At a convention of Bible Students held in September 1919, the local press reported J. F. Rutherford's comments on the League of Nations: "He declared a League of Nations formed by the political and economic forces, moved by a desire to better mankind by establishment of peace and plenty would accomplish great good, and then asserted that the Lord's displeasure is certain to be visited upon the League, because the clergy--Catholic and Protestant--have abandoned his plan and endorsed the League of Nations, hailing it as the political expression of Christ's kingdom on earth." Rutherford's view was similarly held by other pre-millennialist expositors of that era.