Pacific Press Publishing Company Stockholders’ Meeting
According to appointment a special meeting of the stockholders of the Pacific Press Publishing Company and the members of the Pacific Press Publishing Association was held in the temporary factory of the company at Mountain View, Cal., Monday, Sept. 10, 1906, at 2 P. M.
Besides resident members the following-named persons were present: Geo. A. Irwin, E. T. Russell, W. B. White, A. T. Robinson, L. F. Starr, W. F. Martin, Geo. W. Reaser, F. I. Richardson, W. C. White, Mrs. E. G. White, H. W. Kellogg, G. W. Caviness, W. T. Knox, and H. W. Cottrell.
After the opening exercises, it having been ascertained that a majority of the stock was represented either in person or by proxy, the treasurer presented his report, which showed a deficit of thirteen thousand dollars. This showing, it will be understood, was on account of the fire.
The manager then presented his report, covering the experiences of the Pacific Press from the memorable eighteenth of April to the present time. This report showed, among other things, the approximate amount of loss sustained by the institution as a result of the earthquake, the amount of donations received (about five thousand dollars) to apply on that loss, and the fire of July 20, destroying practically the entire manufacturing plant of the institution, together with the entire stock of books, pamphlets, and tracts.
The report rehearsed the difficulties encountered and overcome in getting the work started again, issuing the periodicals, arranging for the publishing of books with which to supply the canvassers in the field, and securing the machinery necessary to carry on the work. The Lord’s hand seemed to have overruled especially in this latter particular, and presses and other machinery were secured much more quickly than any one had reason to expect, and other machinery for electrotyping and binding will soon be installed. Though the tracts and pamphlets were all destroyed, most of the plates were saved. A great amount of work will be necessitated in bringing out the numbers required of B. S. L. and A. G. L.
The institution is under contract to publish five thousand copies each of “Coming King,” “Gospel Primer,” and “Christ Our Saviour” in the Spanish, besides good-sized editions of “Home and Health,” “Early Writings,” “Testimonies,” Vols. 1-8, “House We Live In,” “Cobblestones,” “Vegetarian Cook Book,” “Making Home Peaceful,” “True Educator Reader Series,” Nos. 1-5, “Bible Nature Studies,” and “Nature Study Note Books.” In addition to this work, the institution must provide for the weekly issues of The Signs of the Times and Our Little Friend.
The insurance matter has been adjusted, and the institution has received $72,500 cash. As soon as that matter was settled, the damaged machinery was carefully inspected, and it is estimated that the worth of the machinery which passed through the fire will amount to about $27,500. While the loss on building, machinery, stock, and work in hand was placed at $200,000, the insurance and salvage will bring this down to about $100,000. The manager’s report concludes as follows:—
“Besides this loss we have the old debt that stood against the institution before the fire, which amounts to $150,000. This, too, must be taken into consideration. We expect to receive $65,000 from the sale of our Oakland property, but this should all be applied on the old debt.
“Soon after the fire the citizens of Mountain View held a public meeting at which time resolutions were adopted expressing sorrow and sympathy for us in this time of trial and perplexity, and extending offers of assistance.
“At about the same time we addressed a communication to the board of town trustees in regard to the matter of furnishing us ample fire protection in case we should rebuild here at Mountain View. We have their reply in which they promise to do this.
“Work is piling up before us, and as we contemplate the quantity, it seems almost appalling. We are now laboring under great disadvantages, and whatever is done in the matter of rebuilding should be done at once, so that the factory may be ready before the rainy season sets in. A plan for a new factory has been drawn up, and will be presented for your consideration at this meeting. This plan is drawn with a view to building a one-story structure on the old foundation, and making it practically fireproof. It will contain six thousand square feet less floor space than the old building, but the departments will be more conveniently arranged.
“Almost from the very beginning the Pacific Press has done commercial work, and this has interfered more or less with our own denominational work. At a recent meeting of our board of directors action was taken to eliminate from the institution ‘all work outside the regular organized work of the message, or such work as shall not be approved by the publishing committee of the institution.’
“Our policy in regard to dealing direct with canvassers has recently been21changed or modified as will be seen by the following action taken by the board of directors:—
“‘That as rapidly as consistent with careful and efficient field management, and as fast as active co-operation can be secured from the field, the circulation department proceed to co-operate with conferences and mission fields throughout its great territory for the establishment and thorough equipment of the conference tract societies, which shall be recognized as the retailers of the Pacific Press in their respective territories, and,—
“‘That the Pacific Press reorganize its circulating department for doing a wholesale business on as little expense as will be consistent with the magnitude of the work in its vast fields.
“‘That the managers of the Pacific Press join with the General Conference Publishing Department and the union conference officers in each of their respective territories in an effort to secure a strong, active organization of the tract society work in every State, this organization to include the following points:—
“‘(a) A well-equipped tract society office, employing sufficient help to conduct the work thoroughly, progressively, and in detail in all the churches and with isolated members through the territory.
“‘(b) The support of a thoroughly competent man as State agent in every conference in the territory.
“‘(c) The appointing of such field workers as may be necessary to insure good organization and progressive work in the churches of each conference.
“‘(d) That they deal on a cash basis, settlement to be made in full with the publishing house each month.’”
“By this action it will be seen that we have in view the idea of becoming wholesalers instead of retailers. This will simplify our work, and enable us to do a much larger business with less clerical help; and with the co-operation of our brethren in the field we expect to see our work grow very rapidly from this time on, as our whole time and attention will now be devoted to this one thing, while heretofore we have had a divided interest.
“The canvassing work is being revived, just as the Testimonies predicted it would be, and not for years have our agents met with such success as they have had this season.
“The following are some of the most important questions to be considered at this meeting: (1) Shall we rebuild our factory? (2) If so, when and where? (3) On how large a scale? (4) How shall funds be secured? (5) What shall be our policy concerning commercial work? (6) Will you approve of the action of the Board in adopting the policy of turning our retail business over to the tract societies? (7) Will you approve of the cash policy adopted by the Board?”
“Our hearts have been touched by the many letters we have received from all parts of the world expressing sorrow and sympathy, and offers to help us in this our time of need.
“Our brethren and sisters seem to regard this calamity as a personal loss, and they are anxious to have a part in restoring the destroyed institution. They are only waiting for some definite plan to be devised. Already some ten or fifteen thousand dollars has been pledged for the work of rebuilding.
“It is our earnest desire to learn the lessons that God would have us learn by this terrible calamity, but it is no time to draw back or become discouraged. The Lord lives and reigns. This is his work, and we are his servants. The work will triumph gloriously, and we wish to triumph with it.
“We believe that all heaven is interested in this meeting to-day, and we hope and pray that the Lord will lead us to right conclusions.
“Yours in the blessed hope,
“C. H. Jones,
General Manager.”
The president called attention to the fact that this meeting was called for the special purpose of considering the question of rebuilding the factory, which had been destroyed by fire on the night of July 20, 1906, and the raising of funds with which to carry on the work.
Remarks were made by G. A. Irwin, W. B. White, A. T. Robinson, Mrs. E. G. White, and others, and the consensus of opinion was that the factory should be rebuilt here at Mountain View.
A committee of twenty-six on plans and policy was then selected to report at the next meeting.
The committee on plans and policy reported as follows:—
“1. That the Pacific Press factory be rebuilt upon the premises of the Company at Mountain View, Cal.
“2. That the maximum cost of said factory shall not exceed $25,000.
“3. That we request the General Conference to ask of our people $200,000 instead of $150,000, the additional $50,000 to be appropriated to the Pacific Press Publishing Company to help in the restoration of its plant.
“4. That a complete statement of the situation and needs of the Pacific Press Publishing Company be placed in the hands of the General Conference, and also published in The Signs of the Times, in order that the people may be enlightened.
“5. That the financial policy of the Pacific Press Publishing Company be a cash system, and that monthly statements be rendered, and settlements made as far as possible.
“6. That we approve the action taken by the board of directors of the Pacific Press Publishing Company to eliminate commercial work.
“7. That we heartily approve of the recommendation made by the officers of the Publishing Department of the General Conference, reading as follows:—
“‘That the Pacific Press Publishing Company appoint a committee to conduct a thorough campaign in behalf of the circulation of The Signs of the Times, and that this committee place before all our conferences a plan having as its object the circulation of the Signs in every State equal to twice the membership of the conference.’”
After careful consideration and thorough discussion the foregoing recommendations were adopted.
It is only just to state that some thought that a larger sum should be set apart for the rebuilding of the factory, and that we should also request the General Conference Committee to ask our people for $250,000 instead of $150,000, the additional $100,000 to be appropriated to the Pacific Press to help in the restoration of its plant and in replacing its stock of books, paper, etc., thus placing the institution back about where it was before the fire.
The counsel given by Sister White and her words of encouragement were appreciated by all. A spirit of union and harmony prevailed, and while all feel that we have a tremendous task before us, yet we take hold of it with faith and courage, believing that God will give the victory.
The work of rebuilding the factory on the old site will be pushed as rapidly as possible, and it is hoped that within two months it will be far enough along to be occupied.
C. H. JONES.
JAMES A. MORROW
By James A. Morrow
Bermuda
HAMILTON.— About six weeks ago one of our Portuguese brethren moved about eight miles to the west, into a neighborhood where there are several families of this nationality. As soon as they were well settled, we began meetings in his house once or twice a week. As a result, one family has kept two Sabbaths. They were never known to have meetings in this neighborhood, but the last two Sunday nights a congregation of Portuguese have left their church very near the place where this brother lived, and have gone the eight miles to his new place of residence.
One week ago Sunday I had a very fair congregation, most of whom were Catholics. Last Sunday there were only three or four who seemed interested. They all paid good attention the first Sunday. We are living in a time when people seem to decide very quickly for or against the truth.
Some who began to observe the seventh day several months ago were a little troubled last week, and we had fears they would fall out. Things look a little more encouraging just now.
JAMES A. MORROW
Field Notes
SEVEN have taken their stand for the truth at Winnipeg, Manitoba.
THERE are now nine new Sabbath-keepers in Regina, Canada, and the work is onward there.
TWENTY persons have embraced the faith at Woodbridge, West Australia, where a camp-meeting was recently held.
AT the New York camp-meeting twenty-nine were baptized, and fifty-seven went forward, either for the first time or because of a backslidden condition.
THE camp-meeting at Parsons, Kan., is being followed by tent-meetings, and there seems good prospect of favorable reports from the effort which will be put forth there.
AT the close of most of the camp-meetings this year a large number are buried with their Lord in baptism. At the Kansas State camp-meeting held at Salina, fifty-one were baptized.
MRS. D. P. EDWARDS, mother of W. H. Edwards, who is secretary and treasurer of the Lake Union Conference, died last week. The funeral was conducted by Elder W. J. Stone, assisted by Elder Allen Moon.
THE tent-meetings at Cairo, Ill., are being well attended, and the people are friendly and manifest good interest. Fifty have declared their belief that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and it is expected that a goodly number of these will take their stand for the truth.
EIGHT have taken their stand for this message at Pana, Ill. The enemy has tried hard to hinder the work there, and has stirred up some bitter attacks; but the attendance continues good, and there is prospect of a considerable increase in the company of believers at Pana.
A NEW church of twenty members has been organized at Charloe, Ohio, where a series of meetings had recently been held. The organization of the church followed the baptism of fifteen candidates. At this place the opposition created by one who opposed the work of the brethren in charge of the meeting won friends for the cause.
The Present Need of Establishing Industrial Schools
By A. W. Spaulding
In recent labor at camp-meetings for our young people, to get them to be not merely good, but good for something, educational workers found conditions that suggest the above title. Stress was constantly laid upon the thought of salvation for service, of our indebtedness to God, to sinners about us, to the heathen, and to the cause and institutions of God. While some seemed to feel lightly the claims for service, and were content to remain in positions in the world, an encouraging majority presented themselves to the Lord for work. Some of these were ready to engage, and did engage, in personal work immediately—holding prayer circles, pitching tents, getting acquainted with shy and lonesome strangers, sawing lumber and driving nails, showing cheerful unselfishness in the dining hall, and helping acquaintances to take their public stand for Christ. Others, fearful of themselves, required to be led slowly toward the ideal of Christian helpfulness. Some fell back.
But it was evident that there is the greatest need of Christian training. Many of the brightest young people were greatly in need of a better knowledge of the common branches; nearly all needed a thorough experience in serving from unselfish motives and in daily giving of energies to the work.
Of the two hundred young people present, about nine tenths professed faith in Christ before the close of the meeting; and of these about one hundred and forty, as discovered by actual census taking, either were already-workers or desired preparation for work. Nearly one hundred wished to get this preparation. Some of these volunteered for the canvassing work and nurses' training, but a large number were left who wished to enter school at once. Then difficulties presented themselves. A few saw their way clear, and decided to come. The majority, however, found one or more of these difficulties in the way:—
No money to pay board and tuition.
Parents wanted help on the farm, and preferred paying children to paying hired laborers.
One or more parents opposed to the truth, and if able to pay children's way, would not.
Others dependent upon their labors for support.
The second difficulty named was in most cases simply a parent's selfish withholding of his children from the work of God for personal gain, but the other three resolved themselves into the lack of money.
Now it is doubtless true that there is enough gold buried among our people to educate every child, but this gold is not to be gotten by easy placer-mining. For the most part it is stamp-ore, buried deep in lodes of indifference, and it takes the skilled labor of experts to locate and extract it. When it comes to the practical problem of helping our youth to get an education, it seems that only a limited dependence can be placed upon the aid of our well-to-do members. And whatever other thoughts this condition suggests, there comes forcibly to mind the idea that in the providence of God this is intended to bring about the more practical training of our youth for missionaries.
These youth who stood up to offer themselves for service and better preparation, were more than half of them blocked by circumstances. If there were schools where they could go and earn their entire way while studying, they declared they would be willing to go, not with the idea of getting out of them all they could, but of giving their time, energy, and thought to the building up of those schools, thus putting themselves into the work of God while becoming more efficient, no less than when they should be commissioned to some recognized position in the cause.
Here and there are found such schools, which have proved themselves practical and influential, but they are only here and there.
Here is an army of recruits, bright,23eager, and promising great capability. How long shall we continue to send them back to the shop, the farm, the office, the secular school, to lose their consecration and their power, all because we do not provide the facilities that would enable them at once to enter the work?
There is, it is true, more than one way to solve the problem, at least in one of its phases. The plan devised by our publishing houses, of giving scholarships to those who will sell books to a stated value, provides a way for some to attend school, while at the same time it gets our literature before the people. In its incipiency the plan seems to be working well, and it is encouraging to see many taking advantage of it. Yet the practical worker who comes into contact with our young people knows that it does not help all. They who embrace the opportunity are those who have either natural boldness, or senior encouragement, or that intense earnestness which no doubt all should have. Yet we need not condemn the timid farm boy or country girl who shrinks from facing a world of terrors, but who is willing to endure no less in a more secluded way. And we need not scorn the fearful ones whose souls have not yet been waked to the heroism they may hereafter show. The twelve were not all Peters.
And besides, the value of industrial training is not limited, nor indeed measured at all, by its providing a means for literary culture. Its educational value, we are told, is not less than that of the schoolroom, and it may be doubled if to this generation it is not greater. When we consider what power is added to the missionary, at home or abroad, by his being able not merely to talk, but to accomplish much with his hands, and when we shall have learned what soul-building industrial training in connection with spiritual study is able to do, we shall agree that every school must be broadly industrial.
Humble schools, established where needed, with facilities for industries adapted to the location, would solve the problem. A small herd of good cows in a dairy country, tools and draft animals for market-gardening where there is a good market, tools for woodwork where any phase of this can be made profitable, or facilities for some one or more other simple trades or occupations that may be found advantageous in different localities,—these, with men and women competent to lead in teaching whole-hearted devotion, personal independence, and necessary literary accomplishments,—what a revolution a score or a hundred of such schools would work now, and increasingly with the years!
And which is wiser, more sensible, in consideration of the kind of workers needed in God's cause, to invest money in scholarships which are eaten up with the giving, or in enterprises which maintain themselves while giving a more valuable training to those who receive their benefits, is an easy problem for the man of business.
The years of prosperity we have had for some time will not last much longer. Soon there will come crashes in moneyed circles, failures of banks and commercial concerns, then stringency and distress everywhere. Who then will feel ready to give for the establishment of the needed institutions, or for the training of workers? Who will be successful in winning scholarships by the sale of books in a money-tight market? In times of the greatest distress we may have to do whatever we have failed to do under favorable conditions. The signs of the times point the necessity for wise, judicious, but instant moves to provide schools which will meet the needs of the present hour, and more emphatically the needs of the near future.
I have given actual figures, obtained in one conference. Does it seem a light thing to turn back into the world over fifty young people who might within a few years be multiplying one thousand per cent what is now invested in them? “One dollar now is worth ten dollars in the future.” And these fifty young people are not all there are, nor half there are, of the same class in one conference. We may exhort and expect them to be strong under their present circumstances; but few of us realize the tremendous pull upon them of worldly companions, worldly ambitions, or unchristian homes. The annual revivals at camp-meeting will mean little—they may come to mean worse than nothing—if we do not sensibly and determinedly take steps to keep these young people in the work and give them a chance to fill and swell the thinning ranks.
A. W. SPAULDING.
Teacher and Student
By F. G.
The majority of our schools in all portions of the world have begun their new year's work. It goes without saying that the teachers bring to their work an added enthusiasm and determination to hasten in every way possible the preparation of young men and women, and even boys and girls, for the promulgation of this last message of mercy to the world.
It must be borne in mind that the greatest preparation which can be given to our students is that of character, that they need more soul culture than mind culture. The work of the teacher appears in its most apparent form in the progress which the students make intellectually, but its most permanent form is that which they make spiritually.
Christ, the greatest of all teachers, was listened to by the multitudes because he spoke as one having authority. The reason that he spoke as one having authority was because he was a living embodiment of the principles of truth which he enunciated. He is an example for all Christian teachers. The Christian teacher must himself be what he wishes his pupils to be. Then it is that his life carries the influence for righteousness. It is in this way only that he can give the third angel's message to his pupils, and through them to the world.
God has had a “present truth” for his people in all ages and in all times. Oftimes this present truth is applied only to one special period, or to one particular people, but in our own time he has gathered all the gems of “present truth” of all times, and bound them together by the cords of his righteousness and the bands of his law, and he has set them in the light of his sanctuary for this people to give to all the world.
There is no ray of truth which has been important to any people that does not have a setting in some form in this glorious system of truth found in the third angel's message. It is this truth in its entirety that must be taught in all our schools this year. We are in the shaking time, and a lack of confidence is often expressed in the spirit of prophecy, and in various other phases of this most glorious system of truth, by those from whom we would least expect such sentiments.
There has never been, in the history of the work of God, so great a need of having the principles of his eternal truth fixed in the minds and rooted in the hearts of our children and youth, as at this time. This is to be accomplished by giving it to them, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. Simple faith in his Word and in the work which he is carrying forward among this people must be taught these children and youth.
When they are so taught, they are not only established in the truth, but there is created in them a great desire and an inspiration to give this message to those who know it not, and our children become real missionaries in their own homes. We are to be a missionary people, but we are not to be one in form, but one in spirit. This is to be the beginning and end of our school work.
F. G.
Thoughts for the New School Year
By E. E. Gardner
THE time is at hand when organized effort is again put forth to educate the children and youth of our land.
Public education is to-day, generally speaking, receiving well-merited attention. Many educators are working early and late from a love of learning simply, that they may be the best helpers in the acquisition of a liberal education.
When the greatest Teacher was among men, he found the children of this world wiser in their generation than the children of light. Shall it be true of us to whom the Author of learning has committed so much enlightenment for this generation? Shall we be less vigilant in the work of preparing the young for life's great work than those who seek this world's honor?
Ought we not to open our doors as early in the season, and as early in the day, as others do? We believe in entering the week's work a day in advance of the children of this world. In the opening of our schools this may not in all places be practicable. But where our school can not open till a little later than the public school, ought not every Seventh-day Adventist home be a training-school for at least its own children?
How will the scripture be fulfilled in our day and in us if we do not give special attention to our children in this day of preparation for the coming of the Lord? “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Mal. 4:6.
There are few parents in the land having children of an age to be educated but would themselves be benefited educationally by an effort for their children. Perhaps in addition to the great text-book, the Holy Bible, you have simply Our Little Friend, The Youth's Instructor, the REVIEW, the Signs, and the Watchman; these messengers of light are filled with up-to-date articles, both spiritual and educational.
It will do you good, and it will do the children good, for you to listen to them as they read articles of your selection from these papers. In most cases you can help them improve in pronunciation and articulation. Your experience will be a help to them in understanding some of the words they read. Should it be otherwise, you need the more to be an attentive listener in this home school. Be a member in the class, and take your turn in the exercise. Pronounce words frequently for the children to spell. You will find the part of teacher easy in this exercise, if sight and hearing are good.
Parents ought to know whether their children are apt and studious; whether or not they are respectful of authority, and are self-controlled in school work. Then by earnest counsel to their children, sympathy and prayers for their teachers, the work in the schoolroom is materially aided.
That our youth have proper advantages we must count the cost, plan and sacrifice much to secure the needed training for usefulness in the Master's vineyard. We may treat this matter indifferently, and the world will soon have those whom the Lord has given us to train for him. When he shall say to the fathers, “Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?” will the response be, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me”?
E. E. GARDNER.
Five Formal Steps in Teaching
By Effa G. Gilbert
THE church-school teacher to-day is having a part in the greatest work that was ever done. All will agree that the great aim of these teachers is to so teach that that which was lost, the image of God, may be restored in the soul.
Church-school teaching is a sacred work, and as we reach out into it, we sense the fact that this great reality, this high ideal, will be reached by the Spirit of God working mightily through the human instrument, the teacher.
Let all our work for the Lord be done orderly, in the simplest, clearest way. Just as the olive-trees emptied the oil into the golden bowl of the candlestick, and the oil was thus carried with equity and order through the pipes on its mission, so the Lord imparts his grace where regular channels open.
The first step in teaching, which we call the PREPARATION, must be a strong and solid one. It is the step which connects the experience or knowledge of the children with the new truth to be taught. It never includes new matter, but is the breaking up of the soil of the mind and the making ready for the good seed. If this step is clear cut, it will hold the attention of the entire class. Whole lessons are sometimes given up to just the work of preparation, especially when it involves description, or in text-book work it opens up the next day's lesson.
The AIM in teaching a lesson, although of first importance to the teacher, comes in well as a second step, when stated24clearly to the pupils after the preparation. The best work is always done when the aim is most definite. Sometimes it may be well to state the aim before the preparation. Care should always be taken that the aim may be stated with good judgment and connected with some spiritual lesson, or it will fall short of its purpose.
The PRESENTATION, or third step, is closely related to the step of preparation. There must be a constant recurring to the experience of the child, and every advanced thought built upon it, as the teacher takes the pupil where he is, and leads him to make the unknown his own.
Thus building, the constant watchword with the consecrated teacher will be, “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power,” that no human mold may be given. Then instead of the foundation of “wood, hay, stubble,” we may look for a glorious structure of character, built on the Rock, Christ Jesus.
For strength there must be clearness, simplicity, with a rounding out and pouring in upon the aim until the lesson structure is cemented. In all this, the questions need careful thought in order to produce thought, and then the two remaining steps will come in as naturally as they did in the lives of those whom Jesus taught. They applied silently and individually the lessons learned.
The fourth step, the SUMMARY, should occur all the way through the lesson, and should be made a habit, the habit of forming summaries. At the close a general summary should follow, and by strong questions cause the pupil to readily make a review of all the lesson.
The APPLICATION constitutes the fifth step. This also comes in as well at different points in the lesson, then clinched at the close, bringing out spiritual lessons that will not be forgotten. Its influence will last.
EFFA G. GILBERT.
Our Attitude Toward the Public Schools
By Nora Hough
Probably no department in the government of our country has performed better service nor exerted a wider influence for the improvement of American citizens than our free public school system. Horace Mann, their founder, is as deserving of credit and esteem as any other benefactor of American people. These schools have encouraged high types of manhood and womanhood expressed in order, intelligence, industry, and art. We, to-day, no doubt, enjoy a higher idea of civilization and morality than would have been realized without the present system of education. While the prophecy that “wicked men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,” has a world-wide application, conditions would be many times worse were the restraint of these schools and the influence of some sober-minded educational men blotted out of existence.
Most Seventh-day Adventists, even among our best workers, look back to joyful, well-spent days, at least through the grammar grades, in the public schools. They sometimes review these days with the poet who said:— “How oft I remember the scenes of my childhood,
And the little red schoolhouse that stood in the lane,
Surrounded with flowers and embowered in wild-wood;
Where soft fell the sunlight, the dew, and the rain;
The playground, the woodland, the song of the robin,
The squirrels in the tree tops that waved in the sky,
The river, the mosses, the winds softly sobbing;
The innocent gladness of hours gone by.”
“I love the red schoolhouse, though childhood is over,
And memories sacred shall close it around.
To the friends of my youth I am still the same lover
As when we were playmates upon the old ground;
And when life is over, when nothing can sever,
I think I shall look for the old friends again,
And something of love binds us closer forever
For the little red schoolhouse that stood in the lane.”
Notwithstanding these pleasant memories, and all the splendid things that may have been achieved under its roof, the little red schoolhouse of to-day is insufficient for the complete education of Seventh-day Adventist children. It trains for citizenship in this world. “We seek citizenship not alone in this world, but in a better country, that is an heavenly.” It develops shrewd business men, who as a rule are possessed of an intense desire to become rich. We train workers for God—seek to develop Christian character, and create an ambition for the “true riches.” It, even in the lower grades, feeds the imagination upon fables and fairy tales, and in many cases undermines faith in the Scriptures by false theories of creation. We feed the mind with the truths of God’s Word; and both pray and labor for the conversion of our children.
Although the contrast between our purpose and that of the secular schools, as well as the means of attaining these purposes, is so clearly drawn, great caution should be exercised in speaking of these differences. Christ in contending with Satan “durst not bring against him a railing accusation.” It is to be feared that some of the hard statements against the public schools are among those which we are told are laid away to be used against us in the time of trouble. In our schools care should be exercised lest a spirit of criticism be fostered. A certain teacher in the public school much lamented the fact that her pupils were spoken of by the church-school children of the place as “only public school brats,” and other such terms were applied to them.
It is the nation, and not we ourselves, that is to say, “Surely this is a wise and understanding people.” And the Lord promises that his children shall be the head, and not the tail, only when they return to his commandments.
In our work of reform we must pray for wisdom and spiritual discernment, lest in rooting out the tares, we root up the wheat with them. I quote from “Special Testimonies on Sabbath-school Work:”—
“Some efforts have been made to interest children in the cause, but not enough. Our Sabbath-schools should be made more interesting. The public schools have of late years greatly improved their methods of teaching. Object-lessons, pictures, and blackboards are used to make difficult lessons clear to the youthful mind. Just so may present truth be simplified and made intensely interesting to the active minds of the children. . . . The modes of teaching which have been adopted with such success in the public schools could be employed with similar results in the Sabbath-schools, and be the means of bringing children to Jesus and educating them in Bible truth. This will do far more good than religious excitement of an emotional character, that passes off as rapidly as it comes.”
That which would improve our Sabbath-schools would also improve our church-schools. Our teachers might receive much help in visiting other schools and applying many of their methods both in teaching and in management.
Moses’ experience with Jethro, the Midianite chief, affords a good example on this point. He, a man of God, instructed by the Lord as no other man has been instructed, found the suggestions of this man of the world in regard to the organization and management of Israel of great value both to himself and the people he was leading.
Would we as a people think for a moment of casting away the doctrine of justification by faith because Martin Luther was the discoverer? Or does the fact that we accept the doctrine give us the name of Lutherans?
Our continual prayer should be, “O Lord, teach us thy way.” Our constant effort should be to place our schools where their own superiority will speak for itself. Let us accept light wherever we find it, and heed the instruction, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”