THE WATCHTOW

ER STORY

Published in lB46 by W

AT

OH

TO

WE

R

BXBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, INO

, Inkm

rt\onal Bible Students Assoclatlon

Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U. 8. A.

, Made in the U

nited Stetee of Amerlca

THE W

ATCHTO

WER STO

RY

H

AT does that w

ord mean to you? Do

im-

W m

ediately think of that world-w

ide Christian organization, the W

at+ Tow

er Bible and Tract So- ciety, or its oM

cial magazine The W

atchtower7 Do

you v~sualize a group of sincere Christians, Jehovah's witnesses, who function internationally as an organ- ized body under direction 91 the W

atch Tower Bible

and Tract Society? , .

'

Throughout the world W

atchtower has that sig-

nificance, but in Central Africa the word suggest8 to

the minds of m

any certain.indigenous native move-

ments that are disobqdient to law

s and which have sprung up in N

yasaland, calling themselves "W

atch- tower",

"Watchm

an SocietyJ' and the lilte, some of

whose mem

ber8 are ltnown to have carried the un- scriptural and anti-social doctrines and practices of these 9ect.a into parts of N

orthern and Southern Rho- desia and the Belgian Congo. These indigenous so- called "W

atchtower"

nlovementa have been

linked w

ith a number of native disturbences, but evidenee

,has not been produced and cannot be produced to tie in the W

atch Tower Bible and Tract Society, its

missionaries, or Jehovah's w

itnesses with such m

ove- m

ents or their lawless acte. Every resident of Central A

frica should be informed concerning the facts that

ahow the clear distinction between the two gtoups.

Because of the w

rong doing of these indigenous native eects m

any false charges have been\ m

ade against the W

atchtower Bible and Tract Society,

including the one that it was responsible for the well- Irnown ''Native

rising" which took place in Nyaseland

in 1916. The facts are, however, that even the native "W

atchtower

movem

ent" had

no cormection there-

wlth. The extracts reproduced below are taken from

the book Lows of Livingslonia written

by W. P.

Livingstone and which book concerns the life work of

Dr. R

obert Laws whd played a prominent part in the

life of Nyasalend in those days. John Chilem

bwe, the leader of the "rising"

and who founded whet is known

today as the Provident Industrial M

ission (P.T.M.),

was never at any tim

e one of Jehovah's witpeqes nor

was he ever associated w

ith the Watch T

ower B

ible and T

ract Society 'nor the native 80-called "W

atch- tow

er movem

ent". T

he

extracts follow:

(Page 257) W

hen, after another sharp attaclt of fever,

whlch caused grave concern to tho Com

mlttee,

he recelved a cablegra~n from

Mr. Whlte.

the convener, 'Return hom

e now,'

he packed up. and he, Mrs. Law

s, and Am

y sailed from

Bendawe In O

ctober 1801. He took w

lth him Yurala

Chlrw

a, s young Tonga

teacher; Charler

Domlngo,

hle house boy; and enother lad, w

lth the purpose of leavlng them

at Lovedale (Unlon of South AfrlcaJ for lralnlng

durlng hla absence In Scotland . . . (Pogo 258) The Doc- tor w

ent to Lovedale to leave the three nstlve boys, and then vlslted all the leedlng D

utch churches In the Cape Colony, In order to lntereet the m

ember8 In thelr slde of

the mlsslon w

ork; And at Cape Tow

n he had an Inter- vlew

wlth M

r. Rhodes regarding the poelllon ot mnttere

In the Nyase dlelrlct, and there he gave an address on N

yasa w

hlch had an unlooked-for result. Am

ongst the audience

was one Joseph

(Page 259) Booth,

an exponent of the 'Afrlca lor the Alrlcan' prlnclple. w

ho made up hle m

ind that the country descrlbed w

ould be 8 good lend In w

hich to carry on

hls propaganda. He

appeared later lo the

Shlre Highlands, and, as w

lll be seen, gave m

uch trouble ere he was deported . . . (Page 339) It was a new

experl- ence for the D

octor to whlrl up from

the lower Shlre

round the Cataract hllle to B

lantyre In a rallway traln . . .

To hls sorrow

he came across O

harler Domlngo, who,

In hls am

bltlon and folly, had left N

gotlllend and become

mixed In som

e degree wlth the Ethloplan m

ovement. This

had been Introduced by the Joseph Booth who had heard the

Doclor at Cape Tow

n, and had carrled out hla lntentlon of vlsltlng the country.

He had prolected a schem

e for en lndu,trlol

mliston, w

hlch for e tlme had offlclal favour,

. . . But

his teachlng Introduced

that splrlt

of reclal

antagonlem whlch. . . . alw

eye becomes aubverslve of or-

derly condltlons,

and he waa deported. H

e took one of

hla dlsclples named Chilem

bwe. e Yeo,

to Amerlca

and had him

educated at a negro college, w

here he was or-

delned after three yearn' study.

Returning to N

yasaland

THE WA

TCH

TOW

m STORY

he carrled on the m

ama klnd of prupegsnaa, recrultlng

lollowets trom

the clasa of men w

lth n grlevance o'r those under discipline by the M

lsslons. It was w

llh Chllem

bwe

that Dom

ingo had dealings, but he never seems to have

egreed w

ith his extreme

views, and

when

(he D

octor m

et him he had broken 1~1th the Sect, . . . and he m

ade again

lor N

goniland, w

here he

eslabllehed e

prrten- trous

church, . . . and gathered

B follow

log, hls Influ.

ence, unlike Chllem

bwe'a, belng

for good.

(Page 352)

Early in

1915, w

hat w

as called

a native

tiring' oc-

curred In the Shlre lllghlands led by John C

hllembw

e and conUned to his nect,

whlch connlsted in the m

aln of

raw and

uneducated natives of

the Anguru

tribe. It w

as one of the ebullitions comm

on enough In ereas

where w

hite and black meet and m

lngle, where the latter

auWer

from treatm

ent w

hlch they conalder

unjust, and

where, as a result, some m

an better educeled, more cupable

and more sensltlve and

resentful (Page 353)

than the reel InO

ames

raclal and rellgloue paselone to an extent w

hlch carea for no consequencee. As a rule, pereonal feel. lng w

lll be found to lie beblnd moat uprllrlr~gs nT the klnd.

It Wan so In the case of Chllem

bwe. H

ls heedquartere lay next to Magom

ero. the extensive

property of Mr. A.

L Bruce,

nephew ot Dr. Llvlngstone, whoee pollcy w

as hot to permit schools on hle estate. The

relstlons ot Ohllem

bwe w

ith the manager, w

ho happened to be called Llvlngelone, w

ere very unfrlendly: whllst the

letterD# treatm

ent of the netlvea In hls employm

ent w

as often unduly hareh.

The discontent In the dialrlct,

fo- m

ented by Chllembwe, culm

inated In an attack on Llvlng- ntone's

houne. He

and two other8 w

ere murdered.

end three

women

and llve children

were carrled

away.

No

arllclea were stolen, end the w

omen w

ere treated klndly and returned unhurt. The sam

e nlght an attack was made

on the M

andala store to secure erma and am

munltlon.

but troops moved out,

and the revolt W

AS

quickly sup.

preeaed. C

hllembw

e and several of hls Ileutenants were

klllad In ettemptlng to escape, end tw

enty of lhelr fob low

ers were caught and executed,

and others were sen.

tenced to varlour terms of penal servltude.

Dr. Law

s ha

4 alw

aye believed thet Ethloplanlsm had a

a germ of good 'In It w

hlch should have been recognized and w

lsely dealt w

llh . . . Ethloplanlem wee alm

ply Lhe expreealon of a natural dealre for responslblllty,

whlch,

belng uneatlefied, wee exploited, by m

alcontente and de- veloped lnto a polltlcal m

ovement . . . It was In such a

splrlt thet In the Leglslatlve Councll he m

oved for a Corn. m

lsslon to lnqulre lnto the orlgln and e4m of the outbreak.

Thle wee appointed. But In circles not 'favourahle to m

ls. alone the trouble was already ettrlbuted to the over.educa-

* g 0g;a -.% =-.s cD

J < g 4, !2 a ,m-* a- gn-rn 2. = 5 "gmz me- = t IZ P em CD G-7 7 --Y 1J w g. a g. 8'- Zk?g ga 4, * e =g g rm a- 3 g 3 *- C15 --m m co 0 < 52 !ze C. -3 5- g.5. C a 3 03"". s 3

8 THE W

ATCHTOW

ER STORY THE W

ATCHTOW

ER STORY 9

vah's witnesses were doing under the direction of the W

atch Tower Bible and Tract Society and who de-

sired to share therein. Applications to establish boolt

depots in these countries under European supervision were accordingly m

ade to the governments concerned.

Nyasaland weleom

ed the suggestion and since 1934 the W

atch Towcr Bible and Tract 9ociety has m

ain- tained an oflice in N

yasaland and the work of its

genuine adherents, Jehovah's witnesses, has been car- ried forw

ard under European supervision end control. These witnesses have obeyed the law

s of the land, paid their taxes, lived clean lives, carried forw

ard their work in an orderly m

anner, and lived at peace with their neighbours. They have done nothing by

- word or deed to m

erit the severe restrictions that were placed upon their freedom

of worship by G

overnment

during the war yeara and it is hoped that all such

restrictions, some of which it is sad to sny atill rem

ain in force, will shortly be rem

oved. C

OPPER

BELT D

ISTUR

BAN

CES

The Rhodesias did not take the same position as

Nyasaland but in 1934 refused the Society's request

to establish a depot and European control over its adherents in these countries. B

y this time som

e of the Society's publications had been published in Cinyanja and when a strike of m

ine workers brolte out on the

Copper Belt in 1935, it was easy, in view ?i the fact

that the Society had been denied repmentation, for

the false charge to be spread that "agitators con-

neeled with the Watchtow

er movem

ent were behind

the strikers" and that "the Watch Tow

er Movem

ent originates in the U

nited States of America. It appeara

. . . to consist of--Watch

Tower Bible and Tract

Society . . . International Bible Students'

Associa- tion".

It was ~ISQ wrongly stated with reference to

the native troublemakers that "Jehovah's

Wilnesses

are the mem

bers of the Watch Tow

er Movem

ent". M

r. P. J, de Jager, a European representative of the W

atch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and eev-

ere1 of Jehovah's wibnesses resident on the Copper Belt appeared before the Com

mission of Enquiry and

gave evidence that no one of Jehovah's witnesses took any part in the rioting or had an

share in the insti- gation of it. A

t that time M

r. de f agar was requested to refer to passages Lo the Society's publications which inslructed Jehovah'e w

itnesses to obey the Qovern-

ment they are under. Prom

publications prior to 1935 he m

ade many quotations, included in which are the

following that appear on

pege 49 of

the offlcial Report of the Com

mission appointed to enquire into

THE DISTURBANCES IN

THE

COPPERBELT

NORTHERN RH

OD

ESIA O

clober, 1935. Ruprsm

ocy, pRge 61, paragraph 2: A m

an muet always do rleht If he pleasee Qod. Every netlon ha8 lawn and every clllnen ot such netlon m

ust obey those laws unlesr the law Is In dlrect vlolallon or conlravenllon ol Ood'o law

, . . . From

Highfr0~~

Ruler, paEe 20: ~vold nll controveruler and atrlfeh It rlolr and revolu-

Ilona coma keep away from

them.

Cornmentlng on Romans 18: 7,

Watch Tower I828 elates;

The word8 'Lrlbute' and 'cuslom

' both refer lo a corn. m

erclal or flnanclel obllgatlon whlch the Qovernment m

ay ley upon those who reelde thereunder to m

eet the Qovern- m

ental expensea. Jesus and hls dlsclplee pald such tax

tree Matthew 22, verse 21).

Paregraph 28 of the sam

e erllcle states: For thlr rearon the Chrlellan obeys every law of

the land lhst 10 In harm

ony wlth Bod's law. He doer not obey

merely beceuee It Ir the law of the land, but because to

obey Ir rlght. Paragraph 02 11tate8 :

Every taw of every netlon of earth that le In harmony

wlth Qod'p law should be gladly obeyed by the Chrlstlen

whether he be a cltlzen of that netlon or not. The evidence Led by others, including Glovernm

ent offlciale, established the fact that it was the W

emba

(vho were the ringleaders nnd such m

en stated they had no connectlon w

ith the Watch Tow

er Bible and Tract Society or Jehovah's

witnesses. Q

overnment

10 TH

E WATCHTOWER STORY

omciala, who gave evidence before the Com

mission,

made reference to the "indigenoue W

atchtower m

ove. m

ent of the villages"

ae something difterent from

Jehovah's

witnesses, and that the viewe held by the native W

etchtower m

ovement w

ere certainly not those of the W

atch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The

Comm

ission found "that the im

mediate im

pelling cause of the disturbance at M

ufulira was the sudden baw

ling out ot the mine police in the evening that the

tax was increased all around to 15s; and that it waa the false announeem

ent of the euccesa of the etrike at M

ufulira, together with the challenge to the natives

to show that they were not old wom

en, which was

- the im

mediate im

pelling cause of the disturbances at N

kana and Luanshya". In view of the refusal of the N

orthern Rhodesia G

overnment to perm

it the Socicty to eetablisl~ Euro- pean control, representations were m

ade by the So- ciety, at the tim

e of the Copper Belt dislurbances, direct to the H. hi. Secretary of State for the Colonies, London.

Recomm

endatio~ls were then made by

the Colonial Secretary to the effect that the Society'e re- quest should be granted and since 1936 the Socicty has m

aintained a depot at Lusaka under European control. It has been possible since then for the So. ciety to clearly direrentiate between Jehovah's w

it- nesses and the indigenous "W

atchtower m

ovement".

More recently a depot was established In Southern

Rhodesia with European control. In Southern Rho.

desia all war tim

e restrictions on the 3ocietyJa litera- ture were rem

oved 18 months ago and it is hoped

thnt a eimilar position will shortly eventuate in N

orth- ern Rhodesia. Som

e relief h~

e

already been given and there does not appear to be any reason w

hy Jehovah's witnesses in thnt country should not have access to 311 their Bihle study hool~s and their om

cial magazine

The Watchtow

er. Today Jehoveh'e witnesses are nu- m

erous in the Rhodesias, but happily the native

"Watchtow

er movem

ent" is practically dead.

. THE WATCHTOW

ER STORY ,<

11 In N

yaaaland, however, the "Watchm

an Society"

and other native seck using the name !'W

atchtower" and who engage in anti-social practices and refuse to pay tnxea still exist. By the reading of this publica- tion all who wish to be inform

ed will see that such m

ovements ere not associated in any w

ay with the Chrietian orgnnization known as the W

atch Tower

Bible and Trnct Society. The position ie well known

and undentood by Governm

ent, and this was re- assured in January 1848 when the president of the W

atch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Mr. N.

I[. K

norr, travelled from New York City to Zom

ba and interviewed the com

petent authority. But many Euro-

peana nnd Africans in all of .these countries do not

know that there ia a diflerence, and it is hoped that this publication will clarify the position, The W

atch Tower Rihle and Tract Society and Jehovah's w

it- newea strongly condem

ll the anti-social practices ~n

d

lawless c~tlitude adopted by these native sects.

WHO

AR

E JEH

OVA

H'S W

ITNESSES?

On thie question everyone is entitled to hear the side of ,lehovnh's witaesses. Jehovah's witnesses con- stitute a body or group of persons consecrated to do the will of A

llni~hty Qod, under the leadership of hiu Son, Christ Jesus. They have draw

n together for the purpw

e of declaring that he whose name alone is

JEHOVAH is the Universal Sovereign, and that he is the A

uthor snd Creator of earth's pennanenr henv- enly governm

ent of righleo119ness for which Christ JW

IIH

t~ilghl his disciples to pray to Alm

ighty God. To everyone they point oirl the only

WH

Y to tl~nt

lringdom which shall perm

nnently take the place of all earth's present governm

ents in God's due time.

Although Jehovah God has had H

is witnesses on earth for about sixly centuries, only in m

odern times

did they draw together for organized w

orld-wide work.

In 1872 (A.D

.), in America, at Allegheny npnr Pitls-

burgh, Penneylvnnio, Charle.cl Taae Russell began a Bible olaea that n~et re~ularly to study the Scriptures

.12 TH

E WATCHTOW

ER STORY

about Jehovah'e kingdom and the second com

ing of . Christ Jesus. W

ithin a few years thereafter sim

ilar groups of students of the Bible, having these sam

e interests, w

ere organized throughout the United States.

In due time such Bible-study classes w

ere established in other countries. B

y followiny the course of etudy

outlined by the headquarters In the United States

those classes were unified and the students became of

one mind, throughout the w

orld, on what A

lmighty

God through his Word teachee.

In time printed courses of studiee in the Scriptures

used by such students were offered from

door to door by special representatives in m

any lands for the pur- pose of epreading the undenlanding of the Bible am

ong all peoplee. As a result other schools or con- gregation~ of sludentn were organized throughout the earth. Ever since Jehovah's w

ltnwses have been and

now continue to be an it~ternationnl organization. They are to he found in every natior~ under the sun.

In 1884 the legal servant body of this inlertinlionul nssociation was incorporated under Pennsylvania law. That non-profit corporation, W

atch Tower Bible and

Tract Society, and the governing body of Jehovah's witnesses have been inseparably essocinted ever since. In 1909 the corporate heedqunrters were transferred from

Pittsburgh to New Yorlc (Brooklyn) end the11 an nssociale charitable cot.poration was form

ed and used for carrying on the w

orld-wide publishing worlc

of Jehovah's witnesses. It is a New York corporation now known as W

atchtower Bible and Tract Society,

Jnc. In other lands other associate corpurrrlions are used, such as the International Bible Stude~lts Asso- ciation in G

reat Britain and Canada. L

Jehovah's witnesses have a firm belief in the Bible,

both the Hebrew

and the Breelc Scriptures. They re- gard the Bible as the true G

uide for man and accept

it as the highest authority in matters pertaining to

Jehovah Qod and his purposee. Even the name Jcho-

uah's witnesses is taken from the statem

ent by the.

I THE W

ATCHTOWER STORY

13

ropllet Iuaiah (43: 10 ; 44; 8, American Star;*crrcl

! ovsion), "Ye are my witnesses, aclith ,Jehovsh!'

The method of teaching and preaching em

ployed I)y Jehovalr's witnessev is prim

itive. That is to say, they uso the original m

ethod of preaching instituted by Jehovah'a

Qreat IV

itnws, Christ Jesus. H

e and his apoetlw

preached publicly and from house to house.

(Acle 201 20) Bvc true Christian m

inister of the gospel is com

mande "i to follow in their footsteps and

must do likewise. (1 Peter 2: 21 ; Luke 24 : 48 ; A

cts 1

: 8; 101 39.42)

Jehovah'a witnesses establish free

Biblo etudieu in the people's hom

es. 'l'hey go even

farlhel* than that by providing thc people with oppar-

tunllioa to receivo the message in publiic places. Books

rind bbolrlete are used by Jehovah's witnesses in their

8 reaching work for the convenience of

the people. uch publicatione contain the truths of the Bible in

a pernsnal~t form for study by the interested person

qt hie convenielrce. Bible education is the work of

Jehovah'e witneaee, and it is im

portant lo all because the Bible contains the knowledge of God ant1 Christ that iees~errtiel to gtrining life, a9 stated a1 John 17 : 3: "And this is life eternal, that they m

ight know thee the only true Qod, and Jeeus Christ, whom

Lhou hast sent."

In this way the work cif Jehovah's w

~tnrsses becom

es and is a great aervice to all the people. Jehovah'a

witnessee have copgregations or %om

- pania' throughout the w

orld. To supervise the activ- ities of lhese com

panies the Watch Tow

er Bible and Tract Society appoints'qualified ~ninisters. Addilion- ally, the Society sends travelling m

inisters ns special represelrtatives of the Society to visit the various (*on- gregations regularly and to give inst ruct ion con(-ern- ing the nrinistry. It is not a loose organization w

ith- out control, but rather It is 8 highly organized m

inis- terial associslion.

It is hoped, by increasing the Society's Europerin

repreeentntion, to control the worlc of ,Jchoveh's wit-

nwes still m

ore effectively in the future and prevent

I 14

THE WATCHTOW

ER STORY

tiny possibility of ihe misdeeds of tho native "W

atch- tower" secls being attributed to Jehovrh's witnesses. In the Belgian Congo there is still m

uch confusion in the m

inds of the pcople over the native movem

ents, but every effort is now being m

ade by the Watch

Tower Bible and Tract Socioty to ~rdvide adequate

I European representation and contro . The diaintegra. tion of the native W

atchtower" m

ovements In the

Rhodeaina since Earopeall rcprcsontntion was est~b.

llshed by the Sooiety Is sufllciont to indicate the fact that the solution to the prohle~n in the Congo liw

in the U

ovar~~ment'e

granting permiseiat~ to thu Society'e

European representntivev to enter the Belgian Congo. .

To assist Q

overnment offlcfale in N

yasaland to

quickly distinguish between African witneeses of Je-

hovah and the iadigenous "Watchtow

er" m

ovement,

the former will in the future bc known by and called

only by Lhe nama Jehovah's

urih~esses and not a9

representatives of the 'Watch Tow

er Society'. They also carry a letter of identification. The nam

e Watch

Tower Rible and Tract Society will be used only when referring to the Society'tl established ofice at Rlan- tyro and, 01 course, to the publishere of the literature used by Jehovah'a witnesses.

The fact that some natives, m

ore than 40 years ago, got hold of som

e of the Society'e publications in En4lish nnd hegan calling them

selvee "Watchtow

er" or elm

ilar names while teaching and practicing things

lhat have not the slightest resemblance to the Biblical

truths sel forth in the Society's publications is surely no reason w

hy these publicationv should continue to be banned under the Penal Code and Jehovah's w

it- nesses in N

yasalat~d be denied the opportunity of reading end studying the m

atericrl which their breth- ren in every other collntry in the w

orld have access to and use in the ertertise of their w

orship of the Most

High God. Publications of the W

atch Tower Bible

and Tract Society cannot be condem

ned because of the indigenous "W

atchtower M

ovement",

for which

THE WATCHTOW

ER STORY 15 '

the Society la not reeponsible, any more than the Bible

Itself could properly be discredited and withheld from

the people if the natives had possessed copies of the Bible and then proceeded to com

mit lawless acts un-

der the name "Bible M

ovement".

PIEAOEABLE SU

BJECTS U

ND

ER

HUMAN Q

OVICRNM

ENTB If the lltaratura of

the Watch Tow

er Bible and Tract S

~iety

la such ae w

ill incite the people a ainst Q

overnment, then Jehovah'e w

itnesses would be ound

I Ineligating riot, and revolutions all over the w

orld, for they are on every continent and the isles 01 the see; but the facla ehow that a etudy of the Bible to. gether w

ith the 8ociety1s publications has made Jeho-

vah's w

itnema outstanding as conscientious Chris.

tlana end law-abiding citizens of w

hatever coontry they m

ay reaide in. Their position ie clearly set out in the 1948 Yearbook

of Jehovah's

witnesses, so

clearly that no one can possibly mistindersland

it, least of all Jehovnh'a w

itnesses themselves:

These wll~iusecs, no m

atter under what natlonnllty or

form of ~overnm

ant they happel1 to be burn, nlwaye cum

. ply w

lth the rulec and regoletlone ol that qntlon.

They pay thelr laxea;

they speak Lhe language of the ~~tltloo; they accept Ihe educatlon of the nation through It8 srhools. They eupport

all the laws of the land lhet are In

lull accord w

ilh Qod's prlnclplee of truth and righteousness . . , R

egardlew of the country In w

hich any wltnesa of Jeho. vah lives, he le all-out lor supporting G

od's hlngdonb and preaching It. H

e Is an ambaasedor for C

hrlet In thls re- spect. Belny an ~m

hreeador In thle old world, at the anm

e Urns being no part of

It, he cerlalnly 18 not opposed Lo the prelsent governm

ent6 of the eerlh; nor wlll Jehovtlh'n w

it- neeses ever try lo flght egelnst them

. Nor should they flght

egelnet euch government#. They have no reason to do no . . .

And from the book "Let God Ba Tnie", which wns

published in 1946 and has had a circulalion of more

than 34 million copies in the English language alone,

page 239, we quote: Jchoveh'a

wltneeaes are not eubverelve a~

~d

do not elis

gage In rubvernlve ectlvltlee wl thin the natlone where they

dwell. They are not sedlllonletn because they Act wlthln eucb