Back in 1917, Judge Rutherford published a paper called "Harvest Siftings" as a defense of his actions, in taking over the presidency of thee Society and ousting the fourdirectors.
The Four Directors as well as others made a reply to that paper,all in all therewere about a dozen or so of these papers floating around. Here is an excerpt of wwhat the four ousted directorss claimed Rutherford did:
THE PURPOSE OF THIS PUBLICATION
The purpose of this explanation is not to retaliate, either, for, by the Lord?s Grace, we trust to follow the example of Jesus, "who when He was reviled, reviled not again." Therefore, we will leave out personalities and bitter words in the presentation.
We believe that it will not be speaking evil to confine ourselves to some of the official acts of the President 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:
- That during the lifetime of Brother Russell, he exercised 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.
- That as he looked forward to his death, it was not his thought that he would have a successor in this special office, 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.
- That the Charter of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract 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.
- That at his death, Brother Russell left a will (see "Watch Tower," December 1, 1916), in which he explains why be had control of the Society during his lifetime and the manner in which he desired the affairs to be continued after his death.
- That Brother Russell had not been dead more than a few days when his Will was declared to be illegal and, therefore, 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.
- That Brother Rutherford, being well assured in advance 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 in the hands of a committee of three brethren, with the instruction that they suggest before the shareholders? meeting that these by-laws be adopted by the Society for the government of its affairs.
- 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.
- That the passage of these 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.)
- That Brother Rutherford, knowing that these by-laws, recommended by the shareholders, were not legal on returning from the election called a meeting of the Board of Directors, at which there were present Brothers Rutherford, Van Amburgh, Pierson, Ritchie and Wright. Brother Hoskins, being 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.
- 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.
- 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 immediate 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 mean that he alone was the controller of the Society to the exclusion of the Directors.
- 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 President, 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.
- 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 the Board of Directors to contempt and ridicule.
- 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."
- 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 (article 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.
- 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 Amburgh 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 repeatedly refused members of the Board the privilege of getting information from the Society?s records.
- 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.
- That when Brother Johnson returned to America he appealed to the Board of Directors for a hearing of the difficulties in England. Two hearings were allowed by the President, 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..4b
- 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.
- That when the members of the Board saw this attitude on the part of the President, which was but another exhibition 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 early in the year.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 the headquarters.
- Be it known further that we had no thought whatsoever 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 wrecking 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 extending the influence of our Society and the Truth, which we all love so much. Our aim from first to 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 fulfill 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.
The paper went on to prove these claims, some interesting papers. Stuff that even the Society of today won't go into in details.
RR