Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Heavy Debts in Latter Years

The critics call attention to the fact that it was in her latter years that much of the debt was incurred. It was in these latter years that Mrs. White did some of her heaviest work in preparing books, both in English and by translation into other languages. She realized that her days were short. She had already passed the threescore years and ten when she entered the twentieth century. She felt also that there was much work yet to be done to place her writings in the form that she wished to have them before her death. Thus her latter years were the busiest years of her life, so far as actual book preparation was concerned. Anyone who has engaged in the publishing business knows how easy it is to invest five thousand or ten thousand or more dollars in a book before it ever goes on the press. That is particularly true if the books are to be illustrated with original art work. In the later years, when original paintings were used to illustrate her books, Mrs. White’s office bore the heavy cost of these illustrations, even as it bore other costs in the production of her books. EGWC 524.2

There were only two ways in which such expenses of book preparation could be met—either from profits from former publishing, that is from royalties, or by borrowing against anticipated royalties. If Mrs. White had been the rich woman that some critics would like to have their readers think, she could easily have drawn on her bank account to underwrite the cost of further book preparation. But we have found that she was not rich, and that she disbursed right and left to worthy causes such monies as she received, even giving, at times, to worthy causes from borrowed money. Therefore, the only way that she could secure the money for the book making was by borrowing it. EGWC 524.3

Speaking from a business standpoint, was that justified borrowing, or was Mrs. White providing simply an illustration of reckless expenditure of money? Was that setting out on a course that could mean only endless financial embarrassment, or on a course that permitted her, or her executors, to liquidate the debt in due time? EGWC 525.1

We think the answer to these questions becomes evident when we keep in mind a fact that the critics themselves seek to impress upon us; namely, that there came annually to Mrs. White substantial sums from royalties on the sales of her books. Was there any reason to believe that these books would suddenly cease selling, or that if other books were published by her, they would fail to have a sale? The answer is No. On the contrary there was every reason to believe that the sales would increase, because the denomination was steadily enlarging its membership, and the writings of Mrs. White, by the admission of the critics themselves, are central in the literature of Seventh-day Adventists. EGWC 525.2