Earlier text: Call to the MinistryIn Trying Places
By W. A. S.
WITH the whole world in feverish preparation for the coming Armageddon, the way of the messengers of the gospel of peace is being made increasingly difficult. When the storm may break over all nations, no one can tell. We know by the word of prophecy that the day is hastening, while angels are holding the winds of strife in order that the message of truth may go to all. Some of our brethren are being called upon to pass through trying experiences that should impel us to much prayer for them—that wisdom may be given them to know how to shape their course aright—and for the cause of truth in all lands. Newspapers in many parts of this country have been giving prominence to the experience of a young man in Europe, brought to trial on account of his Sabbath-keeping. The press in other lands has dealt with it also. It suggests how quickly the news of some crisis in the work of God may be carried to the world in these days, and the witness be borne that will bring the final crisis. The Chicago Sunday Herald, of January 22, prints the following despatch, with the headlines, “Goes to Prison for Religion,” “Is Seventh-day Adventist,” “Court Sentences Him for Five Years for Insubordination:”— Berlin, January 21.—The scruples of a religious recruit are causing a lot of trouble to the authorities of the German army. The young man, whose name is Naumann, is an Adventist. Poring over the Scriptures, in his religious zeal he convinced himself that the seventh day of the week was the Sabbath, which was to be kept holy, and on which no manner of work was to be done. When he was drawn for military service between three and four years ago, he found that this belief entailed unpleasant consequences. All went well for a few days, and he proved himself an intelligent and industrious recruit. But when Saturday arrived, he flatly refused to go on duty. Minor punishments and remonstrances were absolutely without effect on him. He merely repeated calmly and firmly that his conscience forbade him to perform any kind of labor on the Sabbath, and that no human laws nor penalties could make him waver in his obedience to the Word of God. The presiding judge at the chief court martial of the third army corps asked Naumann to explain himself. He replied simply but decisively:— “I was sworn in with a Christian oath, and therefore can not be under an obligation to violate the commandments of God and work on the Sabbath. One must regard God as the highest authority, and obey him in the first place.” High Court Confirms Sentence
The court then confirmed the sentence of five and one-half years’ imprisonment for insubordination, which had been passed by a lower tribunal. Naumann has now appealed to the final instance, the imperial court martial. If it should find against him, he will, unless pardoned, have to choose between spending the best years of his life in prison and abandoning his religion. From other versions of the report it appears that the young man made it plain that his obedience to God would not preclude service on the Sabbath in emergencies, requiring the performance of works of necessity or charity. To give answer under such conditions is a personal matter between the soul and the Creator, and the brother bore his testimony as God enabled him to see the light. His answer regarding the oath under which he was called to military service was a striking one. Under such conditions how the heart must cling to those words of the Saviour: “It shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.” Matt. 10:19. Varied comment editorially on the case has been made by the press, some arguing that exceptions might be made to general regulations. The following editorial from the Washington Herald shows how the matter is generally regarded, doubtless, and it is worth while noting the view-point. The article is headed, “Army Duties and Religion:”— The German military authorities are engaged with one of those problems which those who have to do with army discipline find the most perplexing and troublesome. It is that of a young soldier who announces himself as an Adventist, and who, on account of his religious belief, refuses to engage in labor, even under the orders of his commanding officers, on Saturdays. He is willing to stand the punishment for his disobedience, proclaiming that he is under an obligation to obey the commandments of God. He regards this communication13as from the highest authority. The pious soldier has been sentenced to five and one-half years’ imprisonment for insubordination, and has now appealed to an imperial court martial, the final resort in his case. It might be considered that a man who entertains religious views which interfere with the discharge of his military duties could be discharged from the army as the easiest way out of the difficulty. But if that were done, it might be made the ruse of other soldiers to separate themselves from the military establishment. There can not be, of course, any exception on the ground of religious belief to the requirement that every soldier shall perform the duty assigned to him, without regard to the day of the week or its relation to a period of worship. In all military and naval organizations ample opportunities are given to attend church or engage in any other form of religious activity. This can not be allowed to interfere in time of emergency with the duties devolving upon a force employed for national defense, and there have been few cases where the intensity of religious faith has embarrassed the military body in its efficient discharge of its service duties. Instances of piety such as has been manifested by the German soldier give trouble to those in authority, because there is always the disinclination to appear as imposing upon individual religious belief. Sometimes it is overlooked as an act of insubordination, as in the case years ago of a midshipman at the Naval Academy, who, in defiance of the rules prohibiting the display of anything on the walls of the sleeping-rooms of the midshipmen, kept in a conspicuous place the decorated text of the Lord’s prayer. He refused to remove it, even at the risk of being regarded as insubordinate, and the naval authorities finally abandoned their effort to compel him to do so. The midshipman was eventually graduated, served a long period as an officer, and is now on the retired list. A more recent instance of this sort was that of a chaplain of the regular army on duty in the Philippines, who renounced his church, and decided to preach the gospel without a creed. The War Department escaped the embarrassment of the situation by requiring that the chaplain ally himself with some church, which he did, to the great relief of those responsible for army discipline. As for the Germans in their present difficulty, there is no way out of it save to regard the pious soldier who chooses to have Saturday for his Sabbath as insubordinate, without regard to the religious aspect of the case, and to deal with him accordingly, on the theory that he should obey orders as long as he is in a military organization; on the broad principle, moreover, that he could be a good soldier seven days in the week without being any less loyal to whatever religion he may choose to adopt. This attitude makes little of individual religious convictions in matters of the clear command of God. But it is the world’s way. And this is modern religion, which virtually denies the supremacy of God, and bends all things to the human and temporal point of view. The world has little use for God’s Word and his commands. That is why the Lord is sending the solemn message to every nation and tongue crying the judgment hour begun in the courts of heaven above, and calling men to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Truly the times are perilous, and the Lord himself must lead on the work of witnessing, and give wisdom to his servants to know what to do and say in trying places. It is no idle dream—the picture that prophecy gives of the closing experiences in the history of the church and the world. These things must sound like trumpet blasts in our souls, awakening every one to earnest, active service to let all men know the message of the Lord’s soon coming while yet the winds are held. Time and property and strength are to be laid upon the altar. The Warning Against Religious Persecution Is No False Alarm
By C. M. S.
The Warning Against Religious Persecution Is No False Alarm
Such a policy and such a purpose as held by the great religious federation referred to in the previous article are openly antagonistic to the liberties of men, and completely at variance with God’s guaranty of religious liberty. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” said Jehovah. In that mandate the Almighty recognized man’s right of choice—his religious liberty. “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not,” said the Messiah. In that declaration our Redeemer recognized man’s right of choice—his religious liberty. The Almighty could take no other course without insuring the certain ruin of both religion and those who would profess it. Wherever religion has been a matter of compulsion, it has produced two classes of individuals—martyrs and hypocrites. The best people have been the martyrs, who have died for their conscientious convictions. The weak and the worthless have slain their conscience (if they had any), and have lived on. But with religion on a basis of individual choice, where God put it, and with the state operating in the field of temporalities, where God designed it should operate, liberty is guaranteed, character is developed, and there is peace. The conscience of the individual is the most sacred and the most valuable asset a nation can possess. When that disappears out of any nation, the ruin of that nation is assured. But a national religion feeds upon conscience as a vampire feeds upon the blood of a sleeping child. It is the business of a state religion to ravish and destroy the consciences of the best people in the state. The conscientious Christian must follow the leadings of the Word of God. A state religion can not permit this, and at once trouble begins. The conscientious individual follows the leading of the state; the religious weakling permits his conscience to be overridden and ravished, and he, too, follows the state as his spiritual lord and master. The man or woman who is worth while accepts no master but Christ in religious things, and, under a state-church régime, the dungeon, the gallows, or the stake stands at the end of his journey. The Purpose of the Nation’s Founders
To avoid such conditions, the founders of this nation constructed a frame of government which would guarantee the greatest liberty, both civil and religious, separating the church from the functions of government, emancipating religion from the control of political majorities, and freeing the government from the control of class or sect. On that basis, liberty and equality are guaranteed, and they can not be guaranteed on any other basis. The founders of the nation had seen the working out, at first hand, of the policy of intolerance, and sought to protect their posterity to the end of time against the recrudescence of such cruel and ruinous experiences. Shall we go back to what they fled from, and what they thought they had freed us from? To do that is to throw open the citadel of every man’s soul, and invite its invasion and its desecration. Every additional religious law placed upon the statute-books of this nation is another step backward toward conditions of intolerance and persecution, the slavery of mind and conscience; and the willingness of a portion of the public to enforce such religious laws as we now have upon Christian men, under pains and penalties, shows how poorly the lessons of past experience have been learned, and how disastrous would be the results for the whole people should the proposed policy of state-churchism ever be carried out in this land. Let that régime again be adopted, and there would not be wanting a multitude who would think they were doing God service in any persecution they might be able to bring upon those who differed from them in religious opinions and practise. “Uniformity” or Rights of Conscience?
Said the president of the National Reform Association in an address at Winona Lake, Ind., in August, 1910:— Uniformity [in religion] is essential both to peace and progress. The opinion of the majority must be decisive. Even in the matter of men’s consciences a degree of uniformity is necessary. We would allow the greatest amount of individual rights of conscience consistent with the necessary uniformity.14 In this program, uniformity in religion is more “necessary,” more “essential,” than individual rights of conscience. But the dearest right of a human being is his right to follow his conscientious convictions in matters of faith and religious practise. That right, the most sacred right of the human soul, the right whose exercise is most vital to the formation of a good and true character, must be sacrificed to the “necessary uniformity,” if the program of these fast-federating religious forces is to become operative in this country. That would put human law, or human statutory interpretation of divine law, everywhere above divine obligation as the individual soul sees and understands that obligation. Against such arguments as that, against that kind of uniformity, John Knox protested with a price upon his head for doing so. Against that, protested Martin Luther when he revolted against the uniformity which Rome was requiring, under threat of such punishments as she could inflict with her multifarious instruments of torture. This program of making the state the tool of the church to enforce its dogmas, rituals, and ordinances; of compelling uniformity in religion by means of the pains and penalties of human law; of teaching religion in the public schools at state expense; of establishing a standard of religion, and abolishing whatever is out of harmony with it; of substituting a clerical oligarchy for the rule of the majority of the people in civil things,—this program the great federating religious forces of our day are committed to, and propose to carry through at any cost. Will it result in persecution? Will Christians suffer under such a régime?—They have suffered already, while the program was still incomplete, and before this powerful federation was accomplished. Between one hundred and one hundred fifty conscientious, God-fearing Christians have, during the past twenty years, suffered fine or imprisonment or both for alleged violation of oppressive religious laws in the United States; and that, too, in spite of the equality of men guaranteed by the Constitution; in spite of the Fourteenth Amendment of that Constitution, which declares, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, . . . nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws;” and in spite of the further fact that most, if not all, of the constitutions of the States in which these modern religious persecutions took place, guarantee to their citizens the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. Christians Suffer for Their Faith
The persons persecuted under those laws were Christians, observers of the seventh day of the week, acknowledged to be the best of neighbors, and in morals above reproach. In what did their crime consist? They considered that under the provisions of the national Constitution, which guaranteed that their privileges and immunities as citizens of the United States should not be abridged, and which further guaranteed them the equal protection of the law, they were entitled to six days in which to labor for the support of their families. Those who rest and worship on the first day of the week are free from punishment if they work the other six days. Equality in the administration of the law would necessitate that they who rest and worship on the seventh day of the week should also be free from punishment if they labor on the other six days of the week. If it is the law-protected privilege of the first-day observer to work six days in each week, it should also be the law-protected privilege of the seventh-day observer to work six days in each week. No just rule of equity will adjudge otherwise. Yet in spite of the self-evident truth and justice of that proposition, these men were arrested, fined, and imprisoned. What does this teach?—It teaches that wherever and whenever a religious ordinance is enacted by the civil powers, there will be zealots to enforce its provisions upon conscientious Christian men, and there will be conscientious Christian men who will prefer to suffer persecution under such laws rather than to violate their consciences and deny their God. So as certainly as a portion of the religious element succeeds in compelling legislators to enact religious ordinances into laws, and to interpret and enforce what they believe to be the law of God, so certainly may we look for a zealous revival of the most bitter persecution in this country. Congress Warns the People
Said the Congress of the United States in 1829:— Among all the religious persecutions with which almost every page of modern history is stained, no victim ever suffered but for the violation of what government denominated the law of God.—United States Senate Report. In that same document a warning voice is lifted against just such movements as we have been discussing, confederations of religious organizations for political purposes. It says:— Extensive religious combinations to effect a political object are, in the opinion of the committee, always dangerous. . . . All religious despotism commences by combination and influence; and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of a country, try, the civil power soon bends under it; and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequence. There never was a time in the history of this nation when that warning was more appropriate than now. Religious organizations are now combining to create a “power which lawmakers and lawbreakers will fear and respect.” That means that they expect the civil power to bend under the force of their united strength and influence. That means the dominance of a clerical party over our legislators, the subserviency of the state to the church, the violation of the rights of conscience, the inauguration of a reign of clerical tyranny in the home of freedom. With every year the party which is seeking to inaugurate that régime is gaining adherents and winning influence in high places; and American citizens must decide, and decide quickly, whether they will join that party, and go with it into the field of oppression and persecution; or whether they will stand by the fundamental principles of the national government, guaranteeing the equality of men before the law and absolute freedom of conscience for all. Every religious law is a threat of persecution; every Sunday law is a religious law, and therefore a standing menace to the inalienable rights of men. This is proved by the fact that if the government can legitimately enforce one religious requirement upon the people, it can just as legitimately enforce every religious requirement in every church creed. Once the principle is admitted of state interference in religious things, there is no place where the bounds of its operations can be established; and when that condition is reached, the religious rights and privileges of every soul in the nation are placed in jeopardy. The warnings of history ought to be sufficient to enable every intelligent American to see the danger in what that powerful confederacy proposes, and turning his back upon it, to throw the weight of his influence in favor of justice, equality, and religious liberty. There are the two parties, and it means much to America with which party the majority of her citizens choose to ally themselves. Sunday Law Enforcement in Quebec
At the triennial meeting of the Lord’s Day Alliance at Toronto, Ontario, on January 13, Mr. Archibald McCoun, king’s counsel, spoke upon the failure of the Alliance to secure convictions in Quebec for infractions of the Canadian Sunday law. He proposes to take up the matter with the privy council, and have the matter of jurisdiction settled, so that those who work on Sunday may be prosecuted. The Minister as an Advertising Medium
By F. M. W.
THAT the minister is oftentimes used for the promotion of various schemes and enterprises, and that, too, to the lessening of his influence in the community, is too many times sadly apparent. William A. Lee, writing to the Standard (Baptist), says of his experience with some of these promoters:— Almost every week brings to my study either some agent or some piece of mail, offering me a blessing to some enterprising individual or company deftly disguised as a benefit to myself. For instance, I have but lately received the offer of a choice lot on Long Island. All that I was under obligation of doing was merely to mail my acceptance of the offer, and permit the proposed donor to let it be known that I, a clergyman of reputable standing, was a property-owner in the community in question. Another proposition reached me recently from a life-insurance company. The commission tendered was one easily within an active minister’s busy life. It was but to put the company’s agent in possession of the names of men in my church and community who were “interested in life insurance.” The agent would do most of the rest,—all, in fact, except to speak the good word which I was to drop in the most casual sort of way, as pastor of the various “prospects.” Another concern, this time a publishing-house, has offered me, in company with other “prominent professional men,” a certain set of books merely for an indorsement over my signature. A tailor once offered to make my clothes “at cost,” provided only that I would be his “sandwich man.” Of course that was not the way in which the offer was put, but it amounted to that. I was to parade about my parish in clothes which he was to have the privilege of pointing out as having been made by him. I am being constantly besieged by agents of divers sorts, and of divers degrees of persistency, for indorsements of patent mops, of “wholesome plays,” of current periodicals, of so-called religious books, of “helps” almost innumerable for church workers, and of scores of other things which time has charitably carried out of memory. That many others might bear similar testimony goes without saying. We see many testimonials from clergymen for various enterprises, and for various articles being circulated through the country. In concluding, Mr. Lee says:— Now “these things ought not so to be.” They involve the minister who lends his prestige in their behalf in a variety of complications, no one of which can bring him a single ounce of additional leverage for his legitimate work in the church and community. In most instances they must inevitably detract from a man’s power, at least among intelligent people. They can not do otherwise; for they all presuppose a diversion of one’s ministerial influence into channels that are of the earth’s earthy. Probably it would not be too strong to say that they all entail a subversion of the minister’s office and power. . . . With some this may be a trifling matter. To me it is an item that important beyond its dimensions. Commercialism is the great foe of Christianity, whether we look within our own borders, or abroad upon non-Christian nations which we are seeking to win to Christ. For a minister to be tainted with this thing is for him to stand in jeopardy. These observations are just. The minister of the gospel, above every other man, should be careful to what enterprises he lends his influence. He should not permit the members of his flock to be exploited by some advertising shark, through any personal advantage which may accrue to him. The representative of the gospel work can not afford, through the hope of mercenary gain, to let down the holy character of his sacred calling. F. M. W. Clinging to Her Idols
By F. M. W.
RECENTLY, workmen who were excavating the foundation for a new building near Pompeii, found the petrified body of a woman. Both hands were grasping gems. These consisted of bracelets, necklaces, rings, amulets studded with gems, and a pair of earrings, each earring containing twenty-one perfect pearls set in gold, in imitation of a cluster of grapes. The woman evidently was seeking to flee from the great catastrophe which overwhelmed that unfortunate city; and with her she was carrying her dearest earthly possessions, her heart’s idols. Perhaps it was the delay occasioned in securing these that cut off her hope of escape. She and her treasures were swallowed up together in the great conflagration. What a striking example this affords of the fate which will befall many in the closing days of earth’s history! Instead of setting their affections on things above, they have made them gods of silver and gold. The baubles of earth appear of greater value than the riches of heaven. These they can not surrender. They have become a part of their very life. Shutting God out of their knowledge, they have taken pleasure only in their accumulative riches, in the pride and fashions and follies of earth. When called upon to flee from the city of destruction, like Lot’s wife, they have looked back with longing to the cities of the plain. The decree goes forth, Let them alone, they are joined to their idols; the door of mercy closes; and they are left to be swallowed up in this world’s final conflagration. Happy indeed is he who, recognizing his true relationship to God, transfers to the bank of heaven his earthly possessions. This he may do, not by carrying them in his hands from the city of destruction, as did the woman of Pompeii, but by laying them to-day upon the altar of sacrifice. The scripture says that “he who giveth unto the poor lendeth unto the Lord.” “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” The ancient wicked cities of the plain, from which Lot escaped with his life, are set forth for an example, for an admonition. “Remember Lot’s wife.” While the voice of mercy still pleads, while the hand of infinite love still beckons, let us make our peace with God, and consecrate our substance to his service. Thus shall we transfer our possessions to the mansions above, save our own souls at last, and in God’s providence be the means of bringing his glorious salvation to others in darkness. A Voice From the Country
By W. A. S.
WRITING of some of the good experiences in the Ingathering campaign, Brother Jasper Wayne, of South Dakota, expresses his thanks to God for a part in so wonderful a work as that committed to us. Speaking of the movement for the evangelization of the great cities, which means the throwing of men and means into the populous centers, and which touches a responsive chord in the hearts of our brethren in the less populous districts, our brother adds:— What a great work can be accomplished when every one does his share! How glad I am that we all may have some part in the finishing of the gospel message. So do not get too far in advance of us laymen, but give us a good working chance with you. I know the brethren will. What I mean is that while you are finishing the work in the cities, we want to finish it in the country. I believe the Lord has given us laymen this part of the work to do by the distribution of literature. To do this effectively we need wise leadership. While the Lord is our leader, still we want to keep in close touch with his under-shepherds. This voice from a brother engaged in business in the country speaks, we know, for thousands of hearts. These will keep the lights burning in the churches and surrounding regions as laborers enter new fields. Indeed, the call to work the cities is not a call to a few public evangelists only. It is a call to the house-to-house workers, to those who know how to put the publications in the homes of the people, whether in country or city. As helpers are drawn from the less populous regions to the unworked centers, others must take their places in working the neglected byways and hedges. “Into all the world,” is the command. The situation calls for every one to lay hold of the chariot of truth, to pull or to push, and together we shall press on to the end of the way. We are glad for Brother Wayne’s message of cheer and exhortation.
W. A. S. BEFORE the Kansas Legislature a bill is pending providing for the prohibition of baseball on Sunday in that commonwealth. Many petitions and counter-petitions have been sent in. Rev. Walter Burr, pastor of the Congregational church of Olathe, in a letter to Senator Hodges, opposes the passage of the bill on the ground that it savors of religious legislation. He says, according to the Wichita Daily Eagle of Jan. 26, 1911:— I do not believe that the bill ought to pass, particularly because Sunday observance is peculiarly a church affair, for and not agreed upon by all churches. The passage of such a bill seems to me to approach legislation in the interest of the promulgation of denominational or sectarian beliefs. Decadence of Church Attendance
SPEAKING of the fact that, according to the secretary of the Board of Sunday-schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church, there are eight million young people in the United States who do not attend the Sunday-schools of any church, the Washington Post, while contrasting somewhat satirically the difference between these and earlier days, says truly:— What a contrast to an earlier day, when, though perhaps people were not a whit better than at present, there was no such laxity in the sedulous observance of church attendance by both the young and the old! There was no escape then, except for the two or three in the village who had no parents to look after them, and whose society was particularly coveted because it was forbidden. To Sunday-school you went, rain or shine. . . . This is retrospect, and not disrespect. They were famous days. Far off they seem now, but at times there comes the memory of them to refresh and sweeten the grind of the present. THIS is an age of luxurious living. Some of the wealthy families of the world to-day, even in democratic governments like the United States, show as lavish expenditure in the maintenance of their family life as did many of the princes and kings of olden time. According to the World’s Crisis of November 30, three hundred eleven million dollars was spent last year by Americans in foreign marts of trade, for luxuries alone, or half enough to pay the expenses of our national government. The following figures give some idea of this vast expenditure:— Diamonds, precious stones,
and jewelry .................... $49,377,824
Furs ........................... 26,597,644
Millinery ....................... 20,909,552
Gowns ........................... 14,270,755
Laces, trimmings, etc. .......... 50,918,033
Handkerchiefs ................... 2,404,631
Fans ............................ 270,026
Toilet requisites ............... 4,561,807
Art objects, musical instru-
ments, and engravings ........... 28,469,657
Clocks and watches .............. 2,571,254
Wines and liquors ............... 24,716,798
Tobacco, cigars, etc. ........... 32,807,625
Horses and automobiles .......... 7,133,106
Toys, etc., for children ........ 6,859,974
Carpets .......................... 24,909,767
Furniture ........................ 801,713
Mahogany ........................ 3,224,152
Plants and flowers .............. 1,242,144
Decorated porcelains ............ 9,359,176 If this large amount of money, with the many added millions spent in other useless ways, could be used in alleviating some of the world’s misery and distress, what a vast amount of good might be accomplished, and how much more true pleasure would be enjoyed by the donors, to say nothing of the relief afforded to the recipients! The mere possession of wealth, in and of itself, is not an evil; the power to make money, and make it honestly, is a talent from God; but the “love of money is the root of all evil.” Its selfish hoarding and reckless expenditure will prove a curse. Seventh-day Adventists in the Lead
THE Missionary Review of the World for January publishes an interesting table of statistics showing the amount contributed for religious work at home and abroad by the various religious bodies of the United States. The average amount a member gives to home work by Seventh-day Adventists is given as $4.26, and the average amount a member gives to foreign work by this denomination is given as $4.28. But one other church exceeded the Seventh-day Adventists in the amount a member gives for home work, and that is the North Baptist Convention. The largest amount given to foreign missions a member by any other church aside from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was given by the United Presbyterians, who gave $2.81 a member. It is cause for thankfulness that God has put it into the hearts of his people to respond so liberally to the demands of his cause at home and abroad. However, let us not rest upon the achievements of the past, but with new faith and courage seek to accomplish even more for the cause of truth during the coming year. Legality of Sunday Advertising
That advertising in the Sunday editions of newspapers is not collectable, is the decision recently made by Judge J. M. Johnson, of the Kansas City court of appeals. A business man contracted for advertising in the columns of the St. Louis Republic. When he avoided payment for the advertisements that had been run, the newspaper brought suit. According to System for January, Judge Johnson decided that the contract was “against public morals and public policy” because it called for advertising printed on Sundays. The judge declared that such contracts for work done in violation of the Sunday laws could not, therefore, be enforced. The Washington Herald of Dec. 31, 1910, speaks of a new evangelistic plan of work being carried on by the Methodist Church. It provides for teams of speakers, made up for the most part of laymen, going from city to city for the purpose of bringing about a revival of practical Christian experience in the church-membership. The aims of the plan are set down as follows: (1) Get men to read their Bible and pray with their families daily; (2) regularly attend weekly prayer services in their churches; (3) invite some other man to go to church with them on Sundays, and so help others to cultivate church attendance; and (4) by personal influence to bring about changes in the conduct of other men. This sort of work should possess every disciple of the Lord. There is no such thing as a passive Christianity. Christianity, to be genuine, is positive and active. Jesus Christ went about doing good, and to the extent of our influence we should seek to follow his methods. The foregoing plans and aims are worthy of commendation. The report of James L. Davenport, commissioner of pensions, shows that there are 821,083 names on the pension roll. Nearly ten per cent of them, or 89,828, live in Pennsylvania. Ohio is only 600 behind, followed in order by New York, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Massachusetts, and Michigan. The disbursements for pensions during the past year amounted to $159,974,056, a decrease, as compared with the previous year, of nearly two million dollars. The annual value of the pension roll at the end of the past year was $158,332,391.82. This is the amount, the report explains, which would be required to pay all the pensioners now on the roll for one entire year, at the rates of pension now existing, should no new pensioners be added to the roll, and none be dropped therefrom. The number of new names added to the pension roll during the fiscal year just past was 29,219, and the number of losses was 54,330, making a net decrease of 26,111. During the year the pension bureau received 132,012 new applications for pensions or increase of pensions. The number of cases on hand at the end of the year for special examination was 2,823. The Madison (Wis.) Sanitarium
By L. A. Hansen
On a recent visit to this institution I saw some indications of a hopeful future. The Wisconsin Conference has undertaken to give material assistance. It was voted to sell ten thousand copies of “Ministry of Healing” as a definite means of relief. Small donations to the sanitarium are also made each month. Last summer the sanitarium enjoyed a full patronage. At the time of my visit, soon after the holidays, there were about thirty patients in the building, as against six or eight at the same time a year ago. Five nurses were out on cases, and some were on full case nursing in the building. A spirit of harmony and earnestness prevails in the family. Elder D. H. Oberholtzer gives special attention to the spiritual interests, such time as he can spare from field work, while Sister Oberholtzer assists in this responsibility most of the time. The chairman of the board and president of the conference, Elder W. H. Thurston, is determined to cut down the indebtedness in every way and as fast as possible. In this he is fully supported by the management. Donations, receipts from the sale of “Ministry of Healing,” and all net earnings are thus applied. Careful economy is exercised, and only necessary repairs are made. As far as could be observed, there is nothing to discourage the fullest and freest co-operation of all the friends of the institution. With a continuance of good patronage, careful management, the support of our brethren in the field, and the blessing of God upon it, the work of the Madison Sanitarium gives promise of being fully successful.