Pacific S. D. A. Publishing Association.
By C. H. Jones
THE last meeting of this Association was one of more than usual interest and occupied two sessions, one in the forenoon and one in the afternoon. The attendance of stockholders, and others, was larger than at any previous meeting. The Treasurer's report showed that the amount of business done during the past year was $110,858.83, or an increase of 27½ per cent. over last year. The balance sheet showed a profit to the Association, this year, of $5,000. This may look small to some, when compared with the amount of capital invested, but when we take into account the fact that but very little profit is made on the SIGNS and our denominational books, the difficulty is explained. The sale of our denominational books has been much larger than ever before, and the circulation of the SIGNS has increased fully one-third. In fact, our work is increasing in all departments so rapidly that already we find our facilities entirely inadequate to supply the demand. Every department of the office now seems to be in a prosperous condition, but in all our calculations the SIGNS has received our first and special attention. We were never satisfied with the old way of stitching the SIGNS with thread, so at the commencement of this volume it was enlarged from a twelve to a sixteen-page paper, and a new machine was bought which folds, pastes, and trims the paper, all at one operation, thus presenting it in a much more282acceptable form, and not only that, but enables us to get it into the mail fully one day earlier than before, which is no small item with our friends in the East. We knew that the large edition which we now print would soon wear down the type so that it would not be readable, and therefore, to avoid this, we have adopted the plan of stereotyping the pages, and printing from stereotype plates. Thus our type will be preserved new and clear to the end of the volume. All this has increased the expense of getting out the SIGNS, and still the subscription price remains the same. We recognize the fact that the office was established for the purpose of doing this very work, and we purpose to devote our energy to this one object of getting the truth before the people. We feel very thankful for what is being done by our brethren in different parts of the country to second our efforts. The work is onward, and already we feel ourselves cramped for room. We need more presses, but have no place to put them. With the present circulation of the SIGNS it takes two presses two days each week to print it. Should it double its circulation this year, as we believe it will, it would take those presses four days instead of two, to do the work. But it would not do to delay the SIGNS so long. We must have four presses to print it on, so as not to consume any more time than at present. All these points were brought before our brethren and all seemed to feel that we must heed the advice given by Eld. Haskell in his address, "To be able to increase our work tenfold on short notice." We have felt the need of more room for some time, and the providence of God has seemed to favor us in this. Before the meeting, we secured the refusal of two lots 50x100 feet each, extending through from 11th to 12th street, just in the rear of the present office buildings. We have rented and occupied one of these lots for the past two years. Could we get this property it would give us just what we need for the enlargement of our business. In order to learn the mind of our friends more fully in regard to the matter, we called a special meeting of our leading brethren on Monday evening, and laid the plan fully before them. The impression seemed to prevail that the next move that was made should be large enough to meet all probable demands in the future. The brethren voted to recommend that the directors purchase the two lots above referred to, and put up a tank-house and stable this year, locating them with reference to moving the boarding-house on to one of these lots next year, and then erecting an office building, just such as we need, on the lot where the boarding-house now stands, corner of 12th and Castro Streets. By building the tank-house this year, we can store our paper in the lower part of that, thus giving room for another press in the basement of the main building. The question came up at the meeting as to how the money should be raised to pay for these improvements. We do not want to increase our interest-bearing debt, neither do we wish to call for donations. The brethren seemed to think that there were those who would put their money into the office without interest, sufficient to purchase the property and put up the buildings. To start this, fifteen hundred dollars was pledged by two brethren on the spot, and others promised to help. At a meeting of the Board of Directors, held immediately after the above meeting, it was voted to do as the brethren had recommended, and secure the two lots at once; also to purchase a new cylinder press. We consider this a missionary work. Now if any of our brethren have money which they would like to invest in the enterprise, looking forward to the next world for their interest, we shall be glad to hear from them at once. We do not ask you to donate your money, but just let us have the use of it for a little while, without interest. The cause needs help just now. California has done nobly in the past, and we trust there are those who will respond to this call. We are happy to state that the effort made to reduce our rate of interest to five per cent. has been entirely successful, and that five per cent. is the highest rate now paid. Some have done even better than this, and placed their money here without asking any interest. We are very thankful for the confidence our brethren manifest in the institution. We want you to feel that it belongs to you, and we want your prayers for the success of the work.