6 JULY 1929, Page 18

PACIFISM AND CITIZENSHIP.

Nothing promises to provoke a recrudescence of strong Liberal sentiment in the United States so much as the spark lighted by the decision of the Courts to bar farm citizenship first Madame Rosa Sehwimmer, on the ground that she refused to bear arms in defence of the country, and now Dr. Macintosh of Yale Divinity School, who qualified his willingness to bear arms with the reservation that the cause must satisfy his con- science. Though technical law would appear to justify tlie decisions of the Courts, it is certain that the moral issue con- cerning freedom of conscience has been aroused by these incidents, and the repercussion promises to be far-reaching. The fact that so large a part of the best citizenship feels exactly as does Dr. Macintosh makes the law and the Court decision seem anomalous. It must be said, however, that the majority sentiment of the country undoubtedly supports the attitude of the Courts.