1917_Light After Darkness.pdf

"He that answereth a mattgr, before he heareth it, it is folly and

shame unto him."

""Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

LIGHT

after

DARKNESS

A Message to the Watchers,

Being a refutation of "'Harvest Siftings"

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OUR PASTOR

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"Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for Myname's sake,

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said, 'Let the Lord be glorified'; but He shakk apfiear

to your joy and they shall be ashamed."

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Our Present Counselor

E ARE LIVING in a time when, if it were possible, "the very elect" would

be deceived, but God's Word, our safe guide, assures us that this cannot

be done, even though the Adversary should use some of his ablest instru-

ments for that purpose. Jesus' safety was found in what was written,

and that constitutes our security also. We are not ignorant of the

devices of our Adversary.

In New Testament days he used letters and words and spirits pur-

porting to come from the right source and through the Lord's channel

in order to deceive the early Christians, but this was unavailing. He even

caused some of his ablest ministers to write letters that were so nearly

ngs found in the Holy Scriptures that some could not tell them apart, and

accepted them as inspired writings. This gave rise to the Apocryphal

may be found in the Catholic Bibles between the Old and New Testaments.

This should cause the Lord's people to be especially on guard at this time, when

we are so near the end of the way, entering into Gethsemane, previous to the binding

of Satan.

One of these pseudo-writings may be found in a document recently published and

mailed to the friends all over the world, entitled "Harvest Siftings," which is an imita-

tion and counterfeit of our dear Brother Russell's Harvest Siftings, but a careful exam-

ination of the two writings bearing the same title will reveal the fact that they are

entirely different. Brother Russell's Siftings was a real thing; the latter is a deception.

Brother Russell's production was for the purpose of giving a plain, simple, straightfor-

ward, loving, Christian-like explanation of certain false charges which had been made

by certain ones who had conspired against him. This latter document is altogether dif-

ferent. It is written for the purpose of condemning Brother Russell's fellow-servants,

and is the work of a Prosecuting Attorney rather than that of a Christian. In the one

instance the Adversary attempted to disrupt the work of the Society by a conspiracy of

brethren who were sifted out; in this instance he has proven a little more successful

through the processes of usurpation, casting out faithful brethren, and then saying,

"The Lord be glorified."

This pseudo-"Siftings" is nothing but a legal document to prove what a wonderful

President the Society has-a supposedly real hero who has saved the Society from

being wrecked, whereas in reality it is a covered effort to overcome Brother Russell, as

represented in his fellow-servants, to the extent of splitting the Church, and the usage

of the Lord's money contributed by His consecrated people. Brother Rutherford is

using the Lord's money in this way. He is using the Lord's people, and he is using

consecrated time and talents in the same direction.

If you will carefully scrutinize his so-called "Siftings," you will readily observe

that it has every ear-mark of the Lawyer, the Counselor, the Prosecuting Attorney. It

is a lawyer's business to accept his client's case for money considerations, and to do

everything in his power to prove his case. Lawyers argue on only one side of a case,

and that is always their side-the selfish one. It is not a matter of strict justice (as it

ought to be), but a matter of winning the case by arguments. To accomplish this pur-

pose, such arguments only will be used that tend to establish their point. All other

points will be suppressed, ignored, and omitted, and, at the same time, they will do

everything they can to overcome the arguments on the other side, no matter how true

they may be. Besides this, statements of witnesses are ofttimes colored to suit their

case, and misrepresentations are frequently indulged in. In these, and in other ways,

they either win the case, or come so near to it that their client seems satisfied, unless

an appeal case can be worked up. YOUwill find all these things used in this so-called

"Siftings" to prove a point and to show what a wonderful champion the Society

(Rutherford-Van Amburgh) has found in Our President.

He has set himself up as the Counselor of the Church, and this is the kind of coun-

sel he is giving them. It might be well to notice in this connection that this word

Counselor is one of the titles of the Lord Jesus, and is one of the principal works of

the Advocate, and was never previously recognized as an ofice in the Church.

We are confident that the friends do not wish the money they have contributed for

the spread of the Truth to be used to propagate falsehoods and to push the Primacy so

as to split the Church. Neither do they wish the name, memory, contributions, sacri-

fices and prestige of our dear Brother Russell to be used in this manner. Therefore,

we are inviting your careful and prayerful consideration of the facts stated in the writ-

ings herewith sent forth to the Lord's people in His name, which, we believe, will be

one of the means the Lord will use at this time to shield and protect His people-His

sheepfrom those that would otherwise devour and destroy.

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of

Jesus Our Lord."-2

Peter 1 :2.

"LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in jrtdgmenf fhou shalt

condemn, This is the heritage of the sewants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the

Lord."-Isaiah 53 :17.

A. N. Pierson

Brother Russell occupied positions of trust in the work of the

I. F. Hoskins

Society.

(2) That the Author of 'Hars-est Siftings," while hnow-

ing that St. Paul enjoins, "speak ev11 oi no man," has seem-

ingly lifted all restraint from his tongue a~d

J. F. Rutherford 1 vs. R. H. Hirsh

W. E. Van Amburgh j T. D. Wright

i?. I. Ritchie

ITTLE did we thinlc when we looked upon the

dead body of our great leader, Pastor Russell,

less than nine months ago, that in so short a

time it ,would become our painful duty to

sound an alarm to the Lord's people every-

where, in the statement we are now- about to

make. Little did we then think that those who

would undertake to manage the affairs of the

Society after Brother Russell's death would at-

tempt to pervert and change the time-honored

customs and usages left us by our dear

Pastor, or that there would be introduced such flagrant and

sweeping departures from the form of government as outlined

in Brother Russell's Will and in the Charter of the Watch

Tower Bible and Tract Society, written by his own hand.

For months past we have been hoping to avert the pres-

ent issue, and now it is necessary that we relate to you

the history of the unhappy circumstances which have led up

to the present trouble. Even now, we would hesitate to speak

of these things were it not for the fact that certain brethren,

whose names we must herein mention, have sent out broad-

cast lengthy statements which have distorted the facts and

which are calculated to mislead the Lord's people with regard

to the true situation at headquarters. Accordingly, we have

received hundreds of letters requesting a true and complete

explanation of the affairs and happenings here. Failure to

correct the misleading statements and tell you the truth would

surely mean a culpable neglect on our part to fulfil our sol em^.

and sacred duty to protect and safeguard the interests of the

Lord's flock.

THE WATCHTOWERreaders have received a paper styled

"Harvest Siftings." It bears the signature of the President

of our Society, J. F. Rutherford. Several facts are apparent

at once to the minds of all who have read this paper care-

fully, namely:

(1) That the author has attempted to assassinate the good

reputation of some of his brethren, Directors of the Watch

Tower Bible and Tract Society, who for many years under

pen and through-

out his paper has carried on a campaign of slander and evil

speaking.

(3) That while on page one of his "Siftings," Brother

Rutherford declares that God is his Judge, he seems unwilling

that God shall judge his brethren, but proceeds himself to be

their judge and to unmercifully condemn them.

(4) That while on the first page of "Siftings," our brother

says he has no unkind feelings toward anyone, he proceeds to

express, time after tirne, unkind sentiments toward these

brethren.

(5) While in the concluding paragraphs of his paper, he

exhorts that no bitterness be allowed to come in, he has re-

peatedly said many things therein to arouse bitter thoughts

in the minds of the Lord's people.

' (6) That throughout his statement our brother has at-

tempted to link with Brother Johnson's affairs in England the

proceedings of the majority members of the Board of Direc-

tors, and that without there being any relationship whatsoever

and in face of repeated protests on our part.

(7) That on the first page of "Harvest Siftings," top of

second column, the author exhorts "that you do not form any

distinct opinion until you have read all this statement"; the

inference being that you should immediately form a distinrt

opinion after reading his statement.

We have too much confidence in you, dear brethren, to

think that after follo~lingthe leading of the Lord under

Brother Russell, many of gou for years past, you could at this

late hour be so misled as not to be able to discern between

this and the spirit of the wise man of old: "He that answereth

a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."

-Pro\erbs 18:13. See Vol. VI, pages 293, 294.

Il-e would not publish this article merely in defense of our

naine. n'e hale nothing that is not fully devoted to the Lord

and the Truth: we suffer because of our faithful effort to

serve these and you, and realizing this, we are not distressed.

"IX'e know whom we have believed and are persuaded that

He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him

against that day."

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PUBLICATION

The purpose of this explanation is not to retaliate, either, thought that he would have a successor in this special office,

for, by the LordYsGrace, we trust to follow the

of but rather that the Board of seven Directors should "come

to the front" and be his successor, and exercise complete

management of the Society and its affairs.

Jesus,

when He was reviled, reviled not again.w There-

fore, we will leave out personalities and bitter words in the

(3) ~h~~ the charter of the watch T~~~~ ~ibl~

and T~~~~

presentation.

We believe that it will not be speaking evil to

confine ourselves to some of the official acts of the Presi-

dent of the Society, for every voting shareholder has a

right to information of this character. Our only purpose,

dear brethren, is to set matters before you in such a manner

that you may see the facts and principles involved and be

prepared to recognize the Lord's leading and guidance through

this fiery trial, to the-intent that you may endure the same,

without any real injury.

Herewith we set forth the salient points that you may be

assisted in following the events up to the present sad crisis:

(1) That during the lifetime of Brother Russell, he exer-

cised complete control and management of the Watch Tower

Bible and Tract Society, and all of its affairs, for the reason

that he created the Society with his own money and intellect

under the special guidance of the Lord's spirit, which he

possessed in large measure.

(2) That as he looked forward to his death, it was not his

Society, written by Brother Russell, stated in plain terms the

form of government by which the Society was to be governed.

This, he declared, was intended to apply especially after his

death.

(4) That at his death, Brother Russell left a will (see

"Watch Tower," December 1, 1916), in which he explains why

he had control of the Society during his lifetime and the man-

ner in which he desired the affairs to be continued after his

death.

(5) That Brother Russell had not been dead more than

a few days when his Will was declared to be illegal and. there-

fore, not binding, and that its provisions need not be

observed by those who took charge, thus beginning the real

murmuring against Brother Russell's arrangements, which has-

continued ever since.

(6) That Brother Rutherford, being well assured in ad-

vance that he would be elected President of the Society, drew

up some by-laws before his election, which were taken to the

shareholders' meeting at Pittsburgh, January 6, and placed

LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS

in the hands of a committee of three brethren, with the in-

struction that they suggest before the shareholders' meeting

that these by-laws be adopted by the Society for the govern-

ment of its affairs.

(7) That these by-laws, prepared by Brother Rutherford,

expressly stated that the President should be the executive

and manager of the Society and that he should have full

charge of all its affairs, both in foreign lands and in America.

(8) That the passage of ihese by-laws, under Brother

Rutherford's instructions, by the shareholders was contrary

to the Charter of the Society, and, hence, not binding, since

the Charter provides that "the Directors shall have full power

to make by-laws." (See charter, Sec. VII, elsewhere in this

pamphlet.)

(9) That Brother Rutherford, knowing that these by-laws,

recommended by the shareholders, were not legal, on return-

ing from the election called a meeting of the Board of Direc-

tors, at which there were present Brothers Rutherford, Van

Amburgh, Pierson, Ritchie and Wright. Brother Hoskins, be-

ing ill, was absent, and Brother Rockwell had just removed

from Bethel. At this meeting of the Board, these by-laws,

placing the control in the hands of Brother Rutherford, were

adopted thus making them legal.

(10) That the Brethren present at this Board meeting

who took part in the adoption of these by-laws, not being

able to forecast the future, and not surmising that our brother

would misuse the power, thought best at that time to take

this action.

(11) That not many weeks had passed before there were

misgivings in the minds of several of the Directors as to the

wisdom of the action taken, and though they expressed no im-

mediate protest, they recognized that they had placed altogether

too much confidence in Brother Rutherford in giving him such

sweeping control, for they saw that he was interpreting the

by-laws to niean that he alone was the controller of the So-

ciety to the exclusion of the Directors.

(12) That one of the seriously objectionable results of this

power in the hands of the President was that he appointed a

special representative, Brother A. H. Macmillan, who for

two months previous to this time, since Brother Russell's

death, had shown himself unfit to represent the Society and

its affairs in such an important position, and that to this special

representative was delegated autocratic powers by the Presi-

dent, so that in the absence of the President, the word of his

special representative was declared to be final on all matters,

much to the sorrow and discomfort of many of the force.

(13) That instead of properly representing the Society

and assisting the President in preserving inviolate its charter

and Brother Russell's will, Brother Macmillan did the very

reverse. He apparently viewed Brother Russell's Will as a

mere trifle, not worthy of consideration, and time after time

as he visited various parts of the country, he held up t1.e

Board of Directors to contempt and ridicule.

(14) That instead of the President exercising restraint

over his special representative, he apparently sanctioned his

unseemly conduct, as indicated in his statement in "Harvest

Siftings," page 11, where he says Brother Macmillan "has

proven faithful and loyal."

(15) That after three months or so had passed, it became

clearly evident to the majority of the Directors that they had

seriously blundered in placing the complete control in the

hands of one man, contrary to the charter (Xrticle VI of which

reads: "The corporation shall be managed by a Board of

Directors, consisting of seven members"), and that under this

one-man rule the Directors were not allowed to direct, and

could get little or no information regarding the affairs of the

Society, for which the laws of the land held them responsible.

(16) That Brother Van Amburgh is the only Director who

has fully supported the President in his methods and policies;

whereas prior to Brother Russell's death, Brother Van Am-

burgh frequently opposed Brother Russell in the business that

he brought before the Board for consideration, thus taking

hours of Brother Russell's valuable time; and that since

Brother Russell's death, Brother Van Amburgh has given his

undivided support to Brother Rutherford, and is permitted

to exercise more authority than ever before; and has re-

peatedly refused members of the Board the privilege of get-

ting information from the Society's records.

(17) That prior to the time of Brother Johnson's return

from England, in the early part of April, things had not been

running smoothly and to the satisfaction of the Board of

Directors, and that Brother Johnson's return had nothing

whatever to do with the real issues.

(18) That when Brother Johnson returned to America he

appealed to the Board of Directors for a hearing of the diffi-

culties in England. Two hearings were allowed by the Presi-

dent, neither of which was an official Board meeting, and in

neither of these was Brother Johnson given more than slight

opportunity to state his case.

(19) That when Brother Johnson requested time and again

that the President call a meeting of the Board to give him a

fair opportunity to state his case, the President became angered

and told Brother Johnson and the Board it was none of their

business, that the management was all in his hands, and that

he had closed up the matter of Brother Johnson's affair and

would not open it again.

(20) That when the members of the Board saw this atti-

tude on the part of the President, which was but another ex-

hibition of the same autocratic powers which he had many

times exercised since his election, they concluded it wise to

take counsel together and earnestly prayed over the matter, the

result of which was that at the next Board meeting, one of

our number offered a resolution to amend the by-laws which

the Board had unwisely adopted eariy in the year.

(21) That the purpose of the Directors in wishing to

amend the by-laws was not that the four members of the

Board might take over the control of the Society, but that the

Board might be restored to its proper position, according to

Brother Russell's will and charter.

(22) That when this resolution was offered to rescind the

objectionable by-laws, the President was greatly angered and

offered such strenuous opposition that the Board yielded to

his suggestion to hold the matter over for about a month.

(23) That meantime the President took a trip West and

completed the scheme by which he has attempted to declare

illegal and put off the Board four of its properly constituted

members, three of whom for many years past were recognized

by Brother Russell as legally chosen Directors.

(24) That the President's declaration that these members

of the Board have had no legal standing as Directors for years

past, would mean, if true, that Brother Russell has been

transacting "illegal business" through an "illegal Board" for

many years.

(25) Be it known, therefore, that Brother Rutherford in

his "Siftings" has beclouded the real issues by claiming that

the Directors have espoused the cause of Brother Johnson

and want to send him back to England, when we had no desire

or intention of doing anything of the kind; and be it further

known that Brother Johnson is in no sense the cause of our

differences here at headquarters.

(26) Be it known further that we had no thought what-

soever of interrupting the affairs of the Society by tying up

its funds, as Brother Rutherford charges us, but merely to

make them subject to the Board's direction; and that no

thought could be farther from our mind than that of wreck-

ing the Society. God knows our hearts and our intentions.

Instead, we have been for many years engaged with all our

heart and strength in supporting the Lord's work and in ex-

tending the influence of our Society and the Truth, which we

all love so much. Our aim from first ta last in this respect

has been to fulfill the duties of our office, to which three of

us were appointed under Brother Russell, and to faithfully ful-

fill the trust reposed in us ; and to estop, if possible, a gross and

wholesale departure from Brother Russell's Will, his Charter,

and the policies outlined by him to be followed after his death,

to all of which the Directors solemnly bound themselves.

We do not cease to rejoice in the Lord and to give thanks

for all the fresh evidences of our acceptance with Him which

we have enjoyed during our recent trials. Our privileges are.

it is true, somewhat curtailed; but be assured that we stand

always ready to serve any of you.

LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS

"TRUTH CRUSHED TO EA RTH SHALL RISE AGAIN"

ITH ALL of the mighty power of the Society

at his back-the consecrated financial power

and the moral power-the President of our

Society has done his best to crush to the earth

four brethren whose loyalty to the Lord, the

Truth and the brethren no one ever before

questioned. All of them have been in the

service of the Truth for many years, and to

none of them was the finger of scorn ever be-

fore pointed. They worked faithfully with

their beloved Pastor until his death, and took

up their duties with the new President with renewed deter-

mination to support him as loyally as they had supported

Brother Russell. This they continued to do until they saw

that the Charter, Will, and all would be so completely sub-

verted that there might be little left if they did not at once

make protest.

It is probably sufficient to say that Brother Rutherford's

"Siftings" contains more than a hundred untruthful charges

and misleading statements, all made, too, on WATCHTOWER

paper, printed at considerable expense, and sent out from

readily as they did "The Divine Plan." We wonder if the

Adversary has been busy raising dust-clouds to obscure these

important truths, and to cover them up with false accusa-

tions of ambition against the majority members of the Board

of Directors. Time after time in Brother Rutherford's "Sift-

ings" we have been accused of seeking honor, position, etc.;

yet it should be evident to all that only Brother Rutherford's

surmises are offered in support of these charges. Thus our

earnest endeavors to do our duty and to stand in defense

of our Society, and for the protection of its sacred interests,

have been so misrepresented as to appear to be evil. Verily

again our Adversary is putting "darkness for light and light

for darkness."-Isaiah 5 :20.

We humbly believe, dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

that not one of us has any ambition, save to be faithful to

the trust reposed in us by the Lord and by our beloved

Pastor. We recali in this connection the words of our Lord

and of the Apostle Paul, as fo!lovrs:

"It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful; every

man according to his several ability."-I Cor. 4:Z; Matthew 25 :IS."

We freely confess that none of us has any great ability;

but it is our desire to use to His praise whatever little we

have; and as stewards of the Society, we have sought only

to be faithful.

BROTHER RUTHERFORD'S METHODS VS. BROTHER

RUSSELL'S METHODS

The trouble really had its beginning before the election

in Pittsburgh last January. Realizing that he would be

elected President of the Society, and knowing that the

Charter places the control of the Society's interests in the

hands of the Board of Directors, Brother Rutherford, before

he started for the election at Pittsburgh, prepared some by-

laws to be placed before the shareholders' meeting. In this

connection it would be well to quote a part of the Charter

of the Society respecting the only body authorized to make

by-laws. Section VII reads :

"The Corporation, by its Board of Directors [not the voting share-

holders], a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the trans-

action of business, shall have full power and authority to make and

enact by-laws, rules and ordinances, which shall be deemed and taken

to be the law of said corporation, and do any and everything useful

ior the good government and support of the affairs of said corporation."

Kotwithstanding this provision in the Charter that the

Board of Directors shall make the by-laws, at Brother Ruther-

ford's instance a committee on by-laws was appointed at the

Convention in Pittsburgh. To this Committee Brother

Rutheriord's by-laws were presented, and after deliberating

upon them most of the afternoon, the Committee proceeded

toward the platform to read them to the Convention. It was

the hour set to reconvene the assemblage; but, thin:.ing that

the Committee had probably made changes during their long

dellberations (against his plan to gain the control), Brother

Rutherford held them up for an hour behind the platform

while he endeavored to force them to change the by-laws

back exactly as he had prepared them, threatening a fight be-

iore the Convention if this were not done. Little did the

conventioners know of what was going on behind the cur-

tain, and little did they realize why the Convention was de-

layed so long. There were several eye-witnesses of this con-

troversy, besides the Committee, which was composed of

Brother Margeson, of Boston, Chairman; Brother Bricker,

of Pittsburgh, and Brother Ostrander, of Cleveland.

BROTHER RUTHERFORD'S BY-LAWS PASSED

The Committee held out courageously against Brother

Ruthelford, but fearing the threatened fight and consequent

disturbance in the Convention if Brother Rutherford did not

have his own way, they finally reported the by-laws as orig-

inally prepared by him. We rehearse these facts to show

how the Brother managed to take the power from the Board

of Directors, and to have it in his own hand. One of the by-

laws, which was suggested at the shareholders' meeting, reads :

"The Preside~tof the Society shall always be the Executive Officu

the Tabernacle, the home of the Truth.

BROTHER RUSSELL'S WISHES

The real issue, dear friends, is: Are we to remain faithful

to Brother Russell's memory, his methods and his plans for the

work? In view of the fact that Brother Russell concluded to

turn over to the Society all the Lord's goods, as a "faithful

and wise steward," he first had an understanding with the

Board of Directors, reference to which is made in his will,

as follows:

"In view of the fact that in donating the journal 'Zion's Watch

Tower,' the 'Old Theology Quarterly' (now the 'Bible Student's

Monthly), ar.d the copyrights of the 'Millennia1 Dawn Scripture

Studies,' Books and various other booklets, hymn-books, etc., to the

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, I did so with the explicit

understanding that I should have full control of all the interests of

these publications during my life, and that after my decease they

should he conducted according to my wishes. I now herewith set

forth the said wisheslny will respecting the same."

The first part of this agreement was carried out during

Brother Russell's life time. And now, dear brethren, we

come to the second part of it, as expressed in his Will, pub-

lished in THE TOWERDecember 1, 1916. We do well to read

it frequently to keep its various provisions fresh in mind.

Another section reads :

"My object in these requirements is to safeguard the committee

and the journal from any spirit of ambition or pride or headship, and

that the Truth may be recognized and appreciated for its own worth,

and that the Lord may more particularly be recognized as the Head

of the Church and the Fountain of Truth."

In these two quotations from the Will, it is evident that

Brother Russell expected no successor in his peculiar office

as "that wise and faithful servant" (Matthew 24:45-47).

And as he wished to safeguard THE WATCH TOWER SO that

there should be no opportunity for ambition, pride or

headship, so it is equally true that Brother Russell never

intended that anyone should succeed him in the full control

of the Society's interests throughout the wide world, and

doubtless for the same reason that he wished to keep down

headship. This thought is evidenced in many ways, and by

his printed statement to this effect:

"In the event of my death, the Board of Directors will come

forward !"

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Also a quotation from the Charter, Section VI:

"The Corporation is to be managed by a Board of Directors con-

sisting of seven members."

Thus it will be seen that after Brother Russell's death the

Board of Directors became his successors in the control of

the Society's affairs, as the Editorial Committee of five

became his successors as Editors of THE WATCHTOWER.

ADVERSARY BUSY RAISlNG DUST CLOUDS

Sorne of the dear friends seem unable to grasp these

truths. On the other hand some appear to grasp them as

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