Conference Constitutions
On May 21 a general conference constitution was adopted, and on the same day a State constitution was recommended to the State conferences, and adopted in a session of the Michigan Conference. These constitutions provided a numerical basis for delegate representation in the conferences and in the General Conference. There was not a dissenting voice to this plan for selecting delegates, and the sweet blessing of Cod, sensibly present, seemed to endorse the movement there made.COOD 135.4
Thus step by step the message advanced, and each step in system and order tended to strengthen and consolidate what had already been undertaken. With a continued increase of membership there was also a steady and continued growth in the finances. The report of the publishing association made May 16, of that year (1863), showed that in the two years of its existence the property at the office had increased from five thousand dollars to twenty thousand dollars, and that one fourth of this was actual earnings of the Review and Herald publishing work, as fifteen thousand dollars was all that had ever been furnished by our people either as stock or donations.COOD 136.1