this article appeared in the september 22, 1911 brooklyn eagle.
notice the "general counsel".
church a salesroom for 'miracle' wheat at $60 per bushel .
On September 23, 1911, in the Brooklyn Eagle, this picture appeared.
Russell sued the Eagle for libel because of this picture, and lost the case.
The picture implied that Russell was making easy money, and that if he could manage to get his followers to buy Miracle Wheat at 60 times the regular price, then he could be of much "help" in the corrupt Union Bank.
this article appeared in the september 22, 1911 brooklyn eagle.
notice the "general counsel".
church a salesroom for 'miracle' wheat at $60 per bushel .
This article appeared in the September 22, 1911 Brooklyn Eagle. Notice the "general counsel". It is obviously Rutherford.
CHURCH A SALESROOM FOR 'MIRACLE' WHEAT AT $60 PER BUSHEL
Offered the Faithful Who Read Pastor Russell's Magazine.
SOLD AT THE TABERNACLE.
Anyone Who So Desires Can Purchase the Precious Grain at Hicks Street Headquarters.
Many of the devoted followers or Pastor Russell,
whose Indefatigable efforts in the vineyard of the Lord has attracted wide attention
in Brooklyn, are awaiting with interest the result of a new experiment
emanating from his headquarters in the Tabernacle, 13 and 17 Hicks street, this
borough.
The experiment is “Miracle Wheat”.
The society of which Pastor Russell is the head wants it distinctly understood
that It has nothing whatever to do with the wheat itself beyond the fact that
the grain is being sold from its headquarters, and that it expects the faithful
follower who produces it to give the society the returns froth the sales.
Because of the miraculous powers of the wheat in question, it is being sold at a slightly higher rate than that commanded by the ordinary variety. Generally speaking, the price of the “Miracle Wheat” is $60 a bushel. tI [sic] can be bought in small lots at about $1 for a pound. Or, if one desires, it can also be purchased at the rate of fifty-five pounds for $50.
The price of ordinary wheat for which farmers claim no extraordinary or divine qualities is, according to the latest quotations, about 59 cents or $1 per bushel.
Brother Dockey (first name refused to inquirers) is the watchdog of the wheat treasury. Brother Dockey states that from thirty to thirty-five bushels have been sold thus far, which, according to the price quoted, has netted from $1,800 to $2,100. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society gets this money, accord., to Brother Dockey. The society's receipts last year from the sale of religious literature, donations, etc., was $150,000, and the money realized from the sale of wheat at $60 a bushel is expected to swell this year's revenues to an even higher figure.
Brother Dockey says that Brother J. A. Bohnet, who, Brother Dockey understands, has “a farm out in Ohio,” first discovered "miracle” wheat. This was in 1907. Since that time he has experimented with it, and other "brothers" have been told the secret, until now Brother Bohnet of Ohio and Brother Flemming of Indiana and others are able to grow enough “miracle” wheat to have it placed on sale in Brooklyn, the brothers generously agreeing to donate all the proceeds to Pastor Russell's society. The following advertisement in the Watch Tower, the semi-monthly of the society, explains the proposition:
Brother Bohnet's Generous Offer Set Forth in Detail.
A DONATION OF MIRACLE WHEAT
Brother Bohnet writes us that he has gradually accumulated a crop of miracle wheat from the few grains he obtained as a start. He prefers that the first opportunity for obtaining this wheat shall go to The Watch Tower readers. He will sell it for $1 per pound, including postage, and give the entire proceeds to our society. All orders for this wheat should be addressed Miracle Wheat Bohnet, 17 Hicks street, Brooklyn, N. Y. This will keep mail on this subject separate from his personal mail and from ours.
Brother Bohnet promises to be ready to ship
this wheat by August 1. He says miracle wheat should be sowed one-fourth as
thick as common wheat. Ordinarily it should produce from ten to fifteen times
as much proportionately to the amount sown. To save keeping account, money
should accompany the order. Watch Tower readers will have the preference up to
August 15, after which orders will be attended to indiscriminately, so long as
the supply holds out. This wheat should be sown in the fall.
Brother Dockey says that some of Pastor Russell’s followers in this city came
to the Tabernacle personally and bought “miracle” wheat, while others in other
cities and states sent in their money by mail and Uncle Sam carried the
precious grain.
For years wheat experts in America have
tried to produce wheat with the yielding qualities claimed by Brother Bohnet’s
grain. Yet here is a marvelous grain that has been in existence for four years
and not a big grain man in the country has known anything about it, or it would
have been commercialized long ago.
No Guarantee Goes With the Wheat, However.
At the Tabernacle in Hicks street no guarantee is given with the “miracle” wheat that is sold that it will yield “from ten to fifteen times as much proportionately to the amount sown.” Brother Dockey admits the possibility that the “miracle” brand isn’t so wonderful as all this. He says that Brother Bohnet doesn’t claim this. Brother Dockey in substantiation of this statement points to the advertisement above quoted, pointing especially to several certain words, to wit., “ordinarily it should produce.” Brother Dockey figures that this relieves Brother Bohnet of all responsibility in case any particular lot of “miracle” wheat should prove to yield only ordinary results.
Brother Dockey says that a wrong impression is got by anyone who, reading the advertisement, believes that Pastor Russell or the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society guarantees the worth of “miracle” wheat or that either Pastor Russell or the society has anything to do actually with promoting the sale of the wheat.
“Here’s our lawyer right here,” said
Brother Dockey today, motioning to a tall man in black who was standing near
by. “He’ll explain that this society has nothing whatever to do with ‘miracle
wheat.’”
The tall man in black said he was “general counsel” for the society. He did not care to give his name.
“Brother Dockey is right,” he said. “Anybody
who says that Pastor Russell or the society is selling wheat is a liar. Brother
Bohnet offered to donate his ‘miracle wheat’ and the society accepted his
offer. He is merely allowed to place the wheat on sale here in the Tabernacle.
Brother Dockey sells it. Neither brother has a voting share in the society.
Brother Bohnet has kindly agreed to turn over all the money received for the
wheat to the treasury of the society.”
Neither Brother Dockey nor the “general counsel” make any claim that the “miracle
wheat” has an intrinsic value of $60 a bushel.
“The advertisement in the Watch Tower does
not say that ‘miracle’ wheat is worth $1 a pound,” said the general counsel. “It
says simply that Brother Bohnet is willing to sell it at that price. It is
purely a donation sale, for the benefit of the society, and those who buy at
the price quoted, do so with the understanding and the idea that they are
voluntarily giving aid to the society. I might place high value upon worthless forniture
[sic] if I wished to, and if people wanted to buy at the price I named they
could do so if they wished, though I made no claims that the furniture had any
real value beyond that of ordinary furniture.”
Although Brother Bohnet is not a member of the society, according to the “general
counsel,” it is a fact that he finds time between tending his “miracle” wheat
on his Ohio farm, to lecture before Bible classes. Brother Bohnet just now is
lecturing out in Washington or Canada. Brother Dockey is not sure just which.
So this one article tells us:
1) That it was easy to know that this was extremely overpriced.
2) That the Society received around $3.7M in 2016 dollars in 1911
3) That any person who knew anything about wheat would know this wasn't really "miraculous". If it was, then more people would know about it.
4) They were already planning for failure, "you didn't read the fine print".
5) Rutherford called himself "general counsel", not "judge", was prideful, and possibly knew they were selling worthless things at a high price.
meet mr. michael columbus - a jehovah's witness who has a personal financial interest in keeping the watchtower's noblood doctrine alive and kicking.. .
michael j. columbus - jehovah's witness extraordinaire.. linkedin profile.. summary of columbus' accomplishments:.
for more than 30 years i have been involved in blood management.
OrphanCrow, what is your take on Aryeh Shander?
it's great to see all the familiar posters as i've been reading for the last few hours.
still offering great advice and help.
awesome job.
i've been using windows 7 for several years and have had no complaints.. i've tried many browsers and settled on google chrome.
it has absolutely everything i want or need.. i kept hearing about the free upgrade to windows 10, so i went to youtube and watched endless "reviews" pro and con.. what pushed me over the (microsoft edge) was the fact i could test drive the new operating system.
for 30 days and go back to windows 7 if i didn't like it!
For me it was a big freaking pain in the....
It took them months to fix one simple bug which was the START BUTTON!!
The start button didn't work, it was such an incredible nightmare to navigate...
They finally fixed it... but that was a major problem...
i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.
i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.
i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.
The vitriol coming out of some people...
I would have been EXACTLY in the same position as him, the only difference is, that I had
1) an engineering degree - my parents were very liberal regarding that, they would NOT let their son NOT have a degree.
2) relatives that just happened to live in the same city where I was.
When I was DF'd, I had a job and a place to stay. But imagine I hadn't... or had a job with witnesses, or didn't have a career, didn't have relatives in my city that I could stay with.
I never became an elder, but if I had become one... I would have been like this person. A man-child who was 25 and never had left home.
Yet now I am living on my own, have an amazing job, I have new friends... I live 5 blocks from the beach in sunny Mexico...
My life has gotten infinitely better after leaving the witnesses.
But at the moment when I was about to be DF'd, I was scared sh!tless.
i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.
i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.
i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.
I still say there's something not right with this story !Ok fine... the rest of us get it! DON'T GIVE ANY MONEY TO THIS PERSON!
A kid playing a prank to see if he can suck in some evil bad apostates and take their money as well. ???
It's been said a couple of times already that the money part sounds fishy. The person apologized.
Now, can those who say it's a scam just move on and tell this person some advice?
If this person is legitimately in trouble, then advice costs nothing.
It's very easy to say simply, "I am not giving you any money, but here's what you have to do:"
Is cruelty really necessary? (Some other comments, not the one I quoted).
i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.
i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.
i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.
I don't know the financial situation in the UK, but... in Canada at least, getting a McJob is ridiculously easy. I highly doubt that going from janitorial services to a McJob will be much of a hit financially.
Be very careful with what you spend, if worse comes to worse you can very easily get a job as a cashier, as whatever... plenty of extremely easy to get jobs.
Look for places to rent. There might be some really cheap apartments that provide decent living. If you are just one person, finding someone that rents a room (as a part of a house) won't be that hard.
DON'T TELL ANYONE INSIDE THE CONGREGATION THAT YOU HAVE DOUBTS!
Be completely quiet about your doubts.
YOU WILL BE FINE.
Eventually you'll be able to get back on your feet.
i am still not done with the miracle wheat article... there's just so much information to process!
i already did the summary, and the new information that i have doesn't change my conclusion: the entire scandal happened because russell was very gullible and didn't check with government agencies to see if the wheat was legitimate or not.
he went into a business venture on which he knew nothing about.here's some interesting stats about the finances of the watchtower back in 1911:it received, from the sale of books and donations, $150,000.
Hi Listener,
how much more there is to this story other than what was printed in their magazines is probably a mystery.
There are USDA reports, there are newspaper reports, other sources besides the Watchtower and its publications.
I don't think they were being very honest about a brother called John Bonnet and his farm.No, they were not. One has to remember that besides Russell, there were other people involved in this whole fiasco: Rutherford, Bonnet, Van Amburgh, K.B. Stoner, the USDA, the Brooklyn Eagle, the judges, etc.
There's so much more to the story than just the wheat, there is legal stupidity (Rutherford not knowing the definition of "libel" in the US), there is greed and a get-rich-quick scheme (again, Rutherford probably saw the money in it, used Russell's gullibility)...
There's so much info, that is why it has taken me so long to write it up.
i am still not done with the miracle wheat article... there's just so much information to process!
i already did the summary, and the new information that i have doesn't change my conclusion: the entire scandal happened because russell was very gullible and didn't check with government agencies to see if the wheat was legitimate or not.
he went into a business venture on which he knew nothing about.here's some interesting stats about the finances of the watchtower back in 1911:it received, from the sale of books and donations, $150,000.
