The Washington herald., 1920-05-02
bdng the Christian Science Mother Church Explained BY Boston Writer

ma mat Rovfsnds removal was not
lawfully effected and that he r. stil.
\ member Of the board"
Mr.. Dtttemore II declared by Judge
Dodge to be q member OF the board
Of directors In place Of Mrs. Knott,
being entitled to the o1ics both un-
der the trust deed and under the by
laws. He declares that for the pur-
poses Of q fair hearing none Of the
charges preferred against Dittemore
were sufficiently definlte as TO time,
place and circumstances and that
until they were made more specific
they could not have been Intelligent
ly met.
Grounds Not Adequate.
IF believed to be true by the
members Of the board who adopted
the resolution" he says, their be-
lief was not founded upon first
hand report knowledge, but on re-
port only. They were inadequate
grounds for any but q purely aroi-
trary dismissal"
"But ] find nothing In his let
ters," says the report. referring to
the charges Of the directors con-
cerning the letters and general at
titude Of Mr.. Dittemore. (which can
fairly be regarded as going beyond
what was reasonably permissible In
such a correspondence. Nor as TO
his attitude and behavior at meet
ings can ! ind that he has more
for which to reproach himself than
have his colleagues.
Manifestations of feeling on both
sides might under the circumstances
have been expected. Unless dismis-
sal for the mere sake OF getting rid
OF an habitual and troublesome dis
senter was within the majority s
power. find the above grounds also
were Inadequate" .
In referring to the status Of the
directors. Judge Dodge says that
when the deed Of trust was made
they were not, SO far as II appears,
officers Of any church or religious
society; they were only trustees Sc
lected by Mrs Eddy. The church
whereof they and their successors
acted as officers did not come into
existence until September %. 1889.
All that Mrs. Eddy gave to the four
trustees. he said, was a piece of
vacant land upon which the church
was later erected.
THE First Church Of Christ Sci
enlist in Boston" he says, has
never been incorporated under any
provisions of the Massachusetts,
statutes. 1t has been from the first.
and now is, an unincorporated re-
ligious association"
Claims Lack ofNPower.
Before the report was finally
filed, Ex-Governor Bates, counsel
for the directors. sought to have
twenty-five rulings of law elimi-
mated, claiming they were beyond
the power of the master. The at
tempt failed and the motion that
further testimony be taken in the
case of Mr.. Dittemore was also de-
MED. the master stating that he
was unable to believe the defen-
dants can properly be said to have
been taken by surprise" by his de-
cision OF the Dittemore case to-
gether with that of the trustees.
The filing of the masters report
was the signal for action on the
part of representatives of various
factions in the church. Mrs. Emil
lie B. Hulin. of Brooklyn. n. Y,
filed a petition asking leave to in
tervene in the trustees suit "a q
first member OF the church. Mrs.
Hulin is also a trustee of Mrs
Eddys will. and was said to rep
resent a large number of churches
in New York State
Judge Charles A. DeCourcey of
the State Supreme Court denied the
petition. The contention of the
trustees counsel and of Mr.. Thomp-
son. counsel for Mr.. Dittemore,
was that Mrs. Hulin had no stand
ing in the court and that the only
person who could represent the
beneficiary OF a public charitable
trust would be the attorney gen.
eral OF the State. Her counsel
were Charles F. Choate, jr, of Bos-
ton. and Myles NJ. Dawson, of New
York.
Singular Phase Develops.
1t was at the hearing on this Pc
tition that one of the singular
phases of the case developed. Ed
win A Krauthoff. associate counsel
for the directors, announced his
withdrawal from the case and
asked to appear Independently in
opposition to granting the petition
He stated that he had done so be-
cause the directors counsel refused
to oppose the petition but were
content to rest on the courts de-
cision without taking a stand.
Mr.. Krauthoff opposed the ap-
pearance of a Scientist In the ca
pacity Of first member. declarhg
that to do so was to defy Mrs
Eddy and the Manual since Mrs
Eddy ordered the abolition OF the