Could This Kind of U. S. History Repeat Itself?

This is a copy of the official letter from the Office of the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of 
Ohio to the General Attorney's Office in Washington, DC.

One of the interesting stories I uncovered in my research for a senior history seminar paper was one in which the editor and a contributing writer of Sugarcreek, Ohio's weekly, The Budget, were indicted in 1918 for violating Section 2, Title 1, of the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917.  

The Budget, established in 1890, had become a popular weekly paper featuring news from correspondents from Amish and Mennonite communities all over the nation, and in its May 15, 1918, issue, it printed the following letter by M. E. Bontrager of Dodge City Kansas. In this excerpt Bontrager also references the severe hardships Mennonite and other conscientious objectors were sufferng due to their opposition to taking part in military service during World War I:

"How are we meeting the great problems confronting us? Shall we weaken under the test or are we willing to put all our trust in our dear Savior? ...Our young brethren in camp [forcibly assigned to military units] were tested first. Let's learn from their faithfulness. They sought exemption on the grounds they belonged to a church which forbids its members the bearing of arms or participating in war in any form. Now we are asked to buy Liberty Bonds, the form in which the government has to carry on the war. Sorry to learn that some Mennonites have yielded and bought the bonds. What would happen to our nonresistant faith if our young brethren in camp were to yield? From letters I received from brethren in camp they would be willing to die for Jesus rather than betray Him. Let us profit by their example they have set so far, and pray that God may strengthen them in the future. Many people can't understand why we don't want to help defend our country..."

As a result of printing the piece the editor, S. H. Miller was found guilty of "inciting and attempting to incite, insubordination, disloyalty and refusal of duty in the military and naval forces of the United States, in publishing and causing to be published in the newspaper the Weekly Budget, which was distributed to certain people, namely..." for which he was fined $500 and court costs, a total of $900,  equivalent to over $15,500 today. The writer of the piece, M. E. Bontrager, was also charged and was fined the same amount.

Miller, no longer in the prime of his life and with increasing responsibilities as a Mennonite pastor and as editor of a paper already struggling financially, sold the paper in 1920.

In today's nationalistic and militaristic climate, one wonders about the future of our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of religion.

The above account is from my 1964 senior thesis, which was then published in the January, 1966, issue of the Mennonite Quarterly Review. No longer in Mennonite hands, the Budget is one of the most widely read publications among the Amish today.