1917 Watchtower Bible Student Schism - A2Z.org

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ARVEST SIF'TI-NGS, , , "P'or rcc westlc not againat f lesh and blood, but agm'nab prineipali*sJ against pororre, agcrimt the rulers of the darkness of t&.mrldJ ught upiritual m'clcedness in high p1acea;'-E phesians 6 :12 . THE EVIL .ONE AGAIN ATTEMPTS TO DISRUPT THE SOCIETY I . I CONFIDENTIAL STATEMENT OF FACTS BY REQUEST' ', . ... ro Int-tiod ,Bib!, Stvdmtr rcottrrrd tk&out -u:' see .that you have no prejudice or feeling, either for or Dr~xB~mit=xIN L(T+ awinst; and that you do .not form any distinct opiai3n In thrs hour of sorrow, minglCd with joy, ye thii of the until you have read a11 th~statement. In order for you words of St Petu, so appropnrte at thu tune: *Beloved, to understad, it will be necessary for me to speak of think i.t not strange the brethren involved coacernlng t h e fire by name, even if it is among you that is to aintul so to do. RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS . try you, as though rother Russell long OF THE-WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND I some strange thing had . .warned us that the evil happened unto yoas* TRACT SOCIEm apirits would exercise (1 Peter 4:lP.) . -w. tho Prosldart of tho WATm TO- eat power in the closm TB~CT IIOCUTY hu this d y a d o r strLmant In mlO- Time and again our. f ng hours of the Church's Lng kton tho nndors1-d. who mro row msmkrr oi tho Boud dear Pastor warned US of this coming time, and now it is here. In TK~ WA- TO- UII- der date of ,180'7, page 44, he add: "Fiery trials are therefore to be expected by a11 of the Lord's people especial1 in thi day 01 the ord dl Cu rarely as we are sons of God we ot Dkdotr. sattlnr forth hh sets done md perlormad rhos th. . ddh of Itrother Rnrull. md hls .I.cUon ps PnSlda~tl -AND WIISX&EAS, It Ie the masd of tlrls Doud thr( tho h.01- Uont rhoad prapuo rad pnbllmh. for tho knallt ol ths Churoh U hre. r statement of fmts aonaornlns hlc sdd wUdUeS: -AND WR~EAB, IC IS w ~ut oppos~uor bu ubr .C.Lamt tho Raddant# -AND tVEBEAB. wo brn hsard sbkdreat at Imlth bt . pilgrimage, and I am wondering if they are the cause of this fearful triaL He will make it dear in due time. Read Rev. 7 cornmints in Vol. 7 of Scumuxz Stu~ru. That you may understand why I was led to appoint four members of the Board of Direct- pmthon Rotherford. nlrsh. llosklns. Wright. BUobk. Van Amb-h. Puuuleln uid other81 W 5 u . 10 spp- from UIO twto brousht kion 8s tht DmLhen I. r. om^^ a IL Rlrmh. A. L Blbh16 md J. D. Wright AD" no8 boma'lrrrlly mamkrs of the h r d O$ DL.aCor8 of ths WATCn TOWXIS IllnLB AND Tad02 IOC- !or QOTS th.ll mlx months prlor Chareta, md u, mob mow , thrrol: bad the noesoslty hartdr dsan for l lull rsd aompleta Boud of Dlrsatorsl m d thr Premldant. MUn# under tho ors in order to rave the shall have them; and powr md ~Uorlh oonfamd upon hlm b~ tha tom. of thr ' Cbhr Society's money from +an thay come we md tho krr of UIO Btrt. of Penus~l~~+, tur sppbkhd fo~r being .tied up by law thodd ~fomqitly recog* numbm to eomvbta .rid Board! won, TEX~E~OBE, BE IT BESOL&, tm .rh th. 8uib md ' ~b work nlre thr mission to us mmdrr. 8Irnad membon or tha w d -or ~lrrabrr, do 7 srpms wrecke.d, both ef md 6er that we are ex- ow h- approrrl of the mu m d aonduat ot o a rrrmldent 7 md which have been threatcfciacd by them unto O.nd Maosc8r m d Exemtlve Oficer *f tho WATOII TOWICE ened, it is needful that Iineu, sobriety and DI8m AND TMCT SOCXXTY. wlalah dntlpr ra drrlre h h to eonUnua; md re taka tl~ln -Ion ta expmrr onr mtmos8 eon- 1 relate to you some !P eep rod fervent piety." Udensr In hlm u r btolh.r u ~ d M-t In t11e Lord. mad ta things that have oceemmmd hlm. with lorlnr p-raro md usurmos of oar rapport. to DU rho lorn our dar Putor Rummall md who brllwm that hs abla to atand The W U not b b* tha m~lda ol the Church to the end of her way! your President. To do Inrd inawers, Every- "AND BE IT FUBTHER RESOLVED. that ws hllrre that our d -- this, I am impelled to an@ whose heart is per- m Brother Butharford 1s am-mm the Lord has choran to surl on th. work that J ~ O r d n s b bo dona Ir Pubr Baewll'a tell ou what occurred fec~d Chron. 16:s. a- md In tha nuno of tho Lord! cad that no other In the in &eat Britain with Sering the activities Chonh 1s u walI aurlldad as ha to do thlr work! or ,+dd ~DN reference to Brother of the Adversary, and Ncdrsd so tho Lord's hrnd grub a~ldenau ol XU. Ion .nC Csror: Johnson. whom I have that a great trial was == IT ~T~ mE8OLVLD. tbt tb. Ruld.nt b.. loved dearly. Some eoatiag, I had hoped bad h. Is harbr roaaosted to pmpsrr r iuU rt.kmant'of tbo of the four brethren sad prayed that the tmts 1-r n9 to the eondlUons row exl.Uns ir tho work mt hereinafter mentioned, BrwLlrnr md r fuU strtement ol tho neaero1tr ulrlng for tho Church might be spared ap~oln~ant - of wmbon of tho Boud 01 Dlmtom md why tho membeis of the Bethel ham St ij it be .mu lo don01 mud muah other fmts u -7 bs uooossary la tblr Family, acting under fArd1a wall, but evl- eonnoatlo9 for the rood md welf~~ oi tho Ohumh at krrr! .nd advice of a hwyer'who thrt sdd rtmtanent bo vubllmhad It doomed nsasssmry. dmt it k His will that U10 of the Mutar of th. is not too friendly to- XIar~sst, oar. Lord mad, tho ra ahrll burn out 8~rl0w J-us Christ. Amanl ward the Truth. and Who thea, will be curred since I became , r all drou; that only the "A. 'W. N. PIEMON, under tke advita of an- Led f" ld shall re- "W. E SPm, other who is not r lawassurt YOU, VAN AXBVPCH, yer, hrvt been about dear brethren, that in "1. A. BOHNIP, aom of nbe class- mak- DLI#RZ tbis statement 1 "Brooklyn, New York, "A. H. MACXTUAN, ing deroqato abtshave no onkid feelin "July 17th. <strong>1917</strong>." "Gra H. Fxs~mt." monts r tnstge Preri- -ward anyone. As f dent. gmetary and acireh heart I am Trtnrarer and oahsrs s~re it Is perfect toward of the Society with a a& The Lord is q~ judge. I feel, under the circum- view to creiting a sentiment in bhe minds d the friand* ~I~CCS, that I owe tq yoti to take you into my con- against these brethren. The hm done his nbile tram,. Maace and make a plain statement of the facts, and then ing at the expense of the Sooa md as its reprwnt,tirss. let each of ,you judge u to what seemeth good. and may Since they have made it pnblx and dbtmbed UIe piads 1k Lord wide you in hearing. I ask each one of YOU of many of the friends, it becomer my dpe,tp ~rouw to ba ah, watching md praying while YOU read, and a statement of the factr. . s -. . -F. '-7
HARVEST SI.FTZNCS EPITOAdE OF FACTS HEREINAFTER ESTABLISHED , That you my fntdligantly follow tho evidence hereinafter set fonh, I first give a brief outline of wbt the fact8 prove:. (1.) That Brother P. S. L. o k n was rent to Europe last November to do pilgrim work for the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AN d TRACT SOCIETY an4 in ofder to procure a passport, was given a letter of authority which he undentood in fact limited him to preacbrng the Gospel and asccrtafnina by inquhy certain facts about the work there md reporting them to the Socidtp; that for some cause he eretrtep~od hir authority; that he chuged'reveral brethren with dhloyaltp to Brother Ruasell; that he discharged, mtbout authority, two of tho m~rugvs of tho Socictp'r London offico a d compelled them to leave tho M o a 33 tthel. (L) That tho Executive of the Society appointed a commission of five able brethren of Groat Britain to go to London and aaccrtab tho frcta'md re ort; that Brothci ohnson attempted to -duly inlltronce thi. commission beforo.lt met; and b&g -bg to do lo, he repuLd it ad refused to appear b@lwe it; that he war recalled from Englurd by cablegram, (3.) That Brother Johnaon announced Sa rarioru placer kr England that he was the "~tewud" of tho "Penny" mendoned in the Lord'r pamblc (Matt 209). md claimed dl the POQeiS urd authority that Bmther Rusell porsessed; that he had a well-hid plan to take full control of all the Society's work in Gnat Britain and to establish a new WATCH TOWER there.: that he announced to the friends in Gtrat Britain that he ahould have been the Society% President but detkned to accept. (I.) That when the commission met in London for the Purqore of into the facts, Brother ohnaon then repudiated the action of the Sharrholdem in electing the Prestdent of the Socie at Pihimg4 Januuy 6, <strong>1917</strong>, and ignored the President and be- to communiute wih Brother A. I. '9;tchie .nd, through him, to appeal to the Board of Directors. (6.) That when he was resiated by Brother Hemery, the remaining manager Sa the London oSco. Brother Johnson, together with m accomplice, got possession of the keys and forcibly took posseadoa of tho London oSce,.the Soeietg's mail, opened the aafe md extracted therefrom a lar e rum of money belonging to the sociev and tho. instituted a hw suit in the High court of chancery in London. in the mame 01 tb. Society by hrmaelf as special repraenhtive, againat the manager of the London officeand against the Bad where the Society's fun& wao deposited and tied up the money in the Bank; that this law ruit waa decided advetrely to Brother Johnson, and his rolicitor war required by the High Court to pay the cost, and ttnt later Brother Hhh and .Ilia and at tho instance of Brother Jobon tried to have the Society pay Brotbu Johnson's solicitor ia the use, but failed. (8.) That everything at the Brooklyn office was moving unoothly, with no discord, until Brothrr Johson dermnded of the Society's Prtaldent that he be returned to England and, being refused, the4 axcrhia influence over Brothers Hhh, Houkins, Wright and Rttchie and induced them to believe that tha President war ignoring them. He Muenced them to ask for a meeting of the Board of Directors to gtxe h h the third hekg about what 'he did in Europe; that when the Reddent refused to call a meetiag for tbrt ose, then he advised them to aet aside a by-law which the Shareholders had paused urd a& tho =d of Directon had puud,:and take am). from the Prcaident .L1 of the authority and turn It o w to there four brethren.. Brother Johnson, on the Sth day of July last admitted that the. trouble' hroiaifter described was the result of the refurl of his demand for a re-hearing with a view to his being rsat back to England. (7.) Thatlthe other four brethren, acting under the advice of roth her Johnson,. began a ryatemrde ermpdgn amongst the brethren, charging that the'prcaident is ignoring Brother Russell's will md goiag cox- trrry to the precedent established by Brother Rusaell. That a plan was outlined by them and they, acting mder the advice of Brother Jobon and the lawyer, 'set about to influence some of the prominent brethr- agrinrt tho President md bring pressure to beu upon him to surrender his authority of the Society to these four brethren. That they outlined a come exactly paral;el to that pumued by Brother Johnson in Englnnd, and openly stated that if the President and the PEOPLES PULPIT ASSOCIATION resisted their action that they would resort to the courts of law and tie up a11 the money of the 6ociety, so that it could nor be used, and that.they would either run the Society or wreck it; and that their wrongful action ms prevanted by the President BROTHER JOHNSON GOES TO ENGLAND which Brother Johnson agreed. It then be- neccrsav Brother Russell had arranged last Fall for Brother Johnson for him to have a letter of introduction to the Lbndoa o&c+ to visit Europe, and those left in charge after Brother a d of course this had to be written consistent with the Russell's departure thought well to arr~r out his wishes and other letter, because the Government of Grut Britain would rend him. Brother Johnson called at the State Department examine all of his papers when he arrived at the border, at Wuhington, and the Bureau of Citizenship in New York and anything inconsistent would probably recult la rending for infomation concerning passports. Returning he in- him out of the country, hence we wrote a drnilar letter to formed the Committee that it was necusaq for him to have the London office with the same understanding. credentials showing that it was im erative that he visit the foreign countries in the interests O! the Swiety; otherwise TROUBLE BEGINS IN ENGLAND the government, because of the war, would not grant the About the 6th of F~bruary a cablegram wu received from pwpa Myself and Brother Johnson together prepared Brother Johnson, reading as follows : a letter to present to the State Department, with the under- "Situalion intolerable. Sheam, Crawford, disstanding that it was for the plocunng of (1 parsport. When missed. Appealing to you. Withhold answer pen& it came to the sign in^ of the letter Brother Van Amburgh, ing my mail!' the Secretary, refused to sign, because it granted sweeping rutharitg to *rotha phruon* Then it wu urplained in the About the same time another caMe~r~m was received from rmnce of Brothers 'i7 aa Amburgh. Ritchie and myself, and and Cnwfo** as fotlows: brder Johnson, tha the o~ly Ptrrposr of the letter was to "Astoundinu d~velop.ments, ~fiice and Tabunadc, enable Brother Joh~oa to pfwre a passport, and that his Please defer all judpmant" authoritp would really be.the tame as my other pilmim or The IN~EPNATIONU B m Sfm)=s Assocunoar, o m - Iercr. Brother Ritehie then rtmuked to Brother ohnson ked under the kwr of Great Bdtofn, hu a council of five that it would be rdl for him to inqdn n the dwgeiews nenba, Bmthcvs Hatry. Sheam tmd Cnwford cordo&ea he dsited in Eumpe and get all the information he tutcd the mmberr in England, white Brother Russell and could about tha manner of conducting tho work to all of myself were the two members hwa The same three brethren
Page 2 and 3: JANVAW 15, 1917 THE WATCH TOWER (21
Page 6 and 7: ovr mwtbncd were the managar, of th
Page 8 and 9: HARVES hangin Fit, however, we will
Page 10 and 11: HARVEST #oarden on thir mrtter. 'He
Page 12 and 13: HARVEST Boud h the ww that b rac ,q
Page 14 and 15: claim danugu; ad out of two of thue
Page 16 and 17: ' cause Brother Pierson could not c
Page 18 and 19: Avowrr 1, 1917 HARVEST SIFTINGS day
Page 20 and 21: ~oavrr li 1917 HARVES.T SIFTINGS 17
Page 22 and 23: - HARVEST SIFTINGS The brethren liv
Page 24 and 25: Aoorrlr 1% 19V . HARVBST oo:s), and
Page 26 and 27: - charge of the management, the coa
Page 28 and 29: "He that answereth a mattgr, before
Page 30 and 31: "LET THERE BE LIGHT!" "No weapon th
Page 32 and 33: LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS "TRUTH CRUSHED
Page 34 and 35: LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS lawyer. Then h
Page 36 and 37: ,%FTEMBER I, 1917 LIGHT AFTER DARKN
Page 38 and 39: EIGHT AFTER DARKNESS President made
Page 40 and 41: LlCHT AFTER DARKNESS expense, kept
Page 42 and 43: LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS AUDITOR'S LETT
Page 44 and 45: SE~TEMBER I, 1917 LICHT AFTER DARKN
Page 46 and 47: SEPTEMBER 1, 1917 LIGHT AFTE penny,
Page 48 and 49: SEPTEMBP~ 1. 1917 LlGHT AFTER DARKN
Page 50: LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS COPY OF OPEN L
Page 53 and 54: AFFIDAVIT State of New York) . Coun
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I-[ARVGST proxies to others. The pr
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HARVEST SIFT 'INGS, PART II. .- I a
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HARVEST SIFTINGS, PART II. and was
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A PETITION TO BRO. RUTHERFORD AND T
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FACTS FOR SHAREHOLDERS OF THE Watch
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~- FACTS FOR SHAREHOLDERS Directors
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NOVEMBER 15, 1917 FACTS FOR SHAi'IE
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FACTS FOR SHAREHOLDERS PEOPkE'S PUL
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FACTS FOR SHAREHOLDERS DO YOU KNOW
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DO YOU KNOW that the Directors alwa
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FACTS FOR SHAREHOLDERS Macmillan, a
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OUR STATEMENT This paper was prepar
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Keep ' a written copy so that you c
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(359-36o) THE WATCH TOWER BROOKLYN,
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