PUBLICATIONS by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 14, 1878

PUBLICATIONS

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

It is necessary for the prosperity of our tract societies that a quantity of publications should be kept on hand in each district, also that a smaller quantity should be deposited with each librarian for the use of the members in the churches. There should also be a supply of premiums in each district for canvassers, so that they can apply to the director or the district secretary for the Way of Life, Household Manual, and Child’s Poems, at any time, and receive them.

There should also be a tract depository in the State, so that if districts or churches have an oversupply of any one kind and a deficiency of another, an exchange can be made at the general quarterly meetings for such as are needed. In those Conferences remote from the publishing house, it is far better to have a moderate supply of bound books and pamphlets to furnish to ministers than for them to send direct to the Office for books, as shipping in large quantities is less expensive than in small packages. To accomplish this, with the present magnitude of our tract societies, would require a capital of not less than twenty-five thousand dollars.

One year ago our tract societies were in debt to the Publishing Association about fifteen thousand dollars. Although much of this was on hand in publications in the tract societies, it was wholly unavailable to the Association. In addition to this, it had to keep on hand a large stock of publications to supply the tract societies. It becomes necessary, also, for the Publishing Association to advance money to the different missions, and for such enterprises as the Dime Tabernacle, while the donations that have been pledged are coming in.

These were some of the reasons why we urged our tract societies to raise a fund sufficiently large to pay cash for all their publications. This fund should be kept good by the added one-third and small donations as they come in from time to time. Many of our societies commenced at once to raise a fund according to the suggestions then made. Although the tract societies are largely in debt at the present time, it may be but just to say that in nearly every State they have more than held their own, besides having pledges which become due Jan. 1, 1879. These, when paid, will greatly lessen their indebtedness.

We have therefore prepared the following table, which we publish that the reader may know the standing of each tract society one year ago, the amount of publications taken during the year, the present indebtedness, and pledges, so far as we know them, to cover this indebtedness. We also propose to publish a similar table in the next Supplement, so that each society may know what advancement it has made up to that time.

Conference Tract Societies	Indebtedness, Oct. 1877	Value of publications purchased during the year	Indebtedness, Oct. 1878	Publications on hand	Unpaid pledges
New England	$400 00	$1859 40	$2516 98	$2269 47	$850 00
Illinois	$289 00	$513 90	$647 52		$730 00
Missouri	$180 74	$488 03	$760 49	$605 00	$598 50
Wisconsin	$965 00	$1012 17	$1691 53	$838 55	$491 59
Iowa	$163 38	$1708 00	$1008 80	$829 80	$1600 00
Indiana	$47 60	$527 36	$311 93		$300 00
Nebraska		$561 47	$445 12	$500 00	$860 00
New York	$1258 52	$1652 21	$1670 02	$686 00	$1850 00

NOTE.—The above table does not give the exact standing of the societies, it being impossible to obtain all the facts required. The indebtedness of New England, Missouri and Wisconsin, October, 1878, embraces what is due at the SIGNS Office. The other statements do not.

It is but just to remark that New England has a general depository of all our publications with which we supply Vermont and Maine. We only give the amount pledged to pay for these in the New England Conference, not knowing what has been done in this direction in Vermont and Maine.

In regard to Missouri, no Conference has done better than that, considering what has been done in the State during the year on the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. They have taken six hundred copies in clubs since October, 1877, and these are all paid for to the present time. Also they have pledges to the tract fund which exceed the value of publications on hand.

S. N. HASKELL.