Report of the XII. of the Business Business and Contract Committee of the Prayer Book TO THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN CANADA: The Committee has met at regular intervals as the necessity f the work occasioned. The first meeting was held at Brantford, Ont., on the 18th nd 20th Sept., 1922, the Bishop of Huron presiding. The Secretary reported the publication by the Cambridge University Press of four editions of the Prayer Book, viz.: No. 2-Ruby.... No. 3-Bourgeois.. 4th April, 1922 4th April, 1922 4th April, 1922 9th August, 1922 Permission was granted the Rev. R. E. Welch, D.D., acting for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, to use certain portions of our Prayer Book in the "Book of Common Order, for use in the Services and Offices of the Presbyterian Church in Canada." Permission was given to Bishop Stringer and Archdeacon Whittaker, to translate portions of the Canadian Book of Common Prayer into Tukudh, the language of the Esquimaux in the iocese of Yukon. The Secretary reported that the Official Copies of the three Editions published on the 4th April, 1922, had been sent to the persons named in Canon XII. of the General Synod. The Secretary was instructed to report to the Cambridge University Press that the Treasurer of General Synod had on hand the sum of $1,045.27, at the last meeting of the Synod, and that the sum of $50.00 had since been spent for expenses. It was Resolved:-That the Cambridge University Press be asked to furnish full particulars as to the comparative cost of production, and give reasons why the percentage basis common to all the editions as provided in the original Contract should now be changed to a flat rate on each edition printed; and also give such details as will enable the Committee to take up the matter more intelligently and to justify any action which they may take, as the whole matter must eventually come before the General Synod. The following comparative statement was worked out by Mr. C. S. Scott, and is preserved for the information of the Committee: It is noted here, for the information of the General Synod, that the original Minute Book of the Committee on the Adaptation, Enrichment and Revision of the Prayer Book; and the Official Copies of the various Editions of which the Secretary is the custodian, are all in the vault of the Parish Hall, of St. Paul's Church, Halifax, N. S. Your Committee, while not unmindful of the difficulties of the situation, and while thoroughly appreciative of the fine spirit and splendid work rendered by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, felt that they had a duty to perform to the General Synod representing our Church in Canada. They therefore, took strong ground in regard to the greatly increased selling price of the Prayer Book, which was practically increased 33 1-3 per cent., while the Royalties offered to the Church remained the same, yielding no more than at the low prices agreed upon by both parties in the original Contract of 1911. We have had before us the figures supplied by Mr. B. Ince, of the cost of production. These, of course, are of a highly technical nature, but they furnish the fullest possible information as to the cost of production. And our request had the effect of causing the Cambridge Press to make a fresh study of the whole question. We are still in correspondence with Mr. Ince, endeavouring to secure the best possible terms for the Church. We have not felt able to accept the Royalties proposed. The prices and royalties in 1922 were only accepted tentatively. We were not at the time very hopeful that the prices would ever be very popular in Canada. We greatly feared that they would hamper the sale of the Book, and militate against its sale in many quarters. We found that our fears were realized in experience. We have placed before the Cambridge University Press, the following statement of the facts of the case. : We are only trustees of the Church in Canada. We must therefore act with the most scrupulous care, protecting the Church's interests, and securing for its funds the largest possible Royalty consistent with a fair interpretation of the contract, and all the rights and privileges contained therein. We desire to act in a spirit of the utmost fairness and good will to all concerned. A conference was held between the Chairman and Secretary of the Committee, at Calgary in September, 1923, and matters of moment discussed. It was felt that the calling of the whole Committee at that distant point would entail too great an expense. A meeting of the Committee was held in Toronto on the 28th February, 1924, the Bishop of Huron presiding. Mr. B. Ince, in behalf of the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press offered to make the following reductions in retail selling prices from and after 1st January, 1924: (1) The reduction of the Ruby Canadian Prayer Book in its cheapest binding (Cloth, limp, cut flush, white edges) from 35 cents to 25 cents. (2) A second reduction in the price of the same book in its next cheapest binding (vix.:-Cloth, boards, red edges), from 50 cents to 35 cents. Your Committee, after careful deliberation, accepted these offers, as being in the interest of the Church at large, and the reductions were accordingly made. It is a matter of regret that this reduction is not more widely known. Mr. Ince, most courteously, presented to this meeting of the Committee, a most exhaustive statement of the cost of production of the different editions of the Prayer Book, furnishing every possible detail, and accompanying the statement with copies of the various invoices from printers, binders, etc. Mr. Ince claimed that an inspection of the table of costs and selling prices, and a comparison of our Prayer Book, with English and Scottish Prayer Books, either with or without hymns, wcu d show that Canadian Prayer Books are actually and by far the cheapest, having due regard to royalty and to what has to be given for the money. He also invited a comparison with the Hymn Book, as to size, cost of production, selling price and royalty paid. It is claimed that the comparisons which are sometimes made between the Canadian and the English books, are often, if not always unfair, for the reason that all the facts are not taken into account. An instance will suffice to illustrate this. The English Prayer Books in the larger sizes-run to 670 pages, the Canadian in all editions to 811 pages. But the cheap English Ruby Prayer Book is for the sake of economy of production and that alone, reduced to 370 pages; by setting in double columns and by using very small type for Collects, Epistles, Gospels, occasional services and so on. This Our General Synod decided, that every single edition of the Canadian Prayer Book should be paged alike, for purpose of reference, page for page throughout the book. The Small Pica edition as first set and approved, ran to 804 pages, the Ruby edition which followed it had also to contain 804 pages. simple fact, combined with the greatly increased cost of paper, print and binding, as compared with those costs in 1911, rendered it impossible to produce in 1922 the low priced Ruby Canadian Prayer Book originally contemplated in 1911. The Syndics of the Cambridge Press, probably failed to realize that the very cheapest Canadian Book would run to 804 pages, as against the cheap English Book of 370 pages, and the 292 pages of the cheap Canadian Hymn Book. And it is clear that they could not foresee the War of 1914-18 and the consequent increase in the cost of book production. It costs four times as much. The retail selling prices and royalties specified in 1911 in the contract, on ordinary paper, and in the editions now published were as follows: |