1917 Watchtower Bible Student Schism - A2Z.org

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charge of the management, the coal& mu: Brother WemilIan
u d have the honor of the . A
conspiracy is an agreement to acwanpltr3r wmmgful .
yrpose. Was there m agreement between there brethren
he circumstaneea ohow there was. Circumstantial evideneo
is often atrollget than direct It was to the advantage
of all these brethren, M. they reuoned, to deprivk me
of the management. At'once they joined forces. Brother
Johnaon'r ruperior ability dkpted the .course.
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Why rhould Brother Wnght jom. wlth theem Poor don# & Great Btitain
Brother Wrighee othen induced him to believe ttat he Following hu us~m~le. Brother Hoskinr cancelled his
was bung ignored as 8 member of the Board and that ~t waa meeting fo Sunday even' July lSth,:md -by prtviour arhis
duty to rtand by them to maintain the dignity 'of the rangement met Brother %ah at Phrhddphia. Both of
Board Brother. Wri ht has raid several timer since the
these brethren had been held in high esteem
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by the Philatrouble
began that tie%ad been dragged into' thm affair and delphia ecclesia. They hoped now to get the iduence of
induced to believe that if he did not rtand by the other
three he would be unfaithful; that he ,wished he was out
of ir I fed'deep compa.#sion for the dear brother.
Notwithstanding there four brethren were in the dining
room three timea uch day, and raw me and had never rerome
'of the thmm that they rtated at that time These
quested a meeting of the Board, and I had never declined to
bi&ren, together-with somi others. at -meeting of the
ull one, and they had no reason to believe that I would
ddrne ~f they asked me, at-the- instance of Brother Johnson,
and upon his advice, they rimed a paper which"Brother
Johnson had written, ukiag that meettn of the Board
be called for Brother Johmon*r bcrefi$ ant Bmther Johmaon
brought the pa er to me. Thq dld thls althcugh th
knew that he had \ad two hearings and knew that 1 a
told Brother Johnson he could not go back to England.
I qor rurprised at this action. I at once scented that a
conssrax was developing to disrupt the work here and te
get ro cr Johnson back to Engknd.for more. trouble
therc I immediate1 .ulled Brothers Wrtght, Ritch~e, Hirsh
and ~Hoskins 'and Brother Van .Amburgh to a conference
in the drawing room. This was not a meeting of the Board.
I asked these brethren why they had cent me this paper
through Brother Johnson. I told them why I would not
d a meetinep'of the Board at his instance; that he was
teng to force my hand and force himself bade into Great
Britala To show that he ha{ peen consulting with these
brethren with reference to depnvlng me of the management.
Brothers Hirsh and Hoskim pme to this conference, think-
ortation to Colulbus, he decllned to go; but he found
ing, doubtless, it was r cneetm of the Board, armed unth 10th ability and t~me .to go about the couatry to stir up
papns which pobrrtd a d red in an attempt to show rtrife. Be had been llving at Bethel for revera1 weeks, in
that' it was the wsh of Brother Russell that the Board open defiances of my order to go away.
rhould manage the affdrr of the Society. and not the Presi-
Seeing now that
their well' laid plans were failing, Brother Johnson ume
denr I was astonished at their attitude. Brother Hirsh to me ia a different guise.
then drew from hh pocket a corn of a letter which I had About the 20th of Jub he tame to me in the upaci
written to.Brothet Johnson in England, before the election,
of
a mediatof'or peace-maker, exupreasin a desire Lo es.dlish
in whioh he attempted to rhow that I had agreed that the peace. I let him purme hls course. he did not decelve me
Board was in conml He could not have obtained this at all. He raid, "NOW, brother, this matter should be adletter
from anybody else~uccept Brother Johnson. Brother justed,,beeawe
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if it goes before the Church you will be
Hinh then tried'to force a motion foi a hearing of Brother discredited."
Johnson, but wu told F t the Board wiq not in ressioa. I
This seemed never to have occurred to him
when he was talcinn. it before various members of the
then raid, "Brethren, tb Engluh adau u strictly a matter Church, both in a public and private way, and whin Brothers
for the Executive to handle, and, I hate handled it without Hid md &&ins were dolng likewise. He suddenly beubjmon
from anyone .up to thu hour, but I do not a~
fa+ from you." f thereupon rubmittd
r u +q ~okidhm hf my I npUad, "Brother
thue our .nb d e n the commissionds report and my hd- ~~~ medm 1 am here to
.
ings upon that report, and aaked them to exannrie it tnd
L~~r~r(O(#P~vra~cne.
I am
topmtreltbd 64
coder with Brother Johnson and report to a meeting of tk
h and to
Board whkh I would call a week later. M Y -7- beken the
Stb*.troublnerr Yon desiied to go back to
At this meetin and after thue brethren had confd
eause I declined to rend you, this trouble
with Brother Jofnson for a week, they appeared v(lb L
e. admitted that the trouble was .the result of
report which exonerated Brother Johnson m all ha Wd r y & ~ v h1n1 e another hearing before the Board
done in England, and recommended that the Sodetp pw Ah a& (D sending him back to England
$500 to Brother Johnson's solicitor, notwithstulding the An& new,.dear brebhren, I submit that it can hardly
judge of the High Court had compellel the solicrfor to pay be said that I have acted from any selfish or ulterior motive.
this money as a pall for wrongfully rosecutmg a ruit I was advised by one of the beqt corporation lawyers in
without authority and a%er haringpotice rom the President
of the Society that such wit was Improper. Brother Hirsh
introduced a resolution to.crury thh into effect, and moved
ib adoption, and I ded.rt out of order and prevented the
Sociev from being deprived of $500. -
& further evidence that -there. was a conspiracy between
the parties, Brother Hirsh immediately drew from his pocket
o- resolution which had been prepared and oflered it, .which
resolution attempted to repeal the by-law pawed by the
Shareholders and by the Board of Dtrectors, and to take
the rnanakement of' the Society out of the President's hands
and put ~t into the hands of thue four. What followed I
have-heretofore rtatcd.
Again Brother Johnson and his allies were frustrated in
their move. Following the same tact~cs wh~ch hc had ado ted
in Great Britain; Brother Johnson and there other bretfren
P
this drsr behind eua At -that Sunday night meeting they
belched forth thur accusabons against Brother Van Amburgh
and myself and othen. For the rafety of the int:ruts
of the friend, J am compelled to refrain from publrsh~ng
Brooklyn congregation, held while I war at Chicago, attempted
to get a motion before the congregation to oust
me from the Chairmanship of the congregation. In this they
failed. When 1. returned I called a meetin of the con-
tion f o Wednesday ~ nl ht, July 18th fhese brethren
'Xh.ir dlu were. there, foaded and ready for the fi~hf
ir&adhtg to accompli+ their purpose. Their la&r faded
them and bepme afaint-hearted, they did not attempt to
carry out thur deya The result was, the Lord's ,blessing
was upon the meetmg, and it was turned into r Love Fast,
and these opposers went away disappointed
Their purpore was to discredit me before as many friends
as possible, and then pass a resolution depriving me of the
management of the Society. They had told me th
consulting lawyers. Brother Johnson had raid, '%:::
consulting lawyers and we know what we can do with you."
Again they were thwarted in their purposes.. Following the
same course pursued in Great Britain. he 'attern ted to m-
gratiate himself with the Bethel family here. E!e had not
reen his wife dace* November last, and although knowing
she wu not well and the Society had ofiered bim trans-
Philadelphia that these four men were not led members
of the Board, and tht I ha+ the le-1 authority to appoint
'a new board. I appointed this Board not for a selfish purpose,
but to protect the interests of the ,Society.
The Board is now com~osed of Brothers (Doctor)
S ill; J. A. Bohnet, George H. Fisher. A. H. Mamillan. A.
d Pierson. W. E Van Amburgh and mys%lf, all of whom
Brother Russell fully trusted and in whom he had the
fulles't confidence. I believe . the .friends throughout the
country have confidence in therc brethren. that they will
safeguard the interests of the Society. This Boaid has
apreed to meet once each month for the purpose. of looking
after the interests of the Society. The Pzoats P~lprr
ASSO~~ARON is the legal corporation in New York, with
fllll power of mmfyement, and I. have asked that Board
to create an Executrve Commitbe to act together with me