Umm, some things need correction.
The main contention that the JWs back there compromised their neutrality is essentially true, But I'd like to point out some problems in the posts.
1. In the period, 1939-1945, the branch home (Bethel) was located in Strathfield, less than 15 km from Sydney CBD. That move was in 1929, was well before WW2. Maybe, it was the move to Strathfield that was responsible for the subsequent 'commercialisation' of the organisation. (I began to associate with the witnesses somewhere around 1950. Took me a while to become convinced enough to get baptised in 1953) There were still lots of witnesses around to talk about the 'old' days. The common consensus was that after buying the Strathfield property they had no money to do anything. The did have a guillotine, and were offered a chance to cut up some paper by someone. They did - for payment and that's how it all started. But maybe in the aussie way of doing things, it soon got out of hand, with fulltime service brothers, getting involved in all sorts of building projects.
There were also some radio stations that also began to sell commercial advertising. Of course, that involved becoming friends with people who wanted to advertise their products, So the brothers who sold the advertising would put on weekend parties, with everyone getting paralytic drunk. In later years I pioneered in Newcastle, the home of 2HD (still in existence, but no longer owned by the WTS) and many old brothers and sisters could tell stories about the parties at 2HD.
I'll post later about the WTS property at Ingleburn, which the earlier posts confused with the earlier Strathfield branch
