C.O.s AND THE LAW
SIR,—The Surrey County Council, in common with some other councils, has just informed its employees that any who are placed on the register of Conscientious Objectors will be given " leave of absence without pay " for the duration. They have no right to do so. The Government recognises the status of C.O.s and has set up machinery to judge the sincerity of their convictions ; thus for local councils to discriminate against C.O.s is to nullify the intention of Parliament by setting at nought the findings of Governmental tribunals. The presumption of local bodies of bigwigs is truly great.
Such councils surely cannot realise the implication of their action. Because of his religious convictions, the C.O. is to be stripped of everything; without an income he cannot maintain payments on his house, or buy food and clothing for his family; and being in all probability unfitted for work other than that for which he has been trained, he and his family are faced with starvation. Another, and far more serious implication, is the danger it represents to the principle of religious freedom, an essential in our democratic system ; for it is patently absurd to suppose that the religious convictions of a C.O. are respected if his means of livelihood are removed because of them. In our efforts to relieve the unhappy lot of aliens who have come to this country seeking refuge, let us not forget that many of our own people, too, are suffering injustice and persecution.—Yours faithfully,
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