International Publishing Association
By F. F. Byington
The third annual meeting of the International Publishing Association convened in College View, Neb., Oct. 16, 1906. There was present a fairly good representation of the constituency, and all members of the board of trustees except Elder A. T. Robinson, who was absent on account of illness. The following-named General Conference representatives were present: Elders G. A. Irwin, W. C. White, L. R. Conradi, G. F. Haffner, L. H. Christian, and S. Mortenson. The chairman, Elder E. T. Russell, gave an encouraging outline of the work for which the association was organized, and said that the past year had been the most prosperous one since its organization. Heretofore we have always had a deficit to wrestle with at the annual meeting, but this year the treasurer's report shows a gain on the year's work of a trifle less than one thousand dollars. Seven meetings were held during the session, all of which were characterized by a spirit of harmony, while there was the utmost freedom in the discussion of all matters brought before the meeting. Following a careful study of the reports presented by the committee on plans, the following preambles and resolutions were unanimously adopted:— “Whereas, The Lord has in many ways graciously prospered the International Publishing Association during the past fiscal year, so that quite a large quantity of literature has been printed, and circulated among the foreigners of this country, and so that instead of a financial loss as in former years, there is this year a gain, therefore,— “1. Resolved, That we heartily express our sincere gratitude to God for his bountiful blessings and kind watch-care during the year, and that we pledge ourselves to greater zeal and consecration in the printing and spreading of our foreign literature in the year before us. “Whereas, It is our belief that aside from such literature as can be obtained to good advantage from our foreign publishing houses, the burden of supplying Seventh-day Adventist literature for the foreign-reading people of the United States rests primarily with the International Publishing Association, so far at least as it pertains to periodicals, tracts, pamphlets, and trade books, therefore,— “2. Resolved, That the directors be authorized to improve the binding facilities so as to do muslin work, the investment for the year in binding machinery not to exceed one thousand dollars. “3. That we encourage the Pacific Press Publishing Company to go forward in the publication of the larger subscription books until such time as other plans shall be proposed by the publishing committee of the General Conference. “4. That exception to the above be made in the case of such individual books or classes of books as shall be assigned for good reasons to other publishing houses by our Publishing Department. “5. That we approve of the assignment of the Spanish work to the Pacific Press. “6. That in all of the foregoing we recognize the work of our publishing houses in Europe, and especially the Hamburg Publishing House, which is doing pioneer work in many languages, and that as far as consistent with the interests of the people, we shall purchase from them the literature which they publish, thus assisting them and lightening the burden of the International Publishing Association. “Whereas, There is a large German and Scandinavian population in this country to whom our literature on present truth must be brought, and,— “Whereas, There is need of greater missionary zeal and a more systematic plan of work in the circulation of this literature among our Scandinavian and German brethren, therefore,— “7. Resolved, That a decided effort be made this fall and winter to revive and systematize the tract and missionary work in the churches and among the scattered brethren by the following means:— “(1) That the superintendents of the German and Scandinavian work give special attention to reviving and developing the missionary work all over the field, and that the different State conferences be asked to give them the fullest liberty to work up the subscription lists of the foreign papers and to get the tracts and other publications out among the people. “(2) That all our foreign ministers and Bible workers be urged to do far more than they heretofore have done in circulating the literature themselves and getting our lay brethren to circulate it. “(3) That three foreign corresponding secretaries, one German, one Swedish, and one Danish-Norwegian, be appointed for the office of the International Publishing Association, (a) to assist the editors of the respective languages; (b) to receive the mail of those languages, and to assist in filling all orders in their respective languages, as far as found practicable by the Board; (c) to increase the circulation of the foreign literature by corresponding with the church librarians, and by such other work as will stir up the people to missionary effort. “(4) That a general missionary letter be prepared to send out to all our foreign churches and isolated brethren on the importance of distributing our foreign literature. “(5) That a well-planned tract and missionary work be organized and revived in every foreign church in this country, and in every other church where there are many foreigners. “(6) That the Scandinavian and German church librarians report once a18quarter to the corresponding secretary of the International Publishing Association, and that a tabulated statement of work done all over the country be published in the foreign papers once a quarter. “(7) That we ask our foreign brethren to hold a missionary meeting the fourth Sabbath of every month, and that aside from this other missionary meetings be held. “(8) That the German and Scandinavian brethren make a special effort to circulate our literature in other foreign languages in this country, and that each of these three make a special effort for one particular nationality; the Germans to take the Bohemians and Russians; the Swedes, the Finns; and the Danes, the Icelanders and Greenlanders. “(9) That the chairman of the International Board, the foreign superintendents, and the foreign corresponding secretaries constitute an advisory missionary committee. “8. Resolved, That we request the Central and Lake Union Conferences to pay half of the salary of the three foreign corresponding secretaries, the International to pay the other half. “9. Resolved, That Resolution No. 6 be translated and published in full in the three foreign papers; and further, that it, together with several short, spicy articles on the foreign work in America, be published in the REVIEW. “Whereas, At a recent meeting of the Publishing Department of the General Conference action was taken regarding a polyglot book depository in New York City, and,— “Whereas, The executive committee of the Greater New York Conference has expressed its willingness to undertake the establishment of such a depository, if satisfactory arrangements can be agreed upon, therefore,— “10. Resolved, That we recommend for their consideration the following propositions:— “(1) That the International Publishing Association will supply this depository with a full line of such of its publications as the depository can handle, on consignment, laid down at its door free of transportation expenses. “(2) That a commission of ten per cent be allowed the depository on tract society rates. “(3) That this stock shall be fully insured by the depository against loss by fire. “(4) That the stock be well cared for, and in case of the return of damaged books, that the loss be divided equally between the depository and the International Publishing Association. “(5) That uniform prices and discount be established by a council of the representatives of the International Publishing Association, the Hamburg and Christiania Publishing Associations, and the Pacific Press Publishing Company. “(6) That the territory to be supplied by the depository shall be the Atlantic Union Conference, the State of Ohio, and Canada east of Manitoba. “(7) That the International Publishing Association and the depository protect each other's territory, as is customary by our publishing houses. “(8) If at any time the Greater New York Conference finds it necessary to close out its depository, it shall give the International Publishing Association notice in sufficient time to make disposition of its stock. “(9) Reports of stock on hand and payment for stock sold shall be made quarterly. “Whereas, There is great need of the closest co-operation between the American and European houses in producing suitable foreign literature, therefore,— “11. Resolved, That as far as possible there be a previous well-understood arrangement between the publishing committee of the International Publishing Association and the European houses concerning new works to be gotten out in the German and Scandinavian languages. “12. That we urge our editors on both sides to have all reference to moneys, weights, and measures so arranged that they can be definitely understood in both continents. “13. That all translations which are designed for use in both countries be either translated in Europe or else be previously submitted to competent editors in Europe before they are printed here; and that when desired, the manuscript of books to be printed in Europe be first read in America. “14. That in order to further this co-operation, a committee of seven be appointed, consisting of one German, one Swede, and one Danish-Norwegian from Europe, and one from each of the same nationalities of America, with Elder Conradi as chairman of the committee; the three American members to be chosen by the International Publishing Association, the three European members to be selected by the Scandinavian and German Union Conferences; the office of the committee to be at Hamburg. “15. Resolved, That we recommend the International Publishing Association to order a full supply of such trade books and other books as are published in Europe, and which it has not already on hand, the three literature committees to select the books in their respective languages. “16. Resolved, That an edition of two thousand copies of the Danish ‘Early Writings’ be published during the present year.” With slight alterations the report of the nominating committee was adopted, and resulted as follows: Board of Trustees, E. T. Russell, A. T. Robinson, F. F. Byington, G. A. Grauer, August Anderson, O. F. Schwedrat, Lewis Johnson; Counselors, A. Voth, O. E. Reinke, S. Mortenson, L. H. Christian, Henry Shultz, Valentine Leer, Theo. Valentiner, J. F. Staby, C. A. Thorp, H. R. Johnson, M. S. Reece, A. Swedberg, S. F. Svensson, J. F. Anderson, Carl Leer, R. A. Underwood, N. P. Neilsen; German Literary Committee, G. F. Haffner, G. A. Grauer, O. E. Reinke, O. F. Schwedrat, Theo. Valentiner; Swedish Literary Committee, S. Mortenson, S. F. Svensson, August Anderson, A. Vermelin, A. Swedberg; Danish-Norwegian Literary Committee, L. Johnson, L. H. Christian, P. E. Berthelsen, M. L. Andreason, C. A. Thorp. At various times during the session there was free discussion concerning the best plans of co-operation between our larger publishing houses and the work of the International. This discussion was along the line of plans outlined at the recent publishers' convention held at Washington, D. C., assigning the International Publishing Association its legitimate field as one of our recognized publishing houses in North America. Upon this institution rests primarily the burden of supplying Seventh-day Adventist literature for the foreign-reading people of this country. The meetings were characterized throughout by a spirit of courage and good cheer, and at the close all felt that the International Publishing Association never had a brighter prospect for its future work than it has at the present time. F. F. BYINGTON,
Secretary.