The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-18

"The circulation of the Bible is stead. | fly increasing" said Mir. Frowde, head | of the American branch of the University and oxford Press. Tt Is all nonsense fo assert to the contrary. I've been in the | business a great many years and have | seen only steady growth.
 Twenty-Five years ago I heard Robert | IngerSoll say positively that the Bible was an exploded book: that it's sales | were bound to fall of rapidly and that within ten years 1t would he little read. | Since that day six great Bible houses have been established and the sales of the book have been more than quad rupled.
 People read the Bible more. Possibly they may not all read 1t in the old de- vout spirit. Much of the reading may be done in a critical spirit, but it is done. The sales prove 1t.
 You've heard it said haven't you. that Bible sales are bigger In hard times than in good times? That's an old the ory. The idea from which it started was that in times of trouble people went to the Scriptures for comfort. but forgot the Book during prosperity. Prices have been going down for the last twenty years, but machinery Is even tion for that state of things. The cost of production went down dn company with ths price.
 Now Bibles are little higher in price V more to manufacture them. Printing, pa- per and labor have all gone up in price.
 Still. prices are not extravagantlyshigh. We do not cater to the cheapest trade, yet today one can get an Oxford Bible for 3D cents. That is our cheapest pub lication and our great sales are in the more expensive books.
 Tn England one can buy a Bible for sixpence and a New Testament for a penny. That is below anything in this country. though the American Bible So- ciety comes pretty close to those figures with Bible at 15 cents and a New Test ament at cents,
 steady growth in sales. It is, however. little in use for general reading. The public won't have it. and it seExes chiefly as a textbook for students. The demand for it Is particularly good in the United States. Americans are keenly interested in biblical study
 The American Bible Society has not yet published it's annual report, but the secretary of the Society says that 1t wiil show an increase in all branches of the work. Of the total output of more than i.50o. 900 Bibles the United States takes about S0O.00j. the increase showing chiefly in the field of mission schools.
 With the Scriptures selling at the price for which they do sell and with free dis tribution in 50 many places, there is no reason today why anyone who cares to have Bible should not own one. The
 
 In fact. disposes of many of them at half cost. The English penny Testament also sells far below costs and as millions of copies have been sold since 1t came out i'm 1894 it represents very great loss to the publishers.
 The field in which the, sales of the American Bible Society show the most mark d development is the Philippines. For 300 years before the American occu- patton of the islands the Bible had prac- tically no circulation in the Philippines. During the first year of American rule 10. 700 Bibles were distributed In the is- lands The second year called for 5S,ooo more.
 The Bible is being translated into five ofIths Filipino dialects, and as the Brit ish and Foreign Bible Society has already had 1t translated Into three dialects it gill soon be circulated in eight native dia- iects. In addition there are. of course. the English and Spanish versions. but practically none of the natives can use the English Bible, and s5 per cent. of