TO THE FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE IN IOWA AND NEBRASKA.
By George I. Butler
The time for our last general quarterly meeting before the termination of the Conference year has about come. Believing you all dearly love this cause, and desire its advancement, I will call your attention to the necessity of raising means to purchase a new tent for the Nebraska field before the tent season arrives, so that it may be ready to use there this summer. A subscription was circulated last spring, and many signed various sums, and some paid in money. With this a new tent was purchased for Dakota, which did good service in that new field. There were quite a number of pledges which have not been paid. All these are necessary for the purchase of a new tent for Nebraska. Many in Nebraska pledged quite liberally, and they will be much disappointed if the tent is not purchased. We shall want this forty foot tent at our camp-meeting for a back tent and for other necessary purposes. Our tent fund is entirely gone, and we must have enough money raised to purchase one, or the cause will suffer a lack. Our camp-meeting fund is almost exhausted likewise. We ought to have means for this also, for we shall have soon to make preparation for the approaching camp-meeting. We hope also our brethren will remember the Tract and Missionary fund. Remember we are in debt, and our debt must be paid. You will doubtless say it is hard times, and you can say this truly. We have acted on this principle very much the past winter, and have done but little in comparison to what we should have done, and could have done, till I greatly fear our large Conference will present the worst record almost of any. We have made allowance for hard times. We certainly then ought to pay up our indebtedness and get our credit redeemed. This indebtedness has been some of it of long standing. Let us make an effort and pay this off. We trust every director will make a special point of this at all the district quarterly meetings, and that our brethren will send along the means to the general quarterly meeting at Sigourney, March 24 and 25, so that the Iowa and Nebraska T. and M. Society may be once more out of debt. Our old brethren and sisters in the churches have had labor bestowed quite largely this winter in nearly all their churches. Let us see if it has been appreciated, and whether they will not give a hearty lift, and place our society once more on a good financial basis. Come, brethren, this is probably about the last appeal I shall make to you as president of this Conference. I want to see all our funds redeemed from the thralldom of debt before another camp-meeting, so that my successor in office shall not be embarrassed another year as we have been the past year. Pres. Iowa and Neb. Conf.