The Canadian Union Conference
By Arthur G. Daniells
The Second Biennial Session
The second biennial session of the Canadian Union Conference was held at Quebec, Sept. 1-12, 1904. There were delegates present from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. As this meeting was held in connection with the Quebec annual conference and camp-meeting, it gave the Quebec brethren and sisters the privilege of meeting the union conference delegates, and of attending the conference meetings. And the presence of so many brethren and sisters increased the interest and value of the union conference meetings. This was the first session of the Canadian Union Conference I have had the opportunity of attending. I very much appreciated the privilege of meeting the workers of that field, and of hearing from them in personal interviews regarding the work in their various conferences. From what I learned in this way, I obtained a better knowledge of the conditions and needs of eastern Canada. I wish that all our people in the United States could see the situation in that field as it is, and feel the interest such an acquaintance would certainly create. I feel sure that they would not permit the cause to continue longer in its present crippled condition in that promising part of the Master's vineyard. Dr. Carrie Lemon gave a full account of the medical missionary work that has been carried on by her husband and herself in Newfoundland during the last two years. Although they have not had a large institution, the patronage has been good, and the work has been sustained financially as well as could have been expected. Many sufferers have been relieved, and have been taught how to live in harmony with God's laws. A foundation has been laid for a good work in Newfoundland. As it seems necessary for these workers to leave that country, a call must be made for other medical workers to take their place. Here is an opportunity for some young medical workers to render valuable service to the cause of God. From Elder Wm. Guthrie, president of the Maritime Conference, I learned much regarding the opportunities and needs of that part of Canada. Prince Edward Island, which has a population of about one hundred thousand, has not a single laborer from our ranks. This island has a large farming population, and gives promise of being a good field for a warm-hearted, consecrated minister who will settle there permanently. I am told that it is a beautiful place in the summer, but rather cold and isolated in the winter. Surely some minister should be found who will go to that part of the Maritime Provinces with courage and determination to permanently establish this cause among the thousands there, who are now without the light of this truth. But the most pressing need of the Maritime Conference is some financial help to put their intermediate school in a position to do good work for their children and youth. For years the young people of our Sabbath-keepers in Canada have been coming to our schools in the States, and but very few have returned home to labor in the cause. This has proved disastrous to the interests of our work in Canada. From personal experience we have learned that it is a serious thing to our cause to have the young people of one country drawn away to another to secure their education, and then fail to return. It seems to paralyze what remains. Realizing this, our Canadian brethren are making heroic efforts to establish educational institutions within their own borders. However, they find the burden heavy, as their numbers are few, and they are generally poor. As the Canadian Union Conference Committee looked the situation over, it was the conviction of all that two thousand dollars should be raised immediately for the maritime school. It was agreed that five hundred dollars of this should be raised by the brethren in the Maritime Conference, and that we should ask our brethren in America to raise fifteen hundred. This matter was considered at the recent College View council, and a recommendation was passed, expressing approval of this proposition. Elder Guthrie has made arrangements for soliciting aid in some of the conferences, and is now making an effort to secure this help. Our brethren in Canada have sent thousands of dollars across the line to help build and maintain our various institutions in the United States. In making these gifts they have been encouraged to believe that when the time came for institutions to be established among them, our brethren in the United States would remember them with the same brotherly generosity. The time has surely come for small schools and sanitariums to be established in Canada, and this17presents an opportunity for our brethren in the States to return at least a portion of what they received in their time of need. The Ontario Conference has established and opened a training-school for the young people of that conference. Some months ago the General Conference made arrangements for them to receive some financial help. There is no investment we can make in this cause that will bring more satisfactory returns than investments in the education of our young people for the service of God. One of the most encouraging features of the cause in the Quebec Conference is the medical work. About one year ago the Quebec Conference purchased a building in Knowlton for a sanitarium. The place had cost the original investor about eight thousand dollars. The conference purchased it for two thousand eight hundred dollars. Dr. White took charge of the institution for the conference. It has been operating about a year. The signal blessing of God has attended this branch of the work. The institution has been filled nearly the entire time since it was opened. A number of very serious operations have been performed with remarkable success. The citizens of Knowlton appreciate the institution very highly, and a good report of the principles followed and of the work done has gone forth. At the time of the conference a number of people had made application to enter the sanitarium, and were waiting for rooms to be vacated. Those who are best acquainted with the cause in Quebec appreciate the reputation this institution is giving the cause our people are endeavoring to carry forward. Owing to the large patronage, it seems absolutely necessary to furnish and equip the institution better than it is at present. After looking the building over, and carefully studying its needs, we all agreed that four thousand dollars, ought to be raised at once for these improvements. Although the few believers in Quebec have contributed liberally to the institution, it was agreed that they would raise another thousand dollars, and that we would ask the brethren in America to contribute three thousand. This matter was given due consideration at the College View council, and it was recommended that the Canadian Union Conference be encouraged to solicit three thousand dollars in such conferences in the States as they could make satisfactory arrangements with. Elder Thurston, the president of the Canadian Union Conference, has already begun this work. We hope that abundant success will attend his efforts. The sums asked for the school and the sanitarium referred to above are small compared with the very important part these institutions must fill in the work in Canada. Although the membership of the Canadian Conference is not large, the work to be done is great, and the prospect is most encouraging. Doubtless a strong, vigorous policy will place the work in Canada on a much stronger basis, and we shall see the same good returns from that field that we have already seen in Great Britain and Australasia. The limit of this report will not permit of reference to other details of interest. There was but little change in the officers of the union conference. We can see that a marked improvement has come as a result of the organization of the work in that field during the last two years. If a little more help can be given that conference just now, the next two years will undoubtedly show excellent returns. It must be gratifying to every lover of the truth to see this message permanently planted in Canada from Newfoundland on the Atlantic to Victoria on the Pacific. The laborers now located in that field are there as permanently as any of our laborers are located anywhere. They do not consider the States as home. They have gone to Canada to stay, and are organizing the work and pushing forward with the determination of placing the work in that great field on a strong, self-supporting, self-governing basis. Shall they not have the prayers of our brethren and sisters everywhere?