The following is a portion of a personal letter written by Elder N. H. Pool on his way to Trinidad, West Indies. The envelope containing the letter bears the postmark: “Posted on the high seas, Feb. 21, 1912”:—
“We left Hillsdale, Mich., February 14, and went to Fort Wayne, where we took the ill-fated train which was wrecked at Warriors’ Ridge. We were in next to the last car, and did not go down the embankment. All ahead of us did. The only person on our car who was seriously injured was the porter. After some delay another train came and took us to Harrisburg. We reached Washington about three hours late.
“Surely God is good, and we have much to praise him for. Eight cars ahead of ours went down the embankment. The car in which we rode left the track and stood on the side of the grade, tipped at an angle of about forty-five degrees. It seemed fully five minutes before any one dared to stir for fear the car would go on down. The car back of us was in about the same position, and many were the expressions of surprise and wonder that we did not all go down. Upon examination it was found that near the rear end of the last car there was a telegraph-pole that appeared to hold them; but it was much easier for me to believe Ps. 34:17 than to think a telegraph-pole could stop such a shock as that.
“It was a terrible experience, and volumes could not tell it all. Although Mrs. Pool was nervous, she seemed to stand it all better than most of us.
“Since leaving New York, we have had about twenty-four hours of stormy weather. The night of the eighteenth it was terrible. The waves dashed over the ship and broke in the skylight on the top deck. We were very sick. So far, this trip has certainly been the experience of our lives.
“When word came to us in Indiana that we were to go to Trinidad, it seemed that one of my fondest hopes was to be realized. Then began a series of trials that exceeded anything we ever before experienced. And yet in all we are happy, for we have seen the power of God manifested; and although we can not always understand the desert way he leads and the trials we have to undergo, yet we will be content as long as we feel we are where God would have us be.”
Home Schools
By H. R. S.
“O’ER wayward childhood wouldst thou hold firm rule,
And sun thee in the light of happy faces,
Love, hope, and patience — these must be thy graces;
And in thine own heart let them first keep school.”
— Coleridge.
“Upon every Christian parent there rests the solemn obligation of giving to his children an education that will lead them to gain a knowledge of the Lord, and to become partakers of the divine nature through obedience to God’s will and way. A child’s first school should be his home.” — Mrs. E. G. White.
The following letter from one of our conference superintendents will be read with interest by all parents who appreciate the value of a Christian education:—
“Your last letter was in regard to home schools. I am interested in them, and see in them the hope of saving many of our children to this truth, who otherwise might not have church-school privileges.
“We had three in our conference last year, and of all the schools they were the most interesting, perhaps because of the great effort it took on the mothers’ part. One mother with four children — a boy of eight, a girl of six, another boy of four, and a baby of less than a year — conducted such a nice school. I wish you could have visited it. These were some of the things which she told:—
“‘When the time came for the public school to open this fall, and I knew that the law would compel me either to send my children or to provide a school, I was very much perplexed. On Sabbath we drove to a near-by church, and there a sister who conducted a family school the year before told me of her plan, and I came home determined with God’s help to keep my children under my care, and instruct them as best I could.
“‘When my neighbors learned of my plan, they thought me very foolish to take upon myself this added burden, with a public school in sight. They said, “It will take all your time. You will not have a day to yourself, where otherwise you might be relieved of their care several hours each day.” I told them I knew it would take all my time, even with careful planning, but that my children and their salvation were worth that much to me.’
“‘And now as to how she accomplished it. In the first place, they arose early in the morning, so as to have the breakfast eaten and housework done by eight o’clock. The morning session was from eight until eleven. Between eleven and one the mother prepared dinner, and finished the work incident to that. The afternoon session was from one until three thirty or four.
“‘She said that after the evening work was done, she put the children to bed, and she and her husband planned the school, the work, and the meals for the next day. Needless to say, her work was a real success, and she expects to begin again this year. In a letter which I have just received from her, she says: “Surely the dear Lord has blessed us the past year, and I know he will help me to train and teach these little ones.”
“I believe it is that confidence in God for his help, and a willingness on our part to make the effort at any cost, which count for success.
“I must mention one other point. She said her greatest perplexity was how to keep her little baby quiet enough not to disturb her. But she told the Lord each day that she must have special help, and she said that of her children this was the most quiet one, scarcely causing any disturbance at all during school hours.
“Another sister who conducted a family school writes that she is planning to continue it this year. A year ago this summer she attended the summer school. Some work which they sent from this home school to the county fair school exhibit took premiums.
“Still another who has taught her children for eight years or more sent her oldest girl to the academy, and moved with her other two to one of our churches, where she will conduct a church-school.
“Our conference has offered to these mothers the same financial help in attending summer school as to the other teachers.”
H. R. S.
The Young People's Work a Strength to the Church and the Conference
By Meade MacGuire
From the beginning of our history as a denomination, every great advance move has been in obedience to instructions received from God through the spirit of prophecy. When in earlier years our people began to sense the magnitude of the work before them, they recognized the absolute necessity of having institutions of learning where young men and women might be fitted intellectually, without danger to their spiritual welfare, for positions of responsibility in connection with this message. The early history of every branch of our work is a record of almost incredible self-sacrifice, fortitude, courage, perseverance, and above all, faith.
A Divine Mission
From the instruction given us it is quite evident that one of the essentials in the carrying out of the divine mission to which our children are called, is their organization and active service in various lines of personal effort. Thus the channel of communication with heaven is kept open, and an experience is gained that fits them for the reception of the Holy Spirit. This is the chief purpose of the young people's movement. To draw the youth into the living current from heaven, awaken in their hearts a passion for souls, and arouse them to a sense of the exalted privileges of an intensely active Christian life, develops workers whom God can use to advance this cause.
Every young man or woman who has been truly converted, and has experienced a spiritual awakening, has felt an earnest longing to impart to others the joy of salvation. To those thus awakened who are properly taught, the call of God is a reality. The tender, passionate, unfathomable love of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ, the infinite value of a human soul, and the appalling condition of earth's millions hastening on to eternal doom, rise up before them as a vision from heaven.
Power for Service
Such young men and women will be a help to any church or conference, and, thank God, we have hundreds of them. What we need is to see by faith the possibilities and certainties before our youth when organized and properly trained and directed.
The young people of a conference take up the study of our foreign missions, and soon after many of their number go to foreign fields as missionaries, and those at home are supporting others, while scores of the most earnest, consecrated ones are studying, praying, and working, with the thought of God's call to a foreign field uppermost in their minds.
Not a Menace to the Church
Many have felt that in some way the organizing of our young people would be detrimental to the church. They urge that it will be separating the young from the old for training and for service.
The principle of this separation is similar to that involved in school work. In the schools of our country, in which the parents have little or no part directly, millions of children and youth are receiving the education and training which will fit them as they grow up to take their places in the world. The school system is a source of strength to the nation. So in our own school system, the children are separated from their parents much of the time, and are under the care of teachers, who do their best to fit them, intellectually and spiritually, for work in this message. The young people's society takes them a step farther. We have reached a time in the history of the world unlike any preceding time. We ought to realize that more must be done now than has ever been done in the past. We are appalled as we look back a few years and see the thousands of children who have grown up and left our ranks. We wish they were again with us, and we desire to save those we now have. What shall we do? Shall we turn back and try again a plan that utterly failed in holding our youth, or shall we now take the instruction sent us as God's plan to remedy this evil and save our youth?
A Means of Spiritual Growth
The young people's work properly organized and conducted is a means of spiritual growth and advancement to the youth. It gives them new and higher ideals, ambitions, and purposes, also a training that will make them efficient officers in the church and conference as they grow older, by sharing the labor and responsibility at present.
It encourages and develops the backward and inexperienced, furnishes many helpful lessons in discipline and self-government, arouses an interest in, and study of, the great foreign mission fields, inspiring, finally, many devoted young people to give their lives to that work.17It gives a new zeal and interest in the study of the basic truths of the third angel's message, and emphasizes the solemn responsibility resting upon every Seventh-day Adventist youth in connection with the giving of the everlasting gospel to the world in this generation. In doing all this, it can not fail to help in the most practical and efficient manner both the churches and the conferences where the importance of this movement is recognized and its work encouraged. MEADE MACGUIRE.
Christian Education
By H. R. Salisbury
Conducted by the Department of Education of the General Conference
H. R. SALISBURY Secretary
Young People’s Work
By M. E. Kern; Matilda Erickson
Conducted by the Young People’s Missionary Volunteer Department of the General Conference
M. E. KERN — Secretary
MATILDA ERICKSON — Corresponding Secretary.
The Reading Courses in Western New York
By Mrs. H. W. Carr
THE first effort in the Reading Course work for 1911-12 was begun by Mrs. Delight Kimble, the Missionary Volunteer secretary, at our camp-meeting, in June, 1911, when a few names were enrolled. At that time the work was given to the writer. From then until the beginning of the course, October 1, in connection with other lines of conference work, some churches, Missionary Volunteer Societies, and isolated persons were visited; and those who would take the Reading Courses signed the enrolment blanks, which entitled them to membership in the Spare Minute Circle. There were many, of course, in the conference who could not be reached personally. Letters were written to these, leaflets sent fully explaining the plan of the course, and many were enrolled by this means. From the first, a splendid interest was manifested, not only by the young people, but by many parents who wanted to read the books with their children.
There were scarcely any delays in ordering books for both Seniors and Juniors, and the majority had them when the course opened. This was very gratifying. While the books are being read, different means are used to keep in touch with the readers, a word of courage being given either by correspondence, through our conference paper, or by asking conference laborers meeting our young people to emphasize the importance of the Reading Courses.
Many expressions of gratitude have been received from those who have had the privilege of reading “Price of Africa,” “Uganda’s White Man of Work,” and “Passion for Men.” The readers have received an increased zeal for missionary endeavor, and a burden for souls, with a determination to be more self-sacrificing and willing to endure hardships, if need be, for the truth’s sake.
In some of our societies, the members meet in different homes to read, and have a little program, varying each week. At the Tunesassa school all are reading together and answering the questions in both courses. In some homes all the members of the family are reading, others are reading individually. One of our Bible workers formed a little band consisting of her Sabbath-school class, and so interested the mothers that they have kept the little ones reading at home. Their answers show careful work done. Our membership now is one hundred fifty-one.
When the time came to send out the review questions, a letter went with the same to each individual. Up to this time it had been the sowing time, as it were. Then came the glad harvest, when each day the mail brought many letters containing the answers, and encouraging words that were as welcome as the smile of angels. The papers were all carefully looked over, and the fact made known at once to each one that he had passed a satisfactory test, for not one failed. The excellent work done by all was truly appreciated.
Seventy-eight answered the letter sent out with the questions. Post-cards were written to the delinquents to remind them that their answers had not been received. A number of prompt responses to these came in. In one place, a young school-teacher not of our faith became interested in the books of one of her pupils, and sent a request for the questions, saying that she would be very glad to answer them, if a list was sent to her.
So far as I have been able to ascertain, all who have read the first books are now reading the second, “Ministry of Healing” for the Senior, and “Early Writings” for the Juniors. There is only one more book in each course, “Miracles of Missions” and Carpenter’s “North America.” With the reviews on the books now being read, and the ones to follow, the course will be finished. How unwise it would be for any one to entertain for a moment the thought of giving it up now! Victory is ahead. Eternity alone will reveal the results of the Reading Courses upon our young people. Parents should be more deeply interested in it. I believe that many will look forward with expectancy to the course another year. It would be difficult to find a truer spirit of cooperation than has thus far been manifested in Western New York.
MRS. H. W. CARR.
Responsibility of Parents
By John N. Quinn
GREAT are the possibilities that lie within reach of every Seventh-day Adventist young person, but these possibilities depend entirely upon coming and remaining in personal touch with Jesus Christ, the source of all success.
The Salt River Valley in Arizona contained tremendous agricultural possibilities, yet it was valueless through lack of water. March 18, 1911, the Roosevelt Dam, at Phoenix, Ariz., was dedicated. The dam was started Sept. 20, 1906, and in the extraordinary character and number of difficulties surmounted in the construction, it ranks first among the irrigation structures on the American continent. It is of gigantic proportions, and cost $3,500,000. On the day of dedication, by touching a button, Mr. Roosevelt opened the dam, and millions of gallons of water were poured upon the Salt River Valley. Land formerly worthless became valuable; the barren land became fruitful; the desert was made to blossom as the rose.
Recognizing the possibilities possessed by the human soul, possibilities limited not by time, but bound only by eternity, God, in the gift of Jesus Christ, made an investment by which they may become a reality. The Salt River Valley farmer has it in his power to make his land fertile, or to allow it to remain desolate. The water is his to be used; a failure to use it means barrenness of soil. The touch of faith brings the soul, barren and unfruitful as it is, in contact with Jesus Christ, who pours into the thirsty heart living water,—water from that inexhaustible source, the throne of God. The Holy Spirit, in the submissive, believing soul, is a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. The greatest need of both young and old is the inflowing and infilling of the Holy Spirit.
For over twenty years I have made careful observations of families of believers as well as unbelievers, and have noted that where there is true, lasting love between husband and wife, father and mother, the children are affected by it, so that they develop a nobility of character that is pleasing to God. I have noticed far too frequently the opposite of this. Where the father is overbearing, dictatorial, and where discord pervades the home, the children almost invariably go wrong, caring but little for God or his service. “Love not manifested will die,” and in the home love must be seen. In the ideal home God’s character can be revealed as in no other place, and God is calling, calling for Christian homes, telling us of their effect upon the lives of the children.
Let these ideal homes, homes which are a foretaste of heaven, exist wherever Seventh-day Adventism exists, and from them will go forth into our institutions and into the great needy world a stream of young people in harmony with the Infinite,—young people who will be used of God in bringing men and women into touch with Jesus Christ, who is a revelation of God’s love to men.
“There is beauty all around,
When there’s love at home;
There is joy in every sound,
When there’s love at home.
“Jesus, make me wholly thine,
Then there’s love at home;
May thy sacrifice be mine,
Then there’s love at home.”
JOHN N. QUINN.
Couldn't Look Father in the Eyes
DISOBEDIENCE to parents is the first step in the downward path. A circus was in the town, and a little boy stood watching the great tent curiously. A neighbor, coming up, said:
“Hello, Johnny; going to the circus?”
“No, sir,” answered Johnny; “father don’t like ’em.”
“O, well, I’ll give you the money to go,” said the man.
“Father don’t approve of them.”
“Well, go in for once. I’ll pay for you.”
“No, sir; my father would give me the money if he thought it best; besides, I’ve got one shilling in my box, enough to go.”
“I’d go, Johnny, for once; it’s wonderful the way the horses do,” said the man. “Your father needn’t know it.”
“I can’t.”
“Now, why?” asked the man.
“’Cause,” said Johnny, “after I’d been there, I couldn’t look father in the eyes, but I can now.”— Selected.
Greatness Through Service
By E. T. Baroody
OUR need is for men who understand the great principle of Christian living, that greatness is not achieved by wealth and prosperity, but by serving others.—E. T. Baroody.
The Initiative, Referendum, and Recall
By S. B. H.
THERE is at present a wide-spread discussion concerning the merits of the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall as a curative for the ills prevailing in the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of government. What is the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall?
With no idea of referring to this question in a partizan way, we will state as best we can the meaning of these terms. We might say at the outset that there are thirteen States of the Union that have adopted the Initiative and Referendum, as follows: Oregon, Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Maine, California, New Mexico, and Arizona. Oregon was among the first, if not the first, to adopt the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall, which were incorporated into its constitution in June, 1902, by a vote of 62,024 as against 5,668; and the last State admitted into the Union, Arizona, has the doctrine of Initiative and Referendum as part of its constitutional law.
Inasmuch as Arizona is likely to have the most approved and latest phraseology of these provisions in her constitution, we shall briefly refer to Article 4 of that constitution:—
“SECTION 1.—(1) The legislative authority of the State shall be vested in a legislature, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, but the people reserve the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject such laws and amendments at the polls, independently of the legislature; and they also reserve, for use at their own option, the power to propose or reject at the polls any act, or item, section, or part of any act, of the legislature.
“(2) The first of these reserved powers is the Initiative. Under this power ten per centum of the qualified electors shall have the right to propose any measure, and fifteen per centum shall have the right to propose any amendment to the constitution.”
That is to say that while provision is made for a body of lawmakers known as a legislature, the electors reserve the power to legislate directly; and that ten per cent of the voting population of the State may propose any measure which may occur to them as being necessary for the welfare of the community, and fifteen per cent of the electorate may propose any amendment to the constitution.
“(3) The second of these reserved powers is the Referendum. Under this power the legislature or five per cent of the qualified electors may order the submission to the people at the polls of any measure, or item, section, or part of any measure, enacted by the legislature, except laws immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or for the support and maintenance of the departments of the State government and State institutions; but to allow opportunity for Referendum Petitions, no act passed by the legislature shall be operative for ninety days after the close of the legislature enacting such measure except such as require earlier operation to preserve the public peace, health, or safety, or to provide appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of State and of State institutions; provided that no such emergency measure shall be considered passed by the legislature unless it shall state in a separate section why it is necessary that it shall become immediately operative, and shall be approved by the affirmative votes of two thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature, taken by roll-call of ayes and nays, and also approved by the governor; and, should such measure be vetoed by the governor, shall not become a law unless it shall be approved by the votes of three fourths of the members elected to each house of the legislature, taken by roll-call of ayes and nays.”
That is to say, five per cent of the qualified electors may order any measure, with certain exceptions, enacted by the legislature to be submitted to the qualified voters for their approval or disapproval; ninety days must elapse before any act passed by the legislature shall be operative in order to permit the power of the Referendum to be exercised; and an emergency measure which, the legislature feels called upon to enact can not be passed by that body unless it shall state the necessity for its becoming immediately operative, and it must be approved by the affirmative votes of two thirds of the members of each house on a yea and nay vote, and approved by the governor also.
The manner of exercising the power of the Initiative is through petitions submitted and filed with the secretary of state not less than four months preceding the date of the election at which the measures so proposed are to be voted upon. These petitions are called Initiative Petitions. In the exercise of the power of the Referendum, petitions to be known as Referendum Petitions “shall be filed with the secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the legislature which shall have passed the measure to which the Referendum is applied. The filing of a Referendum Petition against any item, section, or part of any measure, shall not prevent the remainder of such measure from becoming operative.”
It will be seen that under the Initiative, petitions must be filed not less than four months preceding the date of the election at which the measures so proposed are to be voted upon; and, in the matter of the Referendum, the electors will have opportunity within ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the legislature to file a veto against any item, section, or part of any given measure enacted at that session. In case the constitution is to be amended under the Initiative, it shall be “referred to a vote of the qualified electors, and shall become law when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon and upon proclamation of the governor, and not otherwise.” The veto power of the governor under this system is referred to as follows:—
“(6) The veto power of the governor shall not extend to Initiative or Referendum measures approved by a majority of the qualified electors.”
In regard to the recall of public officers, the constitution of Arizona, which is in substance the same as those of other States operating under the same system, provides:—
“Every public officer in the State of Arizona, holding an elective office, either by election or appointment, is subject to recall from such office by the qualified electors of the electoral district from which candidates are elected to such office. Such electoral district may include the whole State. Such number of said electors as shall equal twenty-five per centum of the number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for all the candidates for the office held by such officer, may by petition, which shall be known as a Recall Petition, demand his recall.”
Under this provision, a general statement of not more than two hundred words, giving the grounds for the recall, is required to be filed with the proper State officer. This general statement must be filed by at least twenty-five per cent of the voters at the preceding general election. The official concerned may respond to this petition demanding his recall, in not more than two hundred words in justification of his course in office. A special election is then to be ordered held not less than twenty nor more than thirty days after such order, to determine whether such officer shall be recalled. In the meantime, he is to perform the duties of his office.
The Recall applies to any and all officers, from the governor down to the person holding the lowest office, and includes the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of the government. More recently, the question has been agitated of recalling the decisions of judges and courts. S. B. H.
Religious Liberty Notes
A LETTER from Elder J. F. Olmsted, of Columbus, Ohio, makes the following comment: “They are ‘killing’ one Sunday measure after another in the constitutional convention, until it looks as if the delegates do not feel inclined to meddle with this mooted subject, but leave it as it is at present. A number of the delegates on the two important committees which deal with such questions, have assured us that they were not disposed to commit themselves to the Sunday proposals, so we hope that this difficulty is over for the present.”
A BILL introduced into the Maryland house of delegates recently, is intended to be a new section, Article 27, of the Code of Public General Laws of Maryland, under the subtitle “Sabbath-Breaking.” It reads as follows: “The forfeiture, declared by the preceding section, shall not be incurred by any person who conscientiously believes that the seventh day of the week ought to be observed as a sabbath, and actually refrains from all secular business and labor on that day, provided he does not compel an apprentice or servant not of his belief to do secular work or business on a Sunday, and does not on that day disturb any other person.”19
IN the New York Legislature recently a bill was introduced (Senate 677) incorporating the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. More will be stated in reference to this measure in a later issue.
Christian Liberty
By K. C. Russell; S. B. Horton
Reports, Notes, and Comments Pertaining to the Current History of the Rights of Conscience
Conducted by the Religious Liberty Bureau
K. C. RUSSELL . . . . Secretary
S. B. HORTON . . . Corresponding Secretary
The Question of Sanitarium Rates
By L. A. H.
One Side of It
THE subject of this article brings up one of the most troublesome of all questions pertaining to sanitarium work. It is not that it is so difficult to settle upon a rate schedule and put it in the sanitarium catalogue; for that is comparatively easy, being governed more or less by a general standard, with some variations for each institution, dependent upon locality, general operative expense, etc. Neither is it so difficult to arrive at terms with the general run of patrons, as the rates are quoted as given in the printed schedule, and are subject to acceptance or rejection.
The perplexity arises particularly when it comes to dealing with persons of our own denomination, and especially when it is necessary to give what is known as charity consideration. This introduces problems which are not met in the printed rate schedule, and which must be treated more as exceptions; for, as a rule, most of our people expect some discount from the regular rates, and often the circumstances require quite exceptional consideration.
It is not easy readily to meet all the conditions required in the cases of some who desire sanitarium care, but are limited in means. The institution usually feels the urgency of doing all it ought to do by way of favorable terms, but may not be able properly to determine what that is, while the applicant may see things only from his own situation of pressing need. From the standpoint of the institution, care must be exercised to guard the interests which mean its sustenance and existence. From the inquiring patient's view, it looks like a matter of a few dollars as against his restoration to health, and perhaps the saving of his life. There are two sides to the question, and important considerations on both. Let the people be heard now, and the institution later.
Sometimes we hear something like this, Why is it that we must pay such high prices in our own sanitariums for the care of our own sick? Taking the rates as printed in the usual sanitarium catalogue, and comparing them with the income of the average Seventh-day Adventist, we can readily see that to most of our people a prolonged stay at one of our sanitariums at regular rates might mean quite a difference in the financial situation of the family. To those who are dependent upon a weekly salary or stated income, it would mean some close figuring to keep from running behind. Some might have to make great sacrifice or arrange at some cost to meet the bill.
Often a comparison is made between the sanitarium rates and the home cost of living. Since the cost of living nowadays has greatly increased everywhere, the difference is not so apparent as when one could figure the cost of raw material for board for one person at a dollar a week or less. Cost of preparation of food is not counted as very heavy, especially for only one more, when the cooking has to be done anyway. Room rent does not seem a large factor. Taking it altogether, allowing from three to five dollars a week for board and room, which is ample in many places, it seems difficult to understand why at the sanitarium the weekly rate should be ten or twelve dollars or more.
Even where material concessions are made in regular rates (of which more will be said later), the cost of sanitarium care seems prohibitive to some whose means are very limited. There are those who have no way of meeting the lowest rates that may be offered. With an understanding that this prevents all possibility of securing needed help, the situation assumes an aspect almost cruel.
It is stated, too, that more favorable rates may be had from outside hospitals and physicians, or from our own physicians in private practise, than from our sanitariums. It is no secret in some places that quite a number of our people patronize other institutions than our own. This phase of the matter is serious for various reasons, and tends only to alienate the interest and support of those who should be firm friends of our institutions, giving them help and receiving their benefit.
Many of our people reason that our sanitariums have been established by ourselves, that we operate them, and that they are more or less dependent upon us for their continued existence. Calls for help in behalf of these institutions are sometimes made to our people, as in the present “Ministry of Healing” campaign. Why, it is asked, should not our own people in return receive the benefit of help from the sanitariums? In some instances where our brethren feel this is not the case, there is a marked hesitancy to respond to any appeals for help in behalf of the sanitarium work.
Cases are cited where it is claimed that Seventh-day Adventists have gone to our sanitariums and have met with disappointment in results; have been presented with a bill, and, if not able at the time to meet it, have been asked to provide for its payment. Some of these instances are presented with very unfavorable appearance, and seem to work hardship to the one already suffering. Such cases do not seem to bespeak medical missionary spirit, or else there is a misunderstanding as to what the term means.
It has been suggested that, if our institutions of healing were truly to follow the example of the great Medical Missionary, there would be no consideration whatever of financial returns for services rendered. Christ never made any charges for healing people, it is said, neither should his followers. This is doubtless an extreme position to take on this question of rates, however glad all might be to have it so. This phase hardly enters seriously into the question.
Now, whether the matter is as such presentations would make it, or whether our people have exaggerated views, there is an evident need of arriving at a better understanding of what is right and proper both for the institution and for the individual. The position held by our brethren in general, that our sanitariums owe to the denomination at large certain concessions in terms, is not groundless. It would seem that the fact that the institutions are established by the denomination, ought to determine largely what such terms should be. If the matter needs adjustment, it should evidently receive attention to that end.
On the other hand, if the question of sanitarium rates as affecting ourselves, is on a basis of equity, and our institutions are already doing what they reasonably can in the matter of special discounts, then we should make due recognition of that fact, and act accordingly. Surely, it ought not to be that reasonable and consistent grounds should exist for such strong complaint as we hear at times, and which in some quarters does not improve. The situation in this respect is not one to give strength to all concerned. May due thought and prayer be given to this matter so that we may arrive at such an understanding on the part of institutions and people as will be to the mutual blessing of all and the accomplishment of the work that should be done by our sanitariums. In our next article we shall consider the rate question from the sanitarium side.
L. A. H.
News and Miscellany
Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press
— During the year 1911, 134,542 children were born in New York City.
— Captain Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, reached the south pole on Dec. 14-17, 1911.
— A machine has been invented which it is claimed will make possible the manufacture of paper from cotton stalks.
— More than $1,000,000 worth of raisins, 18,500,000 pounds, were exported from the United States in the last fiscal year.
— A theft of $50,000,000 from army funds in connection with the conduct of the war with Japan, was recently discovered by the Russian government.
— President Taft has selected Mahlon Pitney, chancellor of the State of New Jersey, to be associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States as successor of the late Justice Harlan.
— With “throw away your corsets” as a slogan, a movement has been started in New York among prominent suffragists to emancipate women in matters of dress as well as in politics. It is expected that the movement will become nationwide.
— The German Bureau of Statistics states that Bulgaria has 3,883 centenarians. This is more than half the number in all Europe. Rumania and Servia between them have 1,677; England has but 92, and the whole German empire but 76; while Denmark has only 2.
Medical Missionary Department
Conducted by the Medical Department of the General Conference
GEORGE THOMASON, M. D. . . . . . . . . . . Secretary
L. A. HANSEN . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Secretary
The Result From the Sale of One Book
ONE of our colporteurs in Missouri, on hearing that one who had purchased “Bible Readings for the Home Circle” from him had accepted the truth, wrote to her, and received the following reply:—
“DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST: Your kind letter at hand. I was pleased to hear from you. Yes, it is true that the book I bought from you has been a blessing to me. I found it deeply interesting, and it was the means of converting me to the observance of the Sabbath. As I was brought up a Sunday-keeper, I21have many times thought how grateful I am that the book was placed in my hands. I have spent much of my time studying it with my Bible. The book was a great blessing to my husband also. We studied it a great deal together. In his last hour, he told me that he had no fear of the future, that all was well with him. I think that the book had a large influence in his conversion. He died on the ninth day of September. I now attend the Adventist Sabbath-school, and two weeks ago heard a very interesting sermon from Elder L. W. Terry. We seldom have preaching here by an Adventist minister. This was the first Adventist sermon that I ever heard. I have often wished for an opportunity of telling you how much I thank you for putting that book, ‘Bible Readings,’ in our hands, which has been instrumental in converting me to the truth.”