1918: "My hope and wish is that, as far as the United Lutheran Church is concerned, it may merge our best and submerge the rest." What of this "best"? And what is "the rest"? The history of the three merging bodies will tell. 10. National Lutheran Council.--According to Article VI, Section 3 of the Constitution, it is the object of the United Lutheran Church "to cultivate cooperation among all Lutherans in the promotion of the general interests of the Church; to seek the unification of all Lutherans in one orthodox faith." The ultimate goal of the United Lutheran Church self-evidently is the organic union of all Lutheran synods and congregations of this country as "The Lutheran Church in America," or, at least, "The Federated Lutheran Church in America." "The National Lutheran Council," organized September 6, 1918, in Chicago, is, no doubt, viewed by many as a stepping-stone to, and a means for the attainment of, this end. The United Lutheran Church, says the _Philadelphia Seminary Bulletin_, "is but part of a larger movement in the direction of Lutheran unity and activity for which we thank God and take courage. Illustrations of this are: The National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, The National Lutheran Council, and the proposed Central Lutheran control of all American Lutheran Foreign Missions." (1919, 2, p. 4.) The objects of the National Lutheran Council are: statistical information; publicity in all matters that require common utterance by the Lutheran Church; representation of our Church in its relation to entities outside of itself; dealing with the problems arising out of war and other emergencies; the solution of problems arising from social, economic, intellectual, or other conditions, or changes affecting religious life and consciousness; the fostering of true Christian loyalty and the maintenance of a righteous relation between Church and State as separate entities with correlated, yet distinctly defined functions; provision through the National Lutheran Commission for the spiritual welfare of the people who are living and working in the 24 "War Production Communities," part of which work is to be done in cooperation with other denominations; to serve in solving the problems of the Lutheran Church in European countries where the war has upset political, social, and religious conditions; to adjust matters on the Home Mission field, in order to restrict and stop destructive competitive church-work; to discourage, ignore, and abandon public polemics among Lutherans; to prepare a statement defining the essentials of a catholic spirit as viewed by the Lutheran Church. With the exception of the Synodical Conference (always wary of entangling and unionistic alliances), practically all of the Lutheran synods in America are connected with the National Lutheran Council. (_L. u. W._, 1919, 86 ff.) A meeting of the presidents and representatives of various Lutheran