and the Special Committee on Administrative Agencies the second order for Monday morning.

The Moderator and Stated Clerk were authorized, after consultation with parties interested, to fix an order for the report of the Standing Committee on Benevolence.

The Stated Clerk laid upon the table of the Assembly the following documents:

(1) The Reports of the Boards and the Permanent Committees. (2) The Reports of the Special Committees in printed form and bound together, the volume being commonly spoken of as the "Blue Book."

(3) The Overtures from the Presbyteries to the General Assembly in printed form.

(4) The Manual of the Assembly for 1908.

The Reports of the Boards were referred to the proper Standing Committees, and the other documents were ordered to be distributed to the Commissioners, it being understood that the Reports of the Special Committees would be formally presented by the several Chairmen.

The Stated Clerk called for any Overtures or other papers from the Presbyteries which might be in the house, and also submitted the Reports of the Theological Seminaries, which were referred to the Standing Committee on Theological Seminaries.

The Standing Committee on Evangelistic Work was authorized to take the whole time of this afternoon's session, if necessary.

The Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements presented a Report, inviting the Assembly to an automobile ride over the parks and boulevards of Kansas City on to-morrow (Saturday) afternoon; and also to an excursion to Fort Leavenworth and the National Soldiers' Home, and a Reception in the First Presbyterian Church of Leavenworth, Kansas, on next Thursday. The invitations were accepted, and the hours fixed as arranged by the Committee. The Moderator and Stated Clerk were authorized to make such adjustment of the Docket for Thursday afternoon as the adoption of this report necessitated.

The Assembly of 1907 having authorized the Stated Clerk, after consultation with interested parties, to appoint a popular meeting in the interest of the Presbyterian Brotherhood, he reported recommending that the popular mecting to-morrow (Saturday) night be conducted by both the Evangelistic Committee and the Committee on the Presbyterian Brotherhood, and

that hereafter the first Saturday evening be devoted to a popular meeting in the interest of the Presbyterian Brotherhood. The Report was adopted.

The Permanent Committee on Christian Work among Seamen and Soldiers, through its Chairman, Rev. Wallace Radcliffe, D.D., presented its Report, which was accepted, and, after an address by the Chairman, was approved. The Report was ordered to be printed in the Appendix.

The following telegrams were received:

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA., May 22, 1908.

To the Presbyterian General Assembly:

The Northern Baptist Convention, assembled in Oklahoma, sends Christian greetings. We pray God's blessing upon your deliberations.

W. C. BITTING, Corresponding Secretary.

MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY, May 21, 1908.

To the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church, U.S. A.:

The General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Colored, sends kindly greeting. See II Thess. iii. 1.

C. L. DAVIS, Stated Clerk.

The Moderator and Stated Clerk were authorized to send suitable responses.

The Moderator and Stated Clerk were authorized to send telegrams of fraternal greeting

To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, in session at Greensboro, N. C.;

To the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in session at Baltimore, Md.; and

To the General Synod of the Reformed Church in the U. S., in session at York, Pa.

Rev. Thomas H. Cleland, D.D., Field Secretary of the American Tract Society, addressed the Assembly in behalf of the work of that Society, after which the following resolutions were adopted:

Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly has heard with pleasure that the American Tract Society, a great and permanent agency for the circulation of Gospel Truth through the wide world by means of the printed page, has passed its fourscore years of usefulness by three years, with plans of still enlarged usefulness.

Resolved, 2. That it is a source of rejoicing that, while the

nations of the Orient are awakening and untaught millions have flocked to our own shores, this noble agency has diffused the knowledge of Jesus Christ in 760,000,000 copies of books, periodicals and leaflets, in a truly pentecostal method, in 174 different languages for those at home, abroad, and in our island possessions. Resolved, 3. That it is the judgment of this General Assembly, fortified by the conclusions of Interdenominational Conferences of Home and Foreign Boards, and by the testimony of missionaries at home and abroad, that the use of the printed page is increasingly demanded to combat vicious and pernicious error; to guide and establish inquiring minds in the knowledge of the truth; and by economical methods to reach countless souls who would not otherwise be reached by the ordinances of the Church and the living voice of the preacher.

Resolved, 4. That the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in keeping with its traditional practice, is glad to unite with the sisterhood of Churches in the support of this evangelical and interdenominational agency, as a living illustration of the unity of the Spirit, and as an economical method of spreading the truth at home and abroad.

Resolved, 5. That in view of the financial exigencies that have overtaken all benevolent agencies, the American Tract Society is commended for its retrenchment in the expenses of administration, and, in order that it may maintain and enlarge its good work, each Presbytery is again directed to appoint a Standing Committee to coöperate with the Society, and each congregation is asked to bestow an annual and generous offering for this Christlike work.

The Special Committee on Sabbath Observance, through Rev. Arthur J. Brown, D.D., a member of the Committee, presented its Report, which was accepted. After addresses by Rev. Frederick J. Stanley, D.D., Secretary of the Committee, and Judge William H. Wallace, of Kansas City, and the addition of two resolutions, the Report was adopted, and is as follows:

The Special Committee on Sabbath Observance reports as follows to the General Assembly of 1908:

The Committee on Sabbath Observance brings to this Assembly continued tidings of good cheer in the general survey of this cause, which is dear to the heart of the great Head of the Church, and should be to every member who earnestly labors to that end, while each devoutly prays "Thy Kingdom come."

Activity throughout the world for and against the Sabbath is unprecedented, and is found nowhere more intense than in the United States.

Federation.-In order to secure united action on the part of all the Associations in the United States and Canada that have for

their object the preservation of the Lord's Day, an International Federation of Sunday Rest Associations has been formed, that they may accomplish what could not be done by the individual Associations acting alone.

Sunday Rest Congress.-This gathering was held at Jamestown, Va., in September last, on the Exposition grounds. Excellent papers from the United States and Canada were presented, and action taken to further the interests of the Sabbath cause in many directions.

Government Departments.-The President of the United States has recently directed that Sunday work in the Departments be restricted to that which is of an emergency character, or which is recognized as being absolutely necessary to the public interests and welfare, and the members of the Cabinet have issued the necessary orders to their respective Departments in conformity therewith. We trust to see this order apply against the landing of immigrants on Ellis Island on Sunday.

Seattle Exposition.-The bill before Congress for appropriation for the Exposition in Seattle in 1909 has had incorporated therein the same provision as was embodied in the appropriations for St. Louis and Jamestown Expositions, namely: "Provided that as a condition precedent to the payment of this appropriation in aid of said Exposition, the Seattle Exposition Company shall agree to close the grounds of said Exposition to visitors on Sunday during the period of said Exposition."

Labor's Interests: The Druggists.-The National Association of Retail Druggists, assembled in Chicago in September last and attended by 5,000 members, adopted ringing resolutions reaffirming its position as declared at previous conventions regarding the Sunday closing movement; earnestly requesting pharmacists to limit their Sunday business to work of necessity and mercy, and appealing to the people of the United States to anticipate their wants by having their prescriptions renewed on Saturday, so that it may be more easy for druggists and other business men to keep Sunday as a day of rest.

Sunday Funerals.-The Local Union of Coach and Cab Drivers at Paterson, N. J., has recently resolved that no funerals shall be held on Sunday, except in cases of absolute necessity, in order that the drivers, who have to work at all hours on week-days, may have a chance to rest on Sunday. Nearly every liveryman and undertaker in that city has entered into an agreement to that effect. The pastors throughout the country should add their weighty influence to discourage as far as possible in their respective localities the practice of Sunday funerals.

Factory Employés.-Throughout our country there are many factories, owned by Christian men or in which Christian men are stockholders, that are run on Sabbath days, thus depriving labor

of its right to one day's rest in seven. Pastors and Christian men throughout the country should heartily coöperate with labor in securing for it the closing of all factories on Sunday, and thereby prove that the Church is the true friend of labor, and seeks for its betterment.

Commercial Travelers.-It is with gratitude to God that we note the increasing reverence for the Sabbath Day by traveling men, and the distinct service and influence of that worthy order known as the "Gideons," for their untiring service among commercial travelers in behalf of a religious life and a proper observance of God's Holy Day.

Monday Holiday in Colleges.-Effort has been made the past year by an extensive correspondence with 453 colleges and universities in our land to secure on Monday a holiday or half holiday, in order that students may not feel compelled or have an excuse to devote a portion of Sunday for the preparation of their Mon'day's lessons. Three hundred and one such institutions replied, of which 192 have Saturday holiday and 101 Monday holiday. Many of these suspend Saturday noon and resume Monday noon. Those having Monday holiday are pronounced in the very satisfactory results attained. We urge that ministers and members of our communion who are Directors and Trustees of institutions of learning throughout the country confer with the respective Presidents and Faculties, with the view of securing the Monday holiday or half holiday. Surely it is vitally important that the youth of our colleges and universities be kept in the habit of observing the Sabbath in rest and worship, lest peradventure when they graduate and return to their homes or enter upon their professional or business career, the habits formed in college will lead them to ignore God's claims on them to "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy."

Sunday Laws.-Sabbath laws now exist in all the States, except California, Arizona and the District of Columbia. In the first and last mentioned bills have been prepared for enactment into laws. Idaho, where previously there was no Sabbath law, has within the past year put into effect a Sabbath law, which provides that any officer, as sheriff, police commissioner or any other, who neglects to enforce the law and arrest the lawbreaker shall himself be arrested, fined $300 and dismissed from office for malfeasance.

What Supreme Courts Say.-The highest New York courts upheld the law forbidding Sunday theatres from the "right of the citizen to be protected against acts which corrupt the morals and debase the moral sense.' The Ohio Supreme Court said: “The law forbidding Sunday ball games is necessary to promote the peace, health and well-being of society," for "without such regularly recurring rest periods there is reason to believe that the masses