Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-10-23

of Rome: "Be not slothful in business, fer.
vent spirit in serving the Lord" II we
would succeed therefore in cultivating
ods throughout. The first essential is
good system. next attention to 1t and third,
zeal, in Christs business cousecrated zeal
System is everything in the beginning and
system everything all the way through.
The reason Satan has succeeded so well is
because he has system. II you want eyi
dence read the Brewers Journal for three
months The first essential is good orsa-
nizatiop, next good secretary, and am
sure that good secretary is not essential.
and right here comes toe question OF the
General Secretary's relation. He has been
the mill aud the tire of the wheel that di'
reefs an makes efiicit Il all the parts. He Is
at the point of contsct with every spoke OF
influence and work Harmonzing and uni
flying all for the great purposes which the
Association was organized to accomplish
He is also the representative OF the Associa-
is greatly measured by the measure of the
secretary. He lis not the Association nor
the hub of the Association: that place OF
honor belongs to the Roard OF Managers.
but he is the organizing man, the o. ganizer,
the Director-Generai of the work He Is
everywhere present, planning. controlling,
suggesting and invigorating. He must not
always be seen, nor always lead. But
must be able to lead and able to fiji every
place in the Association life. In his rela.
tions to the Board he is their dictionary and
encyclopedia and chief executive ofiicerof
the Association. He does not run the Asso'
fiaiSn soarS hut nHF SSe sSfs he he should a fs Be
so wise as never to gainsay
he should also be discreet enough never to
be gainsaid. II it is his province TO know
all things, suggest wise things, and TO so
work in connection with every member
that his wise suggestions will be needed,
aud his practical knowledge made ayaila-
BILE. III he has tact he can do this, II not he
has mistaken his calling and must give
place to some one who has. These things
being so the Importance OF a systematic
secretary will be clearly seen. A sloyenly
secretary will make a s'oyenly association,
and per contra a careful, painstaking one
will go great ways towards building up a
systematic work. A secretary should there.
fore aim: 1st, to be syste matte: %. to en-
courage system. He should have regular
hours at the rooms. and be there; he should
be prompt at all meetings. and insist on
promptness; his CORES pondence should be
pr mptly attended to, and all letters care
fully filed If possible heshould keep copies
of letters he sends out. His ofhce-work
should be systemntized, and his desk IN
from dust. Erary paper should have
place, and every blank a pigeon-hole-thu
escaping similarity t the Irishmans cup
board, "a storehouse OF comical oddities,
things that have never been neighbors be
foreo' His book keeping should have sys-
tenn, and be Systematically done: There
should be cash-book, a membership roll
journal and ledger, a statistical record,
tificates of sustaining members and re-
ceipt book with stubs. The plan of Secre-
tary Hansel, published in the September
Watchman is excellent. ! quote few
lines: INF. A. reports subscription IRON
Mr. H. of s5o we turn to the mem oership
roll snd enter his name as sustaining
member; taking the book cf membership
certificates, we make out his certificate,
We then make out statement OF the
amount with memoranda when to be col
iec ed. The transaction then goes to the
journal, from which to the ledger, the GER
tificate sent to1Mr. H., the statement handed
to the collector; when collected it Is credit
ed to the account of Mr. II, handed to the
treasurer and his account debted with the
amount Mr.. b. presents bill for stationery,
It Is audited by the finance committee ana
ordered paid; voucher is then given to
Mr.. b.. signed by the chairman of finance
Committee; he presents it to the treasurer
and receives the money; the bill Is Med,
and from the stub of the voucher book the
treasurer S account is credited and expense
account debited."
The scrap book is an important par of
the record system. In 1t the newspaper re-
ports of the various meetings, receptions
and socials are Systematically preserved,
dated and labeled with the name OF the
paper from woich they are taken. Samples
of printed matter are also preserved, and
thus running record of the Association
life is faithfully complied plain unvar-
nished tale to be filed each year among the
honored archives OF Association history.
Committees should be systematic in their
m meetings and their records. Every com
mittee should have a Chairman and Sec
ratary. The latter should notify members
the proceedings of each. The importance
of this is realized when the Chairman
comes TO the monthly business meeting.
Committees should have regular monthly
meetings, and every member should feel
that on that evening he has business en-
gagement no more to be broken than
promise to pay at a bank Of exchange.
And this faithfulness to business engage
ments should be practiced inyiolsbly
through all the departments of the Associa'
tion life. Nothing weakens man in the
eyes Of his fellows quicker than a failure to
keep his appointments. and nothing will
stigmatize an association quicker than that
its responsible agents should be slack In
keeping theirs.
The finances OF the work demand special
systematic thoroughness in order to sue
ceed. Money is always hard to get, but it
is much easier secured when gone for in a
businesslike way. Nobody likes to ask
another for money, but much OF this dis.
taste and dislike is owing, first, to false
idea of the principle involved, and second,
to want OF plan in carrying it out; Many
a financial mountain would dwindle to
mole hill if the climbers approached it
with courage aud self respect, instead of
trembling and hesitation 1t is a manly
thing to ask for money to carry on Gods
work, and we ought to feel as though we
had rights in this regad and not as beg
gars 1 will not repeat further, but only
emphasize the argument-yOu are to have
more of this to morrow. But have plan,
some plan, and follow it.
After you have your system give attention
to 1t. 1t will not run alone any more than
a finished system of electric lighting will
run without the throbbing of the dynamo
behind it. Push it. Attend to it. Attend
to the little things, the seemingly unim-
portant details. Nothing is u important
The failure to send notice to the least ex.
perienced man in the Devotional Commit
tee may prevent quorum and so delay the
planning of the next months meetings be-
yond repair. The failure to Call on some
strange young man of whom you have
heard, may be the indirect cause OF his
eternal destruction. Hardness in answering
a letter may result in the loss OF an important
friend; untidiness in person or in sur
roundings may disgust all otherwise willing
helper. An air OF easy indifference or of in
attention may convey yha an impression mpos
success and failure is often the margin be-
tween thrift and lack of thrift, and it is
very narrow margin. Let us treasure up
these fine margins and lean Just little
more to the side OF care, thought, system,
promptness, thoroughness and Dispatch and
our work will coin, must coin, else God is
not God and truth is error One word more
and am done. Ny last point was zeal, con-
secrated zsal--aud that calls for heart, de-
votion, self-surfender In order to do this
the worker must believe in his work, live
for his work, be willing to die for his work,
and how can this be accomplished? Thor
oughness on the part of the Devotional
Committee can best secure this. Let avery
meeting be Bethel, every Bible class an
altar; let the warm flowing currents of
pure Christianism circulate freely every
where, purifying the air in which purposes
are found, raising the standard of resolution
aud aim, and aspirations and ideal, s.imu-
lating endeavor and invigorating will. Let
the testimonies be generous and the
prayers ardent; the sayings earnest and the
exhortations hearty; let manly heart an
swer to manly heart, and strong resolution
clasp stout determination; let faith lead to
prayer and prayer to cOnsecration, till all are
bound together as link unto link into one
sweet, powerful and eternal union, the
spirit and the life OF which is love. In such
a meeting we find the best preparation for
all our work. Here the spirit of God loves