Avoiding Labor Conflicts
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world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves
together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A
few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain
lines of business. Trades unions will be formed, and those who refuse
to join these unions will be marked men.—
Letter 26, 1903
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Preparing for the Issue
The trades unions and confederacies of the world are a snare. Keep
out of them, and away from them, brethren. Have nothing to do with
them. Because of these unions and confederacies, it will soon be very
difficult for our institutions to carry on their work in the cities. My
warning is: Keep out of the cities. Build no sanitariums in the cities.
Educate our people to get out of the cities into the country, where they
can obtain a small piece of land, and make a home for themselves and
their children....
[11]
Our restaurants must be in the cities; for otherwise the workers
in these restaurants could not reach the people and teach them the
principles of right living. And for the present we shall have to occupy
meetinghouses in the cities. But erelong there will be such strife and
confusion in the cities, that those who wish to leave them will not be
able. We must be preparing for these issues. This is the light that is
given me.—
The General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903
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To Preserve Our Individuality
For years I have been given special light that we are not to center
our work in the cities. The turmoil and confusion that fill these cities,
the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would
prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those
engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. This
is not God’s planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no
wise acknowledge. God’s Word is fulfilling; the wicked are binding
themselves up in bundles ready to be burned.
We are now to use all our entrusted capabilities in giving the last
warning message to the world. In this work we are to preserve our
individuality. We are not to unite with secret societies or with trades
unions. We are to stand free in God, looking constantly to Christ for