The General Conference ## Sixteenth Meeting
THE Committee on Education submitted a report which was ordered printed on slips. The whole time of this meeting was occupied in considering recommendation 12, relating to the question of soliciting funds in families, churches, and conferences for needy and worthy missionary enterprises. By common consent it was understood that the committee would submit a new recommendation embodying the same general plan. ## Seventeenth Meeting
The time of this meeting was occupied by Elder G. I. Butler in presenting a report of the Southern Union Conference. At the close of this report the resolutions relating to the work in the Southern field, which were printed in the last REVIEW, were presented. ## Eighteenth Meeting
The time of this meeting was devoted to the consideration of the new constitution. A majority and a minority report were submitted to the Conference. By a very decided vote the Conference refused to substitute the minority report for the majority report, and the discussion was therefore based upon the majority report. This discussion was continued throughout the nineteenth and twentieth meetings, at the close of which the following constitution was adopted by a vote of eighty-five to twenty:— ## Constitution This organization shall be known as the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. ### ARTICLE II — OBJECT
The object of this Conference is to teach all nations the everlasting gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ### ARTICLE III — MEMBERSHIP
SECTION 1.—The membership of this Conference shall consist of—
(a) Such union conferences as have been or shall be properly organized and accepted by vote.
(b) Such local conferences as are not embraced in any union conference, as have been or shall be properly organized and accepted by vote.
SEC. 2.—The voters of this Conference shall be designated as follows:—
(a) Delegates at large.
(b) Regular delegates.
SEC. 3.—Delegates at large shall be:—
(a) The General Conference Executive Committee.
(b) The Secretary and the Treasurer of the General Conference.
(c) Such representatives of the departments and missions of the General Conference as shall receive credentials from its Executive Committee.
SEC. 4.—Regular delegates shall be such persons as are duly accredited by union conferences, or local conferences not included in union conferences. SEC. 5.—Each union conference shall be entitled to one delegate without regard to numbers, an additional delegate for each conference in its territory, and an additional delegate for each one thousand of its membership. Each local conference not included in any union conference shall be entitled to one delegate, without regard to numbers, and one additional delegate for each one thousand members. ### ARTICLE IV — EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
SECTION 1.—At each session the Conference shall elect an Executive Committee for the carrying forward of its work between the sessions.
SEC. 2.—The Executive Committee shall consist of the president, two vice-presidents, the presidents of union conferences, the superintendents of organized union missions, and twelve other persons, among whom there shall be representatives of all the leading departments of conference work, including the publishing, medical, educational, Sabbath-school, and religious liberty. ### ARTICLE V — OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
SECTION 1.—The officers of this Conference shall be a president, two vice-presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, and an auditor, who shall be elected by the Conference.
SEC. 2.—President: The duties of the president shall be to act as chairman of the Executive Committee, and to labor in the general interests of the Conference, as the Executive Committee may advise.
SEC. 3.—Vice-presidents: The duties of the first vice-president shall be to labor in the European union conferences and missions, as the Executive Committee may advise, and to preside at the councils of the members of the Executive Committee, which may be held in Europe, in the absence of the president.
The duties of the second vice-president shall be to labor in the American union conferences and missions, as the Executive Committee may advise, and in the absence of the president, to preside at the councils of the members of the Executive Committee which may be held in America.
SEC. 4.—Secretary: It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep the minutes of the proceedings of the Conference sessions and of committee meetings, and to collect such statistics and other facts from union and local conferences as may be desired by the Conference or the Executive Committee, and to perform such other duties as usually pertain to such office.
SEC. 5.—Treasurer: It shall be the duty of the treasurer to receive all funds, and disburse them by order of the president, and to render such financial statements at regular intervals as may be desired by the Conference or the Executive Committee.
SEC. 6.—Election of Officers and Executive Committee: All officers of the Conference, except members of the Executive Committee who are presidents of union conferences or superintendents of union mission fields, shall be chosen by the delegates at the regular biennial sessions of the General Conference, and shall hold their offices for the period of two years, or until their successors are elected, and appear to enter upon their duties. ### ARTICLE VI — INCORPORATIONS, DEPARTMENTS, AND AGENTS
SECTION 1.—Such incorporations may be authorized and departments created as the development of the work requires.
SEC. 2.—At each regular session of this Conference the delegates shall elect the trustees of all corporate bodies connected with this organization, as may be provided in the statutory laws governing each.
SEC. 3.—The Conference shall employ such committees, secretaries, agents, ministers, missionaries, and other persons, and make such distribution of its laborers as may be necessary to effectively execute its work. It shall also grant credentials or licenses to its ministers and missionaries. ### ARTICLE VII — SESSIONS
SECTION 1.—This Conference shall hold biennial sessions at such date and place as the Executive Committee shall designate by a notice published in the ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD at least two months before the date for the session.
SEC. 2.—The Executive Committee may call special sessions at such time and place as it deems proper, by a like notice, and the transactions of such special sessions shall have the same force as those of the regular sessions. ### ARTICLE VIII — BY-LAWS
The voters of this Conference may enact By-laws and amend or repeal them at any session thereof, and such By-laws may embrace any provision not inconsistent with the Constitution. ### ARTICLE IX — AMENDMENTS
This Constitution or its By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds' vote of the voters present at any session, provided that, if it is proposed to amend the Constitution at a special session, notice of such purpose shall be given in the call for such special session. ## By-Laws ARTICLE I — REGULAR SESSIONS
SECTION 1.—At each session of the Conference, the Executive Committee shall nominate for election the presiding officers for the session.
SEC. 2.—Previous to each session of the Conference, the Executive Committee shall provide such temporary committees as may be necessary to conduct the preliminary work of the Conference. ### ARTICLE II — EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
SECTION 1.—During the intervals between sessions of the Conference, the Executive Committee shall have full administrative power, and shall fill for the current term any vacancies that may occur in its offices, boards, committees, or agents, by death, resignation, or otherwise, except in cases where other provisions for filling such vacancies shall be made by vote of the General Conference.
SEC. 2.—Any five members of the Executive Committee, including the president or vice-president, shall be empowered to transact such executive business as is in harmony with the general plans outlined by the Committee, but the con-13currence of four members shall be necessary to pass any measure.
SEC. 3.—Meetings of the Executive Committee may be called at any time or place, by the president or vice-president, or by the secretary upon the written request of any five members of the committee. ### ARTICLE III — DEPARTMENTS
SECTION 1.—The work of the departments of this organization shall be in charge of committees selected by the Executive Committee, when not otherwise provided for by the Conference. ### ARTICLE IV — FINANCE
SECTION 1.—This Conference shall receive a tithe from all its union and local conferences, and the tithe of its union and local mission fields.
SEC. 2.—The Executive Committee shall be authorized to call for such special donations as may be necessary to properly prosecute its work.
SEC. 3.—The Conference shall receive offerings devoted to missions. ### ARTICLE V — AUDITS
SECTION 1.—The Executive Committee shall have the accounts of the Conference and of its several departments audited at least once each calendar year, and shall report upon the same to the General Conference at its regular sessions.
SEC. 2.—The Executive Committee shall appoint annually eight persons not in its employ, who, with the president, vice-presidents, and presidents of union conferences, shall constitute a committee for auditing and settling all accounts against the General Conference. ## Twenty-First Meeting
The Chair: I believe the business before us is the report of the Committee on Education.
The following is the report:— ## Educational Report
Your committee would respectfully submit the following recommendations:— Whereas, Christian education is the only education that will qualify the youth to become efficient workers in the cause of the third angel's message; and,—
Whereas, The Educational Department of the General Conference needs to be strengthened and more fully organized to do efficient work,—
1. We recommend, (a) That for the Department of Education this Conference elect a committee of seven members, which will represent all lines of school work,—the training school, the intermediate industrial school, and the church school,—three members of said committee to be members of the General Conference Committee.
(b) That an educational secretary be selected who shall attend to the correspondence of this department, edit the organ of the department, and assist in every way possible to unify and strengthen the educational work of the denomination. ### EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE AND STATE INSTITUTES
2. We recommend, (a) That a conference be called by the Educational Department of the General Conference Committee, to convene at some central point in the United States for the purpose of giving those directly connected with school work an opportunity to study all the phases of school work which are general in character, and to devise and inaugurate plans that will be of universal application.
(b) That teachers' institutes be conducted as far as practicable, in each local conference. ### INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS
3. We recommend, (a) That the needs of our youth be provided for in our local conferences, where practicable, by the establishment of intermediate schools.
(b) That care be taken to keep these schools within the proper limits of intermediate schools.
(c) That they be industrial in character, giving first attention to agriculture and domestic arts.
(d) That they affiliate with the training school of the district, and that the training school be represented on the board of management by a member of its faculty.
(e) That in the establishment of these schools there be previous investigation regarding the operation and experience of the intermediate schools already in existence. ### SUPPORT OF CHURCH-SCHOOL TEACHERS
Whereas, The church-school teachers are gospel workers; and,—
Whereas, There is need of establishing schools in places where the churches are weak; therefore,—
4. We recommend, That donations for the church-school work be gathered throughout the conference into the State conference treasury, and that the church-school teachers receive their support from the conference, the same as other conference laborers.
Committee on Education:—
L. A. Hoopes, Chairman,
M. E. Cady, Secretary,
E. J. Waggoner,
E. A. Sutherland,
H. A. Washburn,
J. S. Osborne,
R. C. Porter,
S. M. Butler,
E. K. Slade,
Mrs. I. J. Hankins. L. A. Hoopes: I think it would expedite matters much if those who had a part in framing these recommendations would state to the Conference the idea of the committee. I call on Professor Cady to speak to the first resolution.
M. E. Cady: When I spoke the other morning with reference to representation on the General Conference Committee, I spoke of a definite number. However, I had in mind only a proportional representation, and I should have been perfectly satisfied if this recommendation had called for that only. The matter of the machinery is a secondary matter. It is the effective work that overtops everything else to me. The educational work has been in a sort of chaos. I want to see order come out of this chaos and confusion. In one State certain subjects are emphasized; in another State a different line of subjects is taken up. It does seem to me that the question of the subjects to be taught in our schools ought to be considered, and that there ought to be some uniformity as to subjects and courses of study. I do not believe that we shall have strength in the educational work until some of these salient features are considered and settled.
I will illustrate the matter by reference to local matters. When I came to California four years ago, we had five church schools, and two of those made failures. The next year we had nine church schools, and one made a failure. The succeeding year we had fifteen church schools, without any failure; and the next year we had thirty church schools, without any failures. What was the reason? The reason to which I attribute the success is that we organized the work. We got out a church-school manual. We indicated those subjects to be taught, and every teacher in the school could know not only the subjects, but the texts to be used in every subject. That brought uniformity, and brought strength into our work, and if a student moved from one church to another church, he could go right in and take up the work without any break.
I do not say it can be brought about in a year or two years, but it is a problem to be worked out. If it is too large a problem for the entire field, let each union conference take up the work, bringing uniformity and stability into the educational work.
Now we have this question of organization coming up from time to time, and some are afraid of organization. Did you notice that sentence that was read yesterday? It is something like this: that the evils of organization result not in the matter of organization simply, but in making more of the organization than we ought to, and too little of vital godliness. Now what God wants is an educational system that is vitalized with the Spirit of God from first to last. And did you ever notice that God always works through forms? When he fed the five thousand, there was a lad present who had five barley loaves. I do not know that those loaves were perfect; but Christ took the best that they had and blessed it, and gave it to the people. Now God wants us to take the best means within our reach, and to ask his blessing upon it, but to be seeking for better and better means by which to carry forward his work.
Another feature: Text-books are appearing from time to time, and then perhaps are not used. I know some say we can get along without text-books. If I read the instruction sent to us aright, we are to have text-books to be used in our schools just as truly as we have books printed giving the principles of the third angel's message to the world. And the definite statement is made that books should be prepared and placed in the hands of the students that would abound in principles, that would affect the life and the heart. Placed where?—In the hands of the students. Now I do not believe any person can learn how to teach a subject in these modern times without the use of books to begin with. I have seen persons riding along on a bicycle without using the handles, but they learned first by using the handles, did they not? They had to use them at first to get balanced, and then they were able to fold their arms for a time, and ride along without touching the handles at all. Let us take some of these handles that God has given us, crutches you may call them, if you like; but we are weak; we need help; and God gives us these means to use till we can stand on our own feet, by the grace of God. And so the instruction of the spirit of prophecy is that text-books should be prepared and14placed in the hands of the children. If they are rightly used, and the teachers carry on the work aright, they will gradually learn to do without books, because they are becoming observant.
Just a word about the next section, that speaks about the secretary. Some will say, "Do you think that a secretary would be of value in such a large field as the United States or the world in harmonizing and unifying the work?" I do not know why an educational secretary can not have a work to do in harmonizing and unifying the work just as well as a Sabbath-school secretary. If it is too large a work for the whole field, then let it be done in the union conferences. But I believe, really, that more effectual work can be done by beginning in the districts, and unifying it in the districts. I believe thus more rapid progress could be made than by taking in the whole field. But that means extra work in every district, and it might be a saving of expense for a time simply to have one to carry on this work.
It is immaterial to me how the thing is done; but I do hope it will be done. I hope we shall stop spending so much time in theorizing about education, and that we shall actually get to work and do something. When we read in the Scriptures, "Blessed are they that do," it applies to educational work just as well as to any other work.
R. C. Porter: I move that in the place of asking for three members on the General Conference Committee, we change the wording so as to state that there will be a proportionate representation on the General Conference Committee.
This motion was seconded.
W. C. White: Mr. Chairman, I am not in favor of the amendment, or of the resolution which it endeavors to amend. I believe that resolutions directing the Nominating Committee of the Conference are not necessary. We have discussed principles and instruction, which show that all departments should be represented on the General Conference Committee. Our constitution looks to that end; and for us to dictate with reference to the different departments, it seems to me, is entirely unnecessary.
I wish to make a suggestion for the study of the Conference regarding this whole question of departmental organization. There are three plans before us: (1) The plan adopted last year by the Executive Committee of appointing representative men to form a department; (2) the plan presented in this recommendation; (3) another plan, presented by the Publication Committee, in which it proposes that the department, the Publication Department, or the Publication Committee, shall be made up of one member appointed by the General Conference Committee, one member appointed by each of the publishing houses, and one member appointed by each union conference. Now I believe that a careful study of all these plans might lead us to the development of something that might be followed with a certain degree of uniformity in the formation of all departments, and I will suggest this for your consideration.
L. A. Hoopes: The committee, I am sure, have no disposition to dictate terms to the Conference. As to the representation in this council, the committee did feel that those who were directly in touch with the educational work were the ones that should compose this council largely, if not by a large majority. We are not asking that the educational secretary shall be a member of the General Conference Committee, although he may be. It has been suggested that this plan makes this department fundamental, the same as the General Conference Committee itself. We do not wish it that way particularly. All that we want is an opportunity to do something, to be recognized, and to go ahead with our work.
A. G. Daniells: I feel heartily in harmony with what I understand to be the aim of this recommendation. I believe that the General Conference Committee should give this work the study and attention that it requires, and it does seem to me that a good, efficient system of education can be developed in the union conferences that can be generally harmonious throughout those conferences. I do not see why it can not be developed to apply throughout the United States.
I am free to confess that during the past two years I have not been satisfied with the attention that has been given to this important department of our work; but I think any one who will stop and look over the ground will be prepared to make a little allowance for the brethren who have been on the General Conference Committee, and for the Educational Department as well. The last two years have been years of very heavy work. We started out to reorganize the field, to establish these union conferences, both in this country and in Europe, and also to economize just as far as possible in our administration. When we started in two years ago to divide the field into union conferences, we had a forty-thousand-dollar debt on the General Conference treasury for the payment of laborers. The division cut off a large amount of the tithe we had been receiving before. Now, with the heavy debts upon us, and with the large amount of work of reorganization, and with a degree of prejudice, too, against the whole scheme, besides the arranging of departments, there was something for the General Conference Committee to do; it has had its hands full. It has worked strenuously and economically through this period of time, and I feel that a little allowance should be made by the brethren when dealing with our failures and shortcomings in this matter.
Now see where we are. The work of reorganization, so far as the union conferences are concerned, is well under way. We have organized eight union conferences in America, taking in Canada, and we have had one session in each of those conferences. The officers and boards and committees are installed and in command of their work. Our departments to a large extent are established. That work is off our hands. And it is so in Europe. I do not see why the General Conference Committee can not now foster this line of educational work more than it has done during the past two years.
Then another thing. Reference was made last night to our religious liberty work. I presume we can all confess that that work has not had the attention that it should have had. But the same apology, if we may call it that, may be given. We have had a large amount of heavy work upon our hands. It has been pioneer work in this reororganization. But two years ago these departments were created; committees were appointed. There was an Educational Committee. Dr. Kellogg was elected chairman, and held that position the first year; then Professor Prescott was made chairman, and has held it since. But both these brethren have been loaded down with responsibilities and hard work. The Religious Liberty Department was also established; a committee was appointed, and Elder A. T. Jones was elected chairman. He was soon called to California, and was engaged in heavy work. After some months, a change was made, and Elder Moon was elected chairman. The committee has been somewhat scattered, and Brother Moon had a full amount of work upon his shoulders, without anything extra. Now, I do not feel to blame any of these committees for not giving more time to their departments. The departments were created; chairmen were chosen; secretaries were appointed. We can all make due allowance for all these departmental committees and for the General Conference Committee, on the ground that the past two years have been pioneer years in opening up new lines. Are we not on better vantage ground to-day to do something with these departments than we were two years ago?—Surely we are.
Now I would like to see this: I would like to have these departments tried thoroughly another year. Instead of the General Conference here creating an independent committee, as this resolution recommends, let your General Conference Committee create these departments of education, religious liberty, publishing, and so forth; let the personnel of these committees be carefully studied. We must look beyond the United States in the study and development of this educational work. We are starting schools on the other side. There are hundreds and thousands of children over there. If we treat this educational work as we ought to, we shall endeavor to shape our committee so that our brethren in that country may have the benefit of this work, and receive help from us. Make your departmental committee on education as strong as possible. Get the best men you can on it. Then select a chairman who will be a member of the General Conference Committee who can give that work his special attention. Relieve him of burdens that will deprive him of giving this work the attention it ought to have, and let him bring before the General Conference Committee the data that the committee ought to consider for fostering the educational work. I believe that by that means you will get more done by the General Conference throughout the field than in any other way. If it is not the chairman who should occupy that place, assign the work to the educational secretary of this committee. I do not know which will be best. The same plan can be followed with the religious liberty work. Why not, if we ought to take that work and give it special attention, let the one in charge of the department be free from other weighty responsibilities, and let him locate where he can conduct this work and develop it as it requires. I would like to see this matter placed in the hands of your General Conference Committee. Let them take the time to gather the best material for departmental committees; let them put specialists in charge of the department15work, and develop it in every union conference. That is where the work is to be done. We have no General Conference school; we have no General Conference publishing house; we have no general institutions, but some of the union conferences have. Let your departmental committee develop the idea and work it out in the union conferences.
S. M. Butler: Would you have this departmental committee made up of men connected with training schools, or from church schools, training schools, and other schools?
A. G. Daniells: The committee ought to be constituted so that it would represent every phase of the work that we are doing, so that, if possible, that committee would take in each department; and that is in harmony with this whole idea that we started out with two years ago, which was to have all parts of the field and all phases of the work represented in our management.
S. M. Butler: I think that is exactly the idea or result the committee had in mind. The committee had no thought of censuring or even intimating that the General Conference Committee had been negligent of its duty during the past year, and that hence there needed to be a change. I know there was an immense amount of work to do, and we were not sure but that it might be so during the coming year. I should be very willing to see this plan that Brother Daniells has outlined carried out.
R. C. Porter: With the consent of the second, I would withdraw my motion; and, if Brother Daniells's motion is to come before the house, I would second his motion.
A. G. Daniells: I had forgotten your motion, Brother Porter.
The Chair: If there is no objection, the motion of Elder Daniells is before us.
The question was voted upon, and carried.
The Chair: The secretary will read the next recommendation.
The secretary read Recommendation 2.
L. A. Hoopes: I think it is evident that such a convention is necessary. I know that a few years ago, when the question of reorganization of the school work was started anew, the different schools were somewhat at sea. They hardly knew what to do, what course to follow, what courses of study to pursue, or what text-books to adopt. So the president of the General Conference called a council, composed of the heads of all the leading institutions in the United States, and at that council each one was permitted to express himself freely and fully on every subject touching the work in which he was engaged. At first there seemed to be differences of opinion; but opportunity was given for questions to be asked and answered, and I feel very confident that at the end of that meeting there was practically no difference of opinion relative to the work, and all were better prepared to go ahead with the work. I believe it did more to bring about a unanimity of sentiment in our school work than anything else that had happened.
The second division of this section is that teachers' institutes be conducted, as far as practicable, in each local conference. I believe that a number of the States are already doing that, but this recommendation is that it be generally carried out, and that all our church-school teachers who are expected to do work in our church schools shall be required to pass an examination that will be equivalent to any examination that they would have in any county superintendent's office, so that they will not stand below those of the public school, but far in advance.
J. S. Osborne: We talk about the loud cry of the third angel's message. Are we not to expect that the loud cry of the message will make itself felt in the school work as well as in other departments? Does not that indicate to us that there should be an unusual activity in this line? There must be unity and organization. I believe the call for a convention a step in the right direction.
The question was called.
The secretary read Recommendation 3, on intermediate schools. R. A. Underwood: I see these recommendations are intended to be guarded somewhat; but my own personal feelings of responsibility of a parent to a child are such that I can not help having some misgivings in regard to such schools. If I have the right idea, the design of these intermediate schools is to take children from twelve to sixteen, or those of an unsuitable age to enter one of our larger schools. I have attended and been connected with some of our schools, and I have never yet seen one, with all its equipment and work, that I would feel free to-day to send a child of my own from my home to, surrounded, as he would be, by a large number of children from twelve to sixteen years of age, before he had the proper formation of character to stand. It seems to me that there is a great deal of danger involved in these enterprises; and yet I know there are many children among us who would be better off in a school of this character than they are at home. But when we take a step in our recommendation that seems to put upon this denomination a sort of paternal responsibility, it is a rather serious matter.
A. G. Daniells: This will have to be worked out by the union and State conferences, will it not? and there is a little provision put in here that would be advisory to them. It seems to me that this will have to be left with the States to work out as they can.
H. A. Washburn: I have been requested to say something with reference to this work. I have been connected with it for some time. Possibly all may not be aware of the fact, but it has been nearly four years now since the Lord, through the spirit of prophecy, approved the movement of establishing intermediate schools. You will find the statement on page 122 of the "Church School Manual," published by the Review and Herald Publishing Company. During these four years, while there was no sentiment to begin with in favor of these schools, this sentiment has been spreading, and there are no less than fifteen conferences that have taken steps in this direction. So far as the work in Wisconsin is concerned, for which I can speak more in particular, the approval of our people is given to that work. It has been a blessing to the conference. These schools are to be preparatory schools. I do not believe that they should take any children as young as has been suggested. Judgment should be used in sending children to these schools. Under present conditions, these intermediate pupils will do better when they have special schools provided for them than when they go to a high school. I will read a few statements from Volume VI of the Testimonies, on page 179: "Study in agricultural lines should be the A, B, and C of the education given in our schools. This is the very first work that should be entered upon."
On the preceding page I read these words: "Some do not appreciate the value of agricultural work. These should not plan for our schools; for they will hold everything from advancing in right lines." There is a movement beginning in the public school system of the world for the establishment of just such schools as the Lord is leading us to establish in our denominational work,—the establishment of secondary agricultural schools. I believe the Lord would have his people lead in that, and not follow after. If we are to lead in that work, it is necessary for us to be encouraging that work now. If we wait until the State is ready to take up the matter, and then take steps to establish our schools, we shall find that it will take a longer time to raise the money to establish these schools, and we shall be following along behind, instead of taking the lead. Our Wisconsin school has prospered, over two hundred students having been in attendance during the present year. While some have been sent simply because their parents could not manage them at home, they have been given the missionary spirit; in fact, many of them have gone forth into our training schools, and are now in the field. These schools should be carefully guarded, lest they become independent and militate against the interests of our larger schools.
J. E. Jayne: Just a word. It is evident that there are three classes of students who can derive benefit by such a school. The first are orphans, the second are those who are worse than orphans,—that is, those whose parents can not instruct them at home,—and the third is the adult class who are able to take care of themselves in certain ways, but have not received sufficient education to obtain proper instruction in one of the training schools. It is just as evident to our minds, I believe, that, therefore, the class of students who can be helped by such a school is very limited now. One thing about the industrial character of these schools: when you stop to think what it means, after establishing our church schools and our training schools in many conferences, to get together horses and wagons and utensils, and go to a large amount of expense for such a school, I should say it should be worked out pretty carefully.
E. A. Sutherland: I should like to ask the last speaker what provision he would make for the children who are too far advanced, probably, for the church school, and not old enough to go to the training school.
J. E. Jayne: I would never be guilty of a greater evil in order to prevent a less. And if you have children of very tender years, so young that they are not prepared to go into the training school, they are too young to be taken from their parents; and you would better let them remain a year or two in their homes, until they are prepared to resist the temptations that come to every such child when separated from his parents.
E. A. Sutherland: I can see what our brother sees, and yet I remember very well a Testimony which says many of16our children will have to be taken away from their parents in order to be saved. Let us look at that side just a little. There are parents who are able to keep their children; and we say, Let those parents keep those children. But there are parents who are not able to do this. It is a question for us to provide education for these intermediate youth, or else send them to the schools of the world; for they will send them to the schools of the world, unless we make provision for them.
C. A. Beeson: It seems to me that this intermediate work should take our youth from fourteen to eighteen, the age at which they so often go out into the world to work for themselves.
In our church-school work, where our schools are of any size, we have all grades, and it seems to me that it is impossible to make our church-school work a success, unless graded work is done. While I believe the intermediate schools are all right, and that we ought in time to have them, and perhaps the time has come, I suggest that the graded work can be carried on in our church schools by hiring two teachers, one for the primary department, and one for intermediate work. I know by experience the last year that this work can be done, all in the same room.
D. E. Lindsey: There is no question, in my mind, that is more important than the one before us. I see the danger pointed out by Elder Underwood, and I have suffered along that line. I lost my boy by sending him away after the death of his mother, when he was young, to a school. I still hope for his conversion and salvation, some time. But I do not want anything said in this conference that anybody can use in our home churches against the organization of a church school.
R. A. Underwood: I do not want to be understood as being opposed to this, or to church schools. I am not. I voted very heartily for the recommendation that preceded it. As to the agricultural feature, I believe our schools should begin as spring opens, and have the vacation in winter.
W. Covert: I wish to say with reference to the danger that will come to our young people who attend these schools, that there is danger connected with all our schools; we shall have to guard against this in any school. There is danger in our homes, danger in all our communities; but I believe that our youth in these schools are protected from danger much more than if they were not in these schools; in our Wisconsin school almost all the young people who attend are converted before they leave.
S. H. Lane: There is a period in a child's life—from fourteen to eighteen—that is indeed a critical period, which, if watched and guarded, saves the child. They are too old to go to church school, and not large enough to go to our training schools. The parents hardly know what to do with them, and they want them to go to an intermediate school. If the State where they live does not care for them, the parents will get out into another State where they do. I believe the time will come when every State will make provision for them. This does not mean that you must build great institutions, but we are told in the Testimonies that if several churches will unite, they can establish a school. The Chair: The secretary will read the next recommendation.
L. A. Hoopes: I call on Brother Porter to explain the idea of the committee.
R. C. Porter: This recommends that church-school teachers shall receive their support from the conference as other laborers do. This places it so that the conference shall say who shall go out, and how many schools shall be established, and gives the conference the management of them, the same as other conference matters. They would be under conference control. Further than that, it leaves it open for the conference to gather up donations, so that it will not have to take a cent from the tithe, if they can get enough in donations to meet the necessities of the case. No doubt that can be done. Elder Santee, in Southern California, has been trying to accomplish this by a second tithe. We leave this question open. All we ask is that the conference give the subject most careful and prayful attention.
G. B. Thompson: I would like to inquire if this recommendation means that there is to be no tuition in our church schools.
Watson Ziegler: If we were to propose to put church-school teachers into every church that would want them, every church would ask for a church school, having their teachers paid from the conference funds, and that alone would take more tithe than the churches pay. Some churches would be large enough to support theirs and have a surplus; but to furnish to all would consume the conference fund if the tithe were appropriated to this end. I do not believe God's Word allows the tithe to be so used.
C. Santee, by invitation, stated how it had been worked in Southern California. After trying the various plans in common use, without satisfactory results, he said the brethren decided upon the idea of a second tithe for this purpose. Such texts as Deut. 14:22, 23, 28, and Deut. 26:12-16 were studied, along with references in Josephus and Tobit, indicating the custom of paying a second tithe in the Jewish economy; also