A Review of the Work in the Southern Union Conference
By George Ide Butler
While there have been no remarkable developments of recent date in our conference, yet there are tokens of improvement, and some interesting evidences of a forward movement, and greater success for the future. This great Southern field has been spoken of as a very difficult field, and it truly is such. There are some perplexities we have to struggle against here that our more advanced and prosperous conferences of the North know not of. However, there are none but what the power and grace of God are sufficient to overcome, if we can only have the wisdom and humility to walk in his ways. The publishing work has been, to a degree, prosperous during the quarter which is now closing. The Special Number of the Watchman
The special number of the Watchman, the matter contained in which almost wholly pertains to the coming of our Lord and Saviour, has met with quite a ready sale. About one hundred thousand copies have been sold. We have heard none but the most favorable comments concerning this number thus far, and have had many most encouraging commendations concerning its valuable character, from a large variety of sources. Wherever undertaken, it has been sold with great ease and rapidity. It has been stated that no publication has sold more readily. A brother in Texas has sold several thousand copies, and continues sending for more. Thousands of them were sold right here in the city of Nashville. It has been stated that this paper was sold with even greater ease than the finely illustrated and ably edited last special issue of the Signs of the Times, or even than the Life Boat, which all said was the easiest thing to sell that had ever been issued. We have regretted to see, of late, quite a material falling off in the calls for this special number. We know of no good reason for it. The whole subject-matter is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing in the number that would particularly call attention to the date, in the hands of the common observer, so that, as far as the date is concerned, it is just as good several months after its issue as at the time thereof. The matter contained in it will be most excellent from now until the close of time; for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest event this world will ever behold. In a brief notice, the editor of the Signs of the Times presents one very important fact. He speaks of the value of the matter, and of its excellent presentation, and states that in no other form could the same amount of matter be obtained without a cost of five times as much. Let the readers of the Review notice that this is a very interesting and important fact. The editor of the Signs is certainly good authority. And where can be found a more attractive presentation of the subject-matter than is contained in this beautifully illustrated paper? Where can anything be found that would present the coming of the Lord at so cheap a price, so easy to sell, so attractive in appearance? Why then should the sale of this paper not be pushed in all directions, wherever the English language is spoken? What is a circulation of one hundred thousand copies, with a hundred million people speaking the English language to be warned? It is very evident that a large number of our people have taken as yet little interest in it, and when we stop to think that one brother can sell several thousand copies in a few weeks, and even little boys and girls can sell them by the hundred, in a day, why should this important agency be neglected? We will say to all the readers of the Review that the three presses of the Southern Publishing Association can turn off the papers as fast as wanted. A Large Increase of Territory for the Circulation of Our Publications
Our brethren of the publishing board and of the General Conference Committee, at the Berrien Springs meeting, very kindly granted the Southern Publishing Association the whole territory of the Southwestern Union Conference as its field of circulation. It is known, doubtless, to many of the readers of the Review, that the Review and Herald Association and the Pacific Press Publishing Company have heretofore divided up the whole territory of the United States and Canada, so as to avoid confusion, and not to be in each other’s way18in the circulation of our good literature. Since the General Conference authorized the establishment of the Southern Publishing Association as an organization by itself, to supply literature for the Southern field, because of certain peculiarities and prejudices existing in the South, and because literature printed in the South, as a rule, is more acceptable to Southern readers than that printed in the North, this publishing association has been struggling under many difficulties to reach a state of efficiency where it could do the work in the most economical and acceptable manner. The Southern Publishing Association is established in the Southern Union Conference, which, of course, is only a portion of the Southern territory. It would seem, then, that the steps taken by the General Conference Committee and the committee on the circulation of our literature were reasonable, because the same reasons exist in the South-western Union Conference for Southern literature that exist in the Southern Union Conference itself. These reasons, doubtless, had much to do with the decisions made by the aforesaid committee. This arrangement goes into effect the first of next January. Steps are already being taken so that the Southern Publishing Association will be ready to occupy its territory at that time. This will involve the establishing of a large depository, capable of supplying all the needs of that interesting and important field. The internal affairs of our office have been working very smoothly and pleasantly. Because of a lack of sufficient funds to do business, we have been obliged to pass through many perplexities, and have greatly regretted that the means which the General Conference at its session in Oakland voted should be raised for this field could not have come to us, as generously designed. However, we wish to make no complaints, and find no fault, but do the best we can. This lack, of course, cripples us in many ways, but we feel that God’s prospering hand is with us. We have a good class of help, and everything is working pleasantly, only we know that we need a greater degree of God’s Spirit and blessing than we yet have. For this we are striving. If our brethren would take hold of the circulation of the special number of the Watchman, and push it as it ought to be pushed, until hundreds of thousands, or even a million, copies were sold, this, of course, would be of great assistance to us. It would be a great benefit to them also, as well as to the cause. We have done all we can on our part, and greatly wish our brethren would help us, by helping themselves, and the work of God all over the world where the English language is spoken. It will be a long time before the printed truth on the Lord’s coming will be presented in a more attractive form, in an easier manner to circulate, and at less cost, than has already been done by this office. Our Health and Temperance Work
This branch of the cause has also been laboring under many embarrassments, for lack of means, yet there are some encouraging features. The sanitarium in Graysville is now in active operation. Quite a portion of the building has been finished and put in shape for the reception of patients, and the institution is being patronized, to a greater or less degree. It is far from being fully finished or as thoroughly equipped as might be desired, but its field of usefulness is already entered upon, and we hope it may have success. Our small sanitarium in Atlanta, Ga., is also now in operation, and patients are coming to receive its benefits. The building is not a large one, and therefore can not accommodate a great many persons, but it is put in good, attractive shape, and we hope may be a blessing to many. The loss, by fire, of our small sanitarium at Hildebran, N. C., is a great local calamity to that field. The origin of the fire was a mystery. It seemed to be started from the outside. It was surprising that some did not lose their lives, but all escaped. It was a total loss, there being no insurance. The directors were just about to insure it, but as it had not been fully fitted up, they were putting it off until it should be completed. The brethren and sisters of that conference feel that it ought to be rebuilt. Quite a large number of patients were all ready to come to occupy it. Dr. Carey, who had come from the West to act as its physician, had high hopes of its prosperity. Under all the circumstances, the affliction was a very sad one to those who had been laboring with such a spirit of sacrifice and earnestness to complete this small institution. Knowing many of the facts concerning these sacrifices, the writer admits to feeling a great degree of sadness because of this affliction. We earnestly hope that the friends of the cause will rally, and erect a more suitable building, with better facilities and accommodations. In this case, the fire would prove a benefit instead of a detriment; for the previous building was hardly fit to stand as one of our representative sanitariums. Were it not for the great need of means for the establishment of the work in Washington, the writer would feel inclined to make a very earnest appeal in behalf of this enterprise. It is needed, and would be greatly appreciated in that community. It would be a great help to the cause in that State, and to many suffering patients. We sincerely sympathize with the dear brethren in North Carolina because of this loss. Our sanitarium work in Nashville—both the small sanitarium for the colored people, and the one for the white people—is struggling under great financial perplexities. Both are trying to establish their work in rented buildings, which are not very well adapted to the real needs of the work, but this is the best we can do. The latter has two buildings rented, and quite a number of patients and helpers. The workers are all very busy. Dr. Hayward is struggling hard to meet the demands upon him, and his work is appreciated. We hope the friends of the cause will pray that this important point may, in the near future, have a proper sanitarium to fill the position it should in the work of God. Our colored medical workers in that sanitarium are surely entitled to the sympathy, co-operation, and assistance of our brethren amid the great difficulties and perplexities under which they labor. We could greatly enlarge upon these subjects, but perhaps it would not be best at the present time. May the Lord devise ways and means to help us in our desperate struggles with poverty and obstacles.