Kansas, that tried 135 alleged conscientious objectors. He accused Secretary of War Baker with "intentionally or unintentionally aiding and assisting the I. W. V., international socialists and humanitarians in their program pro-gram of blocking construction of the army by extending and perverting the acts of, congress for the protection, comfort com-fort and solace of these obstructionists." obstruction-ists." "In giving you this story of conscientious conscien-tious objectors I want to assure you I have no personal reason for doing so," Major Foster declared. "I am an American citizen, an ex-officer of the United States army, and as such feel that every American is entitled en-titled to know conditions which surrounded sur-rounded the induction Into the army of the true conscientious objectors and the false conscientious objectors, which Included In-cluded Industrial Workers of the World, International socialists, anarchists and slackers. The gravity of the situation is not realized by the American people." Charges Against Baker. The speaker then charged that the secretary sec-retary of war had "given aid" to the objectors, and then read paragraphs from what he declared were official orders, providjng that all those having "personal scruples against war should, be construed as "conscientious objectors.' " "Ijet me impress upon you what these secret orders mean," Major Foster continued. con-tinued. "It meant that every soldier in the United States army could have at any time gone to his commanding officer and, upon stating that be was opposed to war, taken off his uniform and refused to do military service." The officer related how objectors who were in the guardhouse awaiting trial would refuse to line up for mess, throwing throw-ing themselves upon the ground, kicking and screaming. Tho objectors set up a hunger strike, bp .said, and rattled their mess kits for hours at a time and could not be stopped. Letter Is Quoted. Hn the midrt of this condition," Major Foster went on, "v.e tool; from a conscientious con-scientious objector a circular sent out by Upton Sinclair, Socialist leader, in which he reprinted a letter from Newton l. linker to the president of the United .Slates, answering tun pr-'.dont in regard re-gard to a romphiitU Sin'-hiir had m.irlf (Continued, on Page 2, Column 1.) BflKEB ACCUSED BY AHIVIY MAJOR (Continued from Page One.) of mlfltreatment of Socialists. The letter said : i "'I think, however, he should be In- ! formed that we are now doing absolutely all that public opinion will stand in the interest of conscientious objectors and others whose views do not happen to coincide co-incide with those of a vast majority of ! their fellow countrymen.' " Baker Shows Impatience, EL PASO, Texas, March 21. "Don't read me any more of that I have no interest in It," Secretary Newton D. Baker declared emphatically tonight at the close of the Liberty hall speech on the league of nations when shown the Associated Asso-ciated Press report of Major Dick B. Foster's Kansas City address, in which he charged the war secretary of "inten- tionally or unintentionally aiding and assisting as-sisting the I. W. W., international socialists so-cialists and humanitarians in their program pro-gram '"of blocking construction of the1 army." After Ifstening patiently while the first 1 200 words of the dispatch were read to1 him, Secretary Baker stopped the reading read-ing in the middle, of a sentence, brushed aside the report and insisted he had "no interest whatever" in the utterances of the ex-army officer. "I have nothing to say about it absolutely abso-lutely nothing," he said as he walked away. History of Treatment. "The objectors sentenced by .general court martial were sent to the disciplinary barracks at Leavenworth, ICan., but the pacifist protection did not leave them. After serving four months of their sentences sen-tences one hundred of them were given their releases. The order of Secretary ' Baker was that they should be honorably restored to duty as soldiers and that they should be paid for the entire time spent in the disciplinary barracks. Immediately following their honorable restoration to duty, the order read that they should be discharged. This is the history of the treatment accorded by the war department depart-ment to the conscientious objectors." Major Foster declared he and other army officers had the highest regard for the religious objector, who, he s;jid, had been found willing to perform any nun-j nun-j combatant tasks assigned them. |