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Review and Herald, Vol. 87, No. 4.

He Chose the Path for Thee
Earlier text: Three Weeks in Western New York

The Morning Watch Calendar

By M. E.

SINCE November the little Morning Watch Calendars have been scattering over the world. More than a thousand hurried across to Australia; some went to Europe, and a few to other countries. Two hundred of them have just crossed the Atlantic for Germany. They have fairly been swarming through the United States and Canada, and orders are still coming in. It is late, but far better begin now than wait until next year. Some one has truly said that we must resolutely plan for a little time alone with Jesus every day.
The little Morning Watch Calendar has helped many to form the habit of regular personal devotion, and we are sorry to believe that there are still some young people who have not provided themselves with this little daily reminder; but we trust that such will supply themselves at once. A devoted Japanese student, when asked the secret of his success in the Christian life, said, “The Morning Watch and Phil. 4:8.” One writes to a friend: “I think those little calendars are so nice. We want some to send to our friends. Where can we get them?” Another says: “The calendar came yesterday. I am very happy to have it. What a help it will be to me the whole year through! I have hung it on a hook at the head of my bed so I can use it every morning before rising.”
If you do not already have a calendar of your own, or if you know of some friend who should have this little daily reminder, enclose five cents in a letter to your conference Missionary Volunteer secretary or to the Missionary Volunteer Department, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C., and get a calendar by return mail. M. E.

Bible Reading on Religious Liberty

1. WHAT is an accompaniment of the Holy Spirit? 2 Cor. 3:17.
2. Where liberty does not prevail, of what are we sure?—The absence of the Holy Spirit.
3. Is the Word of God an expression of the Holy Spirit? John 6:63.
4. Cite examples from history, as illustrated in the experiences of Germany, England, and the United States, showing how religious liberty prevailed where the principles of the Bible were taught and maintained.
4. Cite examples from history showing how religious liberty prevailed where the principles of the Bible were taught and maintained. Germany, England, and the United States furnish such examples.
6. What does Christ teach will make man free? John 8:32.
7. What is the truth? John 17:17.
8. From these facts, how are the principles of true liberty to be taught?—From the Word and law of God.
9. By what kind of law are men to be judged?—The law of liberty. James 2:12.
10. Then, in teaching the principles of religious liberty, are we not teaching the law of God?
11. Is there existing to-day a great departure from the Bible and the law of God? “Great Controversy,” page 587.
12. When men depart from the Word of God, what is the logical result?—A departure from the principles of liberty. “Great Controversy,” page 584.
13. What message is borne by one endowed with the Holy Spirit? Luke 4:18.
14. What power do men seek when they depart from the Holy Spirit and the Word of God?—The power of force or of the state.

The Youth's Instructor

The Youth's Instructor has a suitable name; for it expresses the general character of the paper, and it not only is what its name implies, but, as demonstrated by the following quotation from a letter, it is also an appreciated instructor of adults and the aged: "The Youth's Instructor is loved by all of our Sabbath-school members. The older members seem to appreciate it as much as the younger ones do."

The Sabbath School Worker

THE Sabbath School Worker is small in size and cheap in price, but is large in service and rich in value. Nearly every one, upon renewing his subscription, voluntarily speaks in its praise. The following is a fair sample of the many good words we receive: “We are indeed glad when the time comes for the Worker to arrive. We appreciate it, and do not see how we can get along without it. The Worker is really a great help in our work.”

Christian Liberty

By K. C. Russell; W. A. Colcord

Reports, Notes, and Comments Pertaining to the Current History of the Rights of Conscience
Conducted by the Religious Liberty Bureau
K. C. RUSSELL                                                         Secretary
W. A. COLCORD                                     (Corresponding Secretary

Religious Liberty Day Program

Sabbath, Feb. 5, 1910

Singing: “Hymns and Tunes,” 1247; “Christ in Song” (new edition), 684.
Prayer.
Singing: “Hymns and Tunes,” 1245; “Christ in Song,” 683.
Bible Reading on Religious Liberty.
Reading on Religious Liberty.
Receiving the Offering.
Prayer for God’s blessing on offerings.
Singing: “Hymns and Tunes,” 1240; “Christ in Song,” 508.

A Great Temperance Convention

By K. C. K.

A NOTABLE gathering of distinguished temperance workers from all parts of the country occurred in Washington, D. C., from the twelfth to the seventeenth of last month.
This meeting was held under the auspices of the International Reform Bureau, of which the Rev. Dr. W. F. Crafts is the head.
Among the prominent speakers who took part in the discussions were John G. Wooley, Ex-Senator H. W. Blair, who introduced the famous Sunday bill twenty-one years ago, Pres. Samuel Dickie, Clinton N. Howard, Rev. Dr. C. H. Mead, and others.
Other matters besides the liquor traffic were discussed; viz., race-track gambling, the white slave traffic, the opium habit, etc., all coming in for consideration as to the best methods of dealing with them.
Discussions were interesting and instructive, and Seventh-day Adventists could, in the main, feel in perfect accord with the things said and with the methods suggested.
On the last day of the conclave the question of Sunday legislation was the theme. Rev. G. L. Tufts, Pacific Coast secretary of the International Reform Bureau, spoke in part as follows:—
“This movement [Sunday legislation] is on in our country. It began in this city twenty-one years ago when a hearing was held on the Blair Sunday Rest bill. This encouraged the foes of the sabbath to continue their warfare down to the present time. And so at the New York State legislature twenty-one bills for the repealing or the weakening of the Sunday law of that State were introduced at the last session; and so seven or eight other States of our Union. And to-day there is a movement going over our country by the foes of the sabbath to destroy our Sunday laws. These foes are in various forms. They came up in our legislature in California when we had our bill introduced at the last session for a better observance of Sunday, in three forms: one was wholly within the church, the next was without the church, and the next was partly within the church and partly out of the church. The first, which was in the church, was the Seventh-day Adventists. They sent their strongest ministers to represent that church, lobbying against the bill. They got that inspiration twenty-one years ago in this city. And now they have their plant here, near by this city, from which they are sending out literature all over our country, against our Sunday laws, and trying to break them down. We found that was true in our fight in the State of California; for at the hearing before the committee having this bill in charge, in answer to a question asked those ministers and delegates of that church, whether they would oppose a law that applied simply to the closing of saloons on Sunday, and nothing else, they answered in the affirmative. And so I could give another State in that line.”
“And there was another foe wholly without the church, the liquor element. And so it seems to be rather inconsistent to see these ministers of the gospel united with the royal arch-enemy in trying to secure the rejection of that bill.”
Dr. D. H. Kress, of the Washington Sanitarium, replied to Dr. Tufts in the following words:—
“I wish to say I am in favor of prohibition. Reference was made to Seventh-day Adventists which would lead one to think they do not favor prohibition. I am a Seventh-day Adventist. Now, I think that a wrong impression may have been conveyed, not intentionally; but since we can not read each other's motive, misunderstandings sometimes arise. Some time ago an intoxicated man entered a street-car. He fell asleep, and at the end of the line the conductor found it necessary to put the man off the car. A scuffle took place, and the conductor was thrown and killed. The question arose, Who killed the conductor? It was not the intoxicated man, nor was it the liquor seller; it was the people who licensed the saloon and granted the right to the saloon-keeper to sell the drink. It does not matter whether the drink is sold on Sunday or upon some other day of the week; the people who legalize the liquor traffic are responsible for the crimes committed by those who become intoxicated.”
“I favor total prohibition, and I am certain I voice the sentiment of every member of our church when I say that he favors total prohibition. The prisons are filled with murderers and robbers in spite of the fact that we have laws prohibiting murder. Suppose we should say we can not have laws which totally prohibit murder: let us have laws framed that will prohibit murder on Sunday, or on the Fourth of July, or after ten o'clock at night. That would weaken the law. We recognize that the sale of intoxicating liquors makes criminals. In fact, the sale of liquor itself is an unjustifiable wrong. If this is so, then we ought to deal with this traffic as we do with murder and with theft—we should strike for prohibition on every day of the week. If this is done, and this question of Sunday legislation laid aside, every Seventh-day Adventist will stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are working for the enforcement of laws prohibiting the sale of drink.
“It seems to me that it would weaken the cause of prohibition, and that it would be wrong, to suppress drink merely upon Sunday; for we would thereby be legalizing this evil on the other days. Let us ask for total prohibition and the closing of saloons on all days. In that Seventh-day Adventists can heartily cooperate. I am anxious that this shall be brought about, so that together we may strike heavy blows at this traffic.”
Dr. Crafts followed Dr. Kress, speaking in a very complimentary way of the Seventh-day Adventists. He said we stood for eleven twelfths of all the reforms his bureau was working to obtain. He said that the demand for the closing of the saloon on Sunday was not because Sunday was a religious day, but because it was a day of leisure. This argument of Mr. Crafts does not appear to be in harmony with the following statement made by him on a previous occasion: “If you take the religion out of the day, you take the rest out of it.” Again, it should be remembered that the advocates of Sunday legislation who have been instrumental in securing a day of enforced idleness on Sunday are responsible for this “leisure” that makes the Sunday saloon so objectionable. As Dr. Kress said, Seventh-day Adventists desire the saloon closed on Sunday, and all other days of the week. K. C. K.

Hartford’s Sunday-Closing Fight

HARTFORD, Conn., is still struggling with its Sunday-closing fight. From being at first an effort to close only the moving-picture shows, its enemies seem to have forced other issues into it, so that now orders have been issued closing all places of amusement on Sundays.

The Sunday Theater

By W. A. C.

An anxious mother out West, speaking of Sunday theaters, inquires, “Why will the officials of Ogden make it so hard for us mothers to govern our boys and girls? I don’t want to be too stern with Nellie, but I know the Sunday theater is a step in the wrong direction. O, what can we mothers do with all these pitfalls waiting for the feet of our children?”
While this mother, and every other mother similarly situated, is to be sympathized with in her responsibility to bring up her boys and girls aright, she should go deeper into this matter. Not merely is the Sunday theater a step in the wrong direction, but theatergoing on any day and every day of the week. If Christian parents wish to bring up their children to be Christians, they must teach them to avoid the theater and all other questionable amusements altogether. Why should they ask the civil authorities to forbid to all the people, whether Christians or not, that which they are loath to forbid their own children? Abraham was commended and trusted by God because God knew that he would “command his children and his household after him.” If theaters, like the saloon, are of such a character that they should be closed on Sunday, they should be closed every day.
W. A. C.

Holding the Sunday-Law Movement in Check

By W. A. C.

FROM present indications, the movement for Sunday legislation is onward in Congress. Friday, January 14, the Senate Committee of the District of Columbia decided to report favorably again upon the Johnston District Sunday bill, and the report was presented in the Senate the following Monday, January 17. It will be recalled that this measure was reported favorably by this same committee May 1, 1908, during the Sixtieth Congress, and passed the Senate May 15 of that year, but died in committee in the House.
The meeting on the fourteenth instant was the first meeting of the Senate District Committee held this present session, and the report respecting the Sunday bill appears to have been among the first things considered in the meeting.
At the closing meeting of the Reformers’ Conclave recently held here in Washington (December 12-17), Mr. W. F. Crafts, who called the conclave, stated that they were holding this question of Sunday legislation, upon which there was some disagreement, “in abeyance.” They wished to get all the reform forces, Seventh-day Adventists included, united upon the points of agreement. From the actions just referred to, we can see about how much dependence can be placed upon any assurance that may be given by the Sunday-law workers that they will hold the movement for Sunday legislation “in abeyance.”
We do believe, however, that God has been holding this movement in check in order that his people might have time to develop their work, enter new fields, and prepare for the final proclamation of the message in all the world. Let us be up and doing. The night cometh in which no man can work. Let us labor earnestly while it is day. W. A. C.

Religious Liberty Notes

A governmental-religious question of some intricacy is again up for consideration in connection with the United States vital statistics. It seems that the classification of “Hebrews” works a hardship to the Jews of America when they wish to visit Russia, as on account of that listing they are in that unfriendly country not treated as Americans but as hated Jews. They have for years been contending that “no government has the right to inquire into any other question than that of political affiliation of persons visiting their shores.” It seems further that Congress has taken this view of it, and that our State Department has made it the subject of repeated diplomatic correspondence.
Rev. Dr. R. C. Wiley, one of the leading officials of the National Reform Association and on the editorial staff of its organ, the Christian Statesman, insists in a late article in that publication—while finding no small fault with the defects of the presidential and gubernatorial thanksgiving proclamations in that they do not specifically recognize the evangelically essential relations of Christ to the Christian conceptions of thanksgiving—that the real aim of these official recommendations is, after all, to “give public expression to the principles of national religion.” With all the faults of these unscriptural props to “national religion,” our National Reform friends dearly love them still.
This was one of the oft-heard plaints of one of the speakers at a recent meeting of a Pennsylvania ministerial association: “The craze for amusement is destroying the sacredness of the sabbath. We talk about the continental sabbath; we’ve got it now in America—Sunday baseball, Sunday golf, Sunday theaters, Sunday saloons, Sunday clubs, Sunday excursions—God save America!” And yet this same man—an intelligent gospel minister—is doing all he can to persuade his ministerial brethren and lay friends to do everything possible to obtain more Sunday laws, knowing this “craze” is abroad and will catch nine out of ten of the Sunday idlers who are thus turned by these laws upon defenseless communities.
An incidental admission of large import comes out in a late number of Extension (Catholic, Chicago) in an editorial comment on the contrast between Catholic and Protestant liberality to missions and benevolences, as suggested by the will of the late John S. Kennedy, of New York, which gives to Presbyterians and other Protestant missions and charities fifteen million dollars. The editorial, accounting for the lack of this sort of thing among wealthy Catholics, says: “Consequently, when they feel that local church interests are cared for; when they feel that it is better to divide among all the responsibility for that local work; when they feel that their gifts have the effect of injuring religion by depriving others of a chance to merit by giving; when they feel that our hospitals, orphan asylums, and protectories are often materially assisted by the State; then they conclude that there is no reason for leaving money to anything but the enrichment of their relatives.” It is a significant admission that in New York the State makes Catholic institutions the beneficiaries of its treasury.

German, Swedish, and Danish Ten-Cent Magazines

By E. R. P.

In harmony with recommendations passed at the last annual meeting of the International Publishing Association, of College View, Neb., Brother F. F. Byington, the manager of the association, reports that active progress is being made in bringing out their health and temperance journal in Danish, and their other ten-cent magazines in German and Swedish.
We have before us the beautiful cover design of the Swedish magazine. We believe that agents for all our ten-cent magazines will be greatly pleased to know that they can secure copies of these ten-cent magazines in the foreign languages, thus enabling them to sell magazines to the Germans, Swedes, and Danes whom they meet in their regular work. It is painfully disappointing to an agent when canvassing for English books only, to find people interested in our books who can not be supplied because the books are not furnished in the language which they read.
We trust that all our agents and secretaries will make note of the fact that these ten-cent magazines are being prepared, and can be furnished soon. Advertisements and instructions will be published later. E. R. P.

The Missionary and Publishing Work

Notes, Plans, Reports, Statistics, and Other Information Regarding Missionary Endeavor and the Circulation of Gospel Literature.
Conducted by the Missionary and Publishing Department of the General Conference.
E. R. PALMER — Secretary N. Z. TOWN — Assistant Secretary A. J. S. BOURDEAU — Missionary Secretary

The Summary

By E. R. P.

In all branches of our missionary and publishing work the sales during December are usually less than for any other month. This is due to the interruptions which naturally are caused by the holidays, the week of prayer, and holiday deliveries.
We are pleased to note, however, that the drop is not great in the sale of ten-cent magazines, and that there is even a small increase shown in the sale of the Signs of the Times Monthly, the Watchman, and the Temperance number of the Youth's Instructor.
It is especially gratifying to see the steady growth in the circulation of the Watchman, which shows a larger sale for the month of December than for any other month since it was launched.
Through an oversight by the publishers, the report of the Signs of the Times Monthly was sent to us for union conferences only, instead of conferences. Therefore, the total distribution in each State, as shown by the summary, does not include the Signs of the Times. However, the total distribution of the Signs in each union conference is added into the union conference total, thus making the record complete for the union.
Notice in the comparative summary at the close that the sale of ten-cent magazines during the past seven months has totaled nearly a million copies, at a value of nearly a hundred thousand dollars. The largest sales are, of course, in midsummer, when students are working for their scholarships. Therefore in the figures there appears to be a decline. This is not actually so. Beginning with the new year, the record will climb up steadily, until, we trust, the 1910 record will be far above the past.
The Lord is greatly blessing this department of his work. To him be all the praise for his blessing, and for the success which it brings.
E. R. P.

Missionary Conventions in the West

By E. R. P.

OUR missionary secretary, Brother A. J. S. Bourdeau, who usually prepares the summaries and notes on periodicals for this department, is now attending a series of union conferences and missionary conventions in the West.
The first convention was held at College View, Neb. It was attended by field agents, general agents, missionary secretaries, and tract society secretaries of the Central, Northern, and Western Canadian union conferences. Through the co-operation of Union College, several interesting meetings and stereopticon lectures were held in the College chapel, with all the students of the school present.
From the many reports received of this meeting, we judge that this has been one of the best attended, and one of the most profitable, conventions ever held in the West.
Following this meeting, Brother Bourdeau visited the meeting of the Central Union Conference at St. Joseph, Mo., and he has now crossed the Rockies, where he will attend the meeting of the Pacific Union Conference, to be held at Mountain View, Cal., and later the meeting of the North Pacific Union Conference at Portland, Ore.
During Brother Bourdeau’s absence the secretary of the Publishing Department attends to correspondence pertaining to the home missionary and periodical work and the Harvest Ingathering. Correspondence should be addressed to Brother Bourdeau here at the home office, the same as usual. E. R. P.
MRS. JULIA LINDAHL writes: “Enclosed you will please find a postal money-order for one dollar, for which please send the Youth’s Instructor. I do not like to see any young person left without the Instructor, for it is indeed that for which it stands,—a light to guide the young in this world of sin. I want to do all I can to place it in every home possible.”
THE following illustrates how the Protestant Magazine interests people at sight: “To the Protestant Magazine Publishing Company: I saw one of your magazines, but could not have it to read. Would like to take it. Have my subscription begin with the November number, as that is the one I saw. Enclosed find twenty-five cents, for which please send me the Protestant Magazine.”
THE following is from a Life and Health worker, seventy-three years of age, who worked in Maine during the month of December: “I had good success in selling the last seven hundred copies of Life and Health, and I have good courage to order five hundred more to-day. I sold the last thirty copies this forenoon in one hour.” At the increased price of the magazine, this sister made one dollar eighty cents profit the last hour she worked. A good salary for a woman seventy-three years old!
OF the importance and value of the REVIEW W. H. Zeidler, a veteran book worker, writes: “Please forward the REVIEW AND HERALD as formerly. Check enclosed. The contents of our church paper are of ever-increasing interest, as they contain articles, weekly, of the advance the message is making in the new fields, calling for workers and means for the advancement of the cause, and giving evidence of the fulfilling of the prophecies and of the awakening of a general interest in the States and throughout the world in regard to the soon coming of the Lord.”
As an illustration of the place Life and Health has in the hearts of those who have the privilege of having the magazine brought to them month by month by home workers, we quote the following from a worker’s report: “Just lately the Episcopal minister’s wife sent word for me to call each month with Life and Health. Last Saturday night one of our merchants told me that his wife watches for the magazine each month and has them all piled up together. He laughingly continued, ‘One would get into trouble quickly should he destroy one of them.’ So many of my customers seem to appreciate the journal.”
ONE of our active Life and Health workers, Mrs. Mary Tripp, makes the following statement at the close of a long list of subscribers for Life and Health: “I will be so glad if you will give this list of names careful attention, as none of these people are of our faith, and I am very anxious that they receive the October number of Life and Health. This order is also to help on our church-school work. I find no trouble in getting orders for this magazine. The people are pleased with the paper, and are willing to patronize us. Our church librarian will soon be sending in an order for copies of the journal to be sold by the schoolchildren. The proceeds of the sale of these will also be applied on the current expense of our church-school.”

Current Mention

—The gathering of aviators at Los Angeles, Cal., has come to a close. The first prize for height attained in a heavier-than-air flying-machine was won by Louis Paulhan, the French aviator, who reached a height of 4,165 feet. The first prize for endurance and time, amounting to $3,000, was awarded to the same aviator. The first prize for speed, amounting to $3,000, was won by Glenn H. Curtiss. The latter also won the prize for the quickest start. The first prize for cross-country flight, amounting to $10,000, was also won by Louis Paulhan, who flew forty-seven miles over hills and ocean, landing without a mishap.
—During a fire at Philadelphia, Pa., on January 19, four girls and one man leaped to their death from fourth-story windows, and five others received injuries from which they will probably die.
—Five of the persons responsible for robbing the State of Pennsylvania through dishonest methods in the building of the new capitol have met violent deaths. The fifth, James Herbert Stevenson, committed suicide on January 17.
—A report from Birmingham, England, states that because of the impossibility of America and Japan coming to an agreement over the matter of Japanese immigration, the two countries have asked the good offices of the British government as a mediator.
—The organizers of what is known as the amnesty movement in Barcelona, Spain, plan greatly to extend their campaign, and out of this movement it is expected that a general strike will develop. In Barcelona, hotel waiters have struck, demanding one day of rest in seven.
—Negotiations between the new president of Nicaragua and the leader of the insurgents have come to an end, and the president declares that he will immediately take steps to bring the insurrection to an end. A decisive battle is expected in the near future.
—Russia and Japan have jointly decided to oppose the proposition of Secretary Knox that the railways of Manchuria be neutralized. Japan, reports state, is now taking China to task over the matter, asserting that Secretary Knox's proposal must have been inspired by China.
—The result of the elections now closing in England indicates that there will be no particular change in the upper house. The election returns up to date show Unionists, 163; Liberals, 137; Laborites, 29; and Nationalists, 53. The Unionists have made a decisive gain over the Liberals.
—Señor Joaquim Nabuco, Brazilian ambassador to the United States, died suddenly at the Brazilian embassy in Washington, D. C., on January 17. Señor Nabuco was one of the best-educated diplomats who has ever been in Washington, and was highly respected in the diplomatic service.
—Governors of thirty States arrived at Washington, D. C., on Monday, January 17, for a three-days' conference over matters of interstate interest. President Taft delivered the opening address of the convention. Aside from the uniformity of State legislation, one of the principal matters to be considered is the conservation of State rights.
—An antimeat strike was started recently in Cleveland, Ohio, which has for its purpose the reduction of the cost of meat to the consumer. This strike has been spreading rapidly over the country, and it is declared at the present time that not less than 1,000,000 families are now enlisted in this strike against the beef trust. Although the strike is being carried on largely by the labor element, there is a portion of the labor element which is doing its best to counteract it, because of its fear that the strike will lead to the reduction of wages in all the establishments where meats are prepared for consumption.
—As the earth grows older, scientists continue to declare her younger. The elder Darwin placed the earth's age at more than 300,000,000 years; his son brought it down to about 100,000,000. Prof. William Morris Davis of Harvard University now declares that the earth is only 60,000,000 years old.
—The volume of trade between Canada and the United States has been increasing rapidly during recent years. Imports into the United States from Canada during the last year amounted to $88,000,000 as against $35,500,000 ten years ago; while the exports from the United States to Canada amounted last year to $190,000,000 as against $86,000,000 ten years ago.
—At the Congress of Governors at Washington, D. C., on January 18, former Secretary of State, Elihu Root, suggested that every State ought to appoint delegates to an interstate conference to be held every year, authorized to enter into the consideration and discussion of great interstate questions. It seems quite probable that his suggestion will be carried into effect.
—Because of the increase of rents for workmen's houses in Naples, Italy, there was a riot in that city on January 16, involving about 20,000 persons. The government is promising to contribute $1,500,000 for building workmen's dwellings. This it is expected will cause a material decrease in the cost of building. The angry demonstration of the mob resulted in a number of persons being hurt, and order was restored only by the prompt arrival of troops.
—A plan is now on foot, started in the District of Columbia, to enlist at least one million heads of families in what is practically a boycott against goods sold at too high a price; particularly does this have reference to meats. It is planned to have committees appointed in each State and every city, who are to compare prices between the cities and advise members in the different cities where too much is charged for any given commodity.
—A woman physician, Dr. Louise D. Robinovitch, who has been seeking for years for an anesthetic which could be administered without the unpleasant and often dangerous results that accompany the use of ether and chloroform, claims to have been at last successful in her search. She has been experimenting for some time with electricity, and by its use, through an apparatus invented by herself, a sleep is induced, during which surgical operations can be painlessly performed, and from which the patient wakes as from an ordinary sleep.
—Thomas A. Edison has been experimenting for some years on a storage battery to be used on ordinary street-cars, and on the twentieth of January tests were made at West Orange, N. J., of the car as fitted up with the new Edison storage batteries. The test is regarded as satisfactory. It is stated that the car, which weighs only one half as much as the ordinary street-car, runs without wire cable or trolley connection, on the regular lines of the street-car system, and can travel 150 miles without recharging the batteries. The cost of operating this new electric-car is estimated by Edison to be one cent a mile.

The Sabbath Schools and Missions

By Mrs. L. Flora Plummer

Climbing

INTEREST in Sabbath-school finances has never been greater. Thermometers are breaking in every conference and in almost every land. Eleven new conferences are on the honor roll for the first time, making a total list of twenty-seven. At last we have one union conference, the Western Canadian, giving all Sabbath-school offerings to missions. Two others, the Atlantic and Northern union conferences, have almost attained that distinction, in each case one conference only reports expense taken from the regular offerings. The total amount given to missions during the third quarter is $31,376.95.
The following items are of general interest:—

Schools in the Home Land

TOTAL GIFTS TO
CONTRIBUTIONS MISSIONS
First Quarter . . . $19,459.87 $16,989.53
Second Quarter . . 22,436.76 20,670.34
Third Quarter . . . 25,014.46 24,026.39
Totals . . . . . $66,911.09 $61,686.26
The total contributions during the corresponding period of 1908 were $58,401.93; increase in 1909, $8,511.96; the gifts to missions were $51,662.91; increase, $10,019.35.

Our Honor Roll

Vermont Greater New York
Alberta British Columbia
Saskatchewan South Dakota
Quebec District of Columbia
West. New York Iowa
Texas Southern Idaho
West Texas Cen. New England
Alabama Montana
New York Georgia
Florida North Dakota
Maine Louisiana
Manitoba North Carolina
W. Pennsylvania Southern Illinois
Kentucky
The complete records for the year will undoubtedly show that our Sabbath-schools in all the world have gone well beyond the one-hundred-thousand-dollar mark in their gifts to missions. We congratulate our Sabbath-schools everywhere upon this splendid achievement. We will not change the motto for 1910, but will ask the schools in the United States and Canada to make it theirs. “One hundred thousand dollars to missions from the schools in the United States and Canada!” It looks right. It sounds right. And we believe the Sabbath-schools will meet it right.
MRS. L. FLORA PLUMMER, Cor. Sec. S. S. Dept.

Northern Union Conference

By R. A. UNDERWOOD

The fourth biennial session of the Northern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will be held Feb. 22 to March 3, 1910, in the Seventh-day Adventist church located on the corner of West Eighth and Washington streets, Des Moines, Iowa.
The opening meeting for the organization of the conference will convene at 10 A. M., Tuesday, February 22. All delegates and conference laborers should be present at the opening meeting.
Each conference in the union is entitled to one delegate for the organization and one additional delegate for every one hundred fifty church-members in the conference.
Elders A. G. Daniells, O. A. Olsen, W. T. Knox, and other general laborers will be present to conduct Bible studies and to unite with others in making the meeting a great blessing to all who attend.
In addition to the usual business of the conference, much important instruction and a great spiritual uplift are expected at this meeting.
At the union depot in Des Moines take a West Ninth street-car and get off at Washington Street. Then go one block east to the church. Or take a Sixth Avenue car, get off at West Eighth Street and go one block south to the church.
Monday, February 21, trains will be met by J. W. McComas, C. W. Hollingsworth, and Stemple White, who will wear badges indicating that they are members of the reception committee.
R. A. UNDERWOOD, President.

Washington-Lincoln Memorial Number

By Editor

THE twelfth and twenty-second days of February will be observed the country over in commemoration and honor of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, long since deceased, but whose words and actions will ever live in the hearts of all true Americans.
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FACSIMILE OF COVER PAGE
It seemed advisable to the publishers of the Signs Monthly to make the most of this opportunity for getting true religious liberty principles before the people. Minds are more likely to be receptive to these principles at this time. These are the chief reasons for featuring this issue of the magazine with a fine patriotic and instructive article on Washington and Lincoln. Excellent, in fact the best, portraits of them are reproduced. Pictures of historic places, a bird's-eye view of Washington, the city of the first president's home, and a view of the very seat he occupied in old Christ's Church at Alexandria, are among the illustrations.
According to custom, articles dealing with points of truth will appear. For example, you will find in the list of contents two articles on the Sabbath question, and one on the second coming of Christ. Perhaps it will be more satisfactory to give the contents in full, and in the order in which they will be found:

Contents

CURRENT TOPICS: “More Sugar Frauds;” “The Great Tariff Frauds;” “The Fraud of Our Cities;” “The Meaning of These Frauds;” “The Banishing of the Frauds;” “Halley’s Comet;” “Situation in England;” “Is Mars Inhabited?”
NOTE AND COMMENT: “The New Gigantic Money Trust;” “King Leopold;” “Which Bible?” “Bryan’s Objections to Darwinism.”
“The Significance of Recent Calamities,” by J. O. Corliss; “Washington and Lincoln,” by M. C. Wilcox; “The Apostasy,” by Mrs. E. G. White; “The Disappointment” (a story of 1844), by A. W. Spaulding; “Divine Healing,” by Dr. D. H. Kress; “The First Day of the Week in the New Testament,” by H. W. Cottrell; “The Second Coming of Christ,” — Bible reading; “Why Keep Sunday Every Week?” by T. E. Bowen; “Civil and Uncivil,” by A. D. Westcott; “True Liberty Notes,” by A. O. Tait. This splendid variety of subjects has not been excelled in any former issue of the Signs Monthly. A large edition is being printed, for the publishers expect big sales. Wouldn’t it be too bad if a single copy should be uncalled for?

Prices

Five to 50 copies, 5 cents each; 50 or more copies, 4 cents each. Order of your tract society, or Signs of the Times, Mountain View, Cal.
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