A PERSONAL WORD TO OUR READERS.
By Editor
WE are living in an epoch-making era. A thought to-day is a word to-morrow, an individual act the next day, and a world-movement the day after. This is an era of combination and federation. We have labor-unions, trade-unions, associations, and combinations and coalitions of wealthy corporations, railways, trusts, banks, political parties, and nations. The thought is potent. The idea is contagious and dominant. All the temporal and social and commercial and labor elements are uniting; why should not the religious bodies unite? Why should the professed followers of Him, who above all things else prayed for unity among His disciples, stand alone, separate, and divisive? It should not be. "That they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me," prays the Son of God. Surely Christian unity is important. To crystallize this great thought "The Inter-Church Conference on Federation" met November 15 to 21 in Carnegie Hall, New York. This great meeting, the delegates to which represent 18,000,000 of religionists, Dr. William Hayes Ward, the veteran editor of the Independent, tells us, "is the first attempt ever made to unite these churches officially in a single body;" and that "it is an attempt to bring the church partially back to its condition of unity in the time of the apostles." Men in every walk in religious life look upon it with favor. It has the indorsement of the President of the United States and justices of the Supreme Federal Court. The objects of the Federation are thus stated: "We believe that the great Christian bodies in our country should stand together and lead in the discussion of, and give an impulse to, all great movements that 'make for righteousness.' We believe that questions like that of the saloon, marriage and divorce, Sabbath desecration, the social evil, child labor, the relation of labor to capital, the bettering of the conditions of the laboring classes, the moral and religious training of the young, the problem created by foreign immigration, and international arbitration—indeed all great questions in which the voices of the churches should be heard—concern Christians of every name, and demand their united and concerted action if the church is to lead effectively in the conquest of the world for Christ." So reads the address of the Committee of Correspondence. It certainly embraces a wide field—religious, social, political, national, and international. And the object is to throw all these forces as the central committee may direct against what shall be deemed evil or in favor of what may be deemed right or expedient. "Important!" Yea, verily it is important. If the union be on a wrong basis, it is important; for such a step means spiritual death to the church, and infinite loss to both church and world. If that union be on a right basis, on right principles, it means untold good to the church and the world. The Signs of the Times will have full reports of this important conference. It will present the fullest, completest reports of any paper we know of in the entire field, including the dailies. And when these reports are in, so that our readers are intelligent as to the position of the leaders in this great movement, we shall endeavor to show just what the movement means. The principles involved and followed will teach this as truly as harvest follows seed-sowing. Now, dear reader, we want your help. Whether you agree with us on the Sabbath question or not, whether you disagree with us on other doctrines, let us study this great movement together. More than this, help us all you can to enlighten others. We wish to send the Signs of the Times (marked copies) containing these reports and lessons to as many professional people—ministers, legislators, lawyers, teachers—as possible, and we will do all the work and send the Signs for two months for twenty-five cents. If you can furnish addresses, we prefer it. If you can not, we will do so. Now for donations, anywhere from $25.00 to 25 cents. But please act quickly. Designate these donations "Federation Fund." Make orders or cheques payable to the Signs of the Times, Mountain View, Cal. Yours for Christ and His cause,