A Word from the President.
By H. W. Cottrell
THE Pacific Press building lies in utter ruins caused by a fire on the night of the 20th, the details of which are given in another article of this paper. The cause of the fire is not known. In the days of Elijah there was a wind, an earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in any of them. And after those "a still small voice." That was the voice of God to Elijah: "What doest thou here, Elijah?" We have had quite recently both an earthquake and a fire, but the Lord was not in them. "An enemy hath done this." Our kind heavenly Father turned the results of the disastrous earthquake into a great blessing and we know He will also turn this to His glory in the end. Our loss is over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. We will probably receive our insurance, which is one hundred thousand dollars. At least there is no reason why we should not receive it. The trustees have taken counsel with several of the leading brethren and have decided to rebuild, provided the town will give us the proper encouragement, and that the Lord does not indicate otherwise. Our house was the largest and best equipped publishing house on the Pacific Coast, and it was doing a great work for God. Our work must not be stopped, nor even hindered. We must rise up, rebuild, and go forward. Buildings may be destroyed by earthquake, or by fire; men may die, renounce, yea, denounce the truths of the Third Angel's Message, but the truth of God can never be destroyed. It will survive the destruction of all perishable things and triumph most gloriously in the near future. Neither we nor any of our employees are discouraged. We press forward with strong faith and greater courage than ever before. The still small voice is speaking in this our day. It is speaking to us. We humble our souls before God, and wait to know why He has permitted this disaster to come; yea, more, to know His entire will concerning us individually. We need financial help to rebuild our plant. Money will be of little worth a few days hence. We received from the Oakland camp-meeting people cash and pledges to the amount of $8,065.05, which amount was obtained in one effort. This amount will no doubt be greatly increased by the people on the coast. Reader, what does the voice of God say to you in this our time of need? "Quench not the Spirit."