Report of the General Conference Publishing Department
By E. K. PALMER
From Jan. 1, 1905, to Dec. 31, 1908
The publishing work is one of God's great universal agencies for spreading the light of the gospel in these last days. With the invention of movable type it became a living world-power during the closing years of the fifteenth century. Its mission began with the publication of the Scriptures, which proved to be an index to the work that Providence had for it to do. It speedily found its legitimate field of service in the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, where it became a factor which the papacy could not baffle, even with its wonderful system and facilities for spying out, apprehending, and crushing its enemies. The quiet, persistent, ever-active work of the young men of the Reformation in scattering literature perplexed the leaders of the papacy more than all things else. When it seemed that the light of the Reformation had been extinguished by the imprisonment or execution of some great leader, a score of other lights would blaze up in the darkness where the literature had been scattered. In the presence of this powerful agent, which could not be seized, and cast into prison, nor burned at the stake, the supreme pontiff trembled on his throne, and the papal system tottered to its foundation. As the circulation of literature was a mighty factor in making possible the Reformation of the sixteenth century, so it has been the strong, resourceful, enterprising pioneer in founding modern missions, and in proclaiming the three angels' messages. It may properly be called a “universal” agency of the gospel from two points of view. First, because it is being demonstrated more clearly every day that literature is the most powerful of all weapons in the hands of our laborers in all nations; and also because the publishing work, in some of its varied forms, may be advanced by all God's people, from the little children to men and women with gray heads and faltering steps. During the past four years we have been living in the time of the fulfilment of the long-cherished promise that the publishing work was to be revived. Notwithstanding the struggles and conflicts, it has been a time of courage and success and confidence in God. Success has been given to publishing houses in their efforts to rise above apparent disasters, and make needed reforms; to conferences, in their efforts to strengthen their field organization; and to canvassers, in their labors from house to house. To God, and to him alone, be all the glory. A report of these experiences must fall far short of painting the picture as it is. We can not portray, in its true setting, the story of the earthquakes, the fires, the cleansing, reconstruction, organization, and training which would represent correctly the dealings of the Lord with his people in this revival of the publishing work according to his promise. Such experiences are a life, not expressible in words—a life which must be lived to be understood and appreciated. Just as God's greatest works in nature “have ever been, and must ever be, unwritten and unsung,” so God's way with his people, his method in doing things, is hidden except from those who learn by experience in the service. They who have eyes trained in the school of experience to see the things of God, may read the handwriting of his goodness and blessing upon the severely plain walls of our reconstructed publishing houses, and upon the fast whitening harvest-fields of all nations. Every step of progress has been taken along the highway of certain clearly defined principles, which have brought success wherever and whenever they have been faithfully carried out. They have stood the wear and tear of “hard times,” panics, and politics; the shafts of the critics; and the ever-changing methods of the fraternity of new-fangled notions. These principles should frequently be rehearsed, and kept in mind, and followed more faithfully as the work spreads out over all nations, and takes on greater volume and responsibility. Some of the more important of these principles are as follows:— 1. That man can do nothing of himself (John 5:30); but he can do all things through Christ. Phil. 4:13. These two scriptures embrace all the theology of the old and new covenants, and point out the place of power that erring man may occupy in relation to his God. 2. That success in the work of God is a gift from him, and does not depend upon temporal conditions; that the gospel is panic-proof, drought-proof, strike-proof, fire-proof, storm-proof, and winter-proof. Hab. 3:17-19. That it is the glory of God to create something out of nothing—to give bread in the desert, water from the rock, success where there is no promise of it to natural eyes, and to make the wilderness and the solitary place to blossom as the rose. 3. That only those troubles which get inside do us harm. It is the water inside the ship that sinks it; the waters outside buoy it up. 4. That courage, perseverance, and obedience have promise of great success. Joshua 1:1-9. 5. That all things come to the man who is right and never lets go. Joash failed to subdue the Syrians because he struck only “three times” instead of “five or six times.” 2 Kings 13:18, 19. Under God we can do what needs to be done if we think so, believe, act, and never give up. “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Our agents are called “can-vassers,” not can't-vassers. If we can't, we can't, and that is the end of it; if we can, we can, and that is the beginning of it. 6. That the publishing work should be built upon a solid, gospel, missionary foundation, with only such commercialism as is necessary and legitimate in all departments of God's work. 7. That all publishing houses be organized upon a denominational constituency basis, and be made to serve to the extent of their ability the evangelical interests of the field. 8. That commercial work, which has been eliminated from all our publishing houses by earthquake, by fire, and by vote, be permanently excluded, so that every dollar invested by Seventh-day Adventists in these buildings and machines, and all the time and talents of the valuable men employed, may be used for the improvement and manufacture of our literature, and for promoting the field work. 9. That publishing houses should secure by purchase, or by contract, or by other legitimate means, such rights or ownership in all literature which they publish as will enable them to control the quality and circulation of their output, and receive from the same the just financial returns from their enterprise and activity.17 10. That the field canvassing work be built upon the old, well-tried methods of organization, education, and training. 11. That the field work be directed by faithful, experienced men; that these men be given the place in conference councils which their responsibilities justify; and that they be paid just wages on the basis of their experience, labors, responsibilities, and expenses. 12. That provision be made for the thorough instruction of every canvasser in the subject-matter of the book he is to represent, and in the principles of Christian salesmanship; and that thorough attention be given to the equally necessary training of each agent in his field from house to house by the field missionary agent. 13. That all union and local conferences and mission fields be responsible for the circulation of literature in their respective territories, and make strong, sufficient provision for conducting the same. 14. That provision be made for giving some part in the publishing work to every man, woman, and child in the denomination, and for placing the work of all upon a well-organized educational basis. 15. That all features of the publishing work be maintained upon a practical, thorough-working cash basis. 16. That strong co-operation be built up and maintained between publishing houses, tract societies, and all field workers, by frequent councils, conventions, and institutes. 17. That well-defined plans and policies should be pursued with as little change as possible. Just as an advertisement becomes more effective with permanency of form and wording, and as a tree is weakened every time it is moved, so our methods and plans of labor increase in strength as they become well-grounded and familiar in the minds of the people, and are weakened with many uprootings and experiments. 18. That liberal appropriations be made for establishing the necessary publishing facilities in mission fields. The following are a few items which mark the progress of the publishing work during the past four years:— 1. The organization of our publishing houses from stock companies to associations on a representative membership basis, which had previously been begun, has been completed. 2. Commercial work has been eliminated from all our regular publishing houses. The managing boards of these houses have demonstrated that the denominational work is self-supporting, and there seems to be little if any desire to go down again into Egypt for help. This change has been greeted with a universal chorus of approving “Amens” from our people. 3. The organization of the Publishing Department has been so revised and broadened that its membership includes representatives from all its institutional and field interests both at home and abroad. There are forty-six members, representing the field as follows:—
Department officers ............... 4
Managers of publishing houses and their branches ............... 17
Union conference missionary agents ............... 13
Union conference missionary secretaries ............... 6
General men—members of General Conference Committee ............... 6
A department office with the requisite officers and employees has been established at headquarters in Takoma Park. 4. Four years ago there were only four general agents in North America, and many conferences were without field agents. Now there are eleven general agents in this territory, and nearly every conference has a field agent. 5. One of the most depressing handicaps that the publishing work has struggled under in the past has been that field leaders in the publishing work were quite generally deprived of their rightful place in conference councils, and were pitifully underpaid for their work as compared with other conference laborers. These well-known conditions have made it extremely difficult to secure and hold valuable men in this line of work. These wrongs have been partially corrected, and unfortunate conditions in this respect have been greatly improved. 6. There has been a strong tendency to roll the responsibility for the circulation of literature back upon local conferences, where it should be. To the extent that conferences have taken up the work seriously and with energy, substantial results have been seen. When publishing houses recognize the local conferences as their legitimate retailers, and local conferences recognize the publishing houses as their source of supplies, a co-operation is effected which insures the success and prosperity of both. 7. It appears that God takes special pleasure in developing great results out of what seems insignificant and small. About three years ago one of our workers asked if something could not be done to assist two or three boys who wanted to attend Healdsburg College. The discussion of that local need led to the scholarship arrangements based on the sale of subscription books and periodicals, which, with the earnest co-operation of the Educational and Young People's departments, have, under God's blessing, been chief factors in increasing the sale of literature, in awakening an interest in our young people in securing an education, thus filling our schools with a desirable class of students. The influence of this scholarship plan has reached far beyond the number of scholarships actually earned. It seems to have stirred our young people throughout the denomination to an appreciation of the possibilities within their reach to prepare for the Master's service. 8. Our convention meetings have also contributed much toward the advancement of this work. We have held one general meeting of the members of the department, two meetings of publishing house managers, and a large number of book-men's conventions. In these gatherings, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated, plans of work have been systematized and perfected, publishing houses have established better relations for co-operation, and field agents, in their book-men's conventions, have received help which they greatly needed in order to develop a strong force of intelligent leaders and instructors in Christian salesmanship. 9. About four years ago it was found that complications were such that it was not practical longer to handle health books which were privately owned and controlled; therefore, in harmony with counsel from the General Conference Committee and Sister White, our publishing houses arranged to provide such health books as were most needed. This heavy task has been accomplished through the loyalty and co-operation of physicians, publishing houses, and agents.18 10. Considerable progress has been made in establishing the publishing work in mission fields, details of which will be included by mission field superintendents in their reports. The demands for literature are especially increasing in all the Spanish American countries. Four years ago the General Conference laid upon the Pacific Press and the Hamburg publishing houses the responsibility of furnishing subscription books in the Spanish language. The Hamburg house has published two editions of “His Glorious Appearing,” and the Pacific Press, several editions of “Steps to Christ,” “Gospel Primer,” “New Testament Primer,” “Christ Our Saviour,” and “Coming King;” and they are now preparing abridged editions of “Great Controversy,” “Bible Readings,” and “Home and Health,” and several illustrated tracts. During the year 1908 the Pacific Press shipped over $18,000 worth of books in the Spanish language. Undoubtedly there is a great field before us in these Spanish-American countries. Small publishing plants are being developed in Mexico, Colon, Chile, and Argentina; in Brazil, also, a flourishing little plant is being developed for the publication of literature in the Portuguese language, and there is good promise for the future of the work there. A small company of canvassers has recently been sent to Mexico, and is demonstrating satisfactorily that subscription books can be sold successfully there. Two of our most faithful young men, Brother Max Trummer, from College View, Neb., and Brother Henry Tonjes, of the Greater New York Conference, are now attending this meeting with the expectation of sailing for South America when the meeting is over, to take charge of the canvassing work in Argentina and Brazil. We are told that agents in South America can sell more books at the present time in one day than could be sold in a week a few years ago. And, indeed, there is an awakening among all nations, and a rapidly increasing demand for light on the Scriptures. 11. Advance steps have also been taken in providing literature for the foreign-speaking people of the United States. The International Publishing Association of College View, Neb., is well organized for handling trade books, tracts, and periodicals in the German and Scandinavian languages. The Kansas City Branch of the Pacific Press is making a specialty of subscription books in these languages, and the New York Branch of the Review and Herald is undertaking to carry a supply of all lines of literature published by the denomination. 12. The periodical work is taking on new form, and is making rapid progress. For several years the sale of papers has been carried on successfully on the streets and from house to house by agents in Germany, England, South America, and Australia. But until recently very little progress has been made in that work in the United States, and what has been accomplished has been with the greatest difficulty. The development of a good line of ten-cent magazines seems to be solving this proposition rapidly and satisfactorily.19In fact, the progress of the magazine work during the past year has been both surprising and gratifying. The progress of this work may be indicated by the fact that during March, 1908, 50,000 copies of the ten-cent magazines were sold in the United States and Canada; while, during the corresponding month of this year, 175,000 copies were sold. The rapid growth of the periodical work, together with the urgent need for the church tract and missionary work being put upon an organized basis, has made it necessary to strengthen the organization of the Publishing Department to enable it to handle this work. Accordingly provision has been made by the General Conference Committee for a general missionary secretary to take the oversight of that work, and a few months ago Brother D. W. Reavis was appointed to that position. Recommendations have also been passed urging union and State conferences to appoint field missionary secretaries to take immediate supervision of these lines of work in their respective territories. Some progress has been made in developing this organization. The past quadrennial period has not been spent by this department in spinning fine theories. There has been earnest effort to do the work in harmony with right principles, so that every blow struck might contribute toward the erection of a permanent building; but, at the same time, it has been a period of hard work during which our leaders in the publishing houses and in the conferences have joined hands in striving for definite results. The success attained is indicated by the following figures:— Number of publishing houses ........ 26
Number of employees in publishing houses ........ 515
Capital invested ........ $1,038,000
Number of languages represented ........ 61
Number of tracts published ........ 1,096
Number of pamphlets published ........ 287
Number of bound books ........ 333
Number of periodicals ........ 118
Number of agents selling subscription books ........ 1,200
Number of agents selling periodicals (approximately) ........ 3,000
Proportion of agents selling doctrinal books ........ 87½%
Proportion of agents selling health books ........ 9¾%
Proportion of agents selling miscellaneous books ........ 2¾% More than half of the entire force of agents—56½%—are selling those two most valuable books, “The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan” and “Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation.” The total value of literature sold during the past four years has been as follows:—
1905 .................... $548,000
1906 .................... 824,000
1907 .................... 1,028,000
1908 .................... 1,290,000
Total .................. $3,690,000 This total for four years is over half a million dollars above the total sales during the previous ten years, and represents about one third of the literature sold during the past sixty-four years since the work began. And the good work is still advancing with rapidly increasing strides. These statistics are already out of date. The Lord has been doing great things for us since the close of 1908. Also the figures we might prepare to-day would be out of date to-morrow. We have already begun to realize the part which our literature is to play in this last great gospel drama. The circulation of literature is only beginning. Its possibilities have hardly been touched with the tips of our fingers. During this Conference broader plans should be laid for entering the open doors for our literature both at home and abroad. Among the items which should receive consideration are the following:— 1. Suitable provision should be made for the thorough and efficient handling of the periodical work and home tract and missionary work:—
(a) Proper administration from the headquarters office. Should the supervision of this work be continued by the Publishing Department, or by another department created for that purpose?
(b) Efficient leaders in the union conferences.
(c) The proper handling of details in each local conference.
(d) The adjustment of discounts and commissions so they will meet as nearly as possible the expenses of the field work. 2. As the sale of our literature has increased the demand, which has been felt keenly for many years, is becoming more imperative that suitable provision be made for the improvement and correction of our literature, and for bringing references, statistics, etc., up to date. This need is too urgent to be neglected longer. 3. Liberal appropriations should be made to assist several of our mission fields in the effort to improve their publishing facilities. Among the most urgent calls are those from China, Japan, South America, Mexico, and eastern Canada. Several experienced field men, also, should be sent abroad at this time to assist in organizing and building up the circulation of literature in mission fields. 4. The possibilities of this work are so great, and the lines so varied, should not the general department be so organized that its officers will be engaged in the general work, and devote a proper share of their time to publishing interests in mission fields? 5. There should be a careful review of our scholarship plans by joint councils between the Publishing, Educational, and Young People's departments, and by the Conference as a body, so that these plans may, by every reasonable means, be made satisfactory for the assistance of our young people in securing an education, while at the same time engaging in practical gospel service. 6. Our financial policy also should be carefully reviewed. With an investment of more than a million dollars in facilities, and with an annual business which has passed by a long way the million-dollar mark, it is necessary that our financial policy, both in publishing houses and in the field, be such that our progress will be substantial, and without unnecessary risks. 7. There should also be a careful review of the various sources of income, and a proper distribution of the same, having as its object the making of this department as nearly self-supporting as we can. While we believe that the publishing work is as truly gospel work as ministry from the sacred desk, and that tithes may be used as properly in advancing this work as any other, yet, in the providence of God, a great line of self-supporting work has been given to us, and it should be our aim to carry a large share of the expenses of this work in the General, union, and State conferences, and thus release a larger sum annually in tithes and donations for the support of missions and the gospel ministry. With thanksgiving to God for his manifold blessings, and with unbounded confidence in the possibilities before us in this department of service, we respectfully submit this report to the delegates of this Conference.