The New General Conference
By Arthur G. Daniells
ON another page of this week’s REVIEW will be found the Articles of Incorporation and the By-laws of our new corporation of the General Conference. This corporation has been formed in harmony with the following action taken by the General Conference Committee, at the Washington meeting, Oct. 22, 1903:— Voted, That the General Conference Committee create a corporation under the laws of the District of Columbia, to transact the business heretofore attended to by the Foreign Mission Board and the General Conference Association; and that so far as possible to arrange, the new corporation shall give its notes to replace the notes of the General Conference Association, and that when the Michigan corporation lapses, its affairs be wound up. The legal Foreign Mission Board and the General Conference Association were also asked to transfer their assets and liabilities to the new corporation as soon as practicable. This new corporation is to take the place of the old General Conference Association. The following are some of the reasons for making this change:— The old association is a Michigan corporation. All its legal meetings must be held in the State of Michigan. As the headquarters of the General Conference has been removed to Washington, it will be an inconvenience and an expense to operate through the old association. The board of trustees of the old association numbers twenty-one. This makes it necessary to have the business of the association transacted by a very small minority of the trustees, or to incur great expense in getting the trustees together. The corporate life of the association will terminate in a few years. Should time continue until then, it would be necessary to form a new corporation. Only brief reference can be made in this note to the principal features of the articles and by-laws of this new corporation. Its name: “General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists.” Duration: Its existence is to be perpetual. No limit is placed upon its life. It may be terminated at any time the members choose, or it may continue perpetually. Number of trustees: Seven. As the quorum of the trustees for transacting business is fixed at four, the business must always be done by a majority of the trustees, and one at least of these must be an officer of the Board. Membership: The members of the General Conference Committee and all other accredited delegates to the General Conference. This places the affairs of the corporation as entirely in the hands of the whole denomination as it is possible. Place for holding the legal meetings: Anywhere in the United States. The act under which the corporation is formed makes this excellent provision. This is one of the greatest advantages of the corporation. Wherever the General Conference may be held, all the business transacted by the members of the corporation will be legal without having to meet in Washington to confirm or repeat it. The trustees of the new corporation are H. W. Cottrell, W. W. Prescott, W. T. Bland, S. N. Curtiss, J. N. Nelson, A. P. Needham, and A. G. Daniells. The officers of the Board are as follows: President, A. G. Daniells; Secretary, W. A. Spicer; Treasurer, J. N. Nelson. The present trustees are to hold office until the next session of the General Conference. Then the delegates will elect the Board for the next biennial period. Hereafter all wills, legacies, gifts, annuity agreements, loans, etc., intended for the General Conference will be made in the name of the “General Conference Corporation,” instead of the “General Conference Association.” The affairs of the old association will be transferred to the new corporation as fast as conditions will permit. Those holding notes against the association will be asked to transfer them to the corporation.