The Advantages in Having Our Headquarters at Washington
By W. A. Colcord
THE advantages to our religious liberty work in having our headquarters located at Washington are many. Especially is this so just now when Sunday legislation is again being urged upon Congress, and when, as we all believe, measures are soon to be proposed, and laws enacted, which will result in the complete formation of the image of the beast, and in giving life to it. One can generally see better and work to better advantage at close range than at a distance. Of all the departments of our work none, it seems, could more appropriately or more advantageously be located here than our Religious Liberty Department.12Here is where the laws are made. Here nearly five hundred senators and representatives gather from all parts of the country from year to year to make the laws. Here is where the president and his cabinet reside. Here the ambassadors from the various countries of the world come to represent their respective governments. Here is where the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest judicial tribunal of the nation, sit. All these must have their attention called to the message for this time,—the warning against the worship of the beast and his image and the reception of his mark. How can this be done so effectively as to have our headquarters located right here at the capital of the nation, and a strong aggressive work going on in their midst? We are not here as “lobbyists,” to secure legislation; but as Protestants, to sound a warning against religious legislation, and to proclaim the everlasting gospel of peace and deliverance from the bondage of sin and oppression. Here is where the iniquitous laws are being demanded. Here, therefore, let the protest be sounded, and from here let it ring out throughout the length and breadth of the land. We are not here to court persecution, nor to escape it, but to give the message which God has commissioned us to give to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From here are issued three great daily newspapers, the Washington Post, the Evening Star, and the Washington Times. These speak not simply for Washington, but for the nation. By having our headquarters located here, and carrying on a strong aggressive work, we are able to secure notices, articles, and reports of our work in these papers, which we could not if we were located at some other place. The fact that we have located our headquarters here, that we have a school, a sanitarium, and a publishing house established here, that we have four churches in the city, and are carrying on an aggressive work in the place, gives us a standing and influence not only with the people of the District, but with Congress, which legislates for the District as well as for the nation. Being here, we can hold meetings, publish and distribute literature, meet and interview men of influence, and carry on our petition work in a way we could not do if we were located elsewhere. Here also is the great Congressional Library, the largest library in the United States, where may be found and consulted not only the vast number of books which it contains, but the current and back numbers of all the leading journals of the country, as well as many foreign publications. These are some of the advantages of having the headquarters of the denomination, and especially of the Religious Liberty Department of our work, located at Washington.