1917 Watchtower Bible Student Schism - A2Z.org

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bbg ray accusatio~~ against Brother bmnks let us +a
o now and. talk the maqu over:' He to & tb.
b three drfferat acasrons he -td a * b m
&st Brother Macmilh and I a to lirten dau
&other Macmilhn be prwat, aa that rrrmsd to me the
Lord'a appointed way. The brothar hcama quite &awed
&t Brother Maanillan.
For more thPn three maothr after my election everything
WW the Board of Direaori was running smoothly. We
haw met man ffq~ent!y. tlyn. the Board ever met .in
Btothar RouaUa drj, u u indicated from the following
few . cxmcta from the Minuter:
At a meeting of the Board if Directors held November 7,
1916. Present: Brothers A. I. Ritchie, A. N. Piers J. D.
Wrigh W. E. Van Amburgh. H. C. Rockwell, I. ~.%!or~lns
and ~.k Rutherford
Again, November 17, 1916, there waa a Board m&ag to
paas on aome formal mrktor.
A meetinq held Deecmbar 13, 1916-all the members being
mt. M!nutes b that Brother Hoskins made the folkng
moMn and acconded by Brother Wright, which was
duly arried, "that-the Executive Board be directed to report
ta the Board of D~rectora at any-meeting of the Board upon
my matter whrch the Board mrght - request the Committee
to report.
Oa Jmun 4 1917, maatins of the Board .of Directore.
All the m&a pm8cnk -t Brother Hak~ns, who wu
sick. At thrt tima thc lartto of disposing of the Drama to
Brother Jo& 6.lheh dkcusaed and a motion to sell
t& ake nu && &d--911 prtrmt wting for it.
Tha tonpa$ far th.e sale qf the Drama was si d by
Brother R~tchr+ u Vlce PrcriM 4 Bmk
Am-
burgh, as Seaetary and Treuurer,
On Janua~ 19, 1917, tbm wu r fat meeting of the
Board of Directors of both TEU WA~CLL Toan Bmu mu
Tucr SOCIETY and Be Rorru Pam ASOCIAZZON, at which
mdag thc ruolutionr and by-laws paased at the annual
meting hed at Pittsburgh were adopted and aprcad upon
the rcrord by the BQvd of Directors, and wm unnnimously
atrid.
{.mur 8% 1917,.a meeting of the Bard of D(r*Dn was
rror passed upon.
he d, at which ceftrrn matters of the Sod
On February 3, l9l7. a meeting of tho%ard of Directors
was held. at which meeting Brothw Rltcbie made a report
concerning the pgelophone Co., of wbkh he ru in cbugc
There nu tbta la b brnSr to the c d t of tlw Angehphone
CA rpproxknrkb UU#O of tbe Societfo ntoac~, Bmther
Ritchre m s d tbrt thh b6 turned ovef to him and he
wald -me the bbfigrhs ef the Angelophone Ca and
atkm t to have the parties who made the contracts with the
I. B. 9. A. s&stitute him for-the ~ ocit~ and the I. B. S. A,
and hc d d ~d.pctk h t n in ~ his own .n.amc Brothers
Ritchie and Weht rotad for artch a propol~bon, bat it was
SLmfkf objsctians were made by Brothu Hoslrinr md
aevcrrl octiuions he stated that 'We the Board, .re tba
-I and we will give the orders!'
Nohithaanping the rhareholdera at Pittsburgh gassed a
Im declarmg .&at the Prendent rhrll always be thc
$, tfn Otlicer of the corporation and General Manager,
wbieb by-law was later pustd by tlu Bawd of Directon,
thme brethren disregarded &a um ytd buirtod thit the
Board should mnagr &(I oekty's ahur I tried ta.reuon
whh them, but m v*IL b ~ h. (Ul, ol .n a luting of
the Board war called fm tlm O f L U t h r -
of tiw om ,bit to ~ng~md.
hvrr wua 4 e l lWILorib tp aIl Fr-
Aftup* Bhb d I- L p d a ~ ruolut~on w h ~
E%d-d,.L,o&dh-fi&
-
resoldm pt*d drrt tha t of the mrpontion
ahodd be hkm at of da b= Fddeak ~d that
the Board should EJcr chu and give dkcedoar u to what
ahoold be dono B&r 8- mid, We bva b*. conrultang
lowera and how wbat wa mu da" I Wed to
point out to them th.t rodr r dotfoa d d be overriding
the wlfjhea of the ~ l d a r at g lPilpc TO thb they replied,
The Board of DJr&iws a r not onwuaMe to the
sh~eholders." Brau
ldodly remonstrated.
''Brrtlweu, I *W w M'"$dt~ lot try to disturb
Oarg: w a! the shiarthoIt&~s Itam &wdwrW Afbr considerable d~scusslon
it waa agraed JI eroo~ tbrr Lba W rho&
adjourn for one mo&, a rl*C h e &a wodd be
takea up and ~ttkd, Brother P&r#a g that it
would * ioconvmimt b retam k=d
When in coawmation with Brotbv Jo be strted to
me that he~~atd take. a r%Puo(~ato
make out mte for htm% was dew ad tha triad8
notified aloug e way. On tbe day a pilgrim roate was
made out f# $,otk Bd&m for wnS. Ha N dohg
practically mtbhe, a d the oppIhutiriOI1-Wq
gooQn~titwdlthat egomtaaM IN
takinq a a th. u tuo.wwI~. Wr u d ~ r & e r
Hoalclns to Tha lsact I lccuvtda nab from
Bmther H& dedbkgm thh piffbr~ Mp The
n a morni.~ ~ I nret Brother lpharoo iu a dlaiag room
and he ap~roacBtd ma, I $a not !d a h to go on
this plgr~m trip." I mtgp a.t SM br+e a;Pb mating
a day, and drot hs
u far u Cohrmbru, ht Barn& u be
had not arm N. a* #he M Norrakr. ma h. ,aM.,
"No, I dedinc tb mW I add, "Broth Jobon, some of
the friends b the home bstfm ibrt potr rta fouwntiug
trouble, ad But .n rdncer$w 8 cwr$hyt& trr to
break up thr wo&%a u patl dad jn &em Bn NO1
I rrk you, b tho intc~tat of peace urd hamtaw, that lr~a
no a w from Bethe&* He rcpltsd 7 dtelioR to do it: the
Lordb~wi&yw;poirrraronrrpat Tmllnat
no." Tkcn I mid. "Brother Johawn, I damrnd that you
leave the ktbel .HomuW Re retorted. 7 &p$.t to the
Bod *I D"tiactor~," md kftl me. rtte nut awrn p Brother
Johnam am u me md mid, Why an't we talk thir matter
wet" 1 uM. Ym good. bat T h.ra not ttns now." He
W n to my a fm words abont bdm, a usorpet and the
Lard b.i Cuplamed 4th me, 3 1 I- igrohr Job
aon,theh.d.md. dmahtaddm **.amti
mannw hc aa16 s h d g th finger d me, .We sr~~con~\flting
Iawycrs d wen kror what wr tm do with MI. Brother
Martln .nd Br&w EQlsarur w e near by and 1 crned
them to dbma what 'he sdd, bat he left in anger and re
fused to rrrpclt it
Fabtrnry 16, 1317, the Board met a&.
--
March 29, 1917, there nor anothtr meeting of the Board of WOULD FORCE HIS RETURN TO GREAT
Mtef8.
BRITAIN
I
The record show that at this meeting Brother Rutherford
reported the cond~hon of the work in England md the siha- The ve same day, to wit, June 21, 1917, I received the.
tion in reference to Brother Johnson. and what he had done. fOl~OWinIZ%ter:
April 16. 1917, was the next meehng. "Bethel, June 81, 1917.
= -
"DEAR Bnot8~a RUTHEXFORD :-
SEEDS BEGIN TO BRING FORTH
"In view of matters which require earl attention,
Some time h t the ItW put oC A@ Broth Hirh we, the undersigned. request that yo" calr a meeting
t o & o w a ~ t t o c r & l a ~ a okeBwd of the Board of Directors of Tsr WATCE Tow
mnma ae datia of tb. m e G. BIELE AND TRACT Socrm to convene not later than
mention m thc,t.a tku ~u -dEZ Wednesday, June 27th. This will aMow ample time
sntirely nirhin the. ol the hedw ml net r to notify all the members of the Board.
.
matter for ibr BXZ'Z~ *. fc* bb.
"A I. Rrran,
"J. D. WIUCE~,
"R H. Hxnsx,
"I. F. HOSXINS.~
fn reply to this letter I spoke to the brethren personally,
saying it would not be convenient to have a meeting be-