Arizona  WW I  Prygun  Petition

To the Honorable Newton D. Baker.

     Secretary of War: 
 

     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. 

                                            June 14, 1917. 

MEMORANDUM for the Military Attaché of the Russian Embassy.

     The status of the case in respect of a certain religious sect called "Molokans" [error: Spiritual Christians Jumpers] in Arizona is as follows:-

     Some time before registration the Governor of Arizona telegraphed to this office calling our attention to the existence of this sect to his state apprising us of the probability that these people would refuse to register and asking for instructions. This office instructed the Governor to explain to these people that the act of registration did not of itself subject them to draft and that after being registered and before beings taken for military service they would be given ample opportunity to say that they belonged to a religious sect whose creed forbade its members to engate [engage] in war in any form. Hearing no more from the Governor of Arizona, on June 13th, we telegraphed him asking what action had been taken as to these people. He replied that thirty-five Molokans had been arrested for refusing to register and after hearing before the United States Commissioner were released on bail of $100 each for appearance before the Federal Grand Jury in October. The Military Attaché of the Russian Embassy called at this office on June 14th and suggested that perhaps even in spite of the efforts of the Governor, these people did not understand that registration did not on itself induct them into military service. The Executive Officer of the Provost Marshal General's Office, Captain Johnson, then suggested to the Military Attaché that if the Russian Embassy could explain to the Representatives of the sect of Molokans the effect of registration, they might be able to induce the members of that sect in Arizona and California to submit themselves to registration and that upon information that this step had been taken, the Office of the Provost Marshal General would be very, pleased to take the matter up with the Officers of the Department of Justice and that, no doubt, these people could be released from  criminal responsibility for their failure to register.