Golden Age, July 29, 1936
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The Golden Age
A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE
in this issue
A PETITION
THAT THE BIBLE
BE NOT BOYCOTTED
A PUBLIC DEBATE — WHY NOT?
ATROCITIES OF
"JERSEY JUSTICE"
(Part 2)
JUDGMENT OF CHRISTIANS
DISOBEDIENCE
VITALLY AFFECTS
THE GIFT OF GOD
every other
WEDNESDAY
five cents a copy
one dollar a year
Canada & Foreign 1.25
Vol. XVII - No. 440
July 29, 1936 CONTENTS
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
A PETITION THAT THE BIBLE BE NOT BOYCOTTED IN AMERICA 675
A PUBLIC DEBATE—WHY NOT? 677
PETITION TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 677
JUDGMENT OF CHRISTIANS 689
PIONEERING IN QUEENSLAND 690
BIBLE SOCIETY DENIES BLAME IN RHODESIA 696
The Hell-Fire Birds Alarmed 696
Press Censorship in South Africa 696
Transcription Work in Queensland 698
DISOBEDIENCE VITALLY AFFECTS THE GIFT OF GOD 700
POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
ATROCITIES OF "JERSEY JUSTICE" (Part 2) 679
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 678
PERSECUTIONS OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN NIGERIA 693
THORNS IN THE SIDE OF ROSELAND (N. J.) 695
Southern Rhodesia Anti-Truth Legislation 697
Northern Rhodesian Government Gets Busy 697
Promotions in Northern Rhodesia 697
When a Minister or Viceroy Lies 699
America's First Vote in the League 699
Relief in Newfoundland 699
Clarifying the American Position 699
Canada's Wealth Shrinking 699
23,318 Cattle Destroyed in Ohio 699
HOME AND HEALTH
Sudden Deaths from Cholera 698
Medical Tyranny Persists in Britain 699
TRAVEL AND MISCELLANY
New Radio Beam Service by EAQ 688
"Great Discovery," "Great Invention" 688
Hailstones as Large as Cocoanuts 697
Still Plenty of Emus (Huge Birds) 698
Great Prosperity in Palestine 698
Lost in Woods for Twelve Days 699
Hardihood of Reindeer Fawns 699
Attachment of a Deer for a Man 702
RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
THE ROMAN HIERARCHY AND THE CHILDREN 694
Sadhus Dodge the Shears 696
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The Golden Age
Volume XVII Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday, July 29, 1936 Number 440
A Petition that the Bible Be Not Boycotted in America
THE Roman Catholic Hierarchy intends to boycott the Bible in the United States of America. In the entire land a petition is being circulated that this be not done. It is all very strange, but very true. Consider the facts.
The excitement seems to center about Dennis J. Dougherty, of Saint Charles’ Seminary, Overbrook, Pa. In 1903 he was made the first American bishop of Nueva Segovia, Philippine Islands. In 1908 he became archbishop of Jaro, in the Philippines, and distinguished himself, so said the dispatches of the time, by burning 2,000 Bibles in the public square of the city. This so interested the public that they bought 3,000 to take the place of those burned. Dougherty is like that.
In 1915 he was shifted to Buffalo, N. Y.; in 1918, was made archbishop of Philadelphia; in 1921, was made a cardinal; and on June 26, 1936, church prelates at Vatican City said they expected he would be named Papal legate to the Eucharistic show to be pulled off at Manila, Philippine Islands, in 1937.
But wait! You did not hear yet what he did to get his last promotion or how necessary it was to save his bacon.
On February 15, 1936, his man James J. Clarke, blessed with a good pen, but with limited sense, wrote Gimbel Brothers’ radio station WIP, Philadelphia, protesting against their allowing Judge Rutherford to speak over their station on February 23, 1936, or at any other time.
Accusing Judge Rutherford of attacking the Catholic church, misrepresenting her teachings and fomenting religious hatred and bigotry (any teachings differing from their own are bigotry in the eyes of the Roman Hierarchy), he slipped by asking that his name be taken off the list of customers and hinting as to what would happen to “a very large percent of your customers” if the broadcast took place.
In due time this got around to Cardinal Dougherty’s office, when that gentleman’s nephew and head clerk (called “Chancellor” by the Hierarchy) was indiscreet enough to admit in writing that the Bible-burning archbishop endorsed Mr. Clarke’s stand, joined in his protest and stated “moreover, that he will take further and more drastic action” if the broadcasts of Judge Rutherford were permitted to continue.
'Hail, radiant creature!'
From Philippines to United States
It all seems very reasonable to Bible-burning Dougherty that what he did in the Philippines he should be able to do in the United States. But there’s the rub. In the Philippines he was dealing with people that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy had kept in ignorance and under its iron heel for more than three centuries. The United States is a little different.
Reverend James Clarke's bluff did not work, 'Reverend chief clerk Chancellor' J. Carroll McCormick's bluff did not work, and Reverend Dennis Cardinal Dougherty's bluff did not work. The address, "Separating the Nations," went on the air February 23, 1936, and was good to hear. Then when Clarke and McCormick got to writing too many letters, copies of their letters were put in 400,000 homes in Philadelphia in connection with the announcement of the rebroadcast of the lecture on May 10. Then Mr. Dougherty was in a worse jam than he was in Jaro, P. I., when word got around among the people that the Bibles had gone up in smoke. Suddenly Dennis lit out for Vatican City, with his nephew, the "Chancellor".
The people of Philadelphia and vicinity wanted to know "how about it" and "what about it". And then began the circulation of the petition shown in the last issue of The Golden Age. This is being signed now by the tens of thousands all over the Philadelphia area.
Meantime Dennis and the gang at Vatican City were busy thinking what could be done to give him a coat of whitewash. Then they thought up the movie scheme which was worked so successfully two years ago, to get full control of that important medium of publicity. Dougherty and his pals took control of the movie business away from the producers as easily as any stick-up man ever grabbed a tray of jewelry. Straightway they defended their course, which they admitted had included the shameless and indecent boycott. The Roman Catholic Hierarchy is the only institution on earth mean enough and small enough to resort to such means of gaining its ends.
Although the idea of seizing the U.S. movies seems to have originated with Archbishop McNicholas at Cincinnati, yet Dougherty actually put on the boycott which forced the issue in Philadelphia and compelled the movie operators all over the country to submit to the Hierarchical control. This made Dougherty a great man in the eyes of the Vatican City gangsters.
When Clarke and McCormick wrote too many foolish letters at Philadelphia, and their effusions were widely distributed over the city, and the petition to WIP got under way, the Vatican outfit remembered the glory that was Dougherty's on the movie issue; and did they capitalize on it? and did the press rush to their rescue?
It took a few weeks to work out the details, but the big whitewashing was pulled off on July 2. For example, the New York Post, Thursday evening, July 2, had an eight-column scarehead clear across the top of its first page, in letters an inch high, reading "Pope Orders All Movies Censored". This was followed by "U. S. Bishops Will Pass on List of Films" and "Pius Praises Legion of Decency [Dougherty being the bull's-eye of the target aimed at] for Its Drive Here" and "America Stressed in His Encyclical".
Down in the body of the Post's story occurred the following:
The encyclical, entitled "Vigilante Cura", was believed to have been inspired by Dennis Cardinal Dougherty of Philadelphia, founder of the Legion of Decency, who spent a month in Rome and left for the United States a week ago after seeing the pope on several occasions.
The New York American had as its leading feature the scarehead: "Pope Orders World-Wide War on Evil Films to Save the 'Moral Fibre of Nations'", with the subhead "Aims at U. S."
All the New York papers treated the matter similarly, giving it great publicity. Thus the Times devoted more than a page to the encyclical. Dougherty was also glorified over the radio by Lowell Thomas.
The Plea of Morality
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy (vide Franciscan Friars, Coblenz, Germany) is strong for morality—to let them tell it. The reason why they are strong for it is that they wish to hide their own filth and they well know that there is an innate desire on the part of most human creatures to be better and cleaner. And this helps to sell mankind the "purgatory" idea, with such images and other junk as the Hierarchy has for sale.
Why all this fever about "clean movies"? Haven't the movies, according to the admission of the Jesuit magazine America, been under Catholic censorship since May 1934? And when the Catholic "daughters", a short time ago, still objected to the movies, they were told to keep still, because the movies were "clean", even though they didn't seem to recognize that fact. What the people need is a knowledge of what is "clean" from the Bible standpoint.
A Public Debate—Why Not?
DURING the past ten years Judge Rutherford's talks have had a tremendous circulation, both by radio and by the printed page. It is doubtful whether any writings, except the Bible, have been more widely read, or if any lectures have had a more extensive audience of regular listeners.
This wide circulation of simple and straightforward Bible truths did not please the rulers of the Catholic "church" (who call themselves the Roman Catholic Hierarchy) especially, as many of the "Catholic population" began to show an interest in these talks and to ask embarrassing questions of their religious leaders. Hence the Hierarchy decided that Judge Rutherford was to be 'driven' off the air, and so (very unwisely!) expressed itself in its own press. A tremendous effort was made by them to accomplish this piece of business, but still the voice they hate is being heard in all parts of the earth.
Judge Rutherford called attention to these efforts of the Roman Hierarchy to interfere with the free circulation of the Truth, and also to the Scriptures bearing on the matter. In February of this year his lecture "Separating the Nations" stirred the high officials of the Hierarchy at Vatican City and in this country to take "more drastic action" to have him silenced. A new campaign of coercion and intimidation of owners of radio stations is in progress.
The Catholic press joins its efforts to those of other Hierarchy agents, insisting that "Judge Rutherford misrepresents the teachings of the Catholic church". One of the Hierarchy's agents said he should be electrocuted. Another "holy" agent, a "father", proposes that all of Jehovah's witnesses be put to death. This, of course, is not inconsistent with the attitude of the Hierarchy, which would like to kill all "heretics".
During the month of August the Catholic population of the whole world is called upon by the head of the Hierarchy, through the Catholic press, to say prayers in order to 'save us from the infamous Judge Rutherford of the Watch Tower movement'.
Many Catholics, together with other honest observers, are beginning to see the sinister aspects of the Hierarchy's activities. They ask, "Why plan murder? Why not openly show the people wherein Judge Rutherford misrepresents the Catholic teachings?"
PETITION
To the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION and RADIO STATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
The Roman Catholic Press protests the broadcasting of Judge Rutherford's speeches by radio for the reason, as claimed, that he misrepresents the teachings of the Catholic Church concerning the salvation of the human race. Millions of persons claim that he does not misrepresent such teachings, and many others are confused as to what is the truth.
Because salvation of mankind is of such vital importance to all persons and because we want to hear the truth of the matter reasonably and fairly discussed, and for the general interest, convenience and necessity of the people, and because a petition similar to this has been addressed to Radio Station WIP Philadelphia;
WE THEREFORE earnestly request that a public debate of this matter be arranged, one side to be taken by a high official of the Roman Catholic Church, and the opposite side by Judge Rutherford; and we petition the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION to exercise its authority, under Section 303, paragraph (g), of the Communications Act of 1934, to "encourage the larger and more effective use of radio in the public interest" in this behalf; and we petition the radio stations of the United States to broadcast such debate on a nation-wide chain, including the station in the vicinity of the signers respectively.
Fair-minded heads of families especially would welcome a frank and open discussion of the matter. In the interest of the rising generation many are urging such a discussion. Judge Rutherford, always desirous that everything of public interest, convenience and necessity shall be given publicity, readily accedes that a public discussion would be both proper and desirable. He is entirely willing to have all the facts be known and to give the spokesman of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy opportunity to show wherein it or its teaching has been misrepresented.
Throughout the United States (and Canada) there are millions of people who are eager to hear these disputed matters discussed. Such are now being offered opportunity to sign a petition asking that a debate be arranged between Judge Rutherford and the Roman Catholic spokesman, to be widely broadcast.
On this page appears the wording of the petition, addressed to the Federal Communications Commission and Radio Stations of the United States. To every honest person the subject of the petition is one of greatest concern. Indications are that millions will readily sign it and will eagerly await this effort to settle matters in an open and aboveboard way.
The League of Nations
Failure of the League
HAS the League of Nations ever prevented a war or successfully intervened in one until the combatants were too exhausted to go on fighting? Did it make even a determined effort to stop Japan from occupying Manchuria, Poland from seizing Vilna, Lithuania from seizing Memel, Bolivia and Paraguay from decimating their manhood over a strip of jungle and waste?
Is there a single territorial or racial injustice in Europe (to look no further) that the League has made a real effort to rectify?
Is it even permitted by its constitution to try and rectify one?
Has the League caused any nation to think better of its neighbor? Has it anywhere caused peace and good will to grow where they did not exist before?
Has it bred national animosities and sowed the seeds of future antagonisms?
Is war nearer today than it was before the League got busy?
Are the nations throwing aside their arms in the name of "collective security" or are they arming more feverishly because they have no faith in it?—London Evening News.
Possible Alliance Between Germany and Japan
IN AN address at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London General Smuts indicated his fear of a possible alliance between Germany and Japan which might bring about the long-anticipated and dreaded conflict between the peoples of the Far East and the so-called Western civilization, of Europe.
Never Fully Joined the League
THE Manchester Guardian says of the League of Nations: "It is a weakness of the international system that Germany and Japan have left it, that the United States has never fully joined it. Somehow to remedy the weakness is the great task of the future." The Manchester Guardian said something that time. Uncle Sam has been picked by that gang until he looks like a last year's scarecrow. Why he would want to act as international paymaster any more is a problem too great for any American. Nevertheless the United States has two seats in the International Labor Office, which is really a part of the League. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., has given generously to the League, which shows where his heart is.
Funeral Oration over the League
THE Sydney (Australia) Bulletin came out with an editorial set in mourning, devoted to the demise of the League of Nations, in which it said:
America, having given birth to the ideal, named it for a brat and deserted it at birth. Next Japan named it for a nuisance, and also deserted. With these out, it remained—even without further defections—no more a league of the nations of the world than a school of sharks is a league of the fish. Its new existence was as a league of the nations of Europe. Even this narrowed position was now denied it. Germany—repudiating it, like Japan, as a brake on ambition—left without apology. Only by the wildest sort of legal fiction can Italy be named as a member. Melodrama never pictured a more degenerate slide from affluence to the gutter.
"Clothed with Life and Power"
WINSTON CHURCHILL, in an address in the House of Commons, October 24, 1935, said, in part:
The League has passed from shadow into substance, from theory into practice, from rhetoric into reality. We see the structure always majestic but hitherto shadowy, which is now being clothed with life and power, endowed with coherent thought and concerted action. We are beginning to feel the beat of a pulse which may, we hope and pray, some day, and sooner for our efforts, restore a greater measure of health to the whole world.
Probably Churchill himself laughs at it now.
The League a War-Breeder
ADMIRAL FISKE, in an address broadcast over a nation-wide network, said of the League of Nations:
It has not saved a single life in Chaco or China or Ethiopia. But it has brought into being a condition of disintegrating and widespread mutual suspicion and distrust that has no precedent in history.
International Labor Office
THE United States paid the International Labor Office 833,510.04 Swiss francs for its back-door membership in the League of Nations for the year 1935. The .04 Swiss franc is for benefits received. The rest is just contribution.
Atrocities of “Jersey Justice” (Part 2)
Asbury Park
ASBURY PARK, founded generations ago, and named in honor of the first Methodist bishop in the United States, undertook the suppression of the good and lawful work of Jehovah’s witnesses in the spring of 1932. The matter was definitely settled in favor of the witnesses, and there has been no interference since, and will be none. Salient facts are reviewed.
In October, 1931, A. Grace King, city clerk of Asbury Park, and her assistant, Miss Haight, were attendants at the Roman Catholic church then in charge of the “Reverend Father” Roche. In that month Miss King took the position that before Jehovah’s witnesses could do further work in that Methodist and highly religious city, it would be necessary for each worker to have a special permit, duly approved by all the local clergy.
Miss King, like every other person under the control of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, was oblivious of the fact that in the United States there is no open or clandestine union of church and state, and therefore her views, and those presumably held by “Reverend Father” Roche, were not taken seriously by those who have been entrusted with a message by Jehovah God and commanded to deliver it.
On Sunday, February 21, 1932, four of Jehovah’s witnesses, one of them a cripple, were jailed for doing what they had always had a right, and still have a right, to do: calling at the homes of the people with the message of God’s kingdom. The trial which ensued was so farcical that, on March 13, ten thousand calls were made at Asbury Park homes and the people were invited to listen to a verbatim broadcast, so that they might hear with their own ears the plain evidence of the folly of the officials involved.
The broadcast was to have been given at 4:00 p.m. over the Asbury Park station WCAP, and the whole community was in expectation. At 3:57 p.m. the power of the station was shut off, and the broadcast was not given.
Clever, Was It Not?
Now, wasn’t that clever? So was St. Bartholomew’s Massacre. So was Benedict Arnold’s betrayal of the American colonies. So was Judas. It only helped to get the public all warmed up to the coming event. The next Saturday, March 19, 1932, the adjoining full-page advertisement appeared in the Asbury Park Evening Press.
TO THE PEOPLE, THE RULERS AND THE CLERGY OF ASBURY PARK AND VICINITY
tomorrow
A Most Unusual RADIO DRAMA
WHO IS JEHOVAH?
On February 21 four of Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested in Asbury Park; haled into court on March 4 they were sentenced and sent to the Freehold jail. Why?
SUNDAY
WPG
ATLANTIC CITY
1100 kilocycles
1 to 2 P.M.
Remember, each Sunday morning 9.30 and each Wednesday evening 7.15 on WCAP, Judge Rutherford
As a summer resort Asbury Park is jealous of Atlantic City, and has reason to be. WPG broadcasting station at Atlantic City is one of the most powerful on the Atlantic coast, and it was therefore with uncommon interest that the citizenry tuned in to WPG on Sunday, March 20, and this is what they read in the Asbury Park Evening Press as the leading editorial on March 22:
Local Amusements. With the aid of weird laws, indiscretion, and a remarkable coincidence, the city authorities have made themselves excellent material for a burlesque. Sunday radio station WPG, of Atlantic City, presented the sketch and today thousands of listeners are still chirping at Asbury Park. With no expense save their own reputation for common sense the city authorities have made Asbury Park a great amusement center. Their latest contribution cost less but proved more enjoyable to the radio audience than a dozen concerts from the Convention hall. Hereafter we suggest that when the city advertises its amusements it include those who are responsible for the “Who is Jehovah?” incident.
So mysterious is the interpretation of the regulations which govern Asbury Park that it is useless to question the legality of what took place. At any rate, it seems that four men soliciting the sale of religious literature were arrested for peddling without a license. They reply that when they sought a permit they were informed by the city clerk that licenses for the sale of religious material must first be approved by local clergymen.
If such a regulation exists it is undoubtedly unconstitutional and obviously ridiculous. What justification there is for permitting a group of clergymen to sit as a board of censors over the sales of religious literature we cannot imagine. However, if the precedent has been established, local news dealers should be granted a similar privilege in deciding what newspapers can be peddled in Asbury Park. Many local merchants, too, would appreciate the right to censor the solicitation of merchandising. Why not let everyone in on the racket?
But the antics of Asbury Park's authorities do not end with arbitrary rules on what may and what may not be sold. The four men after being arrested were haled before magistrate Tumen and subjected to his biting wit before being held for the grand jury. Unfortunately the judge was as indiscreet as he was funny. And with the radio burlesque of his court he was made to seem even funnier.
The organization supporting the four offenders announced last week that they would stage a radio drama over station WCAP, of this city, controlled by Thomas F. Burley, Jr., secretary of the local chamber of commerce. They signed a contract for the station and extensively advertised the broadcast. But a few minutes before they were to take the air the station broke down. A water line clogged at the psychological moment so that the radio drama could not be given. Mr. Burley announces that had he known the nature of the program he would not have permitted it anyway.
But the operators of the Atlantic City station are not so particular. On Sunday they permitted their powerful apparatus to broadcast a burlesque of Asbury Park, presented by the four men arrested here, and aimed at the conduct of city affairs by our authorities. Asbury Park has spent thousands of dollars to attract visitors from Atlantic City, but it remained for the South Jersey resort to tell the world just what a great amusement center Asbury Park is. Indiscretion on the part of local authorities in disposing of four solicitors has informed the radio audience that Asbury Park is a very funny place.
Captain Rowland of Asbury Park
Captain Rowland of Asbury Park, Roman Catholic, occasional attendant at the same church attended by Miss King, the city clerk, was the one before whom the four witnesses above referred to were first brought, and has always manifested a vicious attitude toward the Watch Tower work. Whether this is merely a reflection of the mind of "Reverend Father" Roche or not is not surely known.
An instance of this viciousness is seen in the fact that, although ordered by the court to do so, he refused to surrender $5 deposited in his hands as bail unless Jehovah's witnesses signed a paper making certain admissions they were unwilling to make. After thirty days he was still holding the $5, though admitting that it was not customary, and that his reason was that he personally did not like Jehovah's witnesses. What officer except one under control of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy would make an excuse like that for failing to comply with an order of the court? Rowland may have the $5 yet, and, if so, can keep it till Armageddon and then see whether or not it gets hot in his fingers.
James D. Carton, the city attorney for Asbury Park, prosecutor of the four witnesses heretofore mentioned, is also a Roman Catholic, as, indeed, one might expect.
A week after the broadcast a witness was forcibly seized when he called at the home of one of the Asbury Park police, William Truex, who, on the witness stand subsequently, deliberately and maliciously lied. His act of arrest was so unprovoked, so illegal and every-way so improper that the person taken into headquarters stood mute and was booked as John Doe.
He was denied bail, denied the right of consulting counsel, and was confined in the dungeon. When brought out for trial he was arraigned before Thomas L. Shebell, an Italian Roman Catholic. Shebell attends the church which is in charge of Anthony Giovannini. The latter priest is reported by one of his parishioners to have said publicly:
All of this bunch should be put in jail and Judge Rutherford should be electrocuted.
Shebell became confused, imposed and revoked fines, refused to permit cross-examination of the lying police officer, and was finally disgraced legally when the Court of Chancery decided that the trial was unconstitutional, because the "due process" clauses of both the federal and the state constitution had been grossly violated.
Jehovah's witnesses were finally and completely vindicated by this Court of Chancery decision. While the first four and "John Doe" were in prison they had grand opportunities for witnessing to almost all of the 400 or 500 inmates of the Freehold prison. They had the freedom of the four- or five-story structure and found many listening ears. They were most happy while in confinement, and when their release was effected the prisoners were sorry to see them leave.
One of the most shocking things about the Asbury Park affair was Magistrate Tumen's blasphemy, punishable Scripturally with death and punishable also under the 1898 laws of New Jersey, page 814. Among other things this Yiddisher caterer to the Roman Catholic powers of the Methodist town in which he lives, said, slapping himself on the chest:
Who is Jehovah? You better get Jehovah out of your mind. We are Jehovah here. Jehovah has nothing to do with the city.
Bergenfield
Bergenfield police now know they did wrong to ever arrest any of Jehovah's witnesses, and regret it, and have made some atonement for it, too, but as this article is of historical nature it is proper to state that the witnesses were arrested there on fourteen occasions from November 25, 1928, to March 10, 1934, and to go over some of the high points.
On the first occasion seven were arrested. At their trial one of the police officers asked a friend of one of the defendants to come out into the hallway. There the friend was implored by that officer to do anything possible to prevent further embarrassment to the police: they were between two fires, pressure by the Roman Catholic priest on the one hand, and, on the other, the determination of Jehovah's witnesses to be faithful to the work entrusted to them by Jehovah God, no matter what happens. The police commissioner at the time was C. S. Dugan, a Roman Catholic.
The arrest under Dugan's administration was under the pretext that engaging in Christian work objectionable to the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is a violation of the Vice and Immorality Act, one of Jersey's blue laws. The next arrest, three years later, was made by P. McCarthy, desk sergeant, when one of the witnesses called at the police headquarters with the Kingdom booklet. Nobody but someone under the control of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy would do a thing like that. McCarthy even arrested another witness who came in to see the one that had been arrested.
Chief of Police Coombs
Commissioner Dugan was succeeded in that office at Bergenfield by A. Chapman. Scott D. Coombs, a Protestant and a member of the Masonic fraternity, was chief of police. He started out wrong by arresting one of Jehovah's witnesses for calling at his home to present him with the Kingdom message, and followed this quickly by a series of six arrests of the witnesses, all within a period of ten months.
In May, 1932, after arresting and incarcerating 31 of Jehovah's witnesses he was very seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, resulting in hospital confinement for several months. In the summer of 1935, humbled and benefited by his experiences, he admitted that the Roman Catholic priest was largely responsible for what had happened to the witnesses in that city, and that the arrests will not be repeated while he is chief, no matter what the pressure.
As a part of the Bergenfield series of arrests, ten of the witnesses were seized without warrants and treated as hardened criminals. Locked in the county jail at Hackensack, they had dry bread and coffee for breakfast, beans and dry bread for lunch, and prunes and dry bread for dinner. One of the ladies in the party remarked that in the 9 1/2 hours in which they were in the police headquarters they had nothing to eat, but were finally given sandwiches and coffee at 8:30 p.m. Of experiences in the Hackensack county jail she said:
The food we received we were unable to eat, and when one of our friends brought us some fruit, even that was taken away. One of our party was not feeling well, and when the prison doctor came through we told him we were unaccustomed to the food given us and asked if we could have the fruit which was sent us. He said it would be necessary to get that permission from the sheriff.
On another day of the same series six men and three women were arrested for leaving at the homes of the people invitations to listen to a Watch Tower program. One of these was taken at the door of a house where he was waiting for an answer to the bell which he had rung. Another was arrested while walking along the street. On appeal to the county court the convictions in all these cases were set aside.
The radio invitations which this group of nine were giving out called attention to Judge Rutherford's chain broadcast "Jehovah's witnesses: Why Persecuted?" It was of greatest importance to the citizens of Bergenfield that they hear this address. In it Judge Rutherford, for the first time, challenged the clergy of the nation to select their best spokesman to publicly debate the question of whether they serve God or serve the Devil.
Thirty-one Arrested at Once
On May 22, 1932, as part of the Bergenfield campaign, fourteen men and seventeen women were arrested and held in jail until June 1, and were then released on bond. At the time of their arrest and during the entire period of their incarceration each of the 31 identified himself (or herself) merely as "one of Jehovah's witnesses", all steadfastly refusing to give their names and addresses; and therefore they were listed in police records only as John Doe No. 1-14 or Jane Doe No. 1-17.
It was while these faithful witnesses were incarcerated that Chief of Police Coombs was struck by a passing automobile, resulting in his confinement in a hospital for several months. One can hardly believe that this is what is commonly called an accident.
When tried on June 13, eleven of the 31 were dismissed for lack of police ability to identify their alleged misconduct. The other twenty were convicted. These convictions were reversed by the New Jersey Supreme Court.
As an illustration of the flimsy, absurd, foolish, hair-splitting, nonsensical basis of these Bergenfield arrests, the following is the account of the decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case of one of these witnesses of Jehovah as it appeared in the New York Law Journal:
The Genus Tramp. Recently two cases were decided in the New Jersey Supreme Court involving this question. . . it appeared that twenty emissaries of a religious organization who were engaged in distributing its literature from door to door were convicted in the district court of being disorderly persons within the intent and meaning of a New Jersey statute, the charge in each case being that the party accused:
"did then and there wander abroad in the open air and did not give a good account of himself."
The language of the statute was said by the court to date at least from the eighteenth century. The clause reads:
. . . or who shall wander abroad and lodge in taverns, inns, beer houses, outhouses, houses of entertainment, market houses, barns or other places, or in the open air, and not give a good account of himself.
The defendants contended that the complaint was insufficient in that it failed to include as part of the charge that they did "lodge in taverns", etc., "or in the open air." Justice Parker of the Supreme Court, on appeal, holding that the point was well taken, said:
To my mind it [the clause which has been quoted] is aimed specifically at the genus tramp, as one who wanders abroad, sleeps where he can find shelter or in the open air if he cannot or is not particular about it, and does not give a good account of himself. If these three things concur the statutory definition is satisfied; if one of them is missing the definition is not satisfied.
It was argued by the prosecution that the conjunctive "and" after the word "abroad" should be read as the disjunctive "or": that in other words, if one wanders abroad or lodges in the open air and does not give a good account of himself he is a disorderly person. The court said:
But I am unable to warp the statutory language to that extent. As well could it be said that the second "and" preceding the "good account" phrase should be read "or." If the reading suggested be adopted, any citizen taking a walk in the park or on the street, and deciding [declining?] to submit to interrogation by an inquisitive policeman, is liable to prosecution as a disorderly person. I cannot conceive that our forefathers had any such intention in passing the statute of 1799, nor am I aware that any such construction has ever been placed upon it.
Three of the faithful witnesses of Jehovah that were among the 31 incarcerated have finished their earthly course in the intervening months.
Bergenfield never made anything out of the arrests of Jehovah's witnesses. When Recorder Kantoff subsequently was reminded before the Bergenfield borough council that $480 had been put into budget as anticipated revenue from his court, and nothing had been obtained from Jehovah's witnesses, where at least $100 had been expected, his crushing reply was:
It was my opinion that the recorder's court was established for justice, not for revenue.
One of the star hypocrites of the proceedings at Bergenfield was the Reverend W. H. Westerfield, minister of the Presbyterian South church. He boasted of the fact that he helped prosecute the innocent. He will get his "reward" at the hands of Jehovah God. Nobody ever commits injustice and gets away with it permanently. All one has to do is to wait.
Jersey City
Jehovah's witnesses have had 21 brushes with the police in Jersey City, mostly in the summer of 1934, but one since, and one in 1929. The police and officials are practically all Catholics. On June 21, 1933, two of Jehovah's witnesses, man and wife, were arrested by Patrick W. Flanagan and John Shields, with the co-operation of Police Inspector Underwood, also a Roman Catholic.
At the trial the magistrate completely ignored the woman, and gave no opportunity to the man to offer any testimony. He merely took the word of Flanagan and Shields. It was purely a Roman Catholic affair all round, in which nobody else had any rights. Both the man and the woman were fined $25 or ten days, and the "ten days" was not even pronounced in open court.
When a friend of the imprisoned ones warned Underwood that in seeking to regulate the preaching of the gospel he was placing himself in opposition to the Most High God, he replied: "No, I'm a good Roman Catholic. . . . It is not right for outsiders to come in here and propagate their beliefs without getting permission." How is that for high?
Livingston
On Tuesday, November 29, 1932, two of Jehovah's witnesses were taken into custody on orders of the Roman Catholic chief of police. The magistrate received the testimony of the complaining officer, but denied the prisoners' request for a copy of the ordinance, denied the right to cross-examine witnesses against them, and they were each sentenced to $10 fine or four days in jail.
Arrived at the Newark prison, the warden sent them to the hospital ward, where they had clean and comfortable beds and were given entire freedom of movement throughout the hospital building. Meantime the committing magistrate had a nervous breakdown; but that was not the half of it:
Saturday, December 3, the entire town was covered with invitations to listen in to a Watch Tower program regarding opposition to the Kingdom witness. Eight days later 60 of Jehovah's witnesses braved the icy blasts and called at every home in town, placing 350 pieces of literature. When the list of witnesses was filed with the chief of police he nearly had a fit, raged and roared, and demanded that the members of the committee go out and round up the entire company and bring them in—all in vain. If you don't know how to handle yourself around a buzz saw, the best thing is not to monkey with it. No one was interrupted, and the work was entirely completed.
Long Branch
March 5, 1933, 85 of Jehovah's witnesses called at every home in Long Branch, placing hundreds of books and booklets in the hands of the people. Eighteen men and women were arrested, searched, deprived of their personal belongings, and placed in cells. A detailed report by one of the car drivers said:
Upon entering the common prison we found that others of our brethren had preceded us, having been arrested in the morning, while engaged in the same work of preaching the gospel of Jehovah God's kingdom. There were now eight of us brethren in the lockup, and ten sisters were being detained elsewhere in the building. There were only six cells in the place. One was already occupied: two had been locked and the keys mislaid, making three cells available for the eight Jehovah's witnesses. A bit crowded for comfortable sleeping, to say the least. After more or less argument one of the closed cells was finally opened, and we proceeded to make ourselves at home for the night. No blankets were provided, and we were forced to stretch ourselves on the hard planks provided for that purpose.
About eight-thirty the keeper came in, stating that the judge was there and that we were to be given a hearing. (A bit late, considering the fact that he was in the police station when we were brought in at 4:00 o'clock.) Upon entering the courtroom, the judge was studiously studying his books, turning his pages very carefully and deliberately. Nobody said a word. Everything was very quiet.
After a while the judge looked up, and there we all were. Very, very impressive. The only thing the matter with it was that, like vaccination, it didn't take. Sure enough, he began to speak. He had been studying the law pertaining to our cases very carefully. He felt sorry for us, was especially solicitous respecting the welfare of the ladies, apologized for the faulty accommodations, worked the sympathy gag on the brothers and, I fear, captivated some of our lady folks with his devastating charm. He overplayed his hand; and it was plain to be seen he had hold of something that he wanted to let go of.
After this prelude he presented his proposition, which, on the face of it, was not a bad one. However, we have been taught in recent months that the obligation is all theirs. When they interfere with us and our work they assume it; and we will do nothing whatever to help them remove it. After mumbling something about a $10 bail, but not directly asking for it, he decided to let us all go to our several homes upon the signing of a "Recognizance Bond". He stated that the regular session of court is held on Monday morning at nine o'clock, but that he noticed that we came from distant points, and he wanted to make it just as convenient for us as possible on account of the ladies and would therefore give the privilege of naming any day and hour during the week agreeable to us. He gave us to understand, however, that he was not obligated to do all this. He did not have to come down to the court at all on Sunday; in fact it was all a result of his magnanimous nature and, incidentally, to get rid of the ladies.
Now it was our turn. We had come to Long Branch to preach the gospel of Jehovah God's kingdom. We had been interfered with and arrested and thrown into prison. We did not come into court looking for sympathy, and neither did we ask for any. We wanted no favors from the court. We were unlawfully detained, and we wanted an immediate trial and an unconditional release. We would not sign a recognizance bond or anything else. The responsibility rested upon the shoulders of the court as to what was done with us; and there it would stay.
Witness M—— strenuously backed me up in this contention. The judge was flabbergasted. He lost his poise. No longer was he a nice judge, although he still insisted he was thinking of the ladies. He showed his lineage. Asked if we spoke for all the defendants, we answered, “No. Each one of Jehovah’s witnesses can speak for himself.” He looked around but no one said a word. He then stated angrily, “I didn’t come down here to bargain with you,” and received the reply, “We didn’t come to bargain either.” We were then chased back to spend the night on the planks provided.
Witness M—— and myself lost no time in getting to plank; but the rest of the witnesses decided to sit up and talk things over. That was a good idea, for there were only two more planks, anyway. About ten o’clock the captain of the guard came in, and told us to get ready, the judge was back again. In a few minutes we were all back in the courtroom. The judge was not on the bench this time: he was sitting on the rail, a little less formal, but a lot more chummy. Sure enough, he had been thinking about the ladies, and could not bear the thought of their being there all night. Looked at us poor men folks severely and said: “I don’t know if they are your mothers, sisters, wives or what, but I just can’t let them stay here.” (He must have thought it was a family grudge we were working off.) He didn’t say a word, however, about the responsibility of the police officials in picking them up, nor the failure of the town to provide suitable accommodations; neither did he mention anything about his own responsibility in holding them there.
Looking at us men again, he added that as far as we were concerned he would like to let us stay in jail until our trial came up, but on account of the ladies he was going to give us each a summons for appearance in court on Thursday morning at nine o’clock, and with pathos added, “And I want to strongly urge you to be represented by counsel at that time.” He then called an officer, and began passing out the summons, to the ladies first, and then to the gentlemen, leaving witness M—— and myself to the last. With this he thought he had done his part. But not so! Immediately the friends began to demand their transportation home, a responsibility which he disclaimed. Then they began to clamor for the return of their bookcases and other possessions, the judge finally ruling that they were to be returned to us. We secured them and went our way. A strange and peculiar people, these witnesses of Jehovah.
At the trial, four days subsequently, the prosecutor, Judge Steinbach, faced directly with his responsibility, that “he that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy”, retired from the case. The judge on the bench, Alton V. Evans, said in passing suspended sentence:
I believe that the defendants were carrying out what they hold to be their life work. I have no reason to doubt it. In fact, I believe it. They are entitled to believe whatever they wish, and to worship Jehovah and preach the gospel as they see fit, and I actually believe that that was their object in coming here.
Maywood and Mr. Hogan
When a witness called on Mr. Hogan with the list of 30 names, Hogan was suddenly so interested in the message of the Kingdom that he insisted on contributing 50c for three bound books. This was his right. For complying with Hogan’s wishes the witness was arrested (legally styled an “entrapment”) and had to explain his act on the stand. Omitting the interesting questions asked him, and condensing much of what he said, his testimony was:
I delivered the letter to the chief. The chief read it and he said, pointing to Mr. Hogan, ‘There is the police commissioner.’ I replied, ‘Yes, I understand he is the commissioner.’ The chief handed the letter to the commissioner. The commissioner glanced at it and said, ‘Well now, I thought we had this matter all straightened out several weeks ago, that you were not to come to Maywood.’ I replied that on that particular occasion we had come to obtain consent to operate a sound car in Maywood; that we were not here this morning to operate a sound car and that while there was one in the borough, we were not going to operate it; that we had come to Maywood to call upon the residents of Maywood with a message of vital importance, the message of the gospel of Jehovah God’s kingdom; that we intended to call upon the residents at their homes and present to the people that message in printed form.
Then the chief wanted to know why we did not take out a permit. I told him that the matter had been covered very carefully in the letter and also had been published in The Police Reporter, in the November issue of 1934. The chief voiced his views about our not getting a permit and I explained that he would find that Jehovah’s witnesses are the most law-abiding people on earth; that they had a responsibility to fulfill toward Jehovah that they could not shirk or violate; and that while we were glad to co-operate with them to the fullest extent, we could not ask for a permit to do something that Almighty God had commanded must be done, and that was preaching this gospel message of His kingdom, and this we were doing. That was our manner of worshiping Almighty God, taking this message in printed form to the people.
The chief then asked what we were distributing this morning. I sent Mr. Kunz to the car to get a sample of what the people of Maywood were going to have an opportunity to secure, and Mr. Kunz handed this set of volumes to the chief. The chief took off the wrapper. He looked at the books. He handed this book Prophecy to the commissioner and the chief mentioned something—well, they are certainly worth fifty cents. Some conversation followed—I do not recall the exact words—and the chief made the suggestion to the commissioner that we be permitted to go on with this work, stipulating, however, that we do not operate the sound car.
At that time I then asked him for the return of the books. There was no effort on my part or on the part of anyone else here to leave those books with the chief or with the commissioner. The chief asked us to let him see what was being taken to the people of Maywood. I requested the return of the books. The chief at the time was talking on the telephone and the commissioner said, "Oh no, we are going to keep those books here." I said, "Very well." He said, "But I will pay you for them." I said, "Well, you have read this card. If you want to contribute fifty cents to help publish other like books to place in the hands of some truth-hungry person I will accept fifty cents." I took the fifty cents and left the police station, and within a few moments was arrested for having complied with the commissioner's desire for the books.
Jehovah's witnesses are Christians who are entirely devoted to Jehovah God and who obey His law by publishing His truth without money consideration. They have consecrated themselves to do the will of God and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They are commanded to go forth and preach the gospel by going from house to house with this message of the Kingdom in printed form. They are commanded in Matthew 24:14; commanded in Isaiah 61:1, 2 to bind up the brokenhearted and comfort all those that mourn. In Acts 20:20 they are admonished to go from house to house; in Matthew 10:7-15; and there are numerous other scriptures.
It is not necessary to have clerical habiliments to be a preacher of the gospel, nor is it necessary to stand in a pulpit or church to do so. I received my ordination from the scriptures already cited, and of these and other scriptures I have made a very thorough study for the past fifteen years. In my worship of Jehovah I make use of books and booklets belonging to the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. The books are left with the people at far less than the cost of publication.
I devote at least two days a week, and practically every evening, to my work as a minister of the gospel. I became a witness of Jehovah at the time that official name was taken by a body of Christians in 1931, at Columbus, Ohio, some 20,000 or 25,000 persons being present. All the real Christians on earth have accepted that name. The witnesses of Jehovah not only receive no monetary recompense, but they gladly give their all, their time and energy and money to help make up the deficit, so that people of good will may receive this all-important message. People out of employment are given an opportunity of having a share in this work.
North Haledon
The arrests of Jehovah's witnesses at North Haledon June 13, 1933, were the result of a conspiracy, involving the mayor and his tools, the chief of police and the judge who imposed sentence and afterward rescinded it. An ordinance was passed four days previous to the arrests which had as its objective the keeping of the witnesses out of the town.
The mayor's wife is a Roman Catholic. Some men will do anything on earth to please a woman. The officer who made the arrests is a relative of the mayor. Some men will do anything on earth to please a relative. The mayor was distressed, because, to use his own words:
It burns me up to think we have made an ordinance here and these fellows can come into town and laugh at us.
There was dirty work at North Haledon on the part of those in on the conspiracy, as is made clear from the following detailed report:
The third one was severely grilled by chief, magistrate and arresting officer, at police station. In addition to charging him with violation of ordinance prohibiting distribution of advertising matter without permit, they conspired to "frame" him under the traffic act, after he had been locked up. He was brought out of cell, asked to go to his car (standing in front of station) and procure his driver's license, which he had given to his wife, who remained in car when he was taken into station. An officer accompanied him to the car. He received the license from his wife. He had just taken it when the officer violently seized his arm and hand, then proceeded to punch him very brutally in the side and generally manhandle him, all this without any provocation whatsoever. The chief was standing by, and, with the prisoner's wife, witnessed the entire proceeding. After the officer had carried on in this manner for a minute or two, the chief, feigning consideration, commanded the officer to desist. Then, when the prisoner was immediately taken again before the court, the judge presented to him a paper to sign, concerning traffic violation. He refused to sign, knowing he had committed no violation, and the police refusing to tell him what, if any, violation he had committed. These tactics were manifestly to intimidate, and when placed on trial the traffic violation charge was sheepishly dismissed.
Nutley
Nutley distinguished itself by arresting Jehovah's witnesses on 12 different occasions between March 5, 1934, and February 22, 1936.
Oakland
At Oakland, February 24, 1933, an Irish policeman arrested two of Jehovah's witnesses, and, without the knowledge of either the chief of police or the mayor, managed to get them railroaded to Hackensack prison for five days. When one of the witnesses, a lady, was reading in court her statement written by herself, the Irish policeman, who seemed to think of himself as the dictator of the community and even of the court, had the temerity to snatch the statement from her hands and make comments of his own.
Two days later 40 witnesses visited the town, called on all the inhabitants, including the mayor and chief of police and judge, and left 171 books and booklets with the interested. On this occasion there would have been no arrests except that, at the last moment, by request, one of the cars stopped at the home of the Irish policeman, Farrel. A week later Farrel was taken desperately ill, so ill that a council of physicians had to be called. Figure it out for yourself.
When the two arrested at Farrel's home explained that they were witnesses for Jehovah God, the court responded that that meant nothing to him. On the way to Hackensack prison with these latter victims the chief of police said that he felt very bad for his part in the whole affair, that his mother had some of the books and cried when she heard what had happened to the witnesses.
It was learned that at least one of the commitment papers was made out before the trial of the prisoner, which shows the caliber of the judge, and his great responsibility before God. The sheriff of the prison said it was a shame to bring such Christian men and women to such a place for such a reason, and that he would do all in his power to make them reasonably comfortable while in his care.
The Irish cop Farrel seems to have Oakland by the neck. An American citizen in Oakland can exercise his rights provided he first goes and sees this tool of the Hierarchy.
Ocean Grove
On March 20, 1932, ten of Jehovah's witnesses were arrested for witnessing to God's kingdom in this highly religious community. All were released on their own promise to appear in court a week later. Meantime the city fathers lost heart and the whole case dissolved in thin air. Discretion was the better part of valor, and Ocean Grove was spared the embarrassment of publicity such as was given to the neighboring community of Asbury Park.
Paterson
Many years ago Paterson had the reputation of being the anarchist city or center of the United States. It was all poppycock. An investigation by the chamber of commerce brought out clearly the fact that this reputation was wholly due to the police force using their clubs instead of their heads.
In November, 1934, things were working around back to the old level of Rome on top, and no brains available: the mayor was a Catholic, Chief of Police Murphy was a Catholic, Judge Duffy is a Catholic, and the new president of the chamber of commerce, James Wilson, once a Presbyterian, woke up one morning a Catholic and has been a Catholic ever since.
November 18, 1934, one of Jehovah's witnesses was arrested in Paterson. The arrest was made by William Hennessey. Guess his "church". Reverend Hamilton, of St. Paul's Episcopal church, hangs around the police station a good deal, and, when the prisoner was brought in, had considerable to say about the witness' testimony card and the work in which he was engaged.
The sight of this dominie stirred the ire of another witness, then a prominent businessman in Paterson, and when the detectives complained to him that the prisoner would not tell them anything this businessman parted with his "goat" temporarily and said:
The reason that that information is printed is in order that the officers may get it through their craniums. If you will just for a moment permit me to say a word, as our attorney has not yet arrived, I will explain that during the past few years there have been 800 arrests of Jehovah's witnesses. Police officers have dragged the name of New Jersey in the dirt by their unfair and unjust tactics. They have reproached the name of Jehovah by appearing in court and giving false testimony against His witnesses. There is no excuse for this arrest. This very morning a letter explaining the nature of our work was delivered to the chief of police, and requesting that the police department see that we are not interfered with in carrying on our work.
Judge Duffy saw the point, and the case was postponed. He suggested to the "witness" that he see the president of the chamber of commerce and get his approval of the work, but the "witness" explained that having the approval of Jehovah God is sufficient, and, anyway, the chamber of commerce has no authority to stop the work. Judge Duffy rather liked the witness' honesty and independence and asked him to come and see him privately sometime.
Four weeks later Jehovah's witnesses put on a divisional campaign in Paterson. Four were arrested, but when brought before Judge Duffy he showed a judicial mind and a good spirit. After talking over constitutional questions and interpretation of ordinances for some time he said, in a manly way, "There is nothing before the court. The defendants are dismissed."
Secaucus
Because two little girls in Secaucus place their loyalty to Jehovah God first, last, and all the time, as respects the saluting of any flag, the city fathers of the place figured it out that, having expelled these children from school, it would also be a good thing to enact some legislation that could be used against Jehovah's witnesses when they come to town, but would never, oh mercy, no! positively never be used against anybody else.
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