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52QUAKER HISTORY Uphill for Peace—Quaker Impact on Congress. By E. Raymond Wilson. Richmond, Indiana: Friends United Press, 1975. 432 pages. $7.95. Uphill for Peace by E. Raymond Wilson is a personalized account of Quaker legislative work in Washington during the thirty year period, 19431973 . It is at the same time a history of die Friends Committee on National Legislation and an account of the lobbying efforts of FCNL on domestic and foreign issues which have been of concern to Friends. The book begins widi the rights of conscientious objectors during World War II and the subsequent efforts of Quakers to bring relief to the hungry and war stricken peoples of Europe and Asia. It describes the important work of Friends and others to provide assistance to refugees and displaced persons during and following the war. It records FCNL's work on civil liberties during die McCarthy era and the struggle of the civil rights of minority groups, especially during the turbulent years of the 1960's. Raymond Wilson gives the most attention and space in this volume to what he calls "fighting militarism for thirty years." This includes FCNL's extended and successful effort to defeat conscription and universal military training. It reflects the author's lifelong labors for universal disarmament. It deals with the role of the U.S. in the United Nations; it describes the formation of the Peace Corps and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA); and it sets forth in a detailed way U.S. involvement in more than two decades of war and revolution in the Caribbean, in Korea, and in Vietnam. It deals critically with U.S. post-war treaty commitments in Europe and Asia, and it reports the government's bungling of our relations with Latin America. Uphill For Peace concludes die story of Friends' legislative work widi a summary of their involvement at the state level in California, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. It includes an evaluation of FCNL and its critics, a brief account of several of Raymond Wilson's "memorable interviews," and some final impressions of 30 years of lobbying for unpopular and sometimes lost causes. It also lists some of FCNL's legislative successes during these years which provide a sense of achievement and signs of hope for the future. Raymond Wilson's work is a mixture of social idealism coupled with the hard and sometimes bitter realism encountered by a peace and social concerns lobbyist in Washington. It is also the valiant but sometimes thankless story of Raymond Wilson himself as he gave unflinching and prophetic leadership to the cause of peace and social justice from a religious perspective . FCNL has been not only the lengthened shadow of a personal crusade for peace, but it is also the story of a supportive staff and constituency who have brought the Quaker witness to bear on some of the major political and social issues of our times. The book, however, is not without its weaknesses. It tends to be tedious with details, yet one senses the author's frustration at not being able to give a fuller treatment of some legislative struggles. It fails to say enough about die contribution of the unsung heroes of FCNL who have labored behind the scenes to give support to the legislative battles which have been fought on the front lines, to use a non-pacifist metaphor. One is also left BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES53 wondering whedier the vast amount of effort expended by FCNL in some areas has been as influential in the formation of national policy as FCNL workers imply. There is not necessarily a success ratio between effort expended and results achieved. Friends have to be satisfied to make their witness and not try to count the results in terms of legislative battles won. Perhaps the best way to conclude this review is to put it in historical perspective by quoting the words of Frederick Tolles in his 1956 Ward Lecture at Guilford College, Quakerism and Politics: Quakers had been engaged in lobbying—that is to say, in seeking to influence legislators by personal visits—ever since 1659. . . . The weightiest Friends in England, including George Fox and William Penn...

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