Ellen White: Woman of Vision

The Word Reaches Ellen White

That Tuesday night Ellen White at her Elmshaven home had slept but little. In vision she had agonized over conditions in Battle Creek. As she came down for breakfast on Wednesday morning, Sara McEnterfer told her that the Review and Herald publishing plant had burned the night before; C. H. Jones had telephoned the news. It came as no surprise to Ellen White. Only a few days before, with pen in hand, she lost consciousness of her surroundings and again saw a sword of fire over Battle Creek, “turning first in one direction and then in another,” with disaster following disaster (Letter 37, 1903). WV 417.7

The sanitarium had burned in February; now the Review was gone. Picking up her pen, she wrote to Edson: WV 417.8

Oh, I am feeling so sad, because ... the Lord has permitted this, because His people would not hear His warnings and repent, and be converted, that He should heal them. Many have despised the words of warning. Oh, how sad it is. How large the loss is of books and furniture and facilities.... May the Lord have mercy upon us is my prayer (Letter 214, 1902). WV 418.1

For 10 years Ellen White had been noting the developments in the management of the Review and Herald publishing house, and the agony of soul she had suffered reached an almost unbearable level during the weeks before the fire. Managers had lost their sense of justice and responsibility. Employees had lost much of their unselfish dedication and consecration. Boards had lost their power to control in right lines. It was a gradual process that was frowned upon by Heaven, and warning after warning had been sounded by God's messenger. But these were for the most part ignored or scorned. WV 418.2

Primarily this was because of two situations: (1) injustice to authors by the instigation of policies that would deny them their just rewards for their literary work, and (2) inequity in dealing with publishing house personnel. Managers argued that it was because of the skill and ability of those in management that the work prospered, so the men in positions of responsibility should receive double the pay of the skilled workmen in the plant. WV 418.3

Added to this were the pressures being brought by men in the publishing house to put the Review office in control of all publishing work in North America. The Pacific Press in Oakland, California, would be but a branch of the Review and Herald, with all decisions made in Battle Creek. Steps that virtually would bring about the consolidation of the publishing work were introduced as early as 1889 at the General Conference session, and developed in 1891. In fact, propositions along this line had been made before James White's death in 1881. WV 418.4

From Australia Ellen White wrote in 1896: WV 418.5

The Lord has presented matters before me that cause me to tremble for the institutions at Battle Creek.... WV 418.6

The scheme for consolidation is detrimental to the cause of present truth. Battle Creek has all the power she should have. Some in that place have advanced selfish plans, and if any branch of the work promised a measure of success, they have not exercised the spirit which lets well enough alone, but have made an effort to attach these interests to the great whole. They have striven to embrace altogether too much, and yet they are eager to get more (Letter 81, 1896). WV 418.7

Most distressing of all was the general deterioration of the spiritual experience of the Review management and workers and the eroding of a sense of right, which allowed for the commercial work to bring demoralizing publications into the manufacturing plant. Taking the stance that they were printers and not censors, management authorized the printing of publications that came far short of Adventist moral standards. There were no restraints established that regulated the type of literature that would be published. Presses poured forth fiction, Wild West stories, books promulgating Roman Catholic doctrines, sex literature, and books on hypnosis. The managers looked upon the publishing house as a commercial enterprise whose first obligation was to make money. WV 419.1