The Work in Western Canada
By H. S. Shaw
Since this field was organized into a union conference in the fall of 1907, the work has steadily grown, and we have only words of courage to speak. At first, not being able to support themselves, each of the local conferences received appropriations from the General Conference annually to aid in carrying forward their work at home, but we are pleased to say that now every one is self-supporting. Five years ago our tithe was about thirteen dollars per capita, but the reports for 1912 show our tithe to be more than twenty dollars per capita, for every Sabbath-keeper in the territory. At the beginning of 1908 the total Sabbath-keepers numbered 1,157. At the end of 1912 the number had grown to 1,801. Our mission funds in 1908 reached about seven cents a week per member. Last year they had increased to nearly twenty cents a week per member. The book and periodical sales last year amounted to $34,044.23, about twice the amount of our annual sales five years ago. During the present year the work has continued to advance in all these branches. We held five camp-meetings this season, one each in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and two in British Columbia. These meetings have already been reported in detail. It is said that they were the largest ever held in their respective conferences. The president reports interests developed at different places which are already bearing fruit. It is now certain that this will be the best year and the most aggressive we have experienced since the work was started in this field. The population of this union territory is only about equal to that of the State of Iowa, while the area in square miles is as large as the entire area of the States of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. This scattered condition of the population, with the problem of meeting the needs of so many foreign languages, renders the field a difficult and expensive one to work. In this corner of North America the Lord has a people who revere his name. Small as are our numbers, and scattered abroad as we are over the mountains and plains of this great frontier, we thank God for the honor of having a place and a part in the closing struggles of the coming conflict which is to reach its crisis in this generation, and we pledge our love and loyalty till the work is done.