‘Masters of their own souls’
Arnold S Rowntree, Quaker and Liberal MP, supported the conscience clause that he and T Edmund Harvey had persuaded Herbert Asquith, the prime minister, to include in the Military Service Act. This is an edited version of his speech in the House of Commons
Severe things are said by some about the conscientious objector. He is often called a slacker. I want to suggest to honourable members that it is not quite fair to speak in these terms… Let me put the difficulty which the conscientious objector feels. May I just say what the Quakers feel.
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