THE BOOKS ARE PAYING THE DEBT.
By J. Sutherland
To the many patrons of Union College we take pleasure in making an announcement of how matters have stood since the beginning of the enterprise. Many have entertained the idea that Union College has been running behind in the matter of running expenses, but such is not the case. The institution has not run in debt to keep up expenses, but on the other hand, has kept up expenses, and has spent over ten thousand dollars in improvements, since the buildings were built, in putting in the sewer, electric lights, water plant, etc. The debt of the institution was incurred in this way: When the buildings were erected, the money for the purpose was obtained, partly by direct donations and partly by sale of land which had been donated to the Conference for that purpose. Much of this land was sold for cash, and the money promptly turned into the building fund; but about sixty-five thousand dollars’ worth of this land was sold, and notes taken in payment for it. Now these notes themselves could not be used to complete the buildings, so, depending on these notes, the General Conference borrowed sixty-five thousand dollars, giving General Conference notes for the same, and with the money completed the work. Just following this came the financial crisis of 1893 and onward. This so lowered the prices of property about Union College that most of those who had given their notes to the General Conference simply turned the land back to the Conference, and refused to pay their notes. This left the General Conference with the sixty-five-thousand-dollar debt, which, with the interest, had grown to about seventy-nine thousand dollars when the proceeds of “Christ’s Object Lessons” was donated to the work by Sister White. Returns have been coming in from the sale of this book, and the debt is now growing smaller,—a cause for rejoicing for all. As a result of this work, we have received the amounts given below, all but the Personal Donations and the Kansas Building Fund coming directly from the sale of the books, and these two are also a result of the movement:— Iowa Tract Society.................. $6,000 00 Nebraska Tract Society.............. 5,000 00 Kansas Tract Society................ 3,506 00 Colorado Tract Society.............. 2,800 00 Minnesota Tract Society............. 1,577 24 Personal donations.................. 1,165 60 Kansas Building Fund................ 694 59 Dakota Tract Society................ 593 85 Missouri Tract Society.............. 500 00 Manitoba Tract Society.............. 100 00 Total............................... $21,937 28 All this money has been paid out on the debt to those who hold interest-bearing notes against the General Conference. This reduces the debt to about fifty-seven thousand dollars, and we are encouraged to believe that “Christ’s Object Lessons” will liquidate the whole. The Lord has said that if we do our duty, the debt can be paid in this manner, and we therefore pray earnestly that the good work may continue till the last dollar is paid. Business Manager Union College.