The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

438 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

ture far into the field of literature. In I912 it published an
attractive Decennial Report, and had I0,000 copies distributed
in the Philippines and America. In I9I7 it published Hurlbut's
Teacher Training Course in Tagalog, Visayan, and Ilocanoand found that the path of the publisher is perilous, for it
published more copies than it was able to sell. The publication
of prohibition literature by the Committee on Public Welfare
and Morals is described in Chapter XXVII.
Among the books independently published, the most important is Mrs. H. H. Steinmetz's volume, called "Christian
Ethics," which has been used by the Association Institute.
Mr. E. K. Higdon, M. A., is author of a booklet on "The
Choice of a Life Work," which has drawn the attention of
many young men to the claims of the Christian ministry. Mr.
Jose F. Jacinto has translated a tract of Dr. R. A. Torrey on
"Sabbath Observance." The writer published a series of sermons under the title "Religious Problems of Filipino Young
Men." There have been few other independent ventures of
this sort.
The Seventh Day Adventists have made literature their
first consideration, with remarkable results. They quote with
approval the statement of Martin Luther, "Printing is the
latest and greatest gift by which God enables us to advance the
things of the Gospel." From 1905 to I9I0 they sold English
and Spanish literature only, but in the latter years some of
their literature was translated into Tagalog. In I9I3 they set
up a small press of their own, and it "was soon operating from
five o'clock in the morning until ten at night." Two years
later a regular publishing house was established in Pasay, a
suburb of Manila. Three years more and the publishing house
was bursting, and had to be enlarged. Again in I920 an addition had to be made to meet the tremendously increasing demand. In 1922 there were thirty press workers. Mr. J. J.
Strahle, the sales manager of the gospel literature, writes, "The
publishing house confines itself solely to the production of
gospel literature, no commercial work being accepted. At
present we have about fifty colporteurs in the Philippine Union
Mission, selling gospel literature in nine different languages,