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i6 TH Ecclesiastical REPORT ON PUBLICATION. Forty-Eighth Annual Report of the Executive Committee of Publication and Sabbath School Work. General View. Tlio period under review in this report lias been one of abounding activity, and we are grateful to God that so much has been accomplished with the limited means at our command. Despite the financial stringency prevaillr.g throughout the year, we report an increased volume of business at Richmond and at our depository at Texarkana. . Our thanks are due to old and new friends whose generous patronage made possible a report of increased sales at a time when most commercial firms are content with a decreased volume of business. Summary of Business Operations. Sale of Rooks at Richmond 58,015.84 moiid .. .. 71.463.51 Total $130,079.35 Sale of Books at Texarkana . .$ 19,324.70 Sale of Periodicals at Texarkana 10,820.68 Total $ 30,145.28 Total sales for the year .. ..$160,224.73 Increase in volume of business over last year $ 14,160.66 Of the net earnings of the busiuess department $9,181.21 was given to the blh nevolent work to supplement the totally inadequate amount the church gives us each year. It should be remembered the business department earns and pays the salaries of the secretary and treasurer, of the nine editorial writers, for the contributed articles, the clerical force and all the incidental expense of operating the nome office and depository. The net earnings are used for the most part in promoting the work of Sabbath School Extension; only a small balance being added each year to our working capital. The Texarkana Depository. 1 he depository at Texarkana. under the efficient management of Rev. W. L. Hickman, made a substantial gain in its volume of business, thus reudering a larger service to our membership in the Southwest. The depository is now equipped With a StOCk Of honks >1* Iowa on t hut carried at Richmond, our Investment there now amounting to $2r>.S14.69. They serve our patrons promptly, saving them the six to ten days formerly required when all supplies had to he ordered from Richmond. The depository is not yet on a self-suo1 orting basis, and will not be until their expenses are earned from the sale of Looks. This point ^an soon be reached if our churches in the rive Synods west of the Mississippi river will give the brsnch their entire patronage. The membership of our churches should be urged to relieve our committee of the burden of operating the depository at a r [E PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU loss in order that their convenience may be seived. Our Periodical Department. An increase is noted in the number of Sabbath school periodicals printed, the gain for the year being about six hundred thousand single copies. It is gratifying to see how generally our papers are in ust, in the schools of our church, and it is evident that about ninety-seven per cent of them use our periodicals in whole or in part. The limit has by no means been reached, and if our Sabbath school work was developed to its fullest possibility, and every school adequately supplied wl?h literature, we could again double our circulation. Publication of Books arid Tracts. Among the new books issued we note a volume by Rev. J. 13. Shearer, D. D., "The Scriptures, Fundamental Faces and Figures," and an imprint edition of "John Calvin, Theologian, Scholar, Teacher, Statesman," by Rev. Phillip Voilmer, D. D., of the German Reformed Seminary. Receipts For Benevolent Fund. Received from 1,214 churches $10 477.01 Received from 753 Sabbath schools 5,528.87 Received from Miscellaneous sources 326.8G Received from Brotherhood and Covenanter Work 797.77 Total receipts from Churches tor benevolent work $17,131.44 Expenditures For Benevolent Work. Salaries and expenses for Field Workers $12,966.11 Sabbath .School institutes and conferences 828.63 Printed matter for extension work 839.2 L Expense for program, envelopes, etc., for collections 1,955.09 Donations of Bibles, periodicals, tracts, etc 9,720.58 Total expense for benevolent work $26,312.05 Excess given the Church by our business department .. ..$ 9,181.21 It has beeu our privilege to donate periodicals and other supplies to 293 Sabbath schools during the year. Of these schools, 170 were reported as newly organized. It is encouraging to note that an average of over three new schools per week were organized during the year. The schools aided were distributed in our Synods as follows:: Alabama, 12; Arkansas, 12; Florida, 3; Georgia, 17; Kentucky, 23; Loiusiana, 10; Mississippi, 17; Mexico. 1; Missouri, 5; North Carolina, 43; Oklahoma, 17; South Carolina, 17; Tennessee, 24; Texas, 34, and Virginia, 67. Promoting the work of organizing new schools and sustaining them until they reach the point of self-support is, in our judgment, the most important part of our activities, over 15,000 children were enrolled in the schools receiving our nld, and practically the only religious influence that touches the life of this multitude is that of the Sabbath school. While exact statistics are not available it is the claim of most denominations thA. about thirty per cent of their churches rTH. May 5, 1909. are the outgiowt'n of mission Sabbath schools. We believe that a careful tabulation would show that over one-rhird of our churches had their origin in a Sabbath school. The fruitfulnes3 of such work, together with the multitude of young people within our reach who are out of the Sabbath school and are destitute of religious influence, unite as a compelling appeal for a support adequate to the needs, and worthy of our church. Donations of Bibles, Tracts, Etc. We gave during the year for the perfect recitation of the Shorter Catechism, ].27."? Bibles and 2,427 Testaments for the memorizing of the Introduction to the Shorter Catechism. This is a largo increase over any previous year, and we count it an encQuraging sign to see so many of our young people memorizing these great summaries of Bible truth. i uc itrfuiu ui young people is worthy of comparison with the report of our sister Church of the North, which reported 677 Bibles given last year for the same work. Their Sabbath school enrollment is about six times as large as ours. Our donations of Bibles, hymn books, libraries, tracts and Sabbath school literature exceed those of last year by $2,648.75, the total value for this year being $9,720.58. We have assembled the best evangelistic tracts of home and foreign publishers and our pastors are making increased use of these pointed messages of scriptural truth. Conclusion. We submit this report. as the summary of our attempt to meet the responsibilities placed upon us by the Assembly, and we record our grateful thanks t.? many friends for tbe loyal support and words of encouragement. Based upon our past experience and our knowledge of the need for an enlarged work, we submit the following estimate as to the minimum the Church should give for our benevolent work next year: Support of General and District S. S. Superintendents $ ?,000 Support of Sabbath School luissionaries 10,000 Donations of S. S. Literature, Bibles, Tracts, etc 12,000 Printed matter, postage, etc., for extension work 1,800 Sabbath School Institute Work .. 600 Brotherhood and Covenanter Work 2,000 roiai $33,009 We respectfully recommend that the Assembly ask the churches, Sabbath schools, societies and individuals to raise this amount as their minimum offering, and that the Executive Cohimitiee of Publication be empowered to suggest to the Presbyteries the pro ratio each should raise. lly order of the Executive Committee. R. E. Magill, Sec. The smaller our world the larger its ears.?Maarten Maartens. * What should we poor mortals do unless we did believe In ourselves sometimes? It is our moments of self-fcon nuence wnicn carry us through our years of self-doubting.?Beatrice Harraden.