In the book "Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers Of God's Kingdom", on pages 627-8, reference is made to difficulties which arose in 1917 when P.S.L.Johnson tried to take control of the British branch office, and later how he and four members of the Brooklyn Bethel family tried to take control of the Society.
Brother Rutherford wrote the full account of what happened, at the urging of the Board of Directors, so that all might see the truth of the situation. This was published as "Harvest Siftings" but was not for general release, only being sent to those who asked for it.
Harvest Siftings
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, againstspiritual wickedness in high places." — Ephesians 6:12
THE EVIL ONE AGAIN ATTEMPTS
TO DISRUPT THE SOCIETY
CONFIDENTIAL STATEMENT OF FACTS BY REQUEST
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSOF THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE ANDTRACT SOCIETY
"WHEREAS, the President of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY has this day made a statement in writing before the undersigned, who are now members of the Board of Directors, setting forth his acts done and performed since the death of Brother Russell, and his election as President;
"AND WHEREAS, it is the sense of this Board that the President should prepare and publish, for the benefit of the Church at large, a statement of facts concerning his said activities;
"AND WHEREAS, it is well known that opposition has arisen against the President;
"AND WHEREAS, we have heard a statement at length by Brothers Rutherford, Hirsh, Hoskins, Wright, Ritchie, Macmillan, Van Amburgh, Baeuerlein and others;
"AND WHEREAS, it appears from the facts brought before us that Brothers I. F. Hoskins, R. H. Hirsh, A. L. Ritchie and J. D. Wright have not been legally members of the Board of Directors of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY for more than six months prior thereto, and are not now members thereof; and the necessity having arisen for a full and complete Board of Directors; and the President, acting under the power and authority conferred upon him by the terms of the Charter and the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, has appointed four members to complete said Board;
"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the undersigned members of the Board of Directors, do hereby express our hearty approval of the acts and conduct of our President and General Manager and Executive Officer of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, which duties we desire him to continue; and we take this occasion to express our utmost confidence in him as a brother and servant in the Lord, and to commend him, with loving prayers and assurance of our support, to all who love our dear Pastor Russell and who believe that he was sent to be the guide of the Church to the end of her way;
"AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we believe that our dear Brother Rutherford is the man the Lord has chosen to carry on the work that yet remains to be done in Pastor Russell's name and in the name of the Lord; and that no other in the Church is as well qualified as he to do this work; or could have received at the Lord's hand greater evidences of His love and favor;
"AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the President be, and is hereby requested to prepare a full statement of the facts leading up to the conditions now existing in the work at Brooklyn; and a full statement of the necessity arising for the appointment of members of the Board of Directors and why the same is done; and such other facts as may be necessary in this connection for the good and welfare of the Church at large; and that said statement be published if deemed necessary.
"In the name of the Master of the Harvest, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen!
"A. N. PIERSON,
"W. E. SPILL,
"W. E. VAN AMBURGH,
"J. A. BOHNET,
"A. H. MACMILLAN,
"GEO. H. FISHER"
"Brooklyn, New York,
July 17th, 1917."
To International Bible Students scattered throughout world:
DEAR BRETHREN IN CHRIST: —
In this hour of sorrow, mingled with joy, we think of the words of St. Peter, so appropriate at this time: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fire among you that is to try you, as though some strange thing had happened unto you." (1 Peter 4:12.)
Time and again our dear Pastor warned us of this coming time, and now it is here. In The WATCH TOWER under date of 1897, page 44, he said:
"Fiery trials are therefore to be expected by all of the Lord's people, especially in this day of the Lord. As surely as we are sons of God we shall have them; and when they come we should promptly recognize their mission to us and see that we are exercised by them unto godliness, sobriety and deep and fervent piety."
Who then, will be able to stand? The Lord answers, Everyone whose heart is perfect — 2 Chron. 16:9.
Seeing the activities of the Adversary, and that a great trial was coming, I had hoped and prayed that the Church might be spared from it if it be the Lord's will, but evidently it is His will that the fire shall burn out all dross; that only the refined gold shall remain. I assure you, dear brethren, that in making this statement I have no unkind feeling toward anyone. As I search my heart I am sure it is perfect toward all. The Lord is my judge. I feel, under the circumstances, that I owe it to you to take you into my confidence and make a plain statement of the facts, and then let each of you judge as to what seemeth good, and may the Lord guide you in hearing. I ask each one of you to be calm, watching and praying while you read, and see that you have no prejudice or feeling, either for or against; and that you do not form any distinct opinion until yon have read all this statement. In order for you to understand, it will be necessary for me to speak of the brethren involved by name, even if it is painful so to do. Brother Russell long warned as that the evil spirits would exercise great power in the closing hours of the Church's pilgrimage, and I am wondering if they are the cause of this fearful trial. He will make it clear in due time. Read Rev. 7 comments in Vol. 7 of SCRIPTURE STUDIES.
That you may understand why I was led to appoint four members of the Board of Directors in order to save the Society's money from being tied up by law suits and its work wrecked, both of which hare been threatened, it is needful that I relate to you some things that have occurred since I became your President. To do this, I am impelled to tell you what occurred in Great Britain with reference to Brother Johnson, whom I have loved very dearly. Some of the four brethren hereinafter mentioned, members of the Bethel Family, acting under advice of a lawyer who is not too friendly toward the Truth, and under the advice of another who is not a lawyer, have been about some of the classes making derogatory statements against the President, Secretary and Treasurer and others of the Society with a view to creating a sentiment in the minds of the friends against these brethren. They have done this while traveling at the expense of the Society and as its representatives. Since they have made it public and disturbed the minds of many of the friends, it becomes my duty to you to make a statement of the facts.
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EPITOME OF FACTS HEREINAFTER ESTABLISHED
That you may intelligently follow the evidence hereinafter set forth, I first give a brief outline of what the facts prove:
(1.) That Brother P. S. L. Johnson was sent to Europe last November to do pilgrim work for the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY and, in order to procure a passport, was given a letter of authority which he understood in fact limited him to preaching the Gospel and ascertaining by inquiry certain facts about the work there and reporting them to the Society; that for some cause he overstepped his authority; that he charged several brethren with disloyalty to Brother Russell; that he discharged, without authority, two of the managers of the Society's London office and compelled them to leave the London Bethel.
(2.) That the Executive of the Society appointed a commission of five able brethren of Great Britain to go to London and ascertain the facts and report; that Brother Johnson attempted to unduly influence this commission before it met; and being unable to do so, he repudiated it and refused to appear before it; that he was recalled from England by cablegram.
(3.) That Brother Johnson announced in various places in England that he was the "Steward" of the "Penny" mentioned in the Lord's parable (Matt 20:8), and claimed all the powers and authority that Brother Russell possessed; that he had a well-laid plan to take full control of all the Society's work in Great Britain and to establish a new WATCH TOWER there; that he announced to the friends in Great Britain that he should have been the Society's President but declined to accept.
(4.) That when the commission met in London for the purpose of examining into the facts, Brother Johnson then repudiated the action of the Shareholders in electing the President of the Society at Pittsburgh, January 6, 1917, and ignored the President and began to communicate with Brother A. I. Ritchie and, through him, to appeal to the Board of Directors.
(5.) That when he was resisted by Brother Hemery, the remaining manager in the London office, Brother Johnson, together with an accomplice, got possession of the keys and forcibly took possession of the London office, the Society's mail, opened the safe and extracted therefrom a large sum of money belonging to the Society and then instituted a law suit in the High Court of Chancery in London, in the name of the Society by himself as special representative, against the manager of the London office and against the Bank where the Society's funds were deposited and tied up the money in the Bank; that this law suit was decided adversely to Brother Johnson, and his solicitor was required by the High Court to pay the cost, and that later Brother Hirsh and allies and at the instance of Brother Johnson tried to have the Society pay Brother Johnson's solicitor in the case, but failed.
(6.) That everything at the Brooklyn office was moving smoothly, with no discord, until Brother Johnson demanded of the Society's President that he be returned to England and, being refused, then exercised his influence over Brothers Hirsh, Hoskins, Wright and Ritchie and induced them to believe that the President was ignoring them. He influenced them to ask for a meeting of the Board of Directors to give him the third hearing about what he did in Europe; that when the President refused to call a meeting for that purpose, then he advised them to set aside a by-law which the Shareholders had passed and which the Board of Directors had passed, and take away from the President all of the authority and turn it over to these four brethren. Brother Johnson, on the 25th day of July last, admitted that the trouble hereinafter described was the result of the refusal of his demand for a re-hearing with a view to his being sent back to England.
(7.) That the other four brethren, acting under the advice of Brother Johnson, began a systematic campaign amongst the brethren, charging that the President is ignoring Brother Russell's will and going contrary to the precedent established by Brother Russell. That a plan was outlined by them and they, acting under the advice of Brother Johnson and the lawyer, set about to influence some of the prominent brethren against the President and bring pressure to bear upon him to surrender his authority of the Society to these four brethren. That they outlined a course exactly parallel to that pursued by Brother Johnson in England, 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 all the money of the Society, so that it could not be used, and that they would either run the Society or wreck it; and that their wrongful action was prevented by the President.
BROTHER JOHNSON GOES TO ENGLAND
Brother Russell had arranged last Fall for Brother Johnson to visit Europe, and those left in charge after Brother Russell's departure thought well to carry out his wishes and send him. Brother Johnson called at the State Department at Washington, and the Bureau of Citizenship in New York for information concerning passports. Returning he informed the Committee that it was necessary for him to have credentials showing that it was imperative that he visit the foreign countries in the interests of the Society; otherwise the government, because of the war, would not grant the passport. Myself and Brother Johnson together prepared a letter to present to the State Department, with the understanding that it was for the procuring of a passport. When it came to the signing of the letter Brother Van Amburgh, the Secretary, refused to sign, because it granted sweeping authority to Brother Johnson. Then it was explained in the presence of Brothers Van Amburgh, Ritchie and myself, and Brother Johnson, that the only purpose of the letter was to enable Brother Johnson to procure a passport, and that his authority would really be the same as any other pilgrim or lecturer. Brother Ritchie then remarked to Brother Johnson that it would be well for him to inquire at the Society's offices he visited in Europe and get all the information he could about the manner of conducting the work, to all of which Brother Johnson agreed. It then became necessary for him to have a letter of introduction to the London office, and of course this had to be written consistent with the other letter, because the Government of Great Britain would examine all of his papers when he arrived at the border, and anything inconsistent would probably result in sending him out of the country, hence we wrote a similar letter to the London office with the same understanding.
TROUBLE BEGINS IN ENGLAND
About the 5th of February a cablegram was received from Brother Johnson, reading as follows:
"Situation intolerable. Shearn, Crawford, dismissed. Appealing to you. Withhold answer pending my mail."
About the same time another cablegram was received from Brothers Shearn and Crawford, as follows:
"Astounding developments, office and Tabernacle. Please defer all judgment."
The INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION, organized under the laws of Great Britain, has a council of five members, Brothers Hemery, Shearn and Crawford constituted the members in England, while Brother Russell and myself were the two members here. The same three brethren
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above mentioned were the managers of the London office, conducting the work there.
Knowing that Brother Johnson had no authority to discharge Brothers Shearn and Crawford, and being doubtful of the situation, I sent the following cablegram to Brother Johnson:
"Have contending sides sign agreed statement of facts and send for my decision."
Then in a few days I left for California. Some time after I reached Los Angeles I received information from Brothers Crawford and Shearn, also from Brother Johnson, that the two brothers mentioned had been discharged from the London office and the London Bethel. I appointed five able brethren in Great Britain as a commission to investigate, and then sent the following cablegram:
"Shearn, Hemery, Crawford, Johnson, London: "Shearn, Crawford dismissal absolutely without authority. Restore them immediately. Must have fair trial before my commissioners. Show cable commissioners. Report awaited."
The next day I received a cablegram dated Liverpool, February 24, 1917, and reading as follows:
"Rutherford, Watch Tower Society,Brooklyn, N. Y."Surprised at cablegram. Have you not received my letters second, eleven, twenty-one, January? Shearn, Crawford, leading sixth sifting. Ezekiel Nine Beware. Cablegram campaign engineered Crawford. Shearn. Ezra Nehemiah Mordecai experience type mine here. Since January Twenty-eight am Steward Matthew, Twenty, eight. Shearn, Haman then hanged on gallows for me. Was then given Esther Eight, Two Fifteen powers like Russell's Crawford, Sanballat, Shearn, Tobiah. Guard Senior, Gishen. Will you be my right hand? Must keep my hands on."JOHNSON."
(This, and subsequent cablegrams sent out by Brother Johnson cost the Society hundreds of dollars for their transmission.)
Within the next two or three days I received the following cablegram from Brother Hemery, dated London, Feb. 26th:
"Johnson claims full control everything. I resist as your representative. Dispute with co-managers his, not mine. Los Angeles cable has attention. What are Johnson's powers?"
On the 27th of February I cabled Brother Johnson as follows:
"Your work finished London; return America, important"
Believing from the information that I had, and from the language used by Brother Johnson in his cablegram, in which he stated that he was "steward" with all powers formerly held by Brother Russell. I was convinced that his mind was deranged and that he was disturbing the work in Great Britain. Thereupon I cabled from Los Angeles to Brother Hemery as follows:
"Johnson demented. Has no powers. Credentials issued to procure passport. Return him America. Sympathy.
A cablegram dated London, March 7, 1917, addressed to Brothers Ritchie and Van Amburgh, was received from Brother Johnson, which is as follows:
"Society's interest demand I retain powers Board, not executive committee, gave me. I appeal Board through you against Rutherford's repudiating Board's representative. He is subject Society. Society's representative subject to it as against him. Letter follows Continue letter appointment and credentials. Increased injury otherwise. Congregation unanimously voted me confidence appreciation against Shearn, Crawford. Rutherford's committee approves me. Disapproves him. Bethelites approve dismissals. Acted harmonious with my powers. I protest in God's name to Board through you."
Later. Brother Hemery, learning of this cablegram, sent the following, dated London, March 13th, addressed to Brother Rutherford:
"Understand Johnson cabled untruths Ritchie. Hope soon report his collapse."
The following cablegram was received from Brother Hemery, dated March 14th, London, addressed to myself:
"Johnson rampaging. He [and] Housden seizing mails and cash. Hasten sealed cancellation authority. Cormack two others sympathize with him. Solicitor recommends Johnson's forcible ejection. Have placed embargo on bank."
After the commissioners were appointed and Brother Johnson learned that they were to go to London to investigate the facts and report, he visited each one of them personally and tried to influence them in his behalf and against the others. This fact is proven by the following letters from Brother Crawford:
LETTERS FROM BROTHER CRAWFORD
January 20. 1917."Lancaster Gate, London, W., England.
MR. J. F. RUTHERFORDand The Executive Committee,WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY,Brooklyn, N. Y."DEAR BRETHREN IN THE LORD:
" ..... Briefly, the circumstances are as follows. About a month or so before our dear Brother Russell passed beyond, the Elders of the London Tabernacle — realizing that the arrangements then existing in the Tabernacle were not giving complete satisfaction to the members of the Congregation — unanimously agreed to call a meeting and inquire into all the circumstances which lay at the root of the trouble....
"Shortly after, word came that Brother Johnson was on his way, and we wondered if by chance he had been charged by Brother Russell with the expression of his mind on the matter. When Brother Johnson arrived, however, he knew nothing of the correspondence and at once set about, as he thought, to set things in order in the Tabernacle. We all wished him God speed and gave him every assistance possible. Judge, then, of my surprise w...
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