Addams opposes laws on conscription and limiting civil liberties
Description
Congress adopts the Conscription Act and the Espionage Act. During hearings for both the conscription legislation, Addams and others ask, without success, for Congress to add an exemption for draft-age men who have ethical or broadly religious objections to military service (those belonging to certain specific sects are already exempted). During hearings for the espionage legislation, Addams and others ask Congress to clarify that citizens may promote alternatives to war and oppose the draft without being in violation of the Espionage Act, but, again, they are unsuccessful. Addams and other sign a telegram to Wilson, opposing the Overman Bill limiting civil liberties, asserting that it "threatens the liberty of speech and activity of the citizens of the United States and is dangerous to Democratic institutions." (Quoted in Joslin, 186. See footnote 92.)
Date
1917-04-14
Source
“Statement of Miss Jane Addams.” Espionage and Interference with Neutrality. Hearing Before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Sixty-Fifth Congress, First Session on H.R. 291, 9-12 Apr. 1917. Washington Government Publishing Office 1917, 50-52. Archive.org. Web. 14 June 2017.