Committee Investigation of Battle Creek Sanitarium by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 11, 1906

Committee Investigation of Battle Creek Sanitarium

By Editor

NOTE.—Having been requested by the chairman of this committee to publish the foregoing notice, we deem it necessary to state for the information of our readers some facts bearing upon this matter. According to the tenor of the resolution adopted at the recent annual meeting of the Michigan Sanitarium and Benevolent Association providing for the appointment of this committee, it is its duty to investigate any rumors or charges concerning the management of the Battle Creek Sanitarium which it may regard worthy of such attention, and to report its findings to an adjourned meeting of the association. This committee is given ample power for carrying forward its work, is authorized to fill any vacancies which may occur in its membership, and the trustees of the association are directed to provide such funds as may be required to meet any expenses incurred by it.

This committee is composed of the following persons: Jesse Arthur, C. C. Nicola, A. T. Jones, H. G. Butler, Allen Moon (resigned), G. W. Morse, F. E. Belden, D. H. Robinson, David Paulson, C. M. Frederickson, M. J. Cornell, Irving Keck, M. W. Newton, R. H. Harris, C. D. Rhodes.

An examination of the personnel of this committee shows that two of its number are members of the board of trustees whose actions must necessarily come under review, that another, who presented the resolution in the annual meeting providing for the appointment of the committee, is the paid attorney of the trustees, that three others are in the employ of the sanitarium or corporations closely allied to it, and that still others have been connected either directly or indirectly with some of the matters which are to be investigated, or are generally considered as having taken sides with the management of the sanitarium in the controversy which has arisen in the denomination.

One of the leading questions at issue relates to the course taken concerning the sanitarium property at Guadalajara, Mexico. The chairman of the subcommittee especially charged with the duty of investigating this matter is a member of the board of trustees of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and was a member of the Board when it took the title to the Guadalajara property, and was a member of the board of trustees of the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association when they voted to handle this property in such a way as to give "special protection" to the Michigan Sanitarium and Benevolent Association, its principal creditor.

It is not usual to place upon a jury the very persons who have been indicted, neither is it customary to place upon a committee of investigation those whose management is to be investigated. The verdict of a jury or the finding of such a committee is not likely to command public confidence.

In view of the facts here stated, the members of the General Conference Committee who were invited to submit evidence to this committee did not deem it advisable to do so, and we can not advise our readers to respond to the invitation contained in the notice here printed.