| OCR Text |
Show MM UiliS SCORES "tUMM" M : mmm, is imn trust mm, mi mm mm away m his well Voliva and Granger Also Come in. for Share of Denunciation by federal Court; New Election Ordered for Overseer Over-seer of Vast Zion City Institution. 'This court is not obliged to repose confidence in a man so constituted that, living in this Republic, he ' would serenely tow his readiness at all times to abandon aban-don his family and betray his country." JUDGE LAN-JjJIS LAN-JjJIS ON OATH TAKEN BY DOWIE FOLLOWERS. CHICAGO, July 27.John C. Hately was today appointed ap-pointed receiver of Zion. His bonds were placed at ' $25,000. The adjudication in the banKruptcy proceedings pro-ceedings against Dowie was set aside. ' ' CHICAGO, July 27. Judgo Landls, in the United States District court, gave bis decision today In the controversy between be-tween the' adherents ot John Alexander Dowie and Wilbur Voliva over the property prop-erty at Zion City. , . The courtvnolds that Zion City and its Industries do not belong to Dowie; that, 'while the contributors of the funds do" ' not express a formal declaration of trust, the trust was created and Dowie had no right to treat the property as his own. The court "refused to appoint Alexander Granger receiver for the reason that Granger made a tow recognizing Dowie as "a messenger of the covenant, the prophet foretold by Moses and Elijah, the restorer," to which tow "all family ties and obligations and all relations to human hu-man governments shall be held subordi- nate." ' The court said he was pot obliged to repose confidence In a man so constituted consti-tuted that, living 111. this Republic, he would serenely tow his readiness at all times to abandon his family and betray ' his country. The court ordered election on the third purely personal bfuefit of Dowie, the estate is s trust, it is the duty of the court to set a substance of the thins;, and. in ascertaining the purpose of the gift, the court ia not limited to aa inspection of documents or other specific declarations of the parties made at the time. If their relation is one of confidence, confi-dence, or, if who receives the money is in a position of influence over him who gives the money, as, for instance, if the person receiving receiv-ing the money is the advocate of a religious faith, and by word and attitude and en-visonment en-visonment induces a conviction in the jnindr of large numbers of people, that as an instrumentality in-strumentality of divine authority, be can, and does relieve physical Ills, and is clothed with power to exert an jjifluesce upon the spiritual welfare .of men and wuuuin- wha thereupon give bins of thoif lands and goods, surely the motive of such gift ought not long to remain s matter of doubt in the minds of ational men. The fact that such contributions contri-butions came to him in the form of checks and currency, through the mail and express, j the contributor omitting to require the execu- i tion of a formal, declaration ef trust, does not tend to divest the trausaetions of the real character, it is just as if the contributor sitting in s church pew had placed the funds on the collection plate passed to him by a deacon. Surely, in auch case, the court would not decree that the person might put the money in his pocket on the alleged ecore of no agreement to the contrary, merely because the contributor had failed to arise in his place and obtain a pledge of trusteeship trustee-ship from the pulpit. (Continued on Page 10.) . Tuesday of September of a general overseer, over-seer, all members of the church residing In Zion City, male and female, to have one vote. He announced that suitable provision would be made for Dowie on account of his services as trustee. Following is the decision: . It appears that Dowie, a native of Soot-land, Soot-land, where he had reeeived a theological education, came from' Australia to the Pacino coaat la 18Sd, snd remained there a number " of years engaged in church work; from there he came to Chicago, and in 1899 undertook the Zion, City enterprise in execution of a scheme conceived by him many years before; that he purchased a vast tract of land, a part of which was sub-divided and laid out in park and residence property, provision being made for manufacturing sites; that the grantees ef building lota erected houses, accommodating ac-commodating 6000 or 8000 people; that Dowie eonatmcted sehoolhouses and college buildings at a cost of several hundred thousand thou-sand dollars and a tabernacle seating 7000 people, snd that a lace factory, soap works and other industrial enterprises were eetab- tUtheoT to give employment to the inhabitants j if Zion City, who were practically all mem- ;Vert.of the church. The financing of this, yeciieme was accomplished, in part by moneys . nceived from pnxchasers of lota tinder eleven 'hundred year leases, but a large part of the capital was money contributed to Dowie by persons outside of Zion City. Dowla's Own Testimony. Dewie's testimony respecting the origin of .the property .and his relation to it is than quoted as follows; ' 'I acquired this property by the generosity gener-osity of good people throughout the world ; I have looked upon the estate as the result largely of my own good sense under God; the money earns ia the form of contributions from the same common source the people all over the world mostly outside of Zion City. I believe the property to be completely mine to do with aa I please, and that no human being has any claim or interest in it. I. consider con-sider it, however, that the way I got the . property and the way la which I have it, binds me absolutely, when I have ceased te control it, to put it In trust ia perpetuity for the Christian Catholic Apostolic church, so that it shall go down to generations to do good in that line, with the exception of two and one-haif per cent, which I think ia fair for myself sad my family. I did think five per cent, but I have reduced it to two and one-half and am somewhat inclined to reduce it still more." Vollvs's Conveyances. After calling attention to the fact that Inasmuch as Voliva'a conveyances to Granger were in plain violation to the spirit and in-, in-, tent of Dowie's power of attorney to Voliva, . which the court holds, both Voliva and Granger weti knew, the court said: ,"As between Dowie, Voliva and Granger these instruments were mere waste paper." Dowie's Big Income. . The court then traeea uowle s enures career, ca-reer, beginning in Australia, down to his work in Zion City, Md found that Dowie had for many years been in receipt of s large revenue which -he devoted to church and 4uuritj purposes; that tha amounts rcaived r - . him agrrerated ' in aome years $350,000; vlat Dowie had not aonght to mass a private Airtune; bat that he engaged in secular occupations occu-pations in aid of tJis propagation of his re-, re-, licious doctrine, as Dowie expressed it: "For God and humanity." ' The eourt then saya: ' Jt Is Trust Estate. "It is a wall reeogalsed principle ef aquity ' that where a person accepts Bonsy in prop-' prop-' erty te be used by him for the benefit of some ether person or persona, or for the advancement ad-vancement of some lawful enterprise, such money or property eoostitmtes a trust estate. "The Inquiry, than, is, did these offerings come te Dowie for his private pvrpoee or did the contributors intend that the funds should be devoted to chariuble or religious pur-seeef pur-seeef If for any ether purpose than the a' '" ' D0WIESC0RED . (Continued Fronv Page I.) Dowle's Specious Claim. "It would be difficult to conceive of anything any-thing more - inherently inconsistent than Dowie's claim of private ownership and his admiasloo of trust obligation for the spiritual welfare of generations unborn. He says it is his own property, and yet he considers that because of the way he got it. ha is absolutely abso-lutely bound to turn it over to his successor in perpetuity for the church. Now, if he la to Lave m successor, that necessarily implies his own representative capacity, for the individual in-dividual man ran have no aueceaaor. And if he ia to pasa it on to hia successor, how can he be at liberty to dispose 'of it otherwise in his lifetime I If, during his lifetime, he came te divide it up among hia followers, or part with it to some ether use, as lie. may, if it were hla private fortune, hia admitted obligation to future generations would by his own act, he thus made impoasible of fulfillment. Obviously, Obvious-ly, the theory advaneee ia hia behalf ia not aound.'' Dowle's Will Quoted. i After quoting from Dowie's official publication. publi-cation. Leaves of Healing, to show that for six or seven years, Dowie had declared in the church and through the paper that he waa a trustee of the estate, 95 per cent of which he asserted, belonged to "Zion as a whole," tha court quotes a codicil to Dowie's will executed in August, 1905, aa follows: "The remaining nineteen-twentiethe of said estate in ray name, which I hold and have held in trust, in said church, I do hereby here-by give, devise and bequeath to my aaid successor suc-cessor in office to him or her and his or her auecessors in office to be administered of aaid church and the extension of Zion and the kingdom of God In conformity with the rule and practices of said church. Of this codicil, the court says: Trust Is SecognUed. "There la no escape from the plain meaning mean-ing of these words, the declaration ia unqualified unquali-fied and ia a complete recognition of an existing ex-isting trust obligation. ho specious construction con-struction could make anything else out of it, and for the court to enter a decree of private pri-vate ownership would be to perpetuate a fraud." As to who should fee receiver, the decision says: - "It is strongly insisted by Voliva and his associates that the defendant Granger be continued In charge. I do not concur in thia proposition. Waving all question aa to Granger's unfitness from the standpoint of his ability, some time age he took a vow from which I quote the following: Vow of a Dowlelte. "I vow in the name of God my father, and of Jesua Christ, his son and my savior and, the Holy Ghost that I recornise John Alexander Dowiai general overseer in his three-fold prophetic office as a messenger of the Covenant, the prophet foretold by Moses and Elijah the restorer: and I promise to obey all rightful orders, issued by him, and that all family tiea and oblirationa and all relatione to all human lives shall be held subordinate to thia vow. Thia I make in tha presence of God." Charges Treason. The court saya of thia vow: "It ia not my duty to express my eon-tempt eon-tempt of the man that could exact or take thia oath. But I am not obliged to repoae my confidence in a man so constituted that, living in this Bepubllc, he would serenely vow his raadineas at ail times to abandon his family and betray his country. "I will not appoinf Alexander Granger. And, SB thia connection, whila I make no pretense to technical learning la respect to what ia good policy for thia church organisation, organi-sation, I auggest that whoever ultimately prevails pre-vails in the ecclesiastical controversy, fire prompt and serious consideration to the question ques-tion whether or not aueh an oath tends to give respectability to the church, and whether the church may Justly expect a court of the United Statea to long continue to foster a true estate for the uae of a religious or- Sanitation whose conscience and intelligence oea not causa an unounditlonal diaavowal and abandonment of the obligation of disloyalty." dis-loyalty." Election Is Ordered. . The eourt ordered an election to be held on the third Tuesday of September of a general gen-eral overreer, under, the election lawa of Illinois, Illi-nois, at which all male and female members of the church now residing at Zioa City and wio. have continuously resided there since January 1. 1808, shall be entitled to one vote: the judges of election to be named by the County eourt of Cook county; the names of persons to be voted for to be certified to tha United Statea District court within ten days. If no mora than one name ahall be considered, con-sidered, the eourt will, in dealing with the trust estate, recognise aueh person aa the le- fally chosen general overseer of the church, f more than one name is certified, aueh persona per-sona ahall have the uae of tha tabernacle at Zion City, alternately up to the time of election. elec-tion. During aueh time the publication known as Leave of Healing will be suspended, but the court orders special edition to be gotten out at once containing a decision of the eeurt in full, and directs that a copy of such publication publi-cation be sent to all personp to whom the Leavea of Healing has been forwarded or delivered de-livered ainee March 31, 1906. . The court aaid that he would provide for FDowie inasmuch as tha present value of the estate far exeeeda the aetual amount of contributions con-tributions and offerings make a suitable provision for . Dowie, for ; hia sarvleea as trustee. The amount, the court said, would be determined later, -. |
