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Review and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 19.

Publishers' Page

Review and Herald

May 9, 1907

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 9, 1907

Publishers' Page

By George I. Butler

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Association

The Church: Its Organization, Order, and Discipline

We are exceedingly glad that Elder Loughborough has taken up the subject of organization so thoroughly and in such a competent manner as he has in this pamphlet. Elder Loughborough is about the only man now living who was officially connected with the work preceding and during the organization among us as a people. Those of prominence among us at the present time have mostly come into the work at a later period. It is well known that Elder Loughborough is a very diligent collector of statistics and facts, probably more so than any other man in the denomination. He has been a true and faithful laborer during a long period. Under all the conditions and circumstances, he is especially fitted to give this subject careful consideration.
The book covers two main features. The first part gives a very full and complete summary of the Scriptural teaching with reference to the church and its work. The second part enters into the real history of our cause previous to organization, recording the events that led up to the organization, and giving a careful statement of the history of the work of organization and its practical benefits in the progress of our cause. The summary of questions growing out of the subject of organization, on pages 161-176, is worthy of careful study, and will be a great help to many of our younger members who are not familiar with the phases of this important subject. The answers are most excellent.
The time of the appearance of this publication is also exactly in place. There were a great many different ideas prevailing in the denomination before, and even at the time of, organization, but the question was most thoroughly and carefully considered in all its bearings. The necessity of organization was apparent to every considerate lover of the cause. Before organization was effected, and also immediately after, our people were very thoroughly instructed upon its principles and its importance. There was at that time a very general agreement that organization was an essential feature of our work. Our people generally recognized it as a most important factor in all that pertained to the interests of the cause; but since that time there has been comparatively little said about it, as it had become a great established feature of the work, and one that was recognized by all true Seventh-day Adventists. Some forty-five years have passed since this question was settled. A new generation has come upon the stage who had not received this previous instruction, and it is not to be greatly wondered at that a further consideration of this subject is necessary.
There is another feature that should not be forgotten: All the way along, individuals have arisen, who, having become dissatisfied because of some personal disagreements, began to manifest a faultfinding spirit with the work. In all these instances that have come to the attention of the writer, we have noticed a common tendency to strike against the principles of organization which have done so much to make our people what they are.
There has been a plan in operation for a period of years which is calculated to disintegrate and modify the system of organization adopted in 1861, and which has been a great and important factor in our progress as a people. “The independence-of-our-churches” theory—that all the organization we need is local church organization, without any connecting link, or general management, every church doing just as it pleases—is what some now suggest. The logical outgrowth of the theory would be that every man can do just as he pleases, and is not responsible to any one. Perhaps with these few remarks the reader can see why the writer claims that the appearance of this volume at this time is very opportune. The time demands just such a book as Elder Loughborough has written, and the thanks of the denomination ought to be extended for this invaluable treatise.
As soon as the pamphlet came into the hands of the writer, he was so pleased that he gave it a careful perusal at once. It is an excellent book, and every Seventh-day Adventist ought to read it and become conversant with its teaching. No one who loves this cause and has a candid mind can receive from such perusal other than a feeling of deep satisfaction that such a comprehensive book has been issued upon this subject.
It is not necessary that the writer take up any portion of the book and discuss it. Our brethren throughout the field should obtain it and read it for themselves. We bespeak for it a large circulation among our people, and if it does have a large circulation, we shall not have any fears of any opposing influence on the subject of organization. It will settle the question with all true believers, if their minds have become in any way unsettled on this question. Organization came to us when we were but a very small people, and under its benign influence tens of thousands of believers have come into the faith. They have come from all parts of the world and from all denominations. It is a sublime thought that to-day, wherever our people are to be found, they are all of the same mind and believing the same truths. Their lives are governed by the same general principles. They all have the same grand ends in view, and organization has had a great deal to do in bringing about this unity.
May the Lord bless our aged brother who has had the time and strength to write such a book as “The Church: Its Organization, Order, and Discipline,” at a time when it is so greatly needed. May our people gladly welcome it, carefully study it, and put into practise the grand principles set forth in it. The price is only 25 cents.
GEORGE I. BUTLER, President Southern Union Conference.

**The May Number of Life and Health***

By Editor

THE May number of Life and Health contains many good things which all classes need. The leading article of this number is upon the subject of impatience. Education upon this common disease is as much needed as upon the prevailing practise of intemperance.
The women of all nations need instruction that will help them to regain their health. The May number gives the experience of one woman in the recovery of her health.
Parents everywhere need instruction in the methods of dealing with their children. Life and Health for May will be especially helpful to parents in this particular.
The functions of the home receive special attention, revealing the fact that the home is the place of character-building—molding the actions and motives of life.
The ordinary woman receives her just dues in the May number. She is pictured as the real heroine of life.
The current comments of the May number are exceptionally good. A large number of important topics are brought to the attention of the readers.
The Questions and Answers of this number will be especially helpful.
The entire number will prove to be excellent for general distribution. We appeal to our REVIEW readers to give this number of Life and Health a large circulation. Subscription price, 50 cents a year; 5 cents a copy; 2½ cents a copy when 25 or more copies are ordered to one address.

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Editorial

By Editor

Editorial Letter

Jottings from the Editor's Note-Book

TIENTSIN really comprises two parts,—Tientsin settlement where the foreigners reside, and Tientsin city where the Chinese live. Electric cars connect the two parts, and are operated in both of them. The native city was formerly surrounded by a wall, but after the Boxer uprising this wall was demolished, and the street-cars now run around the city on the site of the old wall. This is a striking change from the old to the new.
Tientsin was the base of operations for the allied troops of the different nations which united to suppress the Boxer uprising, and some severe fighting was done at this point. Brother Pilquist, who visited the place just after the conflict, was able to give much information of interest, and to point out some of the most important positions of the opposing forces.
Quite a number of the missionary societies which operate in north China have their headquarters in Tientsin settlement. I visited the headquarters of the missionaries working under the American Board in search of a classmate who had been in China for more than twenty-five years, but learned that he had returned to America only a short time before I called.
Immediately after the Boxer uprising, and as a direct consequence of that unfortunate event, the different foreign powers demanded, and of course secured, additional concessions of land, and by this means Tientsin settlement was considerably enlarged. The English, Americans, Germans, French, Austrians, Russians, and Japanese are all represented, and the guards of these different nationalities are in evidence throughout the town.
Here I came to understand more clearly the attitude of the business men of the far East and of the missionaries toward each other. The traders and the concessionaires have very little use for the missionary, and the missionaries find in the money-making class one of the greatest hindrances, if not the greatest, to their efforts to persuade the Chinese to accept the Christian religion. It does not take long to discover the reason for this antagonism. Those who look upon China as a sort of lawful prey to be seized and devoured are not particular as to the methods employed in securing the spoil, and they present to the Chinese the worst side of a so-called Christian civilization. While there may be, and doubtless are, many individual exceptions, yet it is still true that the unscrupulous methods of dealing, and the fast, and in many cases immoral, lives of these foreigners nullify some of the best efforts of the missionaries to present to the Chinese the higher standard and the greater blessings of Christianity as compared with Buddhism or Confucianism. On the other hand, the teachings of the missionaries are a constant rebuke to the lives of the money getters, and thus a great gulf is fixed between them. Those who wish correct information concerning missionary operations in the far East should apply to others besides traders and officers of steamships, and ought to visit some other places besides Shanghai and Hongkong, the two leading business centers in China.
On Sunday morning, January 20, we left Tientsin for Peking, a ride of four or five hours. After the uprising the line was extended within the wall of the Chinese city, so that we left the train near the principal gate of the Tartar city, and entered at the same place as the troops who rescued the besieged foreigners. Then there was simply a conduit through which water flowed, but this opening was afterward enlarged into a gate.
We passed along Legation Street, where the foreign legations are located, and found accommodations at a hotel near Hartamen, another large gate. In the afternoon we walked through one of the principal streets from the south to the north wall of the Tartar city. This street has been widened until it is nearly one hundred feet in width the most of the distance, but it still falls far short of the ideal street of the Western world. It is dirty and uneven, and for a large part of the distance both sides are lined with small shops and shanties of every description, and some that defy description. It was on this street that Baron Ketteler, the German ambassador, was shot at the time of the uprising, and we passed under the elaborate memorial arch extending across the street, which the German kaiser required the Chinese to erect at their own expense as a part of the indemnity for the murder.
At the north end of this street is the Llama temple, a celebrated center of heathenism. Here we found priests and attendants in large numbers, all bent upon extracting as much money as possible from foreigners. In one of the buildings we saw an image of Buddha seventy feet in height carved from one piece of wood. Near the Llama temple is the Hall of Confucius, a place much frequented by the devotees of that heathen sage.
In explanation of what I have already written I ought to say that nearly three centuries ago the Manchus or Tartars from the north conquered the Chinese, and have been the rulers of the Middle Kingdom since that time. In some of the cities these two peoples occupy separate quarters, one of which is called the Tartar city and the other the Chinese city. This is the case in Peking. The principal city is the Tartar city, which is wholly surrounded by a substantial wall. The Chinese city, built on the south of the Tartar city, comprises a large territory, but much of it is open ground. In the Chinese city are found the Temple of Heaven, a very interesting structure where the emperor goes once each year to pray to Heaven (whatever that may mean), and the Temple of Agriculture where the emperor plows a furrow each spring, and thus advertises himself as the patron of agriculture. We visited both of these places.
One spot rendered historic by the uprising and the attendant siege of the foreigners is the British legation. Here nearly all the foreigners took refuge at the time of the outbreak, and for many days, with the help of a few troops, defended themselves against the attacks of the Boxers. We saw a portion of thewall, riddled with cannon balls, on which had been painted in large letters the suggestive words, “LEST WE FORGET.” It is not likely that either China or the foreign powers will forget this outbreak which cost the lives of several scores of missionaries, and entailed the payment of a large indemnity which will burden China for nearly a generation to come.
The one thing which troubled our minds during our stay in Tientsin and Peking was the fact that we have no workers to represent this message in either city. In fact, we traveled from Chingwangtao to southern Honan before we found even one lone preacher of the third angel's message to the Chinese. If the recommendation adopted at the Shanghai conference is carried out, the next visitor to China will be able to report differently. Let us hope that it may be so. We long for the time to come speedily when the banner of this truth will be uplifted in every one of the eighteen provinces of the Great Pure Kingdom, but at present only four provinces have been entered, and in one of these there are only two workers. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” W. W. P.

“I Am Thy Sign”

By C. M. S.

God is not establishing any half-way method for carrying on his great business of saving souls out of a sin-smitten world. That fact ought to be patent to every one, in view of the great sacrifice on Calvary.
God kept back nothing that he could give, and Christ withheld nothing he possessed. That was what man’s redemption required, and the requirement was met in its entirety. Heaven made known what it would require of itself before it made known to man what it would require of him. The seed of the woman was to bruise the serpent’s head, but in the bruising he wounded himself. That had in it Bethlehem, Gethsemane, and Calvary; and not only that, but he must bear reproach through all his ministry, that he might be “for a sign” to a rebellious people. Luke 2:34.
And what is the purpose of a sign?—It is to point the way. Jesus was God’s sign in this world, pointing the way back to the Father. He was rebuked and mocked by some, misjudged and misunderstood by many. But there were some—a few—who permitted him to become not only the Father’s sign, but their leader, and he led them into the everlasting fold.
“As he is, so are we in this world.” And so we read: “Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for Jehovah, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders.” Isa. 8:16-18. What people is this that is to be “for signs and for wonders”?—The people who are engaged in the work of binding up the law and sealing the testimony among God’s people. More than that, they are waiting for Jehovah and looking for him, and while doing that they are warning the people against the delusions of Satan through the instrumentality of Spiritualism, as shown in verse 19.
When we find a people, then, who are seeking to set the law of God rightly before the world, and are at the same time looking for the return of their Lord, and are bearing positive testimony against Spiritualism and all doctrines that lead to it, we will find a people whom God has set for a sign. We need not expect it to be a business pleasant to the natural man—this standing as God’s sign in this wicked world. It is hardly supposable that Ezekiel found it a pleasant task to lie three hundred and ninety days upon his left side while he was typically bearing the iniquity of the house of Israel, and to follow that with a forty-day period of the same nature, lying upon his right side for the iniquity of the house of Judah. Isaiah was not consulting his own convenience and his own feelings when he “walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder.” Isa. 20:3.
The Lord instructed Ezekiel at one time to carry out his possessions as if for hasty flight, dig through the wall, and carry away his belongings under cover of darkness. When they should ask what he was doing, he was to reply, “I am your sign.” Eze. 12:1-11.
God has a sign now set in all the countries of the world. It is his people bearing his last message. While they preach the gospel of the kingdom “for a witness” unto all nations, they themselves are a living, speaking sign—God’s sign—to turn the attention of the people once more away from their idols, their self-seeking, their disloyal practises, and bring them, if possible, into God’s fold. Every possible effort will be made by the enemy to make it impossible for men to read God’s sign in you. You may expect to see your message perverted, and yourself misrepresented and persecuted; but so did they to the holy men of old, and even to our great Example. But it is more essential that God should have a “sign” in this last generation than that we should escape persecution, or even death itself. When they ask, “What doest thou?” say, “I am your sign;” for, says the Lord, “It may be they will consider.” Eze. 12:3.
In the midst of a generation that is not looking for nor desiring the return of our Lord, God has set this people “for a sign,” calling the attention of the world to that great and portentous event. “It may be they will consider.” Throughout the nations that have turned their back upon the Sabbath of Jehovah while they keep a day God never recognized as his, God is sending out his messengers “for a sign” to the people, that they may not come up to the final day of earth’s history ignorant of his requirements.
“I am your sign.” Let us realize it as we go in and out among the people, and so live before them and so proclaim God’s message to them that the honest hearted will pause and consider and accept and be saved. C. M. S.

_“Under the Law” and “Under Grace”_

By W. A. S.

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Rom. 6:14.
How often this text is quoted to excuse disobedience of God’s law! What is it to be “under the law,” according to this text? Not to be under the law is not to be under the rule or dominion of sin. Then to be under the law is to be under the rule of sin.
“Sin is the transgression of the law.” I John 3:4. Then to be under the dominion of sin is to be transgressing the law, and this brings one “under the law.”
The text shows that being “under grace” is exactly the opposite, which means living in obedience to the law. Those under the dominion or power of the grace of Jesus are not ruled over by sin, or transgression of the law.
Some seem to think that Christ came to set men free from obeying God’s law. The grace of Christ is given expressly to set men free from disobeying it. Breaking God’s law is bondage. Keeping it is liberty. Ps. 119:45.
Who walks the streets of our cities free from the civil law against stealing—the honest man who keeps the law, or the man who breaks it? The man who steals is under the law at once. The civil law against stealing can never touch the man who obeys it. He is free from its condemnation.
Just so the believer, who through faith is made obedient to God’s law by grace, is free from the condemnation of the law. But the man who disobeys is under its condemnation. Sin, or transgression of the law, has dominion over him.
Who is “under the law”?—The one who disobeys it. Who is “under grace”?—The one who through the power of divine grace is made obedient to the law.
W. A. S.

Parallel Theories of Tradition

By W. A. S.

THE Jewish teachers had set the traditions of men above the Word of God. To justify their departure from the Scriptures and give a semblance of divine authority to their practises, they invented the theory of oral tradition.
The Jewish Theory
They held that when Moses was in the mount to receive the instruction which he wrote in the “book of the law,” he was given also much instruction which was not written. This, according to the theory, he transmitted orally to Joshua, and Joshua in turn to the elders, and they passed these sayings on to the men of the Great Synagogue, the doctors of the law.
Thus the rabbis sought to give divine sanction to the traditions which had accumulated through generations. By the time of Christ, tradition had been exalted above the Word of God. In fact, only the doctors of philosophy, who were guardians of tradition, were supposed to be able to understand truth. When the common people heard Christ gladly, as he opened the Word of God to their understanding, the Pharisees said, “This people who knoweth not the law are cursed.”
Christ swept aside all this. “Full well,” he told the Pharisees, “ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
The Modern Theory
A parallel to this story is supplied by the modern theory of church tradition. In order to explain doctrines and practises not founded on the Word of God, the Catholic Church has developed the theory of church tradition. The apostles are supposed to have received and passed on through their successors teachings not recorded in the Scriptures. The Scriptures are to be understood in the light of apostolic tradition. Hence people must come to those who know the traditions of the church in order to learn what the Scriptures mean. Thus tradition, as of old, makes void the Word of God.
And not Catholics alone, but Protestants as well, cling to some doctrines contrary to Scripture, and founded only in tradition. They hold to the Sunday, which has not a word of divine sanction, and break the Sabbath, making void the commandment of God by the tradition of men. It is often said that this is one of the things that Christ taught, which are not recorded. One grave Protestant bishop once actually printed in a tract the declaration that Christ instructed the apostles to change the day, and for some wise reason told them not to say anything about it in their writings. It is the same theory of oral tradition by which the Jewish doctors in Christ’s time made void the Scriptures of truth. And again the time has come when the message of Christ is being preached: “Every plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”
W. A. S.

A Brief Account of Its History in the Development of the Cause of the Third Angel’s Message

By Arthur G. Daniells

Organization—No. 14

A Brief Account of Its History in the Development of the Cause of the Third Angel’s Message

IN our brief study of the development of organization in connection with the cause of the third angel’s message, we have traced its history from 1844 to the organization of the General Conference in 1863. It may be well for us at this point briefly to note the most important facts we have found in our study. These may be summarized as follows:—
1. Organization, as applied to the church or to gospel work, had no place in the great movement connected with the first angel’s message.
2. Near the close of that movement in 1844 the course pursued by the popular churches led many connected with the first angel’s message to conclude that the churches were Babylon, that all church organization was a part of Babylon, and was therefore wrong.
3. The confusion, division, and scattering that followed the great disappointment in 1844 led the leaders in the proclamation of the first angel’s message to see the need of organization, and to make an attempt to organize the believers. But their efforts failed. They were never able to make the matter clear to them, and to bring them together.
4. Out of the great and grand movement created by the first angel’s message, and the disintegration that followed the disappointment, there grew the greater movement created by the third angel’s message.
5. Owing to the small beginning of this latter movement, and the entire absence of facilities, no thought was at first given to the question of organization.
6. As this cause grew and extended in different directions, it became apparent to some of its leaders that some sort of organization was absolutely necessary in order to secure the order, system, and intelligent co-operation required to make the work a success.
7. This conviction led Elder James White to publish, in the REVIEW of Feb. 23, 1860, a proposal in behalf of some simple form of organization for the cause.
8. This proposal alarmed the majority of our people, because they believed that anything approaching organization would result in spiritual declension and unscriptural alliance with the world.
9. The alarm created by the call for organization quickly developed into an opposition which proved difficult to overcome.
10. This opposition was not arrogantly silenced by those who favored organization. It was dealt with fairly. The whole question of organization was given careful, extended investigation and discussion.
11. As a result of the thorough discussion of the subject, the majority of the believers became convinced that organization was a necessary arrangement given by the Lord for the welfare of his cause.
12. When the conviction became general that organization was necessary for the welfare of the cause, councils were held for the purpose of effecting a proper and complete system of organization for this many-sided, world-wide movement.
13. Representatives from all parts of the field occupied at that time attended these councils, and joined in working out the plans for the organization and management of the affairs of churches, conferences, and institutions.
14. Although there was a decided difference of opinion at the beginning of the controversy regarding the wisdom of having any organization, there was almost universal agreement at the end, both as to the need of organization and the forms it should take to meet the varied needs of the cause.
15. The general plan or system of organization adopted by the pioneers at the completion of their work of organization in 1863 has never been changed in any material feature by their successors.
16. In this long, anxious struggle for an efficient system of organization in full harmony with gospel order and organization as set forth in the Scriptures, the spirit of prophecy exercised a guiding, molding influence.
17. Through the gift of the spirit of prophecy as exercised in this church, God placed the seal of his approval upon the system of organization then established and still maintained.
Forty-four years of trial have proved the efficiency of the system agreed upon by our brethren in 1863. Writing of this a few years ago, Sister White said:—
What is the secret of our prosperity? We have moved under the order of the Captain of our salvation. God has blessed our united efforts. The truth has spread and flourished. Institutions have multiplied. The mustard seed has grown to a great tree. The system of organization has proved a grand success. Systematic benevolence was entered into according to the Bible plan. The body “has been compacted by that which every joint supplieth.” As we have advanced, our system of organization has still proved effectual.
An arrangement that has proved such a blessing to our cause should not be thoughtlessly cast aside.
A. G. DANIELLS.

Socialism Advances in Finland

The socialist journal Appeal to Reason is rejoicing over what it terms “the spread of the red,” that is, the growth of socialism. This is how it views the result of the recent elections in Finland:—
Another victory has been achieved. One after another the nations of the earth are falling into the revolutionary line! Hurrah for the spread of the red!
Finland is latest to contribute to the swelling anthem of the coming emancipation. The election there has resulted in an immense increase in the socialist vote that came near capturing the kingdom.
The official results show that the socialists won eighty-three of the two hundred seats in the diet. With the thirteen agrarians the socialists lack only eight of an absolute majority. The actual figures are as follows: socialists, 83; conservatives, 47; reactionary, 54; agrarians, 13.
In the next election Finland will sweep the reigning dynasty into oblivion. Grand and thrilling, majestic and inspiring, is the march of the international socialist movement.
The dark ages—and all the ages of class rule, covering all the centuries of human history, are dark ages—are passing. Every national election indicating the triumphant march of the working class, is a rift in the clouds. Everywhere the light is breaking, the tyrants are trembling, the thrones are tottering, and the people, the people, are rejoicing.
Hail to the sunrise!
Hurrah for the spread of the red!
Here is a movement with which the governments of earth must reckon—they are indeed already forced to reckon with this power, growing and aggressive, which is one of the strongest factors in bringing about that perplexity of the nations that was to mark our time as the “time of the end.” The following cablegram from France, published in this country, speaks very plainly of the power of that movement:—
The marvelous and startling growth of socialism in France is attracting the attention of students of political economy throughout Europe. Socialism is reaching a development and a strength here that it never has attained in Germany, Belgium, or any other of its strongholds. . . . It puts out the lights of Paris in one night. It threatens openly to deprive every city of France of food on any day which it may select, and announces that no warning will be given. . . . Let the federation of government employees with non-governmental workmen be accomplished, and there will be but one power in the country—that of the labor socialists.
The Appeal to Reason glories in the present conditions and prospects, as the following editorial utterance in that journal, of April 27, plainly indicates:—
The capitalist papers can no longer conceal the truth or misrepresent the facts. The working class in France is rising nobly to the demands of the international movement. These are the heirs of the proletariat in the revolutions of the last century, the sturdy sons of the patriotic sires who were shot and sabred in the Commune by Gallifet at the command of the brutal bourgeoisie. Over all the wires flash the reports of the triumphant march of the hosts of emancipation.
Thus holding before the laboring class of this generation the prospect of release from the capitalistic class, the deceiver of souls is ensnaring millions with his “new religion.” It is the religion of salvation by works and by force. It is a religion without an atonement, a salvation that can promise little here and nothing beyond the grave. Yet myriads of people are flocking to it to be saved from their misery without a change of heart. Instead of giving its cloak also to the man who demands its coat, its doctrine is to stand stiffly for its own rights and demand a division of the hoards of the wealthy. And it grows—this movement that is compassing the world and building a brotherhood of the dissatisfied in all the nations. It is one of the signs of our times, plainly depicted in Holy Writ, and it is marshaling the people for the final separation. Hearts are not changed by legislation and by force, and souls can not be saved by the dogmas of socialism. If socialism should succeed in dominating the earth, it never could eradicate from the hearts of men a single evil that it now condemns. The gospel of Jesus Christ alone has the power to accomplish that miracle.

Note and Comment

IN a recent address Governor Chas. S. Deneen, of Illinois, gave the following forcible testimony to the value of Bible study:—
The study of the Bible in itself, is one of the most powerful educations any one can receive. Approached from any point of view, it is the one Book of the world that we know, that has stood the test of time and enemies. The Bible can lead no one astray. It can help. The boy as I know him too frequently does not agree with this proposition, although more than two thousand years of test sustain it.

Moral Standards for Every People

At the opening session of the recent negro conference at Tuskegee, Booker T. Washington gave some advice to the people of his race which is good advice for any people. He said:—
More and more as a race of people, we must learn to draw the line between the moral and the immoral, between the good and the bad, and we must set the standard of life among our own people high, and let them understand that we feel ashamed to associate with idlers and criminals. We must use our influence to get rid of the large idle class that hangs about the street corners and dens of misery in our large cities.
The things which Mr. Washington condemns are the things that will sap the moral vitality of any race or people. The school of idleness is certain to graduate criminals and profligates. He who congregates with idlers must expect to be tainted with their vices.

The Gospel Needed by Every Race

JUSTICE BREWER of the United States Supreme Court in an article upon the need of the negro, says:—
I believe nothing will help him so much as the influence of the cross of Christ, and nothing will so move him to become a good and useful citizen as the gospel of the Prince of Peace.
That is certainly true with reference to the negro. He needs the gospel. Nothing is so powerful to eradicate sin from the negro as the gospel in its purity. But if the negro race were the only race that needed this wonderful sin-eradicator, this world would be a very different place from what it is today. Give the negro the gospel by all means; but give it also with equal fervor and with equal liberality to the Caucasian, the Malay, the Indian, and the Mongolian, and to every branch of these and all their mixtures. What the gospel will do for the negro it will do for every race in the world, and every race needs it. The Word teaches that the heart is “desperately wicked,” and does not intimate that this is a condition true of only one race. “All have sinned.” Consequently all are in need of the gospel, and none have ever yet risen above that need.

Church and State Separation

An interesting discussion has recently been going on between Cardinal Gibbons, of Baltimore, and Paul Sabatier, a French historian, over the matter of the separation of church and state. The historian advises the cardinal, who, he says, “is so proud of the separation between the church and state in America,” to read the papal bulls, which absolutely condemn separation. M. Sabatier declares also that “the holy see tolerates and endures separation in America because it has to.” The language of the American cardinal and his position on this question are evidently the language and the position of diplomacy and expediency.

Sunday Railway Traffic in Virginia

ON April 12 there was held at Lynchburg, Va., a conference which may be the beginning of a movement of considerable importance. Representatives of the various railways of Virginia met an “interdenominational church committee” for a conference over the matter of Sunday traffic. As a result of that meeting, the railways have agreed to discontinue the sale of Sunday excursion tickets in that State. The State corporation committee is to regulate the operation of Sunday passenger- and freight-trains, and a bill will be proposed at the next session of the legislature designed to bring the operation of Sunday railway traffic to the lowest possible limit.
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