PEACE -
New York City
August 4, 1936 A.D.F.D.
Mr. Harvey Deuell
Managing Editor
The Daily News
New York City
My dear Mr. Deuell
Righteousness, Truth and Justice in the treatment accorded FATHER DIVINE and HIS Movement in the series of articles which is now appearing in your publication, The Daily News has had the reputation of being in sympathy with the masses and upholding anything which benefits the underprivileged. Here is a definite instance, I am sure, where in the opinion of thousands who have learned of it, and in the estimation of millions who will know of it, that policy will be considered to have been deliberately reversed .
Lest my judgment should have been considered biased in the matter, I submitted without comment, the first two articles in this Mission Movement series to two unbiased professional persons of intelligence, for their opinions. The response of each was that they considered practically every word of the article hostile and only would be to cast a shadow of ignorance, mystery, heathen superstition, and sinister financial motives, over a Movement which is uplifting wide masses of the people, and unquestionably producing the truest form of Christianity as well as the purest form of Americanism existent in the world today. I have requested Mr. Carl Warren, the writer of the articles, to publish a retraction or qualification of his statements and he has failed to do so. Now I am calling upon you, as his superior, to publish this letter with your very next article. If this is not done, we can only conclude that The Daily News wishes to be unfair.
I defy anyone to find anything in FATHER DIVINE'S Teachings or HIS Work that is not exactly in accord with the Life and Teachings of JESUS THE CHRIST as recorded in the four Gospels, or taught and practiced according to the Holy Bible from the time of Moses down to the present time. It is the purest Christianity and the highest form of spirituality known to the world today, and it has been so admitted by many who are leaders in these fields. If it is considered by some to be superstition, remember that in Moses' time people looked to a brazen serpent for deliverance.
So far as the financial aspect of FATHER DIVINE'S Movement is concerned, it
is a matter of record that the Disciples of
CHRIST had all things in common.
There is nothing strange or illegitimate about that. Today, FATHER DIVINE'S
followers own their properties cooperatively and operate them as they please.
Though in the days of the early Christian Church the people were required to
bring their wealth and lay it at the feet of the Apostles, and when Ananias
and Sapphira brought only a part of theirs they were struck dead, FATHER DIV!NE
does not permit such. HIS followers own their own properties and do with them
as they please, and if anyone pays any money, it is for actual material value
received, and plenty of it.
Furthermore, it has been declared by men of unimpeachable reputation who are in a position to know the facts, that no religious or educational institution in the Country is turning out better citizens from the point of view of true Americanism, than FATHER DIVINE is producing.
Ignoring all of this, you have published, under a caption stating that The Daily News has dug out the facts, a compilation of allegations, rumors, hearsay, insinuations and information from court records long since repudiated, and admitted by the judge at the time to be unverified; and you have put them forth as positive statements backed by The Daily News. The decision of Judge Smith in the case of FATHER DIVINE at Mineola, New York, including the name attributed to FATHER DIVINE and all the charges that went with it, was reversed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in thirty-two counts of prejudice. The same is true of all charges brought against the followers of FATHER DIVINE at Sayville, The decision was reversed by Appellate Court in the cases of all who did not plead guilty. This places The Daily News in the position of digging up information obtained by Judge Smith from malicious and disgruntled persons, which has since been branded by five judges of the Appellate Division as prejudicial, unfounded and untrue, and presenting it again as the truth.
Much of the other information you published is taken almost word for word from books and papers not sufficiently credible to be now in print. Much of it comes also from court records of suits brought against FATHER DIVINE which would not hold water and have never come to trial, or have been dropped long ago. It is a well known fact that many groundless suits are brought against persons of wealth or fame, and that any kind of allegations, no matter how untrue, may be made in such suits.
Mr. Carl Warren, your writer, was warned of this. He was told that witnesses could be produced who had been present with FATHER DIVINE personally for the past forty or fifty years, who could refute practically all of these statements and allegations. He did not see fit to check up on this source of accurate information, but published the untrue statements apparently because it satisfied his mind and served his purpose better. The only slight exception to this was where he said that FATHER DIVINE had denied under oath, the name attributed to HIM, and that there were those who had been with FATHER DIVINE for the past forty to fifty years who declared that HE had been doing the same work during that time.
As evidence of the inaccuracy of all these reports, let me point Out to you just one slight instance. This is an easy one for you to check up, as it is of recent date and there is legal record of it. In his second article Mr, Warren stated that the Federal Government had conducted an investigation of FATHER DIVINE'S Activities some time ago and filed some thirty liens against HIS followers for collection of income taxes, but had been able to collect only three thousand dollars-barely enough to cover the cost of collection. As a matter of fact there were seventy-eight liens filed, and the Government collected not one single penny on any of them. After a thorough investigation and many hearings, the cases were completely dropped and documents bearing the seal of the United States Government can be produced to prove this. What do you suppose was the purpose of this misrepresentation? This is typical. It is only an example of a partial untruth, however. Many of the statements are wholly untrue, and this is just as susceptible of proof.
I telephoned Mr. Warren yesterday and asked him to present with the next installment of this series, a statement as to the unreliable sources from which he had gathered his information, and a further statement that his statements were denied by followers of FATHER DIVINE who have had personal knowledge of such matters over a long period of years. He said he would take this under consideration and might possibly publish it with the second article, but this has not been done.
It is immaterial to FATHER DIVINE or to any of HIS true and faithful followers, what is said one way or the other. As the Movement advances, as it certainly will advance, and as the truth of FATHER DIVINE comes forth more and more, as it certainly will come forth, public opinion will override this false evaluation by The Daily News of FATHER DIVINE and HIS Work, and the paper will lose prestige and circulation, just as other papers have done when the public lost confidence in them.
However, in the interest of Righteousness, Truth and Justice, and for the benefit of humanity generally through a better understanding of FATHER DIVINE'S Work, I am asking that you publish this letter with your next article, and just as prominently as you placed the false information, since you apparently do not wish to make a retraction yourselves. Otherwise we shall conclude that you just wish to be unfair, and automatically The Daily News will fall into the classification of a certain chain of newspapers FATHER DIVINE'S followers, as well as many other right thinking people, have resolved never again to buy, read, or have anything to do with, until their policy is changed.
Sincerely, John Lamb
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