to import 50,000,000 new people every year. However this era has come to an end and while immigration remains unre stricted there will be no further in gathering which involves paying an im migrant’s way to Israel. The new policy is also to be selective with preference going to the young and strong. This, it is hoped, will relieve somewhat the financial pressure of the present day. Door-to-Door Solicitation <3* According to Wyoming District Judge Samuel Thompson, door-to-door solicita tion by members of the Jehovah’s Wit nesses sect does not constitute a breach of Cheyenne’s statute outlawing house- to-house canvassing. The religious na ture of the canvassers removed them from the coverage of the law, according *3t In the Philadelphia mayoralty con test, Dr. Daniel Poling, editor of The Christian Herald, was defeated in his attempt to be elected to the chief office of the city of Philadelphia on the Re publican ticket. The campaign was one of the bitterest in the city’s history and Dr. Poling’s opponent roundly censured him for being a pious front for a cor rupt organization. He was accused of being virtually a non-resident because of the fact that his work keeps him away from the city much of the time. Apparently the people of Philadelphia believe that ministers ought to keep out of politics. Back From Dead? «3* In San Francisco, Mrs. Theresa But ler amazed the doctors by her rapid re covery after being apparently dead and taken to the city morgue. The doctors now have high hopes of her recovery. This event was loudly proclaimed in the papers as a return from the dead which, of course, is an utter impossibility. No one who ever actually dies returns from the dead. Mrs. Butler apparently was in a state of suspended animation from which she was resuscitated. Death does not actually occur until the spirit leaves the body. Staggering Task «3* An increase of nearly 1,000,000 stu dents in the enrollment of church sup ported non-public schools is expected by the fall of 1957 according to a gov ernment survey. Churches in America face the large task of raising $2,000,- 000,000 to meet the needs of this an ticipated expansion. During this same period, 8,000,000 more children will be going to public schools due to the high post-war birth rate and the public schools will have to build 600,000 addi tional classrooms at an estimated cost of $18,000,000,000. All of which has a distinct bearing upon the crowding of churches and the building of additional Sunday school rooms. Congregations and churches will do well to plan care fully for the future. to Judge Thompson. Preacher Defeated
Construction Tightened <3* Churches desiring to build in 1952 will be required to secure not only a construction permit but an allocation of steel as well. Anything larger than a small frame building must have a spe cific construction permit before ground can be broken and if the construction requires more than two tons of steel per quarter there must be a specific alloca tion by the National Production Au thority. Almost in this same news item is the statement that the National Production Authority has approved the application of the National Mosque Foundation for sufficient steel to permit the completion of the Moslem Mosque now being erected in Washington. This is said to fill an urgent need for a place of wor ship for diplomats, envoys and personnel from Moslem countries while in this country. Catering to Canines <3* Last year the dog food manufactur ers, dog clothiers, dog trainers and doc tors, etc., grossed about half a billion dollars. Dogs are enjoying better stand ards of living in this country than ever before. No longer are they satisfied with scraps from the table; they must have special foods with a variety of flavors and a high vitamin content. In addition to this, the canine population has jumped 200% in the past 30 years. During the same period the population increased 50%. If this continues, the country will go to the dogs for sure! Seminaries Increase •Jt The nation’s theological seminaries have shown the only increase in enroll ment among institutions of higher edu cation. While enrollment in colleges and universities is nearly 8% lower, the the ological seminaries had nearly a 4% in crease despite a 34% drop in the num ber of veterans enrolled. But neverthe less there exists a very alarming situa tion in churches throughout the country. Pulpits are being vacated twice as fast as the seminaries can fill them. Presbyterian Budget «3* The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church suggests for its 1952 budget a sum of $5,647,467.00. This sum will support nearly 1,000 mission aries in 33 countries throughout the world. On the surface this seems like a huge amount of money for foreign missions until one remembers that the Presbyterian Church has upwards of 2% million members which would mean that the per capita giving of the mem bers of the Presbyterian Church would be slightly over $2.00 a year or about 4c a Sunday. Few Complaints «3* The Federal Communications Commis sion receives but few complaints alleg ing attacks on religious faiths in radio and TV broadcasts, according to chair man Wayne Coy. A typical month
By William W. Orr, D.D.
brought 448 complaints, the majority of which were against liquor and beer ad vertising and only four charging at tacks on religious faiths. Of the 149 TV complaints none were on the basis of
religious attacks. DDT Dangerous
«3* Two physicians, Dr. Bernard Krohn and Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., re ported to a House sub-committee that the use of DDT as an insecticide for crops was dangerous to humans. This report was based on scores of autopsies and tests of hundreds of persons. The physicians recommended enactment of a federal law requiring growers using in secticides to prove their methods do not make foods poisonous for human con sumption. It will be remembered that DDT was another one of the wonder drugs recently produced to put an end to all the destructive insects but as in the case of so many of these wonder drugs there is a tremendous backfire. Vogeler's Testimony «3* A series of articles by Robert A. Vogeler have been running in the Sat urday Evening Post telling of his ex periences during his imprisonment by communist powers. We comment only on Vogeler’s request for a Bible. He reported that he had repeatedly asked for a Bible but did not receive one for some time. How ever, he was allowed to read other books, including Dickens, Tolstoy and Shaw. He testifies: “Although I read Pickwick two or three times, the other novels of Dickens, and especially Oliver Twist, were so depressing that I could read them only once. The Bible, in spite of certain depressing chapters, gave me the greatest solace of all. I now know that, if I were marooned on a desert island, the Bible is the one book above all others that I would most like to possess.” Ingathering Restricted «3* Since the emergence of the new na tion of Israel one thing that has been fiercely cherished has been the open door for incoming Jews from all nations. This has resulted in 665,000 incomers, more than doubling the population. It is the same as if the United States were
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