Is It Right? by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 2, 1875

Is It Right?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

TO THE T. AND M. SOCIETIES.

Perhaps I do not understand the working of the Tract and Missionary Society well enough to make any suggestions about it; but I have observed in several places a matter which does not seem to me to be right, though no one has probably intended any wrong in it. If I understand the matter rightly, books are furnished to all our T. & M. Societies at one-half their wholesale price. The other half of their value is paid out of the book fund, which is raised by a general contribution all over the field for the T. & M. Society. Thus, one State receives 200 dollars’ worth of books for which the Society is charged $100. The other $100 is taken out of the book fund to pay the Office for these books. This is all right.

Now, what I have observed is this: Some of the ministers in the different States, instead of buying their books at the Office, buy them of the T. & M. Society, paying that Society the same price which they would pay for books at the Office; that is to say, just twice as much as the T. & M. Society gave for them. It is true that the minister makes nothing in this transaction, but it is a decided speculation on the part of the T. & M. Society. A bill of books for which that Society paid $100 is sold for $200, thus making $100 clear. In order for them to do this, that $100 had to be taken out of the general book fund at the Office. A little reflection will show that this is virtually robbing the book fund of that amount.

And then, further, I know of cases where the directors have sent to the Office for hymn books and other books for the brethren themselves. These books are sent to the director at Tract Society rates; that is, at one-half what the Office would sell to ministers, the other half being taken out of the book fund. Now, if the director sells these books to brethren at the regular retail price, his Society is making a very handsome profit—three dollars for every one dollar laid out. But in most cases the director sells these books to brethren at just the price the Society paid for them—for one-third or perhaps one-half the regular retail price. In this case, the one who buys the books makes a clear gain of that much on every book he buys. If he wants to buy three dollars’ worth of books he can afford to pay $1.00 to join the Society, as he would then save a half dollar.

I do not believe our brethren have designed any wrong in this, as most of those with whom I have talked have supposed that the matter was all straight.

What is the object of the T. & M. Society? It certainly is not to furnish books to our ministers or to our own brethren and sisters; but it is simply to furnish reading matter to the outside world, who are not sufficiently interested to buy for themselves, or at least to pay full price for it. But in a large number of cases our brethren avail themselves of this means to obtain our publications for themselves individually. This cuts off a large income to the Office on the retail trade, and makes a very heavy drain upon our book fund by diverting it from its proper channel into one for which it was never designed. I simply offer these suggestions for the consideration of those who have more knowledge and authority in the matter than I have. D. M. CANRIGHT.

Jay, Mich., Nov. 21, 1875.