How the Mission Fields Call Again for Earnest Praying and Liberal Giving
By W. A. Spicer
(Reading for Friday, December 8)
How the Mission Fields Call Again for Earnest Praying and Liberal Giving
W. A. SPICER
Tonight’s topic turns our minds to the outlook in the great mission fields, with its call to earnest prayer and liberal giving for missions. It is an appropriate Friday evening topic; for it is on Sabbath eve, we are sure, that the thoughts of the missionaries turn most often toward the believers and churches in the homelands. Our prayers shall meet theirs tonight at the throne of grace, we kneeling in the old home churches and at home firesides, they at far-sundered points in the uttermost parts of the earth. Like balm to our hearts again, is the blessed truth that,—
“Though sundered far, by faith they meet
Around one common mercy seat.”
Once in a week of prayer reading we could follow the line of missions round the earth. Now we can take only a few glimpses of the onward sweep of the message. And the message is sweeping onward. This advent movement is no experiment. It is a success, moving ever straight forward in its predicted course since the days of 1844. In it the power of God unto salvation is displayed, as the last message of the everlasting gospel is being hastened on to every nation and kindred and tongue and people.
“This is no losing cause
We fight for every day;
This is no hope forlorn
For which our prayers we pray.”
It is a living cause, glowing with light from heaven, that has won our heart’s devotion; and how we rejoice to see it bringing the same hope and blessing to other souls!
A year ago we rejoiced in the statistical secretary’s report of 15,000 persons —lacking but one—baptized during the year 1914. This time that shining column of figures runs to over 17,200, and the reports are incomplete on account of the war. This, remember, is for 1915, which was wholly a year of war over a vast portion of the field of our work. Think of it! this army of new believers coming into the ranks last year to join in lifting the voice of the message to a yet louder cry! Their number is more than was our entire membership in 1882. Well may we pray and labor for yet greater things, as the Lord makes bare his arm for the finishing of the work.
What a story these figures tell! The addition of more than one thousand every quarter in Europe, amid the desolating clash of earthly powers—how it speaks of the presence of the loving Shepherd close beside the brethren and sisters who have tried to seek and to save! The figures tell of converts coming in literally by the hundreds in the heathen Orient, and of hundreds won from the clinging grasp of Catholic superstition in the South American and other Latin fields. And more than nine thousand of these souls new-born into the kingdom found the way of life in the North American Division, the oldest field in the preaching of the message. Everywhere it is the same—souls are won as the message of heaven is delivered in this decisive hour.
Just in passing, turn the thought from the large number to each single one of these who have newly found the way. They have come, one by one, every one beloved of God, every one sought for by the loving Saviour; and over every one of these 17,000 there was joy among the angels in heaven as the old life was buried and the new life begun. And to each one who finds the Saviour, as the good hymn says, the blessedness is something that tongue can never fully tell:—
“But what to those who find? Ah! this
Nor tongue nor pen can show:
The love of Jesus,—what it is,
None but his loved ones know.”
While we lift thankful hearts in prayer for these souls redeemed, God forbid that there should be one among us, old or young, this Sabbath eve, who has not found the love of Jesus. While we talk of his power to save in far mission fields, may every one among ourselves, as this week of prayer is passing by, know the joy of ceasing the struggle, and giving a sinful heart to the Saviour who pleads for it so earnestly. We do not have to beg him to be gracious. He is begging us just to let him forgive and save.
During this year 1916, now closing, the same soul-winning work has been going forward. The sounds of the closing harvest hour are heard over the whitening fields. “I wish we had double the number of native workers to put into the field,” wrote Elder L. V. Finster, from the Philippines; and with but seven months of the year behind him, he added: “I am glad to tell you that thus far this year we have baptized three hundred people. There are many, many calls that we are not able to answer for lack of workers.”20
There is Nigeria, on the west coast of Africa—a field so new to us that really we have thought of Elder D. C. Babcock as only just getting his mission home up and a few souls gathered out as a beginning. But here is the message that our brother sent us at the time of the recent British Union Conference:—
“There are now fully five hundred believers in Nigeria, eighty-eight of these are baptized, and probably fifty to seventy-five more will soon follow. We can see and know that we are in the time of the ‘loud cry.’ We witness the mighty movings of God’s unbounded power, and trials and perplexities sink into oblivion.”
This is a word unexpected and surprising from that new field. Truly the Lord is hastening the ripening of the harvest. We hear of it everywhere. And it brings to our ears such calls for consecrated workers and consecrated money as we never have heard before. In response to these calls there will have gone out this year, by the time of the week of prayer, over one hundred and twenty missionaries. This great enlargement has been made possible only because of the faithful gifts of the believers and the consecration of the workers, leading them to offer themselves for service. Again, conferences and churches and family circles have bidden the recruits go forward. It is no light thing that adds these forces year by year. It is the hope of us all—the blessed hope—that leads our comrades out from their fatherland into unknown regions beyond.
“God guide them, then, where’er they go.
The outward bound, heroic band,
And fill their sails with airs that blow
Off heaven’s eternal fatherland.”
But still the calls come insistently for yet more help. Thank God it is so. It seems that the Lord is rapidly enlarging the work. He tells us to pray for yet more laborers, and that means prayer for yet larger gifts to missions.
We can list but a few of these calls, illustrative of the Macedonian cry from every quarter. Some of the plaintive cries from the byways sound month after month. The Indians of the upper Guiana wilds still send word now and then that they are waiting. This year the call from the Mosquito Indians of Nicaragua is repeated. Our first Indian convert there started to translate something on the Sabbath truth into their tongue. He began with a Sabbath hymn, and then died. The people are still singing in their Indian tongue,—
“Thy holy Sabbath, Lord,
Thy people hail with joy,”
and are waiting for us to send a missionary.
From the East Indies a brother, a native of the Celebes Islands, pleads for his people. He has sold our books among them, and they wanted to know where the missionary of this religion was. “I told them,” he says, “that these books were the substitute for the minister.” But they could not understand how it was the living preacher did not come. Our brother says they are “really thirsting,” and he adds:—
“Remember, honored brethren, the millions of people of the Celebes who are in darkness. I feel that the message of Revelation 14 has not yet come to all nations and languages. We pray to God and ask that he will send a worker to Menado, to the people who are really hungering after truth.”
How forcefully another call comes in this plea from a far part of China, addressed some little time ago to “the honorable pastors and evangelists” in Honan. Those who appealed had met a colporteur and were convinced of the Sabbath truth. They said:—
“Seeing there is this difference in your church, there must also be other important doctrines of which we are unaware. Furthermore, we know that your teaching of the Bible is very deep, so much so that one can never finish learning the truths of the Bible as brought out by your honorable church. When we heard this great message of truth, we said in our hearts that this was almost like having Christ on the earth once more to teach us. We would be very willing to go to — to learn these important truths. What a shame it is that we live so far away, and we have not the means to travel so far! So we beseech all the honorable pastors and evangelists to pray earnestly for us, and we are praying that the Lord will open the way for us to meet each other. As soon as you receive this letter, please send us an answer as soon as possible, and teach us about your doctrines.”
AMONG THE FIRST FRUITS ON THE ISLAND OF BORNEO
From South Africa, last February, came the plea, so reasonably and fully stated in a resolution that we have not time to read it here, for just two more missionaries for the native missions, to hold one outpost, it might be, or to release some stricken worker so that he might get a brief furlough in the healthful Cape region. Hard as it was, the Mission Board had to say, Wait till we see how the mission funds come in toward the end of the year. God grant that the gifts may come flowing in to add these two to that hard-pressed little force in Africa.
Up in the heights of the Andes, by Lake Titicaca, the wonderful work among the Indians is still growing and spreading. Recently, as Elder F. A. Stahl was establishing a school in a new place, the most murderous attack yet made upon our work there nearly cost him his life at the hands of furious priests and their followers. But God delivered; and now the brethren report the interest greater than ever, and the openings fairly bewildering. In a recent letter Brother Stahl writes:—
“We are just swamped with calls. Many Indians in new places are turning to the Lord. I am getting afraid to visit new places, as I find such an interest, and we have not workers to supply. We are putting out native workers, but in most of these places we need a good man from abroad. We hope and pray that soon others will be on the ground. I know that it must be difficult to provide means and workers, but we cannot help it. We are compelled to plead and plead. Please do not become tired or impatient with us. We have asked for seven workers. It is not all we need, but we do need every one of these at once. Please send them to help us win this part of the great field for God. What is the use of God’s opening too many places if we cannot hold them for him?”
There we have it, the cry from a dark region where this message kindled the first ray of gospel light that ever shone in, and where hundreds upon hundreds are begging to be taught. Surely God must have the men and the means among us to meet the calls of his own wonder-working providences. In closing, here is one more item from Peru, relating to a region near the coast. In making a plea for more help, Elder E. L. Maxwell writes:—
“The brethren at the place where Elder W. R. Pohle preached in the Catholic church three years ago, have never been visited since. They are holding faithful, some having spent six months in prison for their faith.”
The story told of this place three years ago is this: A colporteur, Brother Salazar, had a controversy with a priest in the town square. Hundreds heard the disputation and called for a preacher. Elder Maxwell at that time reported:—
“When Brethren W. R. Pohle and R. B. Stauffer reached this place, they found the people hungry for the message, and some of them were already keeping the Sabbath as best they could. As there was no place large enough to hold the crowd of people that desired to hear the word preached, the city authorities proposed to use the Catholic church, which they said they had built and therefore owned. A curtain was placed before the altar, and meetings were held there every night for nearly a week. As a result of the work done, a Sabbath school was organized, with the leading officials of the town as officers, and with21a membership of eighteen men, besides women and children. Three public-school teachers are keeping the Sabbath, and the only saloon keeper in the town agreed to close out his business and quit the sale of liquor. A unanimous vote of the people approved this action of his.”
How pitiful that they have been left to themselves, with no shepherding, ever since. Because of these things the brethren plead for just a few more workers.
So it would be found over the whole wide earth if we had time to call the roll of our mission fields. Truly, “they call us to deliver.” Let us pray for the workers and the work; and let us give as Christ would have us in answer to these calls in tomorrow’s week of prayer offering.
It is a wonderful picture that is spread before us week by week by the reports from the mission fields. Marvelous stories are told us. It is a continuation of the book of Acts. It is a moving panorama of the closing work of God that is passing before our eyes. May he help us to do our duty now, and bless us that we may be the blessing that he means his children to be to all the world in this last hour.
“God, even our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
And all the ends of the earth shall fear him.” Ps. 67:6, 7.
The Lord's Prayer
Children's Lesson — No. 6
The Lord's Prayer
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Memory Verse: “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” Luke 6: 37.
Every sin is a debt to God,—a debt that can never be paid; it must be forgiven.
Was forgiven ten thousand talents, $20,000,000Refused to forgive a hundred pence, $17Was delivered to the tormentors
The rabbis taught, “Forgive a first offense, forgive a second, a third, but punish a fourth.”
Peter’s question. Verses 21, 22.
“Whatever the offense, a forgiving spirit should be cherished; never the spirit of hate or revenge. Forgiving others is the test of our fitness to receive forgiveness from God. “Take care how you offend me, for I never forgive,” said a man to John Wesley. “Then,” said Mr. Wesley, “I hope you never sin.”
Trials, obstacles, persecutions, hardships, are permitted, to develop character.
Our own hearts incline to do evil. Verse 14.
Satan tempts and accuses. Zech. 3: 1, 2, represents the attitude of Satan toward every soul drawn toward Christ.
In offering this prayer, we surrender ourselves to the Lord's guidance, and ask him to lead us in safe paths, and to give us victory over temptation. If we venture into forbidden places, we have no assurance of protection from Satan's power.
He who prays this prayer may depend upon the promise in 1 Cor. 10: 13.
Mention a few temptations “common to man.” (Encourage children to answer from experience.)
“But deliver us from the evil one.” Matt. 6: 13, R. V.
“Christ will never abandon the soul for whom he has died. The soul may leave him, and be overwhelmed with temptation; but Christ can never turn from one for whom he has paid the ransom of his own life. Could our spiritual vision be quickened, we should see souls bowed under oppression and burdened with grief, pressed as a cart beneath sheaves, and ready to die in discouragement. We should also see angels flying swiftly to aid these tempted ones, who are standing as on the brink of a precipice. The angels from heaven force back the hosts of evil that encompass these souls, and guide them to plant their feet on the sure foundation. The battles waging between the two armies are as real as those fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of the spiritual conflict eternal destinies depend.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in “Mount of Blessing,” pp. 158, 159.
A Call to Full Surrender and Consecration for the Finishing of the Gospel Work
By A. G. DANIELLS
(Reading for Sabbath, December 9)
A Call to Full Surrender and Consecration for the Finishing of the Gospel Work
A. G. DANIELLS
We have surely come to a very serious and critical time. This is the view of thoughtful, sober-minded men among all classes. President Wilson says: “We are witnessing a cataclysm, and God only knows what the issue will be.” Ex-President Taft says: “The future looks dark indeed.” A writer in Harper’s Weekly says: “The most critical moment in the world’s history is upon us. . . . Events are transpiring to stun the stoutest mind. We are at time’s meridian. . . . Men of soberness are hollow-eyed with the thought of it.” Another writer says: “A cool, relentless analysis of the situation discloses little ground for hopeful anticipation. On the contrary, the prospect is one of the blackest humanity has ever faced. Such is the appalling outlook if we continue on the national line.”
The situation described by these writers seems very much like the situation Jesus said would exist just before his return. He declared that there would be “upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21: 25, 26.
The Saviour not only foretold these serious conditions that would come upon the human family, but gave instructions regarding their meaning. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. . . . When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Luke 21: 28-31.
If the dark, appalling situation the world now faces is that which Jesus said would precede his coming, surely his professed followers should take it very seriously to heart. “It is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly, as in the day. . . . Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Rom. 13: 11-14, R. V.
Writing of this same time and to the same people, the apostle Peter says: “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” 2 Peter 3: 11, 12, margin, R. V.
Thus the Scriptures abound with information regarding the time to which we have come, the conditions that surround us, and the way the Lord’s people should live and serve at this time. First, every professed Christian should be thoroughly awake to the serious meaning of the situation. We should be stirred and aroused by what is taking place. Our thoughts and feelings should be quickened, our activities should be stimulated, and our pace hastened. This hour, with all its great meaning, should fill us with the greatest devotion and zeal the church of Christ has ever known.
All this may come to us in personal experience if we truly want it. But to obtain this awakened, aroused, truly zealous life for the things of the kingdom, we must turn to the Lord with the whole heart. We must proclaim him Lord and Master. We must surrender wholly to his will and way. We must consecrate all to him and to his service. Our bodies, our minds, our time, and our means must be laid upon the altar for the Lord to use where and when he sees best.
This will open the door of the heart to the Saviour. When that door is thrown wide open, he will take his rightful place on the throne of the heart. Once there, he will live his righteous, glorious, triumphant life in our flesh. A living Christ on the throne of the heart means a victorious life. No one can fail or fall while Christ abides within. One may go far astray while possessing a large, clear conception of doctrinal truths. One may go down to ruin while holding a high official position in the church. It is possible to miss the way and be lost while carrying the Bible in the hand and pointing out the way to others. But no one can possibly go down while Jesus is permitted to live in the heart. His presence is an absolute safeguard against falling. And he ever stands at the door, knocking for entrance. O then let him in!
Of course we know that it is by his divine representative, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus dwells in the hearts of his followers. While living here on earth with his disciples, Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.” And later, when about to depart, he said, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.”
Thus the Holy Spirit was to take Christ’s place in the church on earth. This divine Spirit was to be the Saviour’s successor and representative in the world, to do even more for men than Christ would have done had he remained here. This wonderful and gracious provision for the church is very clearly presented22by the Spirit of prophecy as follows:—
“Before offering himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the most essential and complete gift to bestow upon his followers, a gift that would bring within their reach the boundless resources of grace. ‘I will pray the Father,’ he said, ‘and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.’”
“The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that he could solicit from his Father for the exaltation of his people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. . . .
“Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer.”
“This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 668, 669, 671, 672.
The one thing which the church of Christ needs today more than all else is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in full measure. Its vitalizing power will impart new life to its possessor. It will quicken the conscience, transform the character, illuminate the mind, and fill the heart with the love of God. And this will give the preparation for that high and holy service which it is God’s purpose that his church shall render in behalf of lost souls. . . . Saved to serve is the divine plan. It is thus that the church is “the light of the world.”
It is the Holy Spirit that enables Christ’s followers to render this effectual service. No other phase of the Spirit’s ministry in the church is made so prominent in the Word as this. In his parting instruction to the church, Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses.”
Nothing could be plainer than that a most essential requisite to a Spirit-filled church is the consecration by the church of its time, talents, and means to the service of God for the redemption of a lost world. It is idle for the church to pray to be filled with the Spirit if she declines, or even neglects, to make this consecration. The Spirit is Christ’s invisible ambassador to this world, to finish his work. The church is the Spirit’s visible medium through which he is to bear witness for Christ to all men, to win them to him.
The following quotation from the Spirit of prophecy helps us to understand what it means to the church in accomplishing this work throughout the world:—
“Our work in foreign fields must constantly broaden. Our efforts in fields already entered must enlarge. As new fields open for gospel effort, the church must act quickly in sending missionaries to enter these fields. Special efforts must be made while the angels are holding the four winds. All can now do something. Those who cannot be spared from the home field, or who are not fitted to go abroad, can give of their means; and all can pray that the Lord of the harvest shall raise up laborers. Pray, brethren, pray earnestly, that the hearts of some who are doing very little, and of others who have as yet done nothing, may be opened, and that the means which God has intrusted to them may be used wisely in sustaining his cause at home and abroad, to the glory of his name.”
“The Lord is soon to come, and before his advent the message of warning is to be proclaimed to all nations, tongues, and peoples. While God’s cause is calling for laborers and means to carry the gospel to lands lying in darkness, what are those doing who are living under the full light of gospel truth? There are some who feel no burden for souls. They profess to believe that the end of all things is at hand, but covetousness has blinded their eyes to the needs of the cause of God. The means that he has placed in their hands to be used to his glory, they are tying up in houses and lands, while the proclamation of the truth that God has intrusted to them to be given to the world, is delayed by a lack of means. Every believer is to do his utmost to advance the cause, and is then in faith to ask God to do what man cannot do.”
“We have no reason for discouragement regarding the work in the regions beyond. Some of the fields to which we were sending means a few years ago, are now entirely self-supporting. The work begun in weakness will be carried on to a glorious termination. The truth will go to all nations, tongues, and peoples, and that speedily.”—Review and Herald, April 14, 1910.
The hour has come for the church to give its Lord’s last warning and gracious invitation to the world. And it must now be given quickly. The time is short, the final crisis has come, the message is urgent, and there must be no delay. The messengers must be awake, active, and intense. They must give the message in a manner that will quickly arrest the attention of the whole world. This can be done, for God has ways and means, methods and processes, of working that we little appreciate, by which he can arouse the whole world in a very short time.
Is it not evident that many of the inventions of these last days are designed by the Lord to be used in giving this invitation speedily to the world? The railway and steamship lines have not been brought into use simply to enrich stockholders, and to transport pleasure seekers. They are to carry God’s messengers and literature quickly to every part of the world. The printing press has not been perfected merely for financial gain, or for the publication of political and commercial intelligence. This wonderful invention is to be used in every part of the world in sounding the invitation to the supper of the Lamb. The electric telegraph, cable, and telephone lines have not been wrapped around the world simply for the rapid transit of war intelligence or the condition of the stock exchange.
All these facilities are to serve a higher purpose than the world recognizes. Every one of them is a factor for God’s use. He will yet lay his hand upon all of them, and use them to great advantage and with great power in closing up his work. Nor will it take the Lord long to do this when his people are ready. God can work today just as he did with Peter and John at the temple, when that poor lame man was healed. Let the Lord stretch forth his hand to work through his people with signs and wonders and mighty power, and it will not take long, with the facilities prepared, to arrest the attention of the whole world. As soon as God’s people are ready, the Lord will make use of all these facilities for extending the last invitation to a perishing world. The latter rain will fall in copious showers, the loud cry will be heard, and the earth will be lightened with the glory of God.
The Lord has made the preparation; he has sent out the invitation; he has told us where to go; he has given us the message to proclaim; and he has supplied the power. That is his part. Our part is to make a full surrender and consecration of our lives in loving service and earnest labor.
The Lord’s Prayer
Children’s Lesson — No. 8
The Lord’s Prayer
“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
Memory Verse: “Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Ps. 90: 2.
The first word of the last sentence of the prayer connects it with all that has gone before. “For” has the meaning of “because.”
Why should God’s name be hallowed? why should his kingdom come? why should his will be done? why should we ask him for daily bread, for forgiveness of sin, for deliverance from evil? — Because his “is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.”
“Amen” used in prayer or in worship means, “So may it be.”
Questions Concerning Cost
By E. R. PALMER
DURING the past few months, since the cost of printing materials has brought a serious crisis in our publishing work, many of our workers have kindly written us suggestions as to the best means of reducing the cost of both books and periodicals. For the benefit of all who take an interest in such matters, I will reply through the REVIEW to several of the most common questions and suggestions on this point.
1. Could not a cheaper quality of paper be used in our subscription books?
This would be impractical in nearly every case. Our subscription books are printed from plates made at great expense. The illustrations are printed from fine screen engravings which would not print well on a cheaper quality of paper.
Besides, there is not very much difference between the cost of cheap paper used in periodicals and the better-finished paper used in printing illustrated books. Usually the difference is less than one cent a pound between the machine-finished paper, such as is used in the printing of the Present Truth Series, and the heavy book paper used in “Bible Readings for the Home Circle” or “The Desire of Ages.”
At the present time we are paying for paper for the Present Truth Series just double what we have previously paid for our best book paper.
2. Could not a cheaper quality of leather be used for binding subscription books?
This is quite possible. It is a good, practical suggestion. It has become very doubtful whether we can obtain a sufficient supply of morocco for binding our books during the coming year. The chief sources of the supply of morocco have been cut off by the war. Not only is the supply indefinite, but prices also have greatly advanced.
There are other qualities of leather, however, produced here in the United States, which can be obtained at only a small advance in price. It may be possible to make an arrangement for binding in cheaper leather, so that the leather problem can in this way be met.
It would still be necessary to advance the price on leather books in order to meet the paper problem.
3. Could not the periodicals be cut down in size, and thus relieve the necessity of increasing the subscription price?
This was our plan at first, and indeed this will be done in several cases. But the more the question was studied, the less feasible this plan seemed to be. For example, take the REVIEW. It now has twenty-four pages. When the importance of the REVIEW was considered, it seemed that its mission would be greatly crippled if its size were cut from twenty-four to sixteen pages. Even if the size of the REVIEW had been reduced one third, this would have given only partial relief, for the price of paper has increased 125 per cent.
Then again, the editorial and other general expenses would remain the same. It was found, therefore, that an increase of twenty-five cents a year in the subscription price would do more toward meeting the increased cost, than reducing the size of the paper one third. It was therefore unanimously agreed by our leading men representing the whole field, that it would be better to make this small increase than to reduce the size of the REVIEW.
The same conclusion was reached concerning several other papers, such as the Sabbath School Worker, which have an important mission, and whose work must not be crippled at this important time.
E. R. PALMER.
Increased Prices of Publications
By E. R. Palmer
IN several previous articles we have attempted to keep our brethren and sisters informed concerning the increases in the cost of materials entering into the production of our denominational literature. As prices have continued to advance rapidly, and as no relief is in sight, it has seemed evident for some time that in the near future it would be necessary to increase the prices of our publications.
We have wished to avoid this if possible. The Lord has helped us in many ways in our efforts to get job lots of supplies at reduced prices. The great war has now been in progress more than two years, and the situation has been continually growing worse; but we have not been forced until now to take any important steps in this matter. Finally a situation has developed which requires definite action. The whole situation was given careful study at the recent autumn council by members of the Publishing Department, and by the General Conference and North American Division Conference Committees. The situation, briefly stated, as presented to the autumn council, is as follows:—
The cost of paper, which is our chief item of expense, has more than doubled. All other items entering into the manufacture of books and periodicals have also increased from ten to one hundred per cent in price. The effect of this increase upon our three leading publishing houses means an increase in the cost of production during the coming year as follows:—
INCREASEDCOST
Review and Herald...........$50,000
Pacific Press................ 50,000
Southern Publishing Association 30,000
The above calculations are figured upon conditions prevailing on October 1. Since then prices have continued to go up, and no one can tell what the end may be. If the prices of materials should not advance above present quotations, and if we should leave the subscription prices of our periodicals as in the past, the losses on Review and Herald periodicals for the year 1917 would be as follows:—
Review .................... $4,248.44
Present Truth Series ........ 2,705.41
Youth’s Instructor .......... 4,094.10
Temperance Instructor ....... 2,321.18
Sabbath School Worker ....... 1,044.74
Educator ...................... 618.06
Gazette ....................... 533.16
Life and Health ............. 5,446.47
Liberty ........................ 185.08
Total ...................... $21,106.64
Periodicals issued by our other publishing houses would be affected approximately the same as ours.
When all these facts had been placed before our leading brethren in council, they decided that the only proper thing to do under the circumstances was to raise the prices of our books and periodicals.
No attempt was made to cover the entire loss. The Lord has blessed our publishing houses the past few years. Our work during the most prosperous years has shown a profit of about seven per cent on the full overturn of business. There is every reason to believe that this work will continue to prosper. It seemed only right, therefore, that as much as possible of the earnings of the publishing houses should be applied to meet a portion of this increased cost of materials, and that the remainder should be met by an increase in retail prices.
In the case of the Review and Herald office, for example, the figures above show that the increased cost of materials will be at least $50,000. It is estimated that the increases in prices agreed upon should make up from $20,000 to $25,000 of this amount. The rest must be met, if possible, from the earnings of the institution.
The increase agreed upon for subscription books is approximately 50 cents a copy. On tracts and other lines of literature the increase proposed is very slight. On periodicals the increase is from 10 to 25 cents on each subscription, and 1 cent a copy on magazines. In some cases it has been necessary to cut down the number of pages, but in most instances it seemed inadvisable to do this. In the near future we will issue a complete price list for 1917.
The heads of our departments will do everything in their power to give information and extend help to all our people who are affected by these changes. Our hearts are with you in this matter. We regret very keenly the necessity of taking this step, but it was a great satisfaction to us that the autumn council, made up of our leading men, was in perfect accord, and voted unanimously on this question after all the facts in the situation had been placed before them. We are not depressed at all by these conditions. The work is the Lord’s, and he will care for his own. We have much to be thankful for, and the rapid progress of the third angel’s message under trying conditions should fill our hearts with confidence and joy.
REVIEW AND HERALD PUB. ASSN.,
E. R. Palmer, Manager.
