Of the two million men who applied for exemption from the armed forces, many applied on multiple grounds. Conscientious Objectors were no different, and their CO (officially a category “F” exemption), could be only one of several reasons for applying. The most commonly used ground for exemption in CO and non-CO cases alike was exemption on business grounds - that the man applying was engaged in important business that would be disrupted by his conscription into the armed forces.

Bruce Hutchison of Peterhead, was one of these multiple-grounds COs. In July 1916 he applied to the Peterhead Tribunal on the grounds that he was a religiously motivated Conscientious Objector - part of the large Plymouth Brethren community in Northern Scotland - and that he was engaged in important work for a herring import/export business. COs who applied on both business and conscience grounds could have difficult Tribunal sessions. Conscience often prejudiced the Tribunal panel against an application, causing them to turn down an otherwise reasonable and important case.

Conscience and Business applications were handled and processed differently by the Tribunals. Business applications were made by employers on behalf of the applicant, whereas CO applications were made by the men themselves. Bruce’s application for exemption was granted by the Peterhead Tribunal based on his employer’s application - provided that he stayed in his current work. It appears that his conscientious objection was not considered - and his exemption was gained purely on business grounds. It is likely that he remained in this role, or similar occupations in the area, until the end of the war.

This treatment was not unexceptional. In many cases, COs who applied for exemption on several grounds were judged on their non-CO application alone. For many Tribunals conscience was a difficult, controversial and even insulting topic, and they were often determined to have as little to do with it as possible.

Though Tribunals seemingly wanted to ignore Conscientious Objection as often as they could, Bruce, and thousands of other COs like him, made their applications on Conscientious grounds regardless. To them, it was important to register their objection to war - to stand up and be counted as a CO, no matter the opinion of the Tribunals.