p. 9 | BACK TO THE LAND

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 6, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 27.

“BACK TO THE LAND.”

[The following article we take from an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, of Sunday, June 19. Apart from the anecdote related,—which we do not believe to be true, which, if true, is in nowise a typical case, which would be repudiated by every devout, well-instructed Seventh-day Adventist, but which was probably born in the fertile, facetious imagination of the editor’s Catholic predilections,—the article contains rare good sense, which we commend to our readers.]

An Educational Institution Moves on to a Farm.

In the eyes of the world the Seventh-day Adventists seem rather simple-minded folks. Most of us think of them about as Christ and His disciples were probably regarded by the men of their generation. We see no reason to expect the early beginning of the millennium, and can not understand why any body of professing Christians should consider it an essential matter to observe the seventh instead of the first day of the week as a day of rest. Nevertheless, there are a good many who think the Seventh-day Adventists’ theology very much awry who yet rejoice to see still existing in the world real faith in anything, reverence for anything, and fidelity to conscience at whatever inconvenience. The model Christian is one fervent in spirit, diligent in business, serving the Lord. There is no doubt of the fervency of the spirit of the Adventists. Last autumn a lady, who thought herself a good Christian, stopped one Sunday on her way from church to talk with a woman whom she knew to be a good Adventist, and, who, having faithfully rested the day before, was picking up prunes with her children. Conversation happening to take a theological turn, the lady remarked that she had profound respect for all who lived according to their religious convictions, whether they agreed with her own or not, and added that she had some relatives who were Catholics, and that if, by any chance, the children of that family should come under her care, she should see to it that they were reared in the Catholic faith, altho she herself was a Protestant. “Well,” said the prune-picker, simply, “you will go to hell.”

There was the fervent expression of a conscientious belief, and it was respected as such by the lady to whom it was addressed, regardless of the unhappy fate predicted for herself. It was not spoken offensively, or even argumentatively, but simply stated as one of the eternal verities, of interest to whom it might concern, and particularly as a warning, which the fervent spirit of a Christian woman constrained her to give to one in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. The fervency of spirit, however, which the Adventists possess is less obvious to the world than their diligence in business. That is patent to all men. Wherever they are, the Adventists are hard workers and thrifty. Their products, which they will on no account deliver on Saturday, are good, and their sanitariums are celebrated in all parts of the country. Whatever we may think of their theology, one must confess that they excel most people in plain common sense in business affairs, and in the art of getting on in the world by the non-speculative, and, therefore, unamerican methods of diligence in earning, and prudence in spending.

It is because the Adventists have such shrewd judgment in business affairs that their determination reached at their recent state conference in Oakland, to remove their state school from Healdsburg to a farm, deserves serious consideration. Healdsburg is a thriving, prosperous town, but the temptations of city life do not abound there to such a degree as to render it unsuitable for the residence of students. Nor is it so far removed from rural scenes as to beget indifference to their charms and dislike of their homely surroundings. The institution is to be removed to a farm in order that life in it may be simpler and cheaper, and opportunities for productive work more abundant. The level-headed men and women who control the affairs of the denomination, realize that the gospel of work is the true Gospel in worldly affairs, that the joy of accomplishment is the greatest earthly blessing, and that the sturdy independence, begotten of honest manual labor is the most certain assurance of earthly happiness and content. There are certain facts which we may as well face. The children who are brought up in habits of industry, who are not afraid of hard jobs, do not clamor for short hours, and don’t get them if they do clamor for them, and who absorb the vigor only to be required by daily contact with mother earth, will be, or become the parents of those, who, in the next generation will direct the affairs of mankind. In the main it has always been so. In the main it must always be so. Only by contact with the earth from which we sprang can the human race escape degeneration. It is noble to be a mudsill, for it supports the whole structure of society. This the Seventh-day Adventists perceive, just as Booker T. Washington perceives it in Alabama, and they are going back to the land.