The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

service transportation permit, so they left for Tashkent on December 24, 1879. Upon arrival, they were well received by Kaufmann and began seeking information about settlement plans and the military draft. While they were there, Kaufmann telegraphed Ivanov to request a decision on the draft status of the young men. Under this pressure, the minister reversed his earlier decision, granted permission for the young men of draft age to serve the government in Turkestan rather than their home province. He further granted fifteen years of exemp- tion from service for those under twenty years of age and remitted taxation for all the Mennonites for that same period. Hamm and Wiebe were elated by this new development and questioned Kauf- Plans and Hopes 81 mann about the settlement sites. Responding to this, the governor- general ordered his real-estate counselor to prepare a location at Kaplan Bek, a former military post near Tashkent. Kaplan Bek was designated as a temporary settlement for a year until the Menno- nites could find more suitable accommodations.'* At last the way seemed open for the great migration. Arguments Against Migration Hamm and Wiebe returned to their home, eagerly relating what had occurred in Tashkent. Though Epp, Toews and the other leaders did not appreciate their unorthodox and secret trip, the enthusiastic emissaries insisted that Turkestan not only would offer a favorable land for settlement free from military obligations but (that they would also) be free to practice their millennial faith. After much debate the group decided to prepare to leave for Turkestan, and enthusiasm for migration was again at fever pitch.'° Government officials, hearing of the new situation, urged the governor of Samara Province to dissuade the millennial farmers from their plan to migrate, and this he attempted to do. After gathering Epp, Hamm, Cornelius Wall, and other leaders together, he argued that military conscription laws would soon be the same in Turkestan as in Russia and that it would do them no good to migrate because ‘‘as the Russian scepter goes so goes the law for military service.” The Mennonites responded by saying that as long as there were fifteen years of freedom in Turkestan they would pre- fer to leave Russia." Then the governor attacked their millennial position. After study- ing intensively the prophetic passages of the Bible, reading Epp’s book twice, and exhibiting a thorough knowledge of its contents, he praised Epp for his clarity of style. But he rejected Epp's arguments and urged the group to reconsider their position if they were mo- tivated primarily by their millennialist convictions rather than merely their desire to aid their young men in evading the draft. The Mennonites responded that they knew it was the duty of the gover- nor to dissuade them, but he could never discourage them from a millennial faith and nonresistance. Further, they admitted that some