* 
 
 ON A SECOND VISIT TO 
 
 -HORT 
 
 la, Japan and Korea 
 
 1909 
 
 WITH A DISCUSSION OF SOME PROBLEMS OF 
 
 MISSION WORK 
 
 * / 
 
 BY / 
 
 ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN 
 
 3 
 
 To the Board and the 
 
 The Board of 
 Of the Presbyteriar 
 156 Fifth/ 
 
 PRINTED BU" 
 FOR PRIVATE 
 
 Church 
 
 Secreta 
 
 % 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/reportonsecondvi00brow_1 
 

 ! / 
 
 / 
 
 REPORT 
 
 ON A SECOND VISIT TO 
 
 China, Japan and Korea 
 
 1909 
 
 WITH A DISCUSSION OF SOME PROBLEMS OF 
 
 ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN 
 
 To the Board and the Missions of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the U. S. A. 
 
 PRINTED BUT NOT PUBLISHED 
 FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions 
 Of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 
 156 Fifth Ave., New York 
 
 MISSION WORK 
 
 BY 
 
 / 
 
 V 
 
 Secretary of the Board 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGES 
 
 The Journey 3-6 
 
 Scope and Method of Inquiry 6-12 
 
 Fundamental Distinctions 12-15 
 
 Japan and the Japanese 12, 15-21, 27-30, 103-104 
 
 Missions in Japan 21-30 
 
 Cooperation with the Church of Christ in Japan 30-34 
 
 The Native Church and Native Christians 30-54, 54-63, 87-95, 113-119 
 
 Korea and the Koreans 14-15, 63-69 
 
 The Japanese in Korea 69-84 
 
 Missionaries and the Japanese 80-83, 92 
 
 Missions in Korea 84-95 
 
 China and the Chinese 13-14, 95-H3 
 
 Reforms, 95-101 ;VLack of Leadership, 101-103; Currency, 
 104-105; Missionaries and Chinese Officials, 106-113; Anti- 
 foreign Feeling, 108-112. 
 
 Missions in China 113-119 
 
 Will There Be War? 119-123 
 
 The Future 123-128 
 
 SPECIAL PROBLEMS. 
 
 Cooperation with the Native Church 30-34 
 
 Missionary Membership in Field Presbyteries 128-132 
 
 V Application of the Gospel to Social Conditions 132-137 
 
 Relations of the Board and the Missions — Criticisms — Special 
 
 Gifts 137-147 
 
 Field Supervision of Mission Work. 
 
 Mission Organization — Executive Committees — The China 
 
 Council, Women Voting 147-161 
 
 Where Money Is Most Needed 161-171 
 
 Salaries and Travel, 161-162; Reinforcements, 162-163; 
 Property, 163-167; Current work and salaries of native 
 workers, 167-171 ; Increased cost of living, 168-171. 
 
 Schools for Missionaries’ Children 171-177 
 
 Furloughs and Terms of Service 177-182 
 
 Outfit for New Missionaries 182-183 
 
 Doctrinal Soundness of Candidates 183-184 
 
 Education 184-207 
 
 Need and policy, 184-186; In Japan, 186-187; In Korea, 
 187-193; In China, 193-207. 
 
 Students in Government Colleges 207-209 
 
 Conclusion 209-210 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON A SECOND VISIT TO 
 
 China, Japan and Korea, 1909 
 
 With a Discussion of Some Problems of Mission Work 
 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN 
 
 Secretary of the Board 
 
 I present herewith to the Board and the Missions a report on 
 my second visit to China, Japan and Korea, in accordance with 
 the Board’s action of March ist, 1909, as follows: 
 
 “Secretary Arthur J. Brown was appointed to represent the Board 
 at the Quarter Centennial of Protestant Missions in Korea next Sep- 
 tember, under the offer of Mr. Lewis H. Severance to pay the expenses 
 involved, referred to in the Board’s action of Nov. i6th, 1908. In view 
 of the importance of the questions that are pending, not only in Korea 
 but in Japan and China, and the fact that Dr. Brown can visit these 
 countries in connection with his Korea tour, the Board instructed him 
 to plan for two weeks in Japan, four weeks in Korea, and four weeks 
 in China, making a total absence from New York of about four and a 
 half months. While leaving Dr. Brown large discretion as to the way 
 in which he can spend his time to the best advantage, the Board sug- 
 gested that in Japan emphasis be placed upon a conference with repre- 
 sentatives of both the East and West Japan Missions at Karuizawa, 
 and with the leaders of the Japanese churches at Tokyo; that in Korea, 
 while brief stops be made at other stations that are on or near the rail- 
 road, emphasis be given to conferences at Seoul and Pyeng Yang; and 
 that in China emphasis should be placed upon a joint conference of the 
 East and West Shantung Missions at such point as may be mutually 
 agreed upon, a conference with the North China Mission in Peking, and 
 that a conference be held at Shanghai with all the members of the 
 Central China Mission who may be conveniently available, and that the 
 Hanan, Hunan, South China and Kiang-an Missions be requested to 
 appoint two delegates each to this conference ; the necessary expenses 
 of such delegates to be met by the Board unless the Missions can pro- 
 vide them under their appropriations.” 
 
 The Korea Missions afterwards abandoned the plan for a 
 united observance of the quarter centennial of their work ; but 
 the Board felt that the main reasons for a secretarial visit to 
 
2 
 
 the Far East were independent of this change and the tour was 
 therefore carried out as planned. 
 
 The kindness of Mr. Severance in providing for the expenses 
 of my journey, including the conferences and related official du- 
 ties, was generously supplemented by a personal gift from Mr. 
 and Mrs. John S. Kennedy in order that Mrs. Brown might ac- 
 company me. It was a deep sorrow to learn near the conclu- 
 sion of the trip that Mr. Kennedy had passed away. It would 
 not be proper for me in this report to attempt to state all that 
 the loss of such a man means to the Church at large or to those 
 of us who were close to him in the circle of intimate friendship. 
 He was a man of remarkable ability and force of character, a 
 Christian of eminent faith and consecration, and a philanthro- 
 pist of world-wide vision. His bequests inaugurate a new era 
 in giving, not only by their princely munificence but by their 
 freedom from all personal conditions. Mr. Kennedy, realizing 
 that he had not had opportunity personally to visit and study 
 all our work on the field, was wise enough and great enough' to 
 leave to the expert and responsible administrators of the enter- 
 prise which he aided the decision as to how his money could be 
 used to the best advantage. 
 
THE JOURNEY. 
 
 W’e left Xew York July 27th, proceeding by rail to San Fran- 
 cisco and thence by steamer to Japan, arriving at Yokohama 
 August 22nd. We spent fifteen days in Japan. As the country 
 is not large and as the railway service is excellent, considerable 
 ground was covered within this period. We went directly 
 to Karuizawa, where the East and West Japan Missions had 
 arranged to hold their annual meetings and where we also 
 found The Council of Missions Co-operating with the Church 
 of Christ. jMany missionaries of other Societies were also 
 present, as Karuizawa is a mountain summer resort to which 
 large numbers of missionaries go for their vacations. There 
 was said to be a missionary community of 800 at the time we 
 were there. Three full days, and I might almost add nights, 
 were devoted to conferences with the Council of ^Missions, our 
 own East and West Japan Missions and representative mis- 
 sionaries of other communions. 
 
 Leaving Karuizawa, we stopped for a day at Nikko to see the 
 temples and shrines which are so characteristic of Japan, and 
 then we visited in turn Tokyo, Tsu, Yamada, Kyoto and Osaka. 
 A day in Tokyo was devoted to a conference with Japanese 
 leaders of the Church of Christ in eastern Japan, and another 
 day in Osaka to a conference with Japanese leaders of western 
 Japan. I secured valuable information on many questions at 
 these conferences. Our fifteen days in Japan ended at Shim- 
 onoseki, where we took the steamer across the Korea Strait and 
 arrived at Fusan, Korea, September 6th. 
 
 We spent twenty-five days in Korea, travelling the entire 
 length of the country from Eusan to Wi-ju, and visiting all the 
 stations of the ^fission except Kang Kai, which is so far from 
 the railway that nearly a month would have been required for a 
 visit. The Korea Mission and the General Council representing 
 the four Presbyterian bodies operating in Korea were as- 
 sembled at Pyeng Yang, and several days were spent in confer- 
 ences with these important bodies. Conferences were also held 
 with the missionaries of the various stations, as we visited them 
 after the adjournment of the ^Mission meeting, and at each place 
 we also met the Korean Christians and their leaders. 
 
 October ist, we arrived at An-tung on the Yalu River, and 
 took the light, narrow gauge railway, built by the Japanese dur- 
 ing the Russia-Japan War, to Mukden. This journey of 188 
 miles occupied two days, as the road was poorly and hastily 
 constructed during the war and the trains make only about 
 seven or eight miles an hour and stop for the night at a half- 
 way station. In spite of the discomforts of the trip, the jour- 
 
4 
 
 ney was an interesting one, not only because of its scenic beau- 
 ties, but because the line follows for a considerable part of the 
 way the route of Russian retreat and Japanese advance. A 
 brief visit to the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Stations at Mukden, 
 the ancient capital of Manchuria, was followed by visits to our 
 recently established stations at Dalny, now known as Dairen, 
 and Port Arthur, where we conferred with the missionaries re- 
 garding the problems of our mission work and opportunity 
 among the Japanese in lower Manchuria. 
 
 We then travelled by railway via New Chwang to Peking, 
 where conferences were held with the North China IMission 
 and with representative leaders of the Chinese Churches. Then 
 we visited the other two stations of our North China ^Mission, 
 Paoting-fu and Shunte-fu, proceeding south by rail to Hankow, 
 where we were most hospitably received by the missionaries of 
 that great center of population and influence. Hankow is the 
 heart of middle China and my regret that we have no station 
 there is mitigated by the knowledge that the cause of Christ is 
 ably represented by a splendid body of missionaries of severai 
 other Societies, British and American. 
 
 A delightful ride of a day and two nights down the Yang- 
 tsze River in a comfortable steamer brought us to Nanking. 
 The new and well equipped railway from Nanking to Shanghai 
 runs via Soochow, so that after our visit to the excellent mis- 
 sion work in the former capital and now vice-regal city, we 
 were able to reach Soochow in five and a half hours. When 
 we resumed our journey, two and a quarter hours brought us to 
 Shanghai, where eight days were spent, chiefly in conferences 
 with the large number of missionaries and Chinese ministers 
 and elders. The Central China Mission was, of course, present 
 in force, and there were also delegates from the Kiang-an, 
 Hunan, Hainan and South China Missions, making this confer- 
 ence a broadly representative one. The conference with the 
 Chinese leaders was also largely attended. 
 
 From Shanghai we proceeded by steamer to Tsing-tau, a 
 stonny trip lengthening the usual voyage of thirty-two hours 
 to forty-six. Two weeks were spent in the great Province of 
 Shantung, half of this time being devoted to conferences with 
 the East and West Shantung Missions and the Chinese leaders 
 assembled at WTi-hsien, our largest station in China and the 
 seat of the Arts College of the Shantung Christian University. 
 Then we visited the union Theological College and Normal 
 School of the Shantung Christian University at the English 
 Baptist Station of Tsing-chou-fu. After this we went on to 
 Tsinan-fu, the capital of this populous and influential Province, 
 where the joint work of Presbyterians and English Baptists pre- 
 
5 
 
 sents features of extraordinary interest. It seemed strange to 
 return from Tsinan-fu to Tsing-tau in one day in a comfortable 
 railway car and to eat an excellent beefsteak dinner cook- 
 ed on the train and served in our compartment, when only eight 
 years before, I had plodded for ten days in a mule-litter to 
 cover the same distance. 
 
 Tsing-tau has become one of the handsomest modern cities 
 in the Far East, and our station is developing a good work. 
 Twenty hours by steamer should have landed us at Chefoo, but 
 one of the sudden gales, for which these seas are notorious, 
 sprung up. Our steamer anchored a mile out in the open road- 
 stead, and we were lowered by ropes into the small, flat-bottom- 
 ed sculling boats called sampans, which rose and fell fifteen to 
 twenty feet and pitched and rolled and slammed against one an- 
 other and the steamer's side in a most interesting way. How- 
 ever, we finally got ashore without mishap, and were amazed 
 at the growth of the city since our former visit. 
 
 From Chefoo, twent}'-three hours over a smooth sea brought 
 us to the famous, or infamous, Taku Bar, where we lay twelve 
 hours lightering our load and waiting for high tide, so that it 
 was one o’clock the next day when we reached Tien-tsin. Train 
 connections enabled us to spend another day with our mission- 
 aries in Peking before starting for home. Leaving the capital 
 Monday at 7 :20 P. M., and changing cars at Mukden, Chang- 
 chun and Harbin in Manchuria and at Irkutsk in Siberia, we 
 arrived in Moscow the second Friday morning. The journey 
 through Siberia, Russia and Germany, while extremely inter- 
 esting to us and abounding in impressions of which I may write 
 separately, was uneventful from the view-point of this report, 
 and we reached New York December 21st, after an absence of 
 five months lacking six days. 
 
 The fact that such a trip around the world, with fifteen days 
 in Japan, twenty-five in Korea and fifty-six in China, was pos- 
 sible within the limits of a five months' absence from Xew 
 York is a striking illustration of modern facilities lor travel ; 
 and it appears almost startling when we remember that mission- 
 aries in China who are now living, like the Rev. Dr. Hunter 
 Corbett, were a longer time in reaching their fields a generation 
 ago than we spent on our entire journey. Their haidships in 
 wretchedly uncomfortable sailing vessels were great, but ours 
 were not worth mentioning. The most trying experience of the 
 entire world circuit was caused by the sultry Julv heat in trav- 
 elling from Xew York to San Francisco. The strain of the trip 
 was due to the conferences, addresses and other work which I 
 had to do, rather than to anything incident to the tour itself. \Ve 
 returned with abundant reason for- gratitude to God who 
 
6 
 
 watched over us on our journeyings, so that we suffered neither 
 illness nor accident. We only regret that the necessary limits 
 of the tour made it impracticable to visit again the other Mis- 
 sions in Asia which were included in our longer tour in 1901 
 and 1902. 
 
 SCOPE AND METHOD OF INQUIRY. 
 
 The modern foreign missionary enterprise is highly com- 
 plex. It includes not only the immediate proclamation of the 
 Gospel, but all the varied forms of work which are involved 
 in the establishment and development of a Christian Church 
 and the practical outworkings of the Gospel in human society. 
 It is trite to say that our work is conducted along four lines, 
 evangelistic, educational, medical and literary ; but each of these 
 represents many kinds of effort and institutions of different 
 kinds. Moreover, the foreign missionary enterprise is affected 
 by the political, social and intellectual changes which are taking 
 place in the Far East and it is in turn influencing those changes. 
 Indeed, this enterprise has been one of the potent factors in 
 creating the extraordinary situation which exists today. No 
 one can understand modern Missions without understanding, 
 to some extent at least, the peoples among whom missionary 
 work is conducted — their traditions, social customs, religious 
 beliefs, the attitude of officials, the new forces which are oper- 
 ating upon them, and the wide variety of problems and rela- 
 tions which are involved. An undertaking which proposes to 
 reconstruct the character of enormous and alien populations, 
 and which involves the transformation of society and a new di- 
 rection of human life inevitably raises problems more profound 
 and complicated than any other known to man. 
 
 Accordingly, I sought information not only from mission- 
 aries of our own and other Boards, but from native Christians, 
 consuls, business men, officials, educators, and in general from 
 anyone and everyone whom I could meet. These interviews 
 were with men of all classes and conditions, from Prince Ito of 
 Japan, and my long interview with him in Tokyo was probably 
 one of the last interviews he had with a foreigner before his la- 
 mented assassination, down through officials of various grades 
 — governors, commissioners, army officers, teachers, residents, 
 to common peasants. 
 
 The following considerations were emphasized at all of the 
 conferences : 
 
 First. That I came not as a teacher but as a student. I ad- 
 mitted that I had some opinions on assorted subjects; but that 
 my object in visiting Asia was not to promulgate them, but 
 
7 
 
 rather to ascertain the opinions of those who are on the field, 
 mindful of Bacon’s aphorism : “He that questioneth much shall 
 learn much.” 
 
 Second. That all the policies and methods of the Board are 
 subject to change, if conditions render change advisable. The 
 work is not conducted in the interest of IManual regulations, 
 but Manual regulations are in the interests of the work. When 
 the Board makes a ruling, it is because the information before 
 it at the time leads it to believe that a certain decision is the wis- 
 est one ; but if later information shows that a different course is 
 advisable, the Board will unhesitatingly modify or reverse its 
 former action. 
 
 Third. That I desired discussion of the large and permanent 
 aspects of the work as distinguished from the small and tem- 
 porary ones. Particular questions of detail could be handled by 
 correspondence, but questions of policy needed careful and 
 united study. I urged that we face the basal questions of pol- 
 icies, methods and conditions, frankly note defects and failures 
 both in the Board and in the IMissions, and consider what im- 
 provements might be made. I ^yished to confer also about the 
 anxious problems resulting from the growing Asiatic spirit of 
 self-consciousness and independence and the vast intellectual, 
 social, commercial and political changes which are so swiftly 
 taking place. This is a period of transition. What does it in- 
 volve? Are we meeting it wisely? What should the mission- 
 aries do? What should the Board and the Home Church do? 
 Surely Christ’s question : “Can ye not discern the signs of the 
 time ?” was never more pertinent and peremptory. 
 
 While there were some questions which should be discussed 
 by ourselves as Presbyterians, there were others, including 
 some of the larger ones, which are common to the work of all 
 evangelical bodies. I coveted the broader outlook and the 
 ampler wisdom which would be afforded by a general assem- 
 blage of men and women of different churches and national- 
 ities. I therefore asked for union conferences to which mis- 
 sionaries of all communions might be invited. Questions of 
 comity and co-operation are assuming larger proportions both 
 at home and abroad. Foreign missionary workers are leading 
 in the effort to bring the people of God together, and I was 
 eager to get into closer touch with movements which command 
 my strong sympathies and hearty support. 
 
 IMany missionaries suggested that I give them some idea in 
 advance of the topics which I desired to have discussed in the 
 conferences. I recognized the reasonableness of this sugges- 
 tion and drew up the following rough outline of questions upon 
 which I sought opinions ; 
 
8 
 
 I. THE NATIVE CHURCH. 
 
 1. What is your opinion as to the fitness of the Native 
 Church for a larger measure of self-government? 
 
 2. What steps ought to be taken to develop more fully the 
 qualities which are essential to proper self-government? 
 
 3. Do our present methods give sufficient scope to the Na- 
 tive Church ? 
 
 4. Are our present methods' likely to attract a high class of 
 natives to enter the ministry? 
 
 5. Is your aim to establish a self-supporting, self-propagat- 
 ing and self-governing Native Church really dominating vour 
 policy and methods ? 
 
 6. Are you working harmoniously with the Native Church? 
 
 7. To what extent are you teaching the Native Church the 
 distinctive tenets of Presbyterianism as distinguished from 
 those tenets which are the common belief of evangelical Chris- 
 tians? 
 
 8. Are our Western creeds and forms of government the 
 best for the Native Church? 
 
 9. What are the essential elements of a creed and policy 
 which the Native Church shows signs of emphasizing? 
 
 10. Should the direct giving of the Gospel to the unevan- 
 gelized be more largely done by native Christians so that mis- 
 sionaries shall more and more become organizers and trainers 
 of native evangelists and other leaders? 
 
 11. Should missionaries be members of the Native Church 
 and its judicatories and should native leaders be members of the 
 Mission ? 
 
 II. THE MISSION. 
 
 1. Is the present -Mission organization sufficiently effective? 
 
 2. How is the plan of an Executive Committee working and' 
 is any development of the plan advisable? 
 
 3. Is it desirable to set apart an experienced member of the 
 Mission as Chairman of the Mission Executive Committee, free 
 him from local station work and charge him with such general 
 duties for the whole mission as may be assigned him. 
 
 4. M'here do you most need more money? 
 
 (a) Salaries, (b) children’s allowances, (c) home 
 allowances, (d) property, (e) reinforcements, (f) 
 current work. 
 
 5. Would you prefer a system of graded salaries for mis- 
 sionaries, i. e., a minimum salary for the first term, a larger 
 salary for the second term, and a maximum salary for the third 
 and subseciuent terms? 
 
9 
 
 6. Has the Mission any definite policy and method for se- 
 curing a more adequate supply of native ministers, evangelists 
 and teachers? Are our schools sufficiently emphasizing this 
 need, and are they succeeding? 
 
 7. What is your policy regarding the employment of non- 
 Christian teachers in mission schools ? How many such teach- 
 ers are you employing ? 
 
 8. What specific rules have you regarding the relation of 
 missionaries to eonsular and diplomatic officials and interfer- 
 ence of missionaries in native courts in behalf of native Chris- 
 tians ? 
 
 9. What specific regulations have you regarding : 
 
 (a) Fees in hospitals and dispensaries? 
 
 ,(b) Tuition or other fees in schools? 
 
 (c) Grants in aid to native congregations? 
 
 10. Can you improve your annual and statistical reports and 
 quarterly letters so that they will be more helpful to the Board 
 in increasing the interest of the home Church ? 
 
 11. How can the Missions co-operate more effectively with 
 the increasing numbers of ministers and laymen who are visit- 
 ing the foreign field ? 
 
 III. THE BO.MtD. 
 
 1. Is the present policy too paternal? 
 
 2. What classes of questions should the Mission settle for 
 themselves whieh they now refer to the Board ? 
 
 3. Shall the Board rescind the first section of Paragraph 
 49 of the Manual, reduce the regular appropriations at the be- 
 ginning of the fiscal year to a sum equal to estimated undesig- 
 nated gifts, and then appropriate special object gifts as extras 
 as the Board receives them ? 
 
 4. Should the Board, if able to do so, send out large rein- 
 forcements, or should it send a comparatively small number of 
 picked men and women? 
 
 5. Should reinforcements be sent when the money is not in 
 sight for houses and for the advanced work which the new mis- 
 sionaries would represent? 
 
 6. What have you to suggest to the Board regarding the 
 training of candidates for missionary appointment and the con- 
 ferences which the Board holds with newly appointed mission- 
 aries? 
 
 7. What are the defects in the Board’s policy and methods, 
 apart from those involved in preceding questions, and what im- 
 provements do you suggest? 
 
10 
 
 » 
 
 IV. UNION AND COMITY. 
 
 1. What plans for closer federation are in progress? 
 
 2. How can comity and co-operation be more effectively 
 promoted so that duplication may be avoided ^nd men and 
 money used to the best advantage? 
 
 3. How is union in educational, medical and literary work 
 progressing? 
 
 4. Should there be union schools for the education of the 
 children of missionaries, and if so, where, how conducted, and 
 how supported? 
 
 5. Should hostels for women students be established at the 
 large educational centres? 
 
 V. OTHER QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. How is your work being affected by the rapidly chang- 
 ing social, political, commercial and intellectual conditions in 
 Asia and the growing spirit of Asiatic independence and self- 
 consciousness ? 
 
 2. What is the solution of the problem of the increased cost 
 of living both at home and abroad ? 
 
 3. Can the medical work be more largely supported locally, 
 not only by the fees of patients but by contributions of people 
 of the city in which the work is situated, so as to liberate pres- 
 ent appropriations for other work? 
 
 4. Should larger effort be made to endow our institutions 
 for higher education, so as to liberate the appropriations now 
 made for them for other work and at the same time give these 
 institutions a more adequate and stable support? 
 
 5. \\’hat suggestions have you to make as to the service 
 which the \\'orld ^Missionary Conference at Edinburgh can ren- 
 der the work on the field ? 
 
 6. Do you desire any changes in the furlough and term of 
 service regulations? 
 
 7. What is the duty of the missionary enterprise regarding 
 the application of the Gospel of Christ to social conditions? 
 
 8. Should such application be made by the Church itself as 
 an integral part of its duty and work, or should it be made by 
 societies separately organized? 
 
 9. How far can the undenominational and interdenomina- 
 tional agencies of Europe and America be helpful by organiz- 
 ing auxiliaries in Asia? 
 
 10. Are the spiritual character and objects of mission work 
 kept sufficiently in mind? 
 
 11. Do the spirit of prayer, of brotherly love and of humble 
 and trustful reliance upon God, and the presence and guidance 
 of Christ sufficiently characterize our work? 
 
II 
 
 12. What is there that hinders a larger manifestation of the 
 power of God in our work? 
 
 We did not attempt to cover every one of these questions in 
 each conference. Selections were made, usually by a commit- 
 tee of missionaries who often added questions on special topics 
 which they wished to have discussed. Experienced mission- 
 aries were chosen to preside over the conferences with mission- 
 aries, and native Christian leaders to preside over the confer- 
 ences with the native ministers and elders. These conferences, 
 carefully planned and wisely conducted by the devoted workers 
 on the field, pervaded by the spirit of humble reliance upon God, 
 and marked by a willingness to put aside pride of position and 
 prejudice of will and to receive what God might reveal to us, 
 did much to clarify our ideas, to fix more firmly in cur minds 
 the great aims which we are seeking to attain, and to help to 
 improve the methods by which we seek them. It is of the ut- 
 most importance that the Board, the Missions and the Native 
 Church should understand one another and work to a common 
 end, and how can we do this unless we take counsel together, 
 have the mind of Christ, and are obedient to His leadership? 
 
 The opportunity which these conferences afforded the mis- 
 sionaries and the native pastors and elders for a free expression 
 of their views was very valuable to me. The information that I 
 gathered from the discussion of these and other questions was 
 abundant ; far more abundant, indeed, than it will be possible 
 for me to indicate within the limits of this report. Adequate' 
 treatment of some of the subjects would require lengthy mono- 
 graphs. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that this Report is intended for 
 the Board and the Missions, and not for the general public. It 
 would be impracticable to include here all the material that 
 I gathered, or to discuss all the questions which the Far East 
 presents today. Accounts of mission work are presented with 
 fullness of detail in other publications which are easily access- 
 ible. Much that I have to say on many phases of the Far East- 
 ern situation in its political, intellectual, economic and religious 
 aspects, I hope to put in a revised and enlarged edition of my 
 book on China (“New Forces in Old China”) and in a new 
 volume which I am preparing on Korea and Japan. The pres- 
 ent Report therefore deals chiefly and in rather a tentative way 
 with problems and phases of the situation which more immedi- 
 ately affect our missionary work and relationships, and the ab- 
 sence of fuller discussions of certain interesting and important 
 topics should not lead the reader to feel that they have been 
 overlooked. Nor should any conclusions on the subjects which 
 I do discuss be understood as committing either the Board or 
 
12 
 
 the Missions. My report is to them, and it states my own in- 
 terpretation of what I saw and heard and my judgment there- 
 on. The Board will not see it until it is in print. 
 
 I may only add that it appears wise to omit from this printed 
 report many questions of detail which relate to special needs 
 and difficulties in particular stations. Much time was necessar- 
 ily devoted to questions of this sort ; but some of them are con- 
 fidential in character, and as far as they require consideration 
 by the Board they may be more wisely handled separately in 
 connection with the regular meetings of the Board. I have al- 
 ready made some recommendations regarding property and 
 reinforcements in various places, and intend to make others 
 from time to time. 
 
 FUNDAMENTAL DISTINCTIONS. 
 
 The dominant problems of Japan, Korea and China differ 
 widely. There are, of course, many things in common in these 
 lands. Missionaries of the same ability and devotion are preach- 
 ing the Gospel, conducting schools and hospitals, planting 
 churches, training native workers, and faithfully discharging 
 the other duties incident to foreign missionary work. There 
 are some respects, too, in which the general transformation that 
 is taking place in the Far East raises questions of common char- 
 acter which affect all our stations. Nevertheless, there are cer- 
 tain psychological distinctions which must be borne in mind if 
 the local problems of these three countries are to be rightly 
 understood. 
 
 The key idea of Japan is solidarity. The individual is noth- 
 ing; the nation is everything. The Japanese people move as a 
 unit in politics, in war, in commerce and in the activities of 
 their daity lives. Baron Kikuchi, President of the Imperial 
 University at Kyoto, in a recent address emphasized the unity 
 of the nation through a traditional succession of twenty-five 
 unbroken centuries of a single dynasty in relation to a people 
 who regard it with profound veneration. No one can under- 
 stand the Japanese who does not perceive this remarkable one- 
 ness. No one can really influence them who fails to recognize 
 this historic relation of modern Japan to ancestral Japan, the 
 relation of the ancestors of the people to the ancestors of the 
 Imperial House. It is not simply the relation of present Japan 
 to its ancestors, but of many centuries of Japanese to many 
 centuries of Imperial Rulers. It is the solidarity of a nation 
 persisting through the ages, a solemn, mystical and yet tremen- 
 dously real and vital fact. What we do in Japan we must do 
 without cutting the roots of this relationship to the mighty past. 
 The submergence of the individual in the mass, the knitting of 
 
13 
 
 the entire body of the people into one communalistic system, has 
 no parallel in history unless it be among the ancient Peruvians. 
 This may be partly due to the fact that feudalism continued in 
 Japan until a later period than in any other nation, having been 
 abolished indeed only a few decades ago. But while feudalism 
 has disappeared as a political system, it has really been merged 
 into the larger and more absolute feudalism of the State, one 
 vast system having taken the place of several smaller ones. 
 
 The key idea of China is just the opposite of this ; it is indi- 
 vidualism. There is a conspicuous absence of centralization. 
 The Emperor is traditionally venerated as the Son of Heaven; 
 but the people regard him as an alien Manchu and they chafe 
 under his rule. The nation is honey-combed with anti-dynastic 
 societies which are continually plotting the overthrow of the 
 Manchus and the re-establishment of a Chinese dynasty. This 
 individualism extends to local affairs. It is a general rule that 
 Chinese officials shall not hold office in their home cities and 
 that they shall be shifted every few years. The result is that 
 the average official is a stranger to the people whom he rules. 
 They care nothing for him, knowing that his stay will be brief, 
 that he will get all he can out of them, and then go somewhere 
 else. Thus there is none of that sense of national unity which 
 is so evident in Japan. The people of the South know little and 
 care less about the people of the North. The inhabitants of 
 Szechuan are almost as far removed in sympathy from those of 
 Fuh-kien as Russians from British. If a war breaks out, the 
 nation as a whole is indifferent ; it is simply a matter for the 
 Peking officials and the governors of the Provinces attacked. 
 Probably many of the Chinese people never knew that there 
 was a war between China and Japan in 1894, and those who did 
 know cared little more than if the war had been between Ger- 
 many and Japan. If a foreign Power were to obtain possession 
 of a Japanese port, it would not be able to hire a coolie in all 
 Japan to fortify it ; but when the Germans seized Kiao-chou 
 Bay, although the Province of Shantung was thrown into great 
 alarm, the German Admiral had no difficulty in employing 
 thousands of Chinese to make the German position impregnable 
 against the Chinese. In like manner the Russians, when they 
 took Port Arthur under an agreement which they extorted from 
 the Chinese, found it easy to employ sixty thousand coolies to 
 construct their defenses, while the foreign legations in Peking 
 fortified themselves by the aid of Chinese laborers within rifle 
 shot of the Imperial Palace. China is a loose aggregation of 
 units rather than a solidified nation. The Governors and Vice- 
 roys are virtually independent rulers who have their own mints, 
 their own military force, and who do about as they please as 
 
14 
 
 long as they send tribute to Peking. The Japanese Government 
 directs its individual subjects and supports them in their enter- 
 prises ; but the Government of China is less particular in this re- 
 spect. It is every man for himself. Perhaps this is due in part 
 to the density of population which makes the struggle for exist- 
 ence fiercer than anywhere else and develops a callous selfish- 
 ness as well as a spirit- of self-reliance. This individualism is 
 one of the reasons why the present transformation in China is 
 beset by such uncertainties. The new influences which are at 
 work are affecting the essential genius of Chinese life. They 
 are revolutionizing fundamental thoughts and relationships. 
 Railways and telegraphs are making possible intercommunica- 
 tion and a knowledge of other parts of the Empire and are tend- 
 ing to develop a consciousness of unity which have never exist- 
 ed before. What the immediate result will be it is difficult to 
 forecast. 
 
 The individualism of the Chinese, however, affords more 
 hope for the ultimate outcome than in Japan. The reform now 
 in progress in China is essentially a movement of the people. 
 The Government is not leading it, is indeed far behind. A 
 popular movement on so vast a scale will probably prove as 
 irresistible as the similar movement was in Europe. It will 
 mean that the new order, when once established, will be firmly 
 based on the consent of the nation. In Japan, on the other 
 hand, the Government is leading the reform, and the masses of 
 the people are far in the rear. History shows that such 
 a situation is not altogether reassuring. It is a great thing for 
 new ideas to have the prestige of official leadership ; but a 
 great population of common people has an inertia which is hard 
 to move, while the death of an Emperor or changes in the 
 Cabinet might at any time result in an alteration of policy. The 
 attitude of the present Government and the large number of 
 men in the upper classes who have caught the spirit of the mod- 
 ern world encourage the hope that no reaction will set in ; but 
 if it ever should come, the solidarity of the nation will make it 
 a serious matter. 
 
 The key idea of Korea is not so easily stated in one word. 
 We might call it subjectivity. The people are less virile, less 
 ambitious, less independent in spirit. They revere their Em- 
 peror in a general sort of way, but with little of that passionate 
 devotion which characterizes the Japanese. Any Japanese will 
 gladly give his life for his Emperor. Indeed he is eager to do 
 so, and this is one reason why Japan is such a formidable mili- 
 tary power. The entire nation fights, and fights to the death 
 for the Emperor whom it loves and worships. Such a senti- 
 ment is utterly foreign to the Chinese mind. The Korean occu- 
 
15 
 
 pies rather a middle position in this respect. Some Korean offi- 
 cials committed suicide when their Emperor was humiliated ; 
 but that spirit does not characterize the people as a whole. Even 
 in the most patriotic Korean, the feeling is rather one of 
 wounded national pride because a foreigner rules, than of spe- 
 cial attachment to the Emperor. The Korean has so long been 
 oppressed, he feels so helpless between the mighty nations about 
 him, that he has settled into almost apathetic despair. The 
 decisive methods of the Japanese are doing much to stir the 
 Koreans out of this apathy, but it still prevails to a marked de- 
 gree. The Korean temperament, too, is more emotional than 
 that of the Japanese or Chinese. It is comparatively easy to 
 reach his heart and to arouse his S3'mpathies. This is one rea- 
 son why Christianity has made more rapid progress in Korea 
 than in either China or Japan. There is little of the virile am- 
 bition of the Japanese, little of the self-satisfied superiority of 
 the Chinese. The influences that hold men back from the Gos- 
 pel are far less strong in Korea than in China or Japan. It 
 might reasonably be expected therefore that a given expenditure 
 of money and a given force of missionaries would achieve re- 
 sults more quickly in Korea than among the neighboring na- 
 tions. There are of course other and more important reasons 
 for evangelistic success in Korea ; but this temperamental con- 
 dition is a differentiating factor. 
 
 National ambitions also differ. The desire of the Japanese 
 is to be the leading Power in the Far East; the desire of the 
 Chinese is to be let alone; the desire of the Koreans just now 
 is for independence. It is pathetic to see them flock to the Sal- 
 vation Army officers who have recently gone to Korea. They 
 feel, in a half childish way, that the drums and fifes and mili- 
 tary imagery mean something which will help them against the 
 common enemy. 
 
 I am aware of the limitations of the distinctions which have 
 been indicated. It would be easy to specify exceptions in each 
 country, but I am now considering the peoples as a whole, and 
 these fundamental distinctions run deep and affect many prob- 
 lems of mission work. 
 
 JAPAN. 
 
 The Problem of Missionary Relationship to an Imperial 
 Nation and a Self-Governing Native Church. 
 
 Japan is in some respects one of the most attractive countries 
 in the world. One who has visited it can never forget the charm 
 of its hospitality, the neatness of the homes and villages, and the 
 courageous energy with which the people are grappling with 
 their new and difficult problems. Evidences of the new life 
 
 B 
 
i6 
 
 which is stirring the nation are apparent on every hand. Tokyo, 
 the intellectual and political centre of the nation, has become 
 one of the influential cities of the world. Osaka is the centre 
 of the new industrial Japan and there the commercial and 
 manufacturing enterprises of the country may be .‘^een on a 
 large scale. The occasional traveler too often neglects this city, 
 which is one of the most distinctive cities of modern Japan. 
 Kyoto continues to be the artistic and Buddhistic heart of 
 Japan. One does not expect to see much change in the .sacred 
 Shinto city of Yamada, or the shrines and temples of scenic and 
 historic Nikko: but even there the traveler finds indications of 
 progress. The new highway, three miles in length, connecting 
 the two Shinto shrines at Yamada, is not surpassed bv any road 
 in Europe. Everywhere the traveler is charmed by the beauty 
 of the scenery. There is no more attractive country in the 
 world than this land of mountains and valleys, of streams and 
 gardens. A journey through Japan is a succession of delights 
 to the lover of nature, and even the humid heat of a Japanese 
 August can be uncomplainingly borne when one can look upon 
 scenes worth going far to see. 
 
 The contrast between the Japan of today and the Japan 
 which I found nine years ago is not so immediately apparent 
 as one might imagine. \’isibly there is comparatively little 
 change. The charm of Japanese scenery is still unmarred, save 
 in a few places, by the crass materialism which in America lines 
 our raihvays with huge signs advertising cathartics, bile beans, 
 soothing syrup, and pink pills for pale people. Japanese archi- 
 tecture is the same, save that here and there a new public build- 
 ing is of foreign style. Increasing numbers of educated men 
 wear European dress ; but tbe native garments still predominate 
 on the streets. The railway service is excellent; but the jin- 
 rickisha still awaits the traveler at every station, and the bare- 
 legged runner swiftly draws him over the smooth streets and 
 between the long rows of narrow shops with their picturesque 
 signs. The visitor can easily find external signs of changing 
 conditions if he looks for them; and in some instances they ob- 
 trude themselves. Nevertheless. Japan, to the eye, is still Japan 
 — the most beautiful land of northern Asia. 
 
 But as one moves among the people, he becomes conscious 
 of subtler changes. Nine years ago, I found a militant Japan. 
 The people had not recovered from their rage and chagrin over 
 Russia’s seizure of Port Arthur and Manchuria, thus depriving 
 them of the hard-won fruits of the China-Japan War of 1894. 
 The nation was thinking of revenge. It realized too that Rus- 
 sian aggressions must result in war. It was therefoie drilling 
 soldiers, building warships and accumulating military stores. 
 
17 
 
 The Japan of to-day is not less militant than the Japan of 
 former years. It nnderstands perfectly that the Russians will 
 not permanently acquiesce in the stinging defeat which was in- 
 flicted upon them. The Japanese know that the Koreans hate 
 them and that the Chinese are jealous of them. They know, 
 too, that many foreigners throughout the Far East are suspici- 
 ous of them. They discern, moreover, that the position which 
 they have now won in the world in general and in the Far East 
 in particular is one which can be held only by military force. 
 The Japanese, therefore, arc maintaining their army and navy 
 at a high stage of efficiency. They do not need as lar^e a stand- 
 ing army a.s some other nations, for in Japan practically every 
 able-bodied man receives military training, and after his return 
 to civil life, is amenable to his country’s call at any time. One 
 hears many stories to the effect that enormous stores of muni- 
 tions of war are being accumulated. It is difficult to tell how 
 far this is true ; but no one doubts that the Japanese are keeping 
 themselves in first-class military condition, just as the British, 
 the Germans and the French arc keeping themselves, and as a 
 strong party wishes to keep the United States. All this is na- 
 tural as conditions now are. 
 
 But Japan, while not less military, is more commeicial than 
 formerly. It understands that war is costly business. It spent 
 $585,000,000 in the Russia-Japan V\'ar, and the nation is stag- 
 gering under the enormous debt of $1,125,153,411, or $21.50 
 per capita. People have to pay from twenty to thirt}' per cent, 
 of their incomes for taxes and a Tokyo paper (the Kokumin 
 Shimfnnf says that “the heavy debts of Japan are more than 
 the nation can endure.” Japan realizes that its material re- 
 sources are greatly inferior to those of most other first-class 
 powers, and that the position and ambitions of the nation re- 
 quire wealth as well as an army and navy. 
 
 The Japanese cannot get this wealth by agriculture ; for not 
 only is Japan a comparatively small country territorially, but 
 only about twelve per cent, of its area is easily susceptible of 
 cultivation. It is a land of hills and mountains. The valleys are 
 usually rich, but they are not extensive, and there are no vast 
 stretches of rich prairie soil like those in i\Ianchuria and the 
 western part of the United States. 
 
 So the Japanese have entered upon a period of commercial 
 and industrial development. They have studied to good effect 
 the example of England and are trying to make themselves a 
 manufacturing people. Trade is being fostered on a large scale. 
 Factories, the best modern machinery, extensive shipping inter- 
 ests, and great business enterprises testify to the zeal with 
 which the Japanese are entering the sphere of commercial activ- 
 
i8 
 
 ity. When one considers the contempt with which trade was re- 
 garded by feudal Japan only a few decades ago, he is amazed 
 by the skill and persistence with which the new Japan is striv- 
 ing for the mastery in the markets of the world. It is not easy 
 for the white races to compete with them. The Japanese al- 
 ready lead in the trade of the Pacific Ocean, and dominate that 
 of Korea and INIanchuria. Thej- are competing with foreign 
 and Chinese steamship lines on the Yang-tsze River to Hankow, 
 planting their colonies in every port city of the Far East, and 
 running their steamships to America, India and Australia. 
 
 The advantages of Japan in this commercial rivalr}- are short 
 haul, cheap labor, control of transportation lines both by land 
 and sea, and government subsidies. Several of the great enter- 
 prises of modern Japan are controlled either directly or indi- 
 rectly by the Government. In some instances, the Government 
 owns them outright ; in other instances high officials and mem- 
 bers of the Imperial family are heavy stockholders. The Finan- 
 cial and Economic Annual issued by the Government states that 
 in 1905, out of a total of 4.78,^ miles, the State owned and oper- 
 ated 1,531 miles of railway. By the railway nationalization law 
 and the railway purchase law. passed in IMarch, 1906, the Gov- 
 ernment acquired ownership and control of all the lines in the 
 country, with the exception of a few of relatively little import- 
 ance. Its holdings now represent about ninety per cent, of the 
 total mileage. Payment for the lines purchased is to be made 
 by public loan bonds aggregating nearly $250,000,000. The 
 Japanese people are moving as a unit in the furtherance of their 
 commercial ambitions. The business man does not have to fight 
 alone for foreign trade, as the American tradesman must. He 
 has the backing of the nation. Allied industries support him. 
 Shipping companies give him every possible advantage. He is, 
 to use an American term, a part of an immense “trust,” onl}^ the 
 trust is a government instead of a corporation. 
 
 I heard much criticism of Japanese commercial methods. 
 European and American business men spoke with great bitter- 
 ness of their unfairness. They alleged that Japane.se firms ob- 
 tain railway rebates ; that transportation lines are so managed 
 that Japanese firms have their freight promptly forwarded 
 while foreign firms are subject to ruinous delays: that foreign 
 labels and trade-marks are placed upon inferior goods, so that 
 it is difficult to sell a genuine brand to an .Asiatic, as the latter 
 believes that he can get the same brand from a Japanese at a 
 lower price. They also alleged that foreign traders in Manchuria 
 are compelled to pay full duties upon all goods, but that the 
 Japanese, through their absolute control of the only railway, 
 are able to evade the customs. It was said that of twelve mil- 
 
19 
 
 lion dollars’ worth of Japanese goods which went into Dairen 
 last year, only three million dollars' worth paid duty. For a 
 long time, Japanese goods were poured into Manchuria at An- 
 tung on the Yalu River. Then foreign Powers encouraged the 
 Chinese to place an inspector of the Imperial Chinese Customs 
 at An-tung. The Japanese could not oppose this, but they did 
 their best to have a Japanese inspector chosen. An American 
 in the Customs Service, however, was appointed. His e.xperi- 
 ence in endeavoring to enforce the laws against the Japanese 
 would make interesting reading, if it is ever published. 
 
 The rage and chagrin of European and American business 
 men in the Far East can better be imagined than described. A 
 disgusted foreigner declared to me that there is not a white man 
 in the Far East, excert those who are in the employ of the 
 Japanese, who are frien ly toward them, and that their domi- 
 nant characteristics are ‘V nceit and deceit.” He denied not 
 only the honesty but even the courage of the Japanese, insisting 
 that the capture of Port Arthur was not due to the bravery of 
 the assailants, but to the incompetence of the defenders. He 
 said that the Russian soldiers were as heroic as any in the 
 world : but that their officers were drunkards and debauchees, 
 and that the War Department, which should have sustained 
 them, was rotten with corruption. He stated that at the battle 
 of Liao Yang, both Russian and Japanese Generals gave the or- 
 der for retreat at about the same time, each feeling that the 
 battle was lost ; but that the Russian regiments received their 
 order first, and that as the Japanese saw them retreat, they 
 moved forward. He held that the anti-Japanese agitation in 
 the public schools of San Erancisco was secretly fomented and 
 made an international incident by the Japanese themselves, in 
 order to divert attention from what they were doing in Man- 
 churia ; and more to the same effect. 
 
 I have cited these opinions as they are illustrative of many 
 that I heard in the Far East. I need hardly say that I regard 
 them as unjust. Their very bitterness indicates the prejudice 
 which gave some of them birth and added exaggeration to 
 others. 
 
 Even if they are all true, the Japanese are simply doing what 
 it is notorious that some American corporations have been doing 
 for years. Rebates, adulteration, evasion of customs, short 
 weight, unfair crushing of competitors, and kindred methods, 
 are not so unfamiliar to Americans that they need lift hands of 
 holy horror when they hear about them in Asia. 
 
 The fact is that the white trader has had, until recently, his 
 own way in the Far East. He has cajoled and bullied and 
 
20 
 
 threatened and bribed the Asiatic to his heart's content and his 
 pocket’s enrichment. He has dominated the markets, charged 
 what prices he pleased, and reaped enormous profits. When he 
 has gotten into trouble with local authorities, he has called 
 upon his Government to help him out of the scrape. The story 
 of the dealing of western nations in Asia includes some of the 
 most disgraceful incidGits in history. 
 
 Now, for the first time, the white man finds himself face to 
 face with an Asiatic who can beat him at his own game. The 
 Japanese are commercially ambitious and want those rich mar- 
 kets for themselves. They are going after them and getting 
 them. It is rather late in the day for white men to go into par- 
 oxysms of grief and indignation over commercial methods 
 which they themselves have long practiced. 
 
 I do not mean to be understood as excusing such methods in 
 the Japanese or anyone else. 1 am simply calling attention to 
 the fact that the Japanese are a strong, alert, aggressive and 
 ambitious people, who have precisel}' those ambitions for su- 
 premacy which characterize white men. 
 
 The Japanese are developing almost as much of a colonizing 
 spirit as the Chinese. Like the latter, they are seeking distant 
 lands, and like them, too, they are succeeding in them. The pres- 
 sure of population in Japan has already been noted. The Em- 
 pire had 37,017,362 inhabitants in 1883; 39,607,254 in 1888; 41, 
 388,313 in 1893; 43.7^^.855 in 1898; 46,732,807 in 1903; 48, 
 649,583 in 1906; and it now has 50,370,000 exclusive of For- 
 mosa and Korea. The cost of living is rising. The limit of soil 
 productiveness has been reached and Japan has to import food 
 for her people. Last year she purchased abroad 4,296,418 pi- 
 culs of rice, chiefly from China, Siam and Burma, and 4,294,- 
 267 piculs of beans, the latter largely from Manchuria. She 
 bought fiour in the b'nited States to make bread for her troops 
 during the war, and her imports of this staple in the following 
 year cost her $1,819,166. It will readily be understood that pos- 
 session of h'ormosa, Korea and Lower IManchuria and a 
 strong navy mean the very life of the nation. 
 
 Japan’s new and rapidly enlarging foreign trade also involves 
 the residence in other lands of some of her subjects. I have 
 referred elsewhere in this report to the large Japanese popula- 
 tion in Korea, Manchuria and the ports of China. Ever}'one 
 knows about the large Japanese population in Formosa and the 
 Hawaiian Islands. The following figures regarding the Japan- 
 ese population in the United States have been furnished me by 
 the Japanese Consul General in New York: 
 
21 
 
 Under the Consulate General at New York; 
 
 (comprising the 17 States of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver- 
 mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island. New York, New Jersey, 
 (Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
 
 West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and 
 
 Florida; District of Columbia.) .3,469 
 
 Under the Consulate at Chicago ; 
 
 (comprising the 20 States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis- 
 consin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, North Dakota, 
 
 South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama, 
 Mississippi Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and In- 
 dian Territory.) 2,334 
 
 Lender the Consulate General at San Francisco : 
 
 (comprising the four States of California, (Colorado, Utah, 
 Nevada, and two territories of New Me.xico and Arizona) . . . 44,883 
 Under the Consulate at Portland : 
 
 (State of Oregon) 3,403 
 
 Under the Consulate at Seattle : 
 
 (comprising the States of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Wash- 
 ington and Alaska) 17,633 
 
 Total 71,712 
 
 A discussion of the problem of Japanese emigration to the 
 United States does not fall within the scope of this report. The 
 agitation in California and the national complications that en- 
 sued are well known. Lest we be misled by the newspaper re- 
 ports about the danger of having “great numbers of Japanese 
 men sitting besides little American girls” in the schools of San 
 Francisco, we may recall the results of inquiries by Mr. George 
 Kennan, as published in the “Outlook” of June, 1907. He 
 found that of 28,736 pupils in the public schools of San Fran- 
 cisco, only 93 were Japanese; that 28 of these were girls; that 
 34 of the boys were under fifteen }’ears of age; that of the 31 
 over fifteen years, only two were as old as twenty, and that the 
 average age of the rest was seventeen. All but six were in 
 grades with Americans of the same age. The number of “Jap- 
 anese men sitting beside little American girls” therefore con- 
 sisted of just six youths under twenty, and these were divided 
 among four schools — one in each of three schools and three in 
 the other. 
 
 MISSIONS IN JAPAN. 
 
 The story of Protestant Missions in Japan is replete with in- 
 terest. It is difficult to realize that it is only fifty years since 
 the first missionary arrived in Japan, and that the pioneer mis- 
 sionary of our own Church, James C. Hepburn, LL.D., is still 
 living. When he arrived in 1859, he was not permitted to 
 preach ; and the only opportunity that he could find to do any- 
 thing, except literary; work in his own study, was to teach Eng- 
 lish to a few boys whose fathers were desirous of having them 
 learn the leading language of western nations. 
 
22 
 
 Contrast with this liumble beginning, and the equally hum- 
 ble beginnings of other missionaries of that day, the following 
 facts stated by the Rev. Dr. Davis, of the American Board at 
 the Semi-Centennial Celebration of Protestant Missions in 
 Tokyo last October: “There are now nearly 600 organized 
 
 churches in Japan. Alore than one-fourth are self-supporting. 
 These churches have a membership exceeding 70,000. Last 
 year the membership increased ten per cent. There are nearly 
 500 ordained Japanese workers, 600 unordained male workers, 
 200 Bible women, and nearly 100,000 scholars are taught in 
 over 1,000 Sunday Schools. There are about 4,000 students in 
 Christian boarding schools, and there are too Christian kinder- 
 gartens and other day schools where 8,000 scholars are taught. 
 About 400 students are trained in the theological schools, and 
 250 women in women Bible schools. Several of the larger 
 churches have organized missionar}’ societies which are extend- 
 ing the work in Japan and in Formosa, Korea, Manchuria and 
 China. The Protestant Christians gave for Christian work last 
 year nearly 300,000 Yen ($150,000).” 
 
 At the same Conference, the Rev. Dr. Imbrie, of our East 
 Japan Mission, made an address in which he said: “Fifty years 
 ago, notice-boards were standing on the highways declaring 
 Christianity a forbidden religion ; today these same notice- 
 boards are seen standing in the Museum in Tokyo as things of 
 historical interest. Fifty years ago, religious liberty was a 
 phrase not yet minted in Japan; today it is written in the Con- 
 stitution of the nation. Less than fifty years ago, the Christian 
 Scriptures could be printed only in secret ; today Bible Societies 
 scatter them far and wide without let or hindrance. Fifty years 
 ago, there was not a Protestant Christian in Japan; today they 
 are to be found among the members of the Imperial Diet, the 
 judges in the courts, the professors in the Imperial Cniversity, 
 the editors of influential newspapers, the officers of the army 
 and navy. Even forty years ago, there was not an organized 
 Church in all Japan; today there are Synods and Conferences 
 and Associations with congregations dotting the Empire from 
 the Hokkaido to Formosa. Today, Christians from north and 
 south and east and west gather together in the capital to cele- 
 brate the Semi-Centennial of the planting of Protestant Chris- 
 tianity in Japan, and men of high position in the nation cordially 
 recognize the fact that Christianity in Japan has won for itself 
 a place worthy of recognition. It sometimes happens that the 
 participants in a scene do not themselves clearly perceive the 
 meaning of the scene; but in truth this assembl}' in itself is a 
 fact of profound significance.” 
 
23 
 
 Tlie Rev. Allen Klein Fanst, Ph.D., in his “Christianity as a 
 Social Factor in Modern Japan,” says that there are 1,031 for- 
 eign missionaries in Japan, 1,847 Japanese minister'^, evangel- 
 ists, missionaries and teachers engaged in work; 161,228 com- 
 municant members of churches, and a half million adherents. 
 That is, one in every one hundred of the population is an adher- 
 ent of Christianity, and one in every 320 is a baptized communi- 
 cant. These figures include the Greek and Roman Catholic 
 Missions. Protestants have 186 schools with I 7>^64 students; 
 Roman Catholics, 51 schools with 6,183 students, and Greek 
 Catholics 3 schools with 328 students. 
 
 The influence of Christianity is far greater than these figures 
 would indicate. In most countries, Christianity made its first 
 converts among the lower strata of society; but in Japan it has 
 won its greatest successes among the Samurai or knightly class. 
 This is the class which has furnished the majoiity of the army 
 and navy officers, journalists, legislators, educators, and leading 
 men generally of the new Japan. It can readily be understood, 
 therefore, that the Japanese churches have a strength out of 
 all proportion to their numbers. Fourteen members of the 
 Lower House are Christians. A former President of the House 
 was a Presbyterian elder. Christians may be found among in- 
 fluential men in almost every walk of life. The character of 
 their faith and the example which they set is indicated by the 
 following incident ; 
 
 An explosion occurred on a Japanese battleship. The son of 
 a Vice-Admiral was involved in the wreckage. While search 
 was being made for the bodies, many prominent Japanese called 
 upon the mother to offer their condolence. She told them that 
 she felt the need of the consolations of the Christian religion in 
 that time of anxiety, and she called upon her Japanese pastor 
 to read the Word of God and to offer prayer. He was a young 
 man who had been recently graduated from the Theological 
 Seminary. It was a difficult position for him ; but with tact and 
 fidelity he opened the New Testament and directed the hearts of 
 all to the throne of God, while Japanese in high official position, 
 some of whom had never heard such words before, bowed with 
 the anxious mother. Later, the body of the son was found. The 
 stricken parents announced that the public funeral would be fol- 
 lowed by a Christian service, and that any of their friends who 
 wished to come would be welcome. A distinguished company 
 assembled. The young Japanese again spoke, impressively 
 dwelling upon the Christian meaning of death and the comfort 
 which God gives to His children in the time of need. Such an 
 evidence of Christian faith, wholly independent of the presence 
 
24 
 
 or suggestion of any foreign missionary, is as encouraging as it 
 is touching. 
 
 The results of missionary work are usually judged by statis- 
 tical reports and inquiry is made as to the number of converts, 
 churches, schools, hospitals, etc. But there are notable evi- 
 dences of Christian influence of a kind which cannot be tabulat- 
 ed in statistical tables. It may be interesting to note a few inci- 
 dents illustrative of this : 
 
 Seven years ago, the pupils of the Government schools in a 
 certain city were not allowed to attend the Sunday School of 
 our Japanese church. Now they are not only free to attend, 
 but six of the teachers are Christians and four of them teach in 
 that Sunday School. Three successive principals of the Gov- 
 ernment Nonual School in the same city and several of the 
 teachers from the Normal and other public schools, although 
 not Christians, have been members of the Bible Class taught by 
 a missionary. 
 
 In another city, I obtained equally suggestive facts. There 
 are five classes in the Government School. In the first year 
 class, there were 47 believers in Shintoism ; in the second year 
 class 31 ; in the third year cla.ss ii ; in the fourth year class 8. 
 and in the fifth class, the graduating class, only three. These 
 statistics were published by the Japane.se Principal of the 
 school. They show how education is affecting Shintoism, even 
 in the Government Schools which are supposed to be most fav- 
 orable to it. The same report of the Principal showed that there 
 were seven students who were Christians, all of whom were in 
 the two highest classes. Of the five who stood at the head of 
 the graduating class, four were Christians. The Principal re- 
 ported that fourteen other students gave “no religion” in re- 
 sponse to his inquiries, but stated that they were "inquirers.” 
 The missionary asked the Principal what they were mquirers 
 of, and he replied: "Christianity.” 
 
 A hired sensationalist has declared in a recent magazine ar- 
 ticle that Christianity is exerting no appreciable influence in 
 Japan. He quotes an alleged statement to that effect from a 
 Japanese Lhiiversity President. I heard that President say 
 something about mission work in Japan which was not in har- 
 mony with what the magazine writer reports him to have said. 
 Even if he did make the statement which is attributed to him, 
 we may fairly set over against it not only the facts that have 
 been cited but the teaching of an eminent Professor of the Im- 
 perial L niversity at Tokyo that “at least a million Japanese out- 
 side the Christian Church have so come to understand Chris- 
 tianity that, though as yet unbaptized, they are framing their 
 lives according to the teachings of Christ.”* 
 
 • Reported by G. W. Rawlings in "The East and West," January, 1910. 
 
25 
 
 This thought is emphasized by Mr. Kanzo Uchimura, a 
 prominent Japanese Christian, though not connected with any 
 Church, who declared recently in a published article : 
 
 "VV'e must not forget that there are hundreds and thousands of 
 Christians in Japan who have had nothing to do with missionaries, and 
 who naturally, on that account, would take little or no interest in such 
 a conference. That there are Christians in this country who were not 
 converted by missionaries or their agents, and who without belonging 
 to any Church and knowing nothing about dogmas and sacraments and 
 ecclesiastical orders, are yet devout believers in God and Christ, is a 
 fact very little known, I think. But that such is a fact is incontro- 
 vertible. 
 
 “There is such a thing as ‘Christianity outside of Churches’, and it 
 is taking hold of the Japanese people far more strongly than the mis- 
 sionaries imagine. The western idea, that a religion must show itself 
 in an organized fornr before it can be recognized as a religion at all, is 
 alien to the Japanese mind. With us, religion is more a family affair 
 than national or social, as is shown by the strong hold that Confucianism 
 has had upon us, without showing itself in any organized societies and 
 movements. And I am confident that Christianity is now slowly but 
 steadily taking the place of Confucianism as the family religion of the 
 Japanese., Indeed, I can cite a number of cases where Christianity has 
 been adopted in this form by my countrymen. As far as I see, Christi- 
 anity is making progress in this country far ahead of missionaries. This 
 new form of Christianity adopted by my countrymen is neither Ortho- 
 dox nor Unitarian. We go to Jesus of N'azareth directly, and aim to 
 live and be made like Him. And I am confident that in making this 
 statement, I voice a sentiment of many both known and unknown to 
 me, who are disciples of Christ without having any connection with so 
 called Churches.” 
 
 If Still higher authority is desired, it may be found in the re- 
 markable address of Count Okuma, former Prime ^Minister of 
 Japan, at the Semi-Centennial of Protestant Christianity in 
 Tokyo as reported in the Japan Daily IMail, October 9, 1909, 
 as follows : 
 
 ‘‘He was glad of this opportunity to express a word of hearty con- 
 gratulation to those who were assembled to celebrate this semi-centen- 
 nial of Christian work in Japan. Though not himself a professed Chris- 
 tian, he confessed to have received great influence from that creed, as 
 have many others throughout Japan. This is a most important anniver- 
 sary for the country. It represents the work of one whole age in our 
 history, during which most marvelous changes have taken place. He 
 came in contact with, and received great impulses from, some of the 
 missionaries of that early period, particularly from Dr. Verbeck, who 
 was his teacher in English and history and the Bible, and whose great 
 and virtuous influence he can never forget. Though he could do little 
 direct evangelistic work then, all his work was Christian, and in every- 
 thing he did, his Christian-like spirit was revealed. The coming of 
 missionaries to Japan was the means of linking this country to th.e 
 .■\nglo-Saxon spirit to which the heart of Japan has always responded. 
 The success of Christian work in Japan can be measured by the extent 
 to which it has been able to infuse the .Anglo-Sa.xon and the Christian 
 spirit into the nation. It has been the means of putting into these fifty 
 years an advance equivalent to that of one hundred years. Japan has a 
 
26 
 
 history of 2,500 years, and 1,500 years ago had advanced in civilization 
 and domestic arts, but never took wide views nor entered upon wide 
 work. Only by the coming of the West in its missionary representatives, 
 and by the spread of the Gospel, did the nation enter upon world-wide 
 thoughts and world-wide work. This is a great result of the Christian 
 spirit. To be sure, Japan had her religions, and Buddhism prospered 
 greatly; but this prosperity was largely through political means, Xow 
 this creed has been practically rejected by the better classes, who, being 
 spiritually thirsty, have nothing to drink. 
 
 "While extending congratulations upon the advance made thus far, 
 he prayed for still greater effort and advance in the future and such 
 advance as should be manifest in lives of lofty virtue of the Verbeck 
 kind. To teach the Bible was all right, but to act it was better. Japan 
 is well advanced in scientilic knowledge, but head and heart are not yet 
 on a level. Profession and conduct ought to go together. Only thus 
 can evangelistic work be counted a success." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Henry Loomis, of Yokohama, says that more 
 than 5,000,000 copies of the whole Bible, the Xew Testament, 
 and various portions of the Bible have been circulated in Japan 
 during the last thirty years ; that the demand is still so great 
 that 18,845 Bibles, 83.410 Testaments and 255,540 portions 
 were sold during the last year ( 1909 ). and that the Word of 
 God is the best selling book in Japan today. 
 
 The secular press does not fail to note the trend, for we find 
 in the "Japanese Advertiser" for December 25th last, the fol- 
 lowing editorial : 
 
 "There can be no gainsaying that the Christmas season, quite apart 
 from its religious significance, is making great headway in this country. 
 .A. walk through the streets of Tokyo today gives abundant evidence of 
 the influence of the season, for all the shops are stocked with goods 
 that are associated with the foreign Christmas quite as much as with 
 the Japanese new year. In the tram cars, one sees advertisements of 
 Christmas novelties, crackers and the like, intended for the Japanese eye. 
 Dotted throughout the city are the Christian churches, each one of which 
 is now engaged in celebrating the holy season with religious services, 
 as well as sacred concerts and other entertainments suitable to the occa- 
 sion. It must be conceded that Christianity is making great progress in 
 a country where its principal festivals are coming to be accepted by the 
 mass of the people, even if that acceptation is only concerned with the 
 purely secular manifestations of the faith. It is a great stride forward 
 compared to what it was only a few years ago when the attitude of 
 the people was still antagonistic toward the religion which, together 
 with all its associations, they regarded with contempt. Doubtless those 
 whose memory carries them back a generation could describe vividly 
 the changes that have come over the people in this connection.” 
 
 I would not make too much of these facts. Japan is still far 
 from being a Christian nation. The obstacles yet to be sur- 
 mounted are numerous and formidable. But it is indisputable 
 that Christian ideas are permeating the literature and the think- 
 ing of Japan to a far greater extent than is commonly realized. 
 Who can tell how much of the development of modern Japan 
 was influenced by such pioneer missionaries as \"erbeck and 
 
 
27 
 
 Hepburn and their associates? \’erbeck was the trusted ad- 
 viser of Japanese statesmen, and one of the boys whom Dr. 
 Hepburn taught in that little English class half a century ago 
 was Hayashi, who became Prime Minister of Japan. The Rev. 
 Dr. Greene of the .American P>oard declares that “hardly ever 
 before in any land, has Christianity borne riper or more varied 
 fruit at so early a stage in its history. And it is a matter for 
 great rejoicing that with this growth in numbers and this multi- 
 plicity of labors, there has been manifested an increasing sense 
 of responsibility for the evangelization of Japan. There has al- 
 ready grown up a large body of self-supporting churches which 
 are deeply imbued with the belief that it is their dutv to prove 
 to the world that Christianity is no longer an exotic, but has 
 planted its roots firml}^ in Japanese soil.” 
 
 It is not necessary to enlarge further upon the progress of 
 Christian Alissions in Japan, partly because it is so clearly 
 stated in the admirable annual volume entitled “The Christian 
 Movement in Japan." and partly because the information pre- 
 sented to the Semi-Centennial of Protestant Alissions is shortly 
 to be available in printed form. I hope that every reader of 
 these pages will secure these two volumes. 
 
 I confess to a deep and sympathetic interest in the future of 
 the Japanese. Irritating as some of their methods are, trying 
 as it is for the proud and arrogant Anglo-Saxon to feel that at 
 last he has met a competitor whom he cannot easil}- overcome, I 
 confess that these things increase rather than diminish my mis- 
 sionary ardor. Here is a people whom it is worth while to 
 reach. .Are we to concentrate our activities on inferior peoples? 
 Has Christ no message for the strong and masterful races of 
 the non-Christian world? I like the Japanese the moi'e because 
 they are united, ambitious and aggressive. I do not defend their 
 vices any more than I defend the vices of my countrymen ; bul 
 I want to see the Japanese united with the best people of Eu- 
 rope and America in the service of Christ. Forces and tempta- 
 tions which prevail in America, but which numerous and power- 
 ful Christian chui'ches help us to fight, are surging into Japan 
 where the opposing forces of righteousness are still compara- 
 tively new and small. It is Christ alone that keeps the EMited 
 States from utter moral lawlessness and disintegration. W'e 
 ought to be profoundly concerned that the Japanese should have 
 the same Christ to help them. I want to see Christian Missions 
 in Japan strengthened, not because I regard the Japanese as in- 
 feriors, not because I feel that we deserve any credit for the 
 knowledge of Chri.st which was brought to us from tiie outside, 
 but because I regard the Japanese as brethren, and because I 
 know that they need the same Christ that I need. 
 
28 
 
 The Japanese already have a political vision. They dream of 
 the leadership of Asia, and they are preparing for it with a 
 skill and energy' which elicit the wonder of the world. They al- 
 ready have a commercial vision, and they are strenuously trying 
 to realize it. They already have an intellectual vision, and they 
 have built up one of the best educational systems in the world. 
 Baron Kikuchi says that ninety-six per cent, of the children of 
 school age in Japan are in schools, the highest percentage of 
 any nation in the world, ^^’hat Japan now needs is a spiritual 
 vision which will purify and glorify' these other visions. 
 
 This vision of Christ is vital to the future of Japan. Few 
 foreigners have been so deeply in sympathy with the Japanese 
 as the late Lafcadio Hearn ; but in his chapter on “The Genius 
 of Japanese Civilization" he wrote: “The psychologist knows 
 that the so-called adoption of western civilization within a time 
 of thirty years cannot mean the addition to the Japanese brain 
 of any' organs or power previously absent from it. He knows 
 that it cannot mean any sud'lcn change in the mental or moral 
 character of the race. Such changes are not made in a genera- 
 tion. Transmitted civilization works much more slowly', re- 
 quiring even hundreds of years to produce certain permanent 
 psychological results. . . .It is quite evident that the mental re- 
 adjustments. effected at a cost which remains to be told, have 
 given good results only' along directions in which the race has 
 always shown capacities of special kinds Nothing remark- 
 
 able has been done, however, in directions foreign to the na- 
 tional genius To imagine that the emotional character of 
 
 an Oriental race could be transformed in the short space of 
 
 thirty years by the contact of Occidental ideas is absurd 
 
 All that Japan has been able to do so miraculously well has 
 been done without anv selOtransformation, and those who im- 
 agine her emotionally closer to us today than she may have been 
 thirty years ago, ignore the facts of science which admit of no 
 argument."* 
 
 The Japanese mind has long been adapted to war, to politics, 
 and to certain kinds of industrial and scientific development. 
 Knowledge of western methods and discoveries has simply 
 enabled the Japanese to do more effectively and on a larger 
 scale what they had been doing after a fashion before. The 
 spiritual realm, however, is a new world to them. Shintoism 
 and Buddhism have not known, and therefore could not make 
 known, a personal God. 
 
 In his instructive book “The Future of Japan,’’ W. Petrie 
 Watson declares that religion, conceived as God anrl as a final 
 and sufficient explanation of all phenomena, is not a Japanese 
 
 • Kokoro, pp. 16-18. 
 
29 
 
 notion ; and that of religion as it is conceived in Europe, there 
 is little or none in Japan. The Japanese regard religion as 
 subordinate in life, and the temper of their mind is such that it 
 IS usually difficult for them to acquire a just view of its author- 
 ity and indispensableness in individual and national existence. 
 His conclusion is that Japan is addressing herself to the great 
 responsibilities of the modern world without any religion at all, 
 in the proper sense of the term; and that the effort is pathetic 
 and disappointing rather than heroic and inspiring, since there 
 is no fresh beginning of history which has not been born from 
 a new religion or from the new interpretation of an existing 
 religion. He admires the administrative efficiency with which 
 Japan is doing her work at present, and the splendid enthusiasm 
 which it is bringing to its present tasks ; but even savages are 
 often recklessly brave and eagerly willing to die for their lead- 
 er. There is therefore reason for profound anxiety as we study 
 the relations which Japan has formed with the modern world 
 and the power that she is exerting. Only as the Japanese grasp 
 Christ’s high ideals of life and build upon the soliel foundation 
 of Christ's teachings will they be able to maintain themselves 
 as a great power. The Japanese must be brought within view 
 of the necessity of a religious interpretation of life, ampler, 
 clearer and more categorical than that which they have found 
 or can find either in a religion of loyalty, or in Bushi-do, or in 
 esoteric Buddhism, or in superstitious Shintoism. Japan can 
 not hope to reap the results of the religion of Europe without 
 an ultimate reckoning with their case.* 
 
 Thoughtful Japanese are beginning to see this. Various 
 utterances of her leading men might be cited. Baron Makino, 
 Minister of Education, said to the secretary of the Y. M. C. A. : 
 “We are greatly distressed about the moral condition of the 
 students and the low character of the ordinarv lodging houses 
 where young men live and shall welcome whatever help the 
 Young Men's Christian Association can do to help solve the 
 problem.” Prince Ito, in a notable address, laid down the fol- 
 lowing propositions : ( i ) That no nation could prosper without 
 material improvement. (2) That material prosperity cannot 
 last long wdthout a moral backbone. (3) That the strongest 
 backbone is that which has a religious sanction behind it.J 
 Equally significant was the remark of Baron Shibusawa, the 
 distinguished chairman of the commission of reptesentative 
 business men of Japan which visited the United States last 
 fall. In an address at a banquet in New York he declared: 
 “Japan in the future must base her morality on religion. It 
 
 * "The Future of Japan." cf. e.specially chapters XIV, XXVIII and XXX. 
 t The Japan Mail, Sept. 4, 1909. 
 
30 
 
 must be a religion that does not rest on an empty or supersti- 
 tious faith, like that of some of the Buddhist sects in our land ; 
 but must be like the one that prevails in your own country, 
 which manifests its power over men by filling them with good 
 works.” 
 
 The very solidarity of the Japanese would make their influ- 
 ence for Christ more powerful than that of almost any other 
 people in Asia. Some missionaries indeed regard this soli- 
 darity as a fonuidable obstacle to the success of Christianity. 
 A paper was read at Karuizawa which described it in a way 
 which suggested the verge of despair. “Only the power of the 
 Almighty can enable the Church to overcome !” exclaimed the 
 reader. Precisely; but “He is able,” and we are “workers to- 
 gether with Him.” “Therefore, seeing we have this ministry 
 we faint not.” The spirit of self-sacrifice which is so promi- 
 nent in the Japanese character, the absolute willingness to dare 
 and to die for the nation which hurled the Japanese army corps 
 as one man upon the fortifications of Port Arthur and enabled 
 them to capture what probably no other amiy in the world 
 could have captured, would, if pervaded and inspired by the 
 \'ision of Christ, make the Japanese among the most effective 
 missionaries that the world has known. To give them the 
 Christ who can do this is worthy of every possible effort on 
 our part. It is a great privilege to be a missionary to such a 
 people. They still need our help. Let us give it to them in a 
 laro^er measure, with richer sympathy, and more earnest prayer. 
 
 CO-OPERATION WITH THE CHURCH 
 OF CHRIST. 
 
 .Attractive a mission field as Japan is in many respects, it is 
 in others one of peculiar difficult}-. Indeed, it may be doubted 
 whether there is any other field in the world whose difficulties 
 involve a greater strain upon missionaries. Problems which, 
 in other fields, have not yet arisen or are in their earlier stages, 
 have in Japan become acute and portentous. The}' are not 
 wholly peculiar to Japan; they are already emerging in several 
 other countries and they must sooner or later arise in all our 
 fields, unless our work is to fail. .Absence of the problem of 
 the Native Church would mean the absence of the Church, or 
 at least of one that is good for anything. It is a problem 
 which grows out of success, not of failure. Japan is simply 
 the first country in which this problem has assumed overshad- 
 owing proportions. 
 
 This is partly because of the temperament of the Japanese 
 people. They are the most aleVt. ambitious and aggiessive of 
 all non-Christian peoples. It is partly also because converts in 
 
31 
 
 Japan have not come so generally from the lower classes, as in 
 most other countries, but chiefly from the Samurai, the old 
 knightly class, which has given Japan the majority of its army 
 and navy officers, and its leaders in politics and in commercial 
 development. While approximately one person in every thou- 
 sand of the population is a Christian, one in every one hundred 
 of the educated classes is a Christian. The personnel of the 
 churches in Japan probably averages higher in intelligence and 
 social position than in any other land ; though of course many 
 exceptions could be made to such a generalization. It was to 
 be expected, therefore, that the relation of the Native Church to 
 the foreign missionary would first become acute among a 
 people of this kind. 
 
 The form which this question has taken in Japan makes new 
 demands upon us and we can hardly overestimate the gravity 
 of the situation. Hitherto, throughout the non-Christian world, 
 the Mission and the Board have been virtually supreme. Ques- 
 tions on the field have been decided by the organized body of 
 missionaries, subject only to the approval of the Board. 
 
 This is inevitable during the early stages of the work when 
 there is no Native Church. When converts begin to be gath- 
 ered, they are few in number, widely scattered, with little 
 Christian training or experience and without consciousness of 
 unity or power. They are, moreover, in most cases dependent 
 financially upon the missionary, looking to him for the main- 
 tenance of their churches, the schools which educate their chil- 
 dren, the hospitals which care for their sick and the salaries 
 of their preachers and teachers. It is natural, in such circum- 
 stances. that missionaries should, unconsciously perhaps, come 
 to regard themselves as the sole arbiters of the work. 
 
 As the Native Church grows in number and power, it is 
 equally natural that this state of things should be disturbed. It 
 has long been an axiom that the object of the foreign mission- 
 ary enterprise is to develop a self-governing, self-propagating 
 and self-supporting Native Church. If self-government means 
 anything at all. it means a change in the relations of the Church 
 to the missionary, as well as in some other relations. 
 
 Now, in Japan, a self-governing, self-propagating and self- 
 supporting Native Church has developed. It is well known that 
 in 1877, the Presbyterian and Reformed Missions in Japan 
 united in promoting the organization of a union Japanese 
 Church, which is now known as Tire Church of Christ in 
 Japan. The seven Presbyteries include about ninety churches 
 and are united in the Synod, the supreme ecclesiastical body. 
 This Church, with the exception of a few individual mission- 
 aries, is composed exclusively of Japanese, and it controls its 
 c 
 
32 
 
 own affairs absolutely. No congregation is organized as a 
 church unless it is wholly self-supporting, including the pastor’s 
 salary; and if a church ceases to be self-supporting, it loses its 
 organization and its right to have a voting representative in 
 Presbytery. ^Manifestly the Mission and the Board can no 
 longer do as they please without reference to the judgment of 
 such a Church. 
 
 It might be expected, too, in a country like Japan, that the 
 Church would claim to be the paramount body. The temper of 
 the Japanese does not incline them to follow the leadership of 
 foreigners in religion any more than in politics and business. 
 This assertion of supremacy is precisely what has taken place, 
 and it has created a situation of extraordinary difficulty. Some 
 of the missionaries have yielded with good grace, feeling that 
 the Japanese are right and that the situation is what should 
 normally be expected. Others have deemed it their duty to 
 take a different attitude. Discussion has been rife for several 
 vears, arousing considerable feeling within the missionary 
 body and the Church of Christ and producing relations which 
 have frequently been strained. 
 
 I deeply sympathize with the missionaries. It is not easy for 
 any Anglo-Saxon, however assisted by divine grace, to take a 
 second place in a non-Christian land, especially when he has 
 been for a long time in the first place. A teacher knows that 
 his pupils must ultimately supplant him. but he is iiot apt to 
 agree with them as to time and circumstance. But when we 
 have a self-governing Native Church, what shall be our rela- 
 tions to it? Three alternatives present themselves; 
 
 T. Separation. 
 
 2. Gradual Withdrawal. 
 
 .t. Co-operation. 
 
 The first course is strongly urged bv some missionaries of 
 ability and devotion. A missionary of the Dutch Reformed 
 Church, a man of more than ordinary force of character, has 
 written a pamphlet in which he says : 
 
 “Tt is the manifest fact that the missionaries and the leaders of the 
 Church are getting more and more out of toucli with each other. This 
 feeling' was thus expressed to the writer by one of the foremost advo- 
 cates. of the Synod's action : Tt is quite clear to me that our Mission 
 
 must do something or suffer paralysis. I am not sure that the other 
 members quite realize the significance of the situation. There is no war, 
 but there is increasing isolation. In old times we were in everything, 
 we are very near the point where we shall not he in it at all.’ 
 
 “The fact here expressed is beyond question. The missionaries and the 
 leaders of the Church are unmistakably drawing apart. This is manife.st 
 not only in their disagreement on specific questions, such as that under 
 discussion, which is not so serious; as in all their ordinary life and work. 
 Formerly, the missionaries were consulted about everything, now rarely 
 
33 
 
 if at all. They almost never are called upon to address important meet- 
 ings, nor are they admitted to the private conferences where the attitude 
 of the Church is determined. In the public ecclesiastical assemblies they 
 are practically a negligible quantity ” 
 
 "The natural consequence is that the leaders of the Church, who shape 
 all the acts of the Synod, have no acquaintance with the majority of the 
 missionaries. The two parties have no occasion to associate together, 
 for their spheres are quite distinct. To give an illustration of the case, 
 the present writer, who has been sixteen years in the work, has never 
 bad an intimate acquaintance with any of the men recognized as influen- 
 tial in the Synod. There has been no desire to avoid one another, not 
 at all : but simply our paths have not crossed, except to the extent of an 
 occasional greeting and conversation. It is exactly as e.xprcssed in the 
 above quotation : ‘No war but increasing isolation.’ . . . .” 
 
 Another missionary, of the American Board, declared in out- 
 conference at Karuizawa : 
 
 ‘‘If you are going home with the impress.ion that it's all lovely and 
 pleasant in the various Missions represented here, and that there is no 
 friction, you're certainly mistaken. Trouble comes as soon as there is 
 a majority of native pastors. The friction is chiefly connected with the 
 money question to be sure, and many of the Missions are not far enough 
 advanced as yet to have reached the point where the question emerges 
 and the friction with it. In our American Board Mission we tried plan 
 after plan without success, and finally as the fruit of numberless con- 
 ferences and committee-meetings, we hit on our present plan of ‘inde- 
 pendent co-operation ’ We are now entirely happy and entirely inde- 
 pendent. We are all happy, I say, missionaies and Japanese pastors, 
 but we liaz'e nothing to do zvith each other in doctrine, in polity or in 
 dollars.” (Italics are mine.) 
 
 This position has, of course, the advantage of leaving the 
 Mission an apparently free hand to prosecute its work and to 
 expend its money in accordance with its own ideas. It pro- 
 tects the Mission also from responsibility for any mistaken 
 methods of work or erroneous doctrinal teachings. If the 
 Native Church makes conditions of co-operation which the 
 Dlission deems unwise and harmful, this policy enable.s the Mis- 
 sion to go on with its work, in some fashion at least, until some 
 other adjustment can be made. 
 
 The writer of the pamphlet quoted believes that this condi- 
 tion of affairs is “a normal result of the growth of the Church.” 
 and that “so far from this isolation being a symptom of decay 
 or paralysis it is a sign of life and vigor.” T confess that I am 
 unable to get that much solace out of the situation. “Drawing 
 apart,” “lack of acquaintance” and “increasing isolation” do 
 not impress me as “a sign of life and vigor” in the relation of 
 missionaries and native pastors. 
 
 I cannot bring myself to believe that this is a wise or practi- 
 cable solution. It is sure to result in friction. It would mean 
 that two independent bodies, the Mission and the Native 
 Church, are to prosecute their work within the same territory. 
 
34 
 
 The Church of Christ has organized its Presbyteries in such a 
 way that they cover the country. The work of missionaries is 
 therefore necessarily within the bounds of these Japanese Pres- 
 byteries. Converts must be organized into churches, or join 
 those already organized. The cpiestion of relationship would 
 then arise. Are they to have nothing to do with their sister 
 Japanese Churches and thus virtually create schism and be- 
 come new sects? The missionaries do not wish this, and the 
 home Churches would not support such sectarianism even if 
 they did. If they are not to stand aloof, they must go into the 
 Japanese Church and sever their connection with the Mission. 
 Such a transfer could seldom be made without trouble. The 
 whole method is impracticable, except as a temporary make- 
 shift. It is unthinkable that the American Churches would 
 give and pray and labor for the development of a self- 
 governing Native Church, and then support missionaries who 
 cannot co-operate with it. Moreover, a Japanese Church con- 
 trolled by foreigners and accepting their leadership and money, 
 side hy side with an independent Japanese Church which is 
 barely making its own way, would not only be abhorrent to the 
 modern spirit of Christian unity but it would be a derision to 
 the high-spirited and patriotic Japanese. Such a Church would 
 command no respect, have no future, and to me woidd not be 
 worthy of support. Better far a virile, self-reliant even though 
 headstrong and blundering Church, than one of meek de- 
 pendence. 
 
 Some members of the Karuizawa conference objected that 
 our aim is not to plant a self-governing, self-supporting and 
 self-propagating Church, but to evangelize Japan, and that as 
 long as there are millions of unevangelized Japanese, we should 
 maintain mission work for them irrespective of the Japanese 
 Church. Here is room for fair difference of opinion. Prob- 
 ably few would care to take either course unmodified hv the 
 other. From my viewpoint, the ohjection involves a confusion 
 of ideas, “a false alternative,” which is usually so seductive and 
 misleading. I would neither abandon millions of non-Chris- 
 tian people because there is a Church in their land, nor feel 
 free to work as I pleased among them without consultation with 
 that Church. Our responsibility for a people continues after 
 the Church is in the field, but it continues through and in co- 
 operation u'ith the Church and not independently of it. 
 
 The second course is gradual withdrawal. This, indeed, ap- 
 pears to be a natural corollary from the aim of the missionary 
 enterprise. If that aim is to plant the Church, our work might 
 be considered done when the Church is fairly started in inde- 
 
35 
 
 pendent life. This is apparently in harmony with the action 
 of the General Assembly of 1898 which declared: 
 
 “That in the judgment of the Assembly the best results of 
 Mission work in Brazil and other foreign fields will be at- 
 tained only when right lines of distinction are observed between 
 the functions of the Native Churches and the functions of the 
 foreign Missions; the Missions contributing to the establish- 
 ment of the Native Churches and looking forward to passing 
 on into the regions beyond when their work is done, and the 
 Native Churches growing up with an independent identity from 
 the beginning, administering their own contributions and re- 
 sources unentangled with any responsibility for the administra- 
 tion of the Missions or of the funds committed to the Mission." 
 
 The Board incorporated this action of the General Assembly 
 in its Manual and added: “It is the desire of the Board to mag- 
 nify the Presbytery, and to have such parts of the work com- 
 mitted to its direction and control as the Mission, with the ap- 
 proval of the Board, may deem wise from time to time, looking 
 to the speedy establishment of a self-supporting and self-propa- 
 gating Native Church. 
 
 This is substantially the position which I took in the 
 chapter on “The Missionary and the Native Church" in 
 “The Foreign Missionary”: “The self-government of the Na- 
 tive Church is equally an essential part of the missionary aim, 
 though it may not be as quickly realized. Nevertheless, its 
 ultimate attainment .should shape our policy and the Native 
 Church should be stimulated to self-support and self-propa- 
 gation by being frequently reminded that both are indispens- 
 able prerequisites to independence, since it is as idle in Asia as 
 in America to imagine that men can live on the money of 
 others without being dependent on them. As for the missionary, 
 he should frankly say of the Native Church what John the 
 Baptist said of Christ : ‘lie must increase, but I must decrease.’ 
 If there is ever to be a self-supporting, self-governing and self- 
 propagating Native Church, we must anticipate the time when 
 it will be in entire control. More and more definitely should 
 missionary policy recognize the part that this growing Church 
 ought to have in the work. . . .We should endeavor to build up 
 a permanent and authoritative Native Church, and transfer 
 work and responsibility to it as it is able to receive them, until 
 the ^Mission shall have abdicated all its powers and the Church 
 shall have assumed them."* 
 
 The objections to withdrawal from Japan, however, are 
 serious. After making the most generous allowance for that 
 part of the population which is now being influenced by Chris- 
 
 • Pp. 296. 310. 311. 
 
36 
 
 tian ideas, there remain at least 40,000,000 people who are al- 
 most wholly untouched. It is a great thing that within half a 
 century after the establishment of Protestant missions, there 
 are more than 75,000 communicants in Japan ; but thi» Church, 
 though influential and aggressive, is still far too small and 
 weak to handle unaided the tremendous problems of evangeli- 
 zation and Christian education in Japan. It will doubtless do 
 so in time. I have such faith in the future of Christianity in 
 Japan that if missionaries were to be withdrawn entirely, I be- 
 lieve that Christianity would survive and ultimately spread 
 throughout the Empire. But we ought not to acquiesce in a 
 policy which might defer the evangelization of Japan for cen- 
 turies, when we are able to assist in having it accomplished 
 within a shorter period. I do not mean that we are likely to 
 see the whole nation Christianized within the immediate future, 
 but that it ought to be practicable to plant a church in every 
 important towm in the Empire within a generation — a church 
 to which the problems of further evangelization might be gradu- 
 ally committed, so that the Missions could in time transfer their 
 resources to other fields where pioneer work is still to be done. 
 
 The attitude of the Church of Christ on this subject is im- 
 portant. It does not want us to withdraw. When the Rev. Y. 
 Honda, Bishop of the Alethodist Church of Japan, was asked 
 by the Canadian IMethodist Mission for his opinion as to the 
 advisability of an extensive evangelistic w’ork by the Mission or 
 on the other hand the gradual withdrawal of the mission force, 
 he replied: “Not to advance 3'Our present work there is out of 
 the question. I agree with you perfectly, and from the depth 
 of my heart I request you to go on. . . . The united new 
 Church is struggling for self-support and has not power to 
 advance ; so it is absolutely necessary to have the missionaries 
 work for the unevangelized places. ... If the Board of Mis- 
 sions has an idea to withdraw from Japan, it is a great mistake. 
 I hope your ^Mission Council will do' all in their power to ex- 
 plain the real situation to the Board and Churches at home 
 and the enormous need of missionary work. ...” 
 
 The leaders of the Church of Christ frankly told me that 
 they needed the help of their brethren in Europe and America. 
 They stated that while large reinforcements were not required, 
 the present foreign force is too small, and that not only more 
 men, but more money are urgently needed, particularly for the 
 educational and literary work which the Japanese Christians 
 are not yet able to do on an adequate scale. The Japanese 
 leaders simply insisted that appointments should be limitetl to 
 men of first-class ability who can co-operate with the Japanese 
 
37 
 
 Church. There is therefore no occasion for us to adopt the 
 second alternative of withdrawal. 
 
 The third alternative, co-operation, remains to be considered. 
 This appears at first glance to be an easy solution of the prob- 
 lem of our relationship with a self-governing Church. All our 
 missionaries insist that they are in favor of co-operating with 
 the Japanese Christians, and that as a matter of fact they have 
 been co-operating with them and are doing so now. But what 
 is meant by co-operation ? “Aye, there’s the rub.” Some mis- 
 sionaries explain it one way, some another. Meantime, the 
 Synod of the Church of Christ, in October, 1906, declared 
 what it meant by the following action : 
 
 “A co-operating Mission is one which recognizes the right of 
 the Church of Christ in Japan to the general control of all 
 evangelistic work done by the Mission as a Mission within the 
 Church or in connection with it ; and which carries on such 
 work under an arrangement based upon the foregoing prin- 
 ciple, and concurred in by the Synod, acting through the Board 
 of Missions.” 
 
 This was adopted by the rather close vote of 25 to 22 ; but I 
 was infonned that “the division was not over the question of 
 co-operation nor over the definition as a whole ; it was over 
 the one phrase making the Deiido Kyoku (Board of Missions) 
 the Synod’s Committee to arrange for formal co-operation 
 with the different Missions.” On the merits of the question 
 now under consideration, the real majority was much larger. 
 The Synod of October, 1907, emphasized its position by voting 
 that “all local churches receiving aid from Missions which by 
 September 30, 1908, should fail to co-operate by definition 
 should be totally disconnected from the Church of Christ in 
 Japan.” 
 
 This position of the Synod is known as “Co-operation by 
 Definition,” and it is the rock on which the missionary body 
 has split and on which relations between some Missions and the 
 Church of Christ have split. 
 
 Our West Japan Mission, after full discussion, accepted the 
 Definition at its annual meeting the same year, 1906, by unani- 
 mous vote, though in the early part of the following year the 
 attitude of a few members of the Mission changed. I heard 
 conflicting opinions as to the present feeling. Some outside of 
 the Mission intimated that the plan was not working satisfac- 
 torily and that if the vote were to be taken today and each mis- 
 sionary would vote his real opinion, the majority would be 
 considerably reduced. West Japan missionaries, however, de- 
 nied this, and declared that the plan was working even better 
 than had been anticipated ; that the unfortunate consequences 
 
38 
 
 which some had feared had not been realized ; that relations 
 with the Japanese Churches had never been so amicable; and 
 that the Mission as a whole was in the most prosperous condi- 
 tion in its history. Of the 49 members of the Mission, I could 
 learn of only eight who were opposed to “Co-operation by De- 
 finition,” and all of them appeared disposed to acquiesce in the 
 decision of the majority and willing to see the plan given a 
 fair trial. 
 
 The East Japan Mission by a narrow majority opposed the 
 Definition of the Synod. There are 27 members of the Alis- 
 sion, and there has been some difference of opinion as to where 
 the real majority stands. Illness, furloughs and pressure of 
 other duties make a maximum attendance impossible at any 
 given meeting. A few, too, have little zeal in the matter one 
 way or the other, or have not always been clear as to the best 
 course to be pursued. 
 
 The position of this Mission was powerfully re-enforced by 
 the two ^fissions of the Reformed Church in America (Dutch 
 Reformed ) and by the ^Mission of the Southern Presbyterian 
 Church. These Alissions, with ours and the Mission of the 
 German Reformed Church, are united in “The Council of IVIis- 
 sions Co-operating with The Church of Christ in Japan,” the 
 word "co-operating” having been adopted before the now fa- 
 mous “Definition” of the Synod. The German Reformed Mis- 
 sion adopted the “Definition” Februar}' 27, 1909. The North 
 Japan Mission of the Dutch Reformed Church at first acqui- 
 esced in the Definition, but afterwards reconsidered its action 
 on account of changes in the voting personnel caused by fur- 
 loughs. Four of the six ^Missions in the Council therefore 
 stood together in opposition to the Definition, and the moral 
 support which this majority of the Council brought to our 
 East Japan ^Mission was formidable. 
 
 As everybody favored co-operation, and as objection turned 
 on the “Definition” by the Synod of the Church of Christ, the 
 question naturally arose whether the Synod would be willing 
 to modify the Definition. Persistent eflforts were made to 
 induce the Church to make such a modification and several 
 compromises were suggested. One and all were rejected by 
 the Synod. Finally, the proposals of the opposition centralized 
 on an alternative proposal which was called "Co-operation by 
 Affiliation,” as distinguished from the Synod’s plan of “Co- 
 operation by Definition.” The East Japan Mission urged the 
 Board to give its approval to a plan of this kind, but the Board 
 declined, unless asked to do so by the Church, It desired 
 its Missions in Japan to work under that form of co-operation 
 which was most acceptable to the Church, and while it recog- 
 
39 
 
 nized the right of Synod to modify its definition if it chose to 
 do so, the Board was unwilling to lend its authority and pres- 
 tige to the effort to bring pressure to bear in that direction. 
 
 W hen I arrived in Japan, I found strong feeling on the sub- 
 ject. Some missionaries said that many in the Church of 
 Christ had no zeal for the “Definition” and would be quite con- 
 tent with “Affiliation that a few resolute leaders iiad forced 
 the Synod to take a position which many of the Japanese re- 
 garded as extreme. But Mr. Speer, who conducted all corres- 
 pondence with Japan, wrote, prior to my visit, that “every com- 
 munication which has reached the Board, directly or indirectly, 
 from the Church of Christ and from its leaders has indicated 
 an unwavering adherence of the Church to the principle of 
 Co-operation as set forth by the Synod.” 
 
 I made many inquiries as to the real attitude of the Japanese. 
 I learned that there is a minority which would be willing to 
 compromise. The judicatories of our home churches are sel- 
 dom unanimous, and it could not reasonably be expected that 
 a judicatory of a church in Asia would be unanimous, particu- 
 larly in a matter which involves so much. The minority, how- 
 ever, is small. Inquiry of President Ibuka elicited the follow- 
 ing reply : “As to somebody telling Dr. Brown that a number 
 of the leaders had changed their minds and now prefer affilia- 
 tion, it is simply another case of ‘the wish being father to the 
 thought.’ The simple fact that the affiliation plan presented at 
 the last meeting of the Synod utterly fell through is quite sig- 
 nificant.” 
 
 The two conferences which I held with the Japanese in 
 Tokyo and Osaka made their position clear. The former con- 
 ference included Japanese who came from different places in 
 the eastern half of the country, and the latter was equally rep- 
 resentative of the western part. Efforts had been made by the 
 missionaries to make the attendance as representative as pos- 
 sible of the real mind of the Church. Aly frank questions as 
 to the attitude of the Japanese on Co-operation by Definition 
 were met by the two conferences with equal frankness. Each 
 acted independently of the other but in full accord with it. 
 The sentiment in both was overwhelmingly in favor of Co- 
 operation by Definition, and indicated no disposition whatever 
 to yield. At the close of the discussion in both conferences, I 
 asked for a rising vote, in order that I might be sure that I had 
 the opinions not only of those who had spoken but of those 
 who had not spoken. The vote in the Tokyo Conference was 
 twenty-one to one in favor of Co-operation by Definition, 
 and the vote in the Osaka Conference was eighteen to two in 
 the same direction. 
 
40 
 
 I had not expected to be drawn so deeply into the contro- 
 versy when I went to Japan, as I had supposed that the ac- 
 ceptance of the Definition by the large West Japan ^Mission 
 and by the Board and the full and admirable letters of its Sec- 
 retary for Japan, Mr. Speer, had settled the policy as far as 
 we are concerned, and that I would be free to consider other 
 problems of concern to our work. The opponents of the Defi- 
 nition, however, felt that the coming of a Secretary of the 
 Board afforded a fair opportunity for further discussion in the 
 hope that a personal conference would show that ‘‘Co-operatjon 
 by Definition” is a mistaken policy and fraught with grave dan- 
 gers. At any rate, my conference with the East and West 
 Japan Missions at Karuizawa had barely opened before this 
 question was brought up. Every objection to the Definition 
 and to the position of the Board was renewed with an intensity 
 which bore witness to the strength of conviction which existed. 
 One of them characterized it as “divisive, ambiguous, unjust, 
 unconstitutional, un-Presbyterian, and thoroughly vicious.” 
 This appears to be sufficiently descriptive. Those who favored 
 acceptance of the Definition appeared to feel that, trying as it 
 was to have the ground gone over again, it might be as well to 
 have the dispute brought to a final issue, as the prolonged agi- 
 tation of the subject had become intolerable. No one can com- 
 plain that the opposition did not have opportunity to state its 
 case, for the other side gave it practically the entire time. 
 
 My statements in this conference have been reported with 
 picturesqueness and breezy vigor by the most intense op- 
 ponent of the policy of the Board which I was explaining. 
 That opponent was, of course, incapable of conscious misrepre- 
 sentation. But there are few persons in this strenuous world 
 who are able to state with entire justice other people’s opinions 
 which they regard as unsound and unreasonable, especially 
 when the opinions were given in the course of an animated dis- 
 cussion of several hours with no stenographer to take down 
 exact wording. Even when particular phrases are remembered 
 or noted at the time, they are apt to be recalled without modi- 
 fying clauses or context. When that context is restored by the 
 memory of one who is trying to show the weakness of the 
 speaker’s position, the human mind is seldom capable of re- 
 constructing the argument in a form which the speaker would 
 recognize. However, I discreetly refrain from pressing this 
 objection too far, lest those with whom I differ retort that I 
 have given an account of their position which fails to do justice 
 to them. Those who read this report should bear in mind that 
 the question of missionary relationship to the Native Church 
 is the most formidable and complicated question with which we 
 
41 
 
 now have to deal ; that there are differing opinions as to the 
 best course to be pursued ; and that both sides should be cred- 
 ited with sincerity and a supreme desire to see the cause of 
 Christ advanced. 
 
 It was not then and it is not now easy for me to differ with 
 the missionaries who lament the position of the Church and 
 the Board. They are my personal friends, and five of them 
 were our hosts at different times. Some of them are among 
 the oldest and most devoted missionaries in Japan, men and 
 women whose years of self-sacrificing toil bear witness to the 
 sincerity of their desire for the advancement of fhe cause of 
 Christ. They have suffered on account of their position, for 
 their opposition to the Synod has exposed them to a suspicion 
 and forced them into an isolation which have been exceedingly 
 trying. Nevertheless, I believe that the position of the West 
 Japan Mission and the Board is sound. I have already indi- 
 cated the three alternatives which confront us where a self- 
 conscious and self-governing Native Church has developed, and 
 I have also indicated my reasons for holding that the first two 
 (separation and withdrawal) would be injurious in Japan. We 
 cannot live in Japan apart from the Church; we cannot fight 
 the Church ; and we should not leave the country to itself. We 
 must co-operate with the Church which, by the blessing of God, 
 we have aided to create. 
 
 And in Japan co-operation means “Co-operation by Defini- 
 tion.” It is idle to urge that any other kind is practicable. The 
 contention that there is a distinction between “Co-operation” 
 and “Co-operation by Definition” is, in Japan, purely academic. 
 The Japanese have clearl)^ explained what they mean by Co- 
 operation, and no other definition of it is satisfactory to them. 
 Co-operation is not the act of one party; it is from the nature 
 of the case between two or more parties. It is useless, there- 
 fore, for one party to insist that it is co-operating when the 
 other says that it is not. Co-operation between the Missions 
 and the Church of Christ must mean mutual agreement ; other- 
 wise there is no co-operation worthy of the name. Granting 
 that the Synod’s definition of Co-operation is not ideal from 
 our viewpoint; must we not recognize the right of a self-gov- 
 erning Church to define the terms on which it will co-operate 
 with an outside body? 
 
 The action of the General Assembly of 1898 and of the 
 Board, already cpioted, was regarded by some as prohibiting 
 the administration of evangelistic work by a joint committee 
 of missionaries and Japanese. The fact that this deliverance 
 could be interpreted in such a way shows anew that no rule 
 can fit every conceivable exigency in a vast work, conducted in 
 
42 
 
 widely separated lands, and amid conditions which are con- 
 stantly changing. A sound general principle may require mod- 
 ification in exceptional situations. The rules of the Board are 
 not like the laws of the Medes and Persians which cannot be 
 altered. Rules exist for the work, not the work for the rules. 
 The Board shows its wisdom, not only in carefully framing 
 the best regulations that it can at a given time, but in inserting 
 the following sentence in the “acceptance card’’ which is sent 
 to every missionary at the time of his appointment : “This 
 ^lanual is neither a contract nor a final expression of the 
 Board’s principles and rules, and it is subject to such amend- 
 ment as the Board may from time to time, deem to be for the 
 best interests of the cause.” 
 
 As for this particular rule, Mr. Robert E. Speer, who is 
 Secretary for the Brazil Missions, who was present when the 
 Committee of the General .Assembly agreed upon the resolu- 
 tion, and who is therefore most familiar with the conditions 
 which it was designed to meet, writes ; 
 
 “Tlie principle embodied in this paragraph is necessary to 
 bring aboiu the existence of genuine Native Churches ; but once 
 those Churches do exist with their own clearly defined func- 
 tions, I do not see anything in this paragraph to forbid a co- 
 operative arrangement between Missions and Churches which 
 does not confuse separate functions, but which by regular 
 agreement and stipulation provides for co-operation in any 
 particular form of work or expenditure they desire. This par- 
 agraph takes the place of the paragraphs in the old Manual 
 with reference to the ecclesiastical relation of missionaries to 
 the Native Churches. This idea of Dr. Lowrie in the early 
 days was to have no Alissions at all, but to leave everything in 
 the hands of the Presbytery and to have the missionaries mem- 
 bers of the Presbytery. Of course this excluded woman's work 
 altogether, which in those days had scarcely come into exist- 
 ence, and it lost sight entirely of the necessity of educating 
 the Native Church to ecclesiastical independence. It was out 
 of the long discus.sion of this (juestion, in which the central 
 issue was as to whether the truly autonomous character of the 
 Native Church was to be recognized and how it was to be 
 brought about, that the matter took shape in the way it did. 
 The financial question came in a subordinate way, partly in that 
 connection, partly out of a local situation in Brazil which fo- 
 cused considerable opposition on mission education and es- 
 pecially on the use of higher education or the educating of 
 non-Christians as a missionary agency. W’e ought not to allow 
 it to be assumed that plans of co-operation, such as have been 
 in view in Japan, were inconsistent with the principle embodied 
 
43 
 
 in paragraph 33. That principle is intended to secure the ex- 
 istence of true Missions and true Native Churches. It is not 
 intended to prevent any relations which the conditions at any 
 time may indicate to be wise between these two independent 
 organizations.” 
 
 The paragraph in question grew out of discussions in which 
 co-operation, as now interpreted in Japan, was not only not an 
 issue but was an accepted fact, and it is a complete reversal of 
 the intent of the Assembly and the Board to turn this rule 
 against a proposal for co-operative relations between a Mission 
 and a Church. Doubtless if such use of it could have been 
 foreseen, the rule would have been worded in such a way as 
 to render misunderstanding: of its spirit impossible. 
 
 If this rule is to be applied with bald literalism to the present 
 situation in Japan, it will prove too much for those who use it 
 as an argument against co-operation ; for it implies that when 
 a Native Church has been developed to a point w'here it can 
 manage its owm affairs, the ^Mission is to “look forw^ard to 
 passing on into the regions beyond when their work is done.” 
 “Reeions beyond” can hardly be interpreted as parts of Japan 
 w'hich are witfiin the bounds of the Presbyteries of the Church 
 of Christ, nor can the distinction betw'een geographical and 
 ecclesiastical bounds be deemed of practical value. Whether 
 the Mission’s “work is done” is to be determined in conference 
 with all parties concerned, including the Church. 
 
 The rule therefore, rightly interpreted, affords no ground 
 for the contention that a ^Mission should remain and prosecute 
 its w'ork independently of a self-governing Church. 
 
 An objection strongly urged is that “Co-operation by Defini- 
 tion” would give the Japanese control of foreign funds. I had 
 the interesting experience of having my owm book quoted 
 against me and the Board. On pages 307-309 of “The For- 
 eign Missionary.” I took the position that foreign contributions 
 should be controlled by foreigners, and that it is inexpedient 
 that the Christians of Asia and Africa should handle money 
 which they have not given, for wdiich they cannot be held re- 
 sponsible. and for wdiose use their training has not fitted them. 
 I still hold that this is a sound principle. 
 
 In Japan, however, this principle has come into collision 
 with another principle, namely, that wdien a self-governing 
 Church has developed, w’e must work in harmony with it. This 
 self-governing Church in Japan has made a specific defini- 
 tion of the terms on which it wdll accept our further co-opera- 
 tion. Our two principles, therefore, come into conflict, and we 
 must choose between them, for a time at least. I unhesitat- 
 ingly affirm that the less important principle is the one wffiich 
 
44 
 
 relates to money. This is not inconsistent with the position 
 stated in the preceding paragraph, because our main object is 
 to use money in the interest of the work. Our Board has for 
 years been making grants in aid to the Presbyteries in Brazil, 
 Persia and India, and while here and there some detail of 
 method has called for readjustment, the plan on the whole has 
 worked to the advantage of the cause. It is better to give the 
 Church of Christ in Japan a voice in the expenditure of monev 
 than it is to withdraw or to work independently. Our e.xperi- 
 ence in other fields is not analogous, for the reason that in 
 them a self-governing Church has made no such demand. 
 
 I brought up this question in the union conference at Karui- 
 zawa and the following statement regarding the relations of 
 the various missions with the Japanese Churches was very 
 kindly drawn up by the Rev. R. E. IMcAlpine of the Southern 
 Presbyterian Mission and submitted to representatives of sev- 
 eral other Missions who were present. It is a statement of 
 such interest that I append it in full : 
 
 “Beside5 our Nihon Kirisuto Kyokwai, there are only three other 
 Churches (as you yesterday stated f which have developed far enough to 
 have these questions arise. These are the Kumiai, the Methodist and 
 the Episcopal Churches, i. The Congregational Mission ran the gaunt- 
 let of all sorts of relations with their Kumiai Church, and finding each 
 in turn unsatisfactory, they now have only informal, but (or therefore) 
 perfectly friendly relations. As expressed yesterday by the Rev. Mr. 
 .\llchin, “no relation in either polity, doctrine or dollars !” 
 
 “2. The three IMethodist Missions now have the policy of making 
 a fixed grant annually to the Conference, which sum is then adminis- 
 tered by a joint committee: but altogether apart from that, they receive 
 a sum of mission funds (which is to become increasingly large, while 
 the grant is to decrease"), for the extension and development of the 
 weaker fields, and this sum is administered by the Missions, each alone, 
 entirely apart from the Japanese Church. very significant fact just 
 here is that two of these Missions made full trial of putting all their 
 eggs into the one basket of the Conference, but finding it quite hamper- 
 ing to individual missionary effort, and in general unsatisfactory, they 
 have now with wisdom born of experience, reverted to the plan of Mis- 
 sion control of a part of the funds. 
 
 “,3. In the Seikolcvvai (Episcopal) all the clergy, both Japanese and 
 foreign have their membership in one body here, which body handles 
 all ecclesiastical matters concerning the full organized churches : and to 
 this body the Missions contribute a definite sum for pastors’ salaries 
 only. In all other financial or other matters concerning the unorganized 
 groups of believers — employment of workers and fixing their salaries, 
 chape' rent, any and all such matters are absolutely in the hands of 
 the Missions alone.” 
 
 “The above statement so far as it relates to the Seikokwai (Episcopal) 
 Church is quite correct. There have been proposals that the salaries of 
 all Japanese workers — and not on'y pastors — should be paid throughout 
 the Diocesan Pastoral Society — but no action in this direction has yet 
 been taken.” 
 
 W. P. Burcombe, C. M. S., Tokyo. 
 
45 
 
 “The above represents arcnrately the position of the Canadian Metho- 
 dist Church and Mission. Onr Board, in fact, the three Methodist 
 Boards, give an annual grant based upon the salaries and rents paid 
 at the time of the Union two years ago: all other items must be pro- 
 vided by the Japanese Methodist Church. This native church quite cor- 
 dially assents to e.xtensive aggressive evangelistic work being carried 
 on by the Mission independently.” 
 
 D. Normax, Canadian l\rethodist Mis.sion. 
 
 “The above statement concerning the relations between the Kumiai 
 Body (comprising about go churches, nearly all of which are self-sup- 
 porting) and the American Board IMission is correct. But it should be 
 stated that the present satisfactory working basis was reached after a 
 long conference between representative committees of both parties. 
 Although the two bodies are perfectly independent of each other, it is 
 the policy and custom of the missionaries of this Mission not to begin 
 nor to continue any preaching places without consultation with the 
 pastors and churches of the locality. (Please read in this connection 
 pp. 223-227 of the Christian Movement in Japan for 1909. This sum- 
 mary by mistake is accredited to me instead of the Rev. G. M. Row- 
 land, D.D.)” 
 
 Gko. Allchin', x-\. B. C. F. M., Osaka. 
 
 “What Brother Xorman says above is quite correct, though as far as 
 the Methodist Episcopal Mission is concerned it can hardly be said that 
 we have reverted to the plan of the Mission control. At an early period 
 in our history as an annual Conference the joint committee was a large 
 one and not limited to the Presiding Elders. This was not satisfactory, 
 and the presiding Bishop ruled that according to our Discipline the Pre- 
 siding Elders alone constituted the Committee on Missions (missionary 
 grants to aided conferences) whose duty it was to apportion the grant 
 to the several churches requiring aid, and from that time till the union 
 of the three Methodist Bodies the plan worked smoothly, so that in our 
 case the special fund for individual missionary effort is not a revision 
 but a wholly new method and for which we hope increased grants will 
 be made as the case requires.” 
 
 J. C. Davidson, Methodist Episcopal Mission, Kumamoto. 
 
 It should be remembered that Presbyterians in Japan are 
 dealing with a specific demand of the particular Native Church 
 with which they are related. The methods of Missions of other 
 communions therefore are helpful to us only in so far as these 
 Missions have been confronted by a similar demand. In this 
 connection, it is interesting to note in The Japan Times for 
 July 15, 1909, that forty delegates of the Russian Greek Church, 
 assembled in Tokyo, July 13, “passed a resolution to the effect 
 that the maintenance of the Japan Orthodox Church should be 
 placed in the hands of the Japanese believers as soon as pos- 
 sible. They have also adopted other resolutions, but the gist 
 of the matter is that since the whole expenses of the Church 
 are met with money obtained from the Holy Synod, or with 
 money supplied by the Russian Government, the pastors of the 
 Church are in the position of being salaried officials of the 
 Russian Government, a position unbecoming for the Japanese 
 pastors. It is hence desired by those concerned that the Japan- 
 
46 
 
 ese believers be given tbe right to have a voice in the financial 
 afifairs of the Church in Japan, and the latter be created an in- 
 dependent institution. It is feared that some trouble may arise 
 m consequence of this movement.” 
 
 I have read with care many and extensive arguments against 
 Co-operation by Definition. Indeed voluminous documents 
 were sent tc me before I reached Japan and I spent no small 
 part of my trans-Pacific voyage in reading them. Some are 
 marked bv ability of a high order and are notable for their 
 skillful marshalling of facts and opinions. Others are a maze 
 of technicalities. Taking them as a whole, they impress me as 
 open to the following objections: 
 
 1. They emphasize secondarv considerations rather than 
 primary ones. One misses a large view of the question as it 
 concerns the cause of Christ irrespective of local difficulties. 
 
 2. The point of view appears to be that of the missionary 
 and the Mission rather than of the Native Church. This is of 
 course, natural, and to some extent inevitable and proper; but 
 I do not believe that this question can be wiselv settled without 
 a better balancing of the interests'of both sides. 
 
 3. The fundamental assumption appears to be that the prin- 
 ciples and methods of the particular denomination to which 
 the writers belong and the rights and dignities of the Missions 
 as representing the Churches of America are to be guarded at 
 all costs, and that anything that would tend to impair them 
 would be ‘‘an injury to the cause of Christ.” 
 
 4. An assumption, which apparently underlies many argu- 
 ments, is that the Japanese Church, if it is given the oppor- 
 tunity. will exercise its power in ways that are injurious to 
 missionary work. This assumption is so manifest in some of 
 the pamphlets that the reader gets the impression that if each 
 and every objection presented were successfully answered, the 
 basic state of mind would remain and evolve new ones. 
 
 5. The frequent statement that the writers believe this 
 question to be ‘‘a matter of conscience” confuses definition. 
 This is not a question between what is inherently right and in- 
 herently wrong, nor is it an issue between good men and bad 
 men. It is a difference of opinion between Christian brethren 
 as to what is the best course to pursue. For one j'artv to in- 
 sist that the question is one of conscience and that it therefore 
 cannot modify its position is to put an end to all di.scussion ; for 
 of course, the other side would be equally justified in saying 
 that it is conscientious too. and thus there would be a deadlock. 
 The fact is that the question is not one of conscience at all, 
 but one of judgment, and it should be considered from that 
 viewpoint. 
 
47 
 
 6. If some of the objections were sound, they would not 
 be decisive. There are objections to most things in this world, 
 especially to such great movements as this. The question is 
 not whether objections can be found, but whether they are 
 \dtal — weighty enough to overcome opposing considerations. 
 
 I heard much to the ef¥ect that acquiescence in the Japanese 
 demand would greatly impair the rights and liberties of mis- 
 sionaries. The experience of West Japan missionaries who 
 have cordially accepted the “Definition” does not sustain this 
 argument. They have lived under the “Definition” as freely 
 as before. They do not fear their Japanese brethren and are 
 working happily with them. I do not believe that a missionarv 
 anywhere in tbe world makes a mistake when he trusts his 
 native brethren and co-operates ungrudgingly with them. If 
 the\" wish to do some things which he does not approve, it 
 rnay not follow that they are wrong. At any rate, they are in 
 their own country and are dealing with affairs which are more 
 vital to them than to any one else. The missionary is, at best, 
 an alien. He is not in Japan for himself or for the guarding of 
 his own rights and liberties. He is in Japan for the Japanese. 
 The Native Church does not exist in the interest of the Mis- 
 sion and the Board, but the Mission and the Board exist in the 
 interest of the Church. If the two clash, every effort should 
 be made to bring about harmony; but if compromise is impos- 
 sible, the Mission and the Board should yield. If we are going 
 to work for the Native Church, we must work with the Na- 
 tive Church. 
 
 It is said that it is wrong to give the Japanese control of 
 our work. But is the work ours in the sense that such an ob- 
 jection implies? It is true that it is done by our missionaries 
 and with our money; but it is in Japan, for the Japanese, and 
 within the bounds of Japanese Presbyteries. The result ac- 
 crues to the Japanese Church, and that Church is responsible 
 for the future care of it. Is not the work quite as much Jap- 
 anese as American? It seems reasonable that Japanese Pres- 
 byteries should say to us: “If you are going to conduct Chris- 
 tian work within our bounds, you ought to consult us. It is 
 not right that we should have no knowledge of what you are 
 doing, except as one of our members reports a personal con- 
 versation with an individual missionary whom he may happen 
 to meet.” 
 
 Suppose conditions were reversed, and that Presbyterians in 
 Japan were to send missionaries to preach in the United States. 
 Suppose they were to say to our Presbyteries: “We are doing 
 this work for you and we expect the congregations which we 
 develop to become members of your Presbyteries and that you 
 
 D 
 
48 
 
 will assume oversight and care of them.” Would not the 
 American Presbyteries reply; ‘AVe welcome your assistance on 
 condition that the work be conducted under the supervision of 
 a joint committee on which we have equal representation.” 
 Would not that be deemed fair? Would any American Pres- 
 bytery demand less? The fact is that our home mission Pres- 
 b}deries in America insist upon the right of exclusive control 
 of their work, even when all their churches are aided by the 
 Board of Home Missions two thousand miles away. Is it 
 objected that Americans and Japanese are not the same? I fear 
 that the Japanese suspect that a feeling of this kind underlies 
 some of the opposition to their demand for equal rights ; that 
 there is a disposition to treat them as not on the same plane 
 wdth ourselves ; and they resent it. 
 
 Some earnest objection to “Co-operation by Definition” was 
 based upon the allegation that what the Japanese really want 
 is control of missionary money and of the work of the mis- 
 sionaries themselves. The Japanese leaders, in the two confer- 
 ences referred to, emphatically denied this. They simply felt 
 that the evangelistic work of a Mis.sion within the bounds of 
 a Presbytery should be conducted under a Joint Committee. 
 They stated, in reply to my question, that they did not ask for 
 a majority representation, but simply for half; and that this 
 equally balanced committee should decide where work was to 
 be done, what Japanese should be employed to do it, what sal- 
 aries should be paid to them, etc. 
 
 Less risk is inyolyed than some imagine. It is true that a 
 Joint Committee of Japanese and missionaries woidd control 
 evangelistic work and expenditure in a given year. But the 
 Mission and the Board would retain the sole power to determine 
 the amount which should be placed at the disposal of the Joint 
 Committee for this purpose. They could increase or decrease 
 the grant for the following year absolutely at their own dis- 
 cretion. If the majority of the missionaries in Japan were to ad- 
 vise the Board that its money was being unwisely used, and that 
 they could not convince their Japanese brethren of this, the 
 Board would be entirely free to diminish or to discontinue its 
 grant altogether. All that is financially involved in “Co-opera- 
 tion by Definition” is that the money that the Mission and the 
 Board can deyote to eyangelistic work in a giyen year shall be 
 controlled by the Joint Committee. This sum for the current 
 fiscal year is about $16,000 gold for both the East and West 
 Japan ^Missions. I hope it can be more next year; but we can 
 make it less if we think best. 
 
 To make sure that I was not mistaken on this point, I asked 
 the Japanese leaders at both the Tokyo and Osaka Confer- 
 
49 
 
 dices for their understanding. They replied; “We would not 
 presume to dictate to the Boaid in New York how much money 
 it should expend for evangelistic work. The Board has abso- 
 lute control of that question without consultation with the 
 Japanese.” They simply felt that whatever amount we did 
 spend should be through a Joint Committee. 
 
 One does not long hear and read objections to sharing con- 
 trol of evangelistic work with native Presbyteries before he 
 becomes conscious of an underlying theological position. It is 
 seldom explicitly stated, but one soon comes to feel that it is 
 more determinative, with some at least, than most of the other 
 objections. This position appears to be, in substance, that the 
 Native Church cannot yet be prudently entrusted with questions 
 which affect evangelistic work in relation to the Missions, as 
 there is reason to fear that they may be influenced by possible 
 theological tendencies which the objectors regard as danger- 
 ous. It would not be practicable for me to argue in this report 
 the theological questions involved. I am concerned here, not 
 with the ecclesiastical phases of the problem, but simply with 
 their bearing upon mission policy. The objection seems to me 
 to be based upon the following assumptions: 
 
 First; That we need to be afraid of our avowe.l aim to es- 
 tablish a self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating 
 Church. 
 
 Second: That the Church in Asia must be conformed to a 
 particular t\pe of theology as defined in Europe or America. 
 
 Third; That we are responsible for all the future mistakes 
 of a Church which we have once founded. 
 
 Fourth; That Christ who “purchased” the Church, and who 
 is its “Head.” cannot be trusted to guide it. 
 
 I repeat what I have said elsewhere on this subject: Let us 
 have faith in our brethren and faith in God. When Christ said 
 that He would be with His disciples even unto the end, He 
 meant His disciples in Asia and Africa as well as in Europe 
 and America. The operations of the Holy Spirit are not con- 
 fined to the white race. Are we to take no account of His 
 guidance? He is still in the world and will not forsake His 
 own. We should plant in non-Christian lands the fundamental 
 principles of the Gospel of Christ, and then give the Native 
 Church reasonable freedom to make some adaptations for itself. 
 If, in the exercise of that freedom, it does some things that we 
 deprecate, let us not be frightened or imagine that our work 
 has been in vain. Some of the acts of the Native Church which 
 impress us as wrong may not be so wrong in themselves as we 
 imagine, but simply due to its dififerent way of doing or stating 
 things. When a question arose regarding the theological 
 
50 
 
 trustworthiness of the Church of Christ in Japan, Mr. Robert 
 E. Speer wrote: “I believe that the Church of Christ in Japan 
 
 is sound on the great evangelical convictions The leaders 
 
 stand for what is central and fundamental. Their battle is 
 with atheism and materialism, with agnosticism and Unitarian 
 ism. We must not insist on raising issues within the ranks of 
 those who are fighting these battles which are not essential to 
 fidelity to the great central convictions. Having confidence in 
 the Church and its leaders. I think we must be very careful not 
 to antagonize them on issues that are not absolutely funda- 
 mental.”* 
 
 The Rev. D. C. Greene. D.D., the pioneer missionary of the 
 American Board, in a booklet entitled “After Forty Years in 
 Japan,” writes: “Our Japanese associates have also had their 
 l^rovidential training and it is only just that we should recog- 
 nize, as we most joyfully do. their maturity of faith, their ripe- 
 ness of experience and their fitness for leadership. Mdiatever 
 advantages we may have had over them in the past are more 
 than compensated for by the advantages which are theirs by 
 right of birth. It may well be that they have missed certain 
 experiences which we prize and which we have drawn from 
 our long Christian ancestry, certain conceptions of religious 
 truth, as well as certain habits of thought and action, wdiich we 
 can bring as our contribution to the faith and life of the Church. 
 Thus, within our individual spheres we may be fitted to serve 
 as experts in the furtherance of Christian work ; but the respon- 
 sibility of leadership is theirs, and it is a joy to know that this 
 responsibility has fallen upon men so worthy of the confident 
 loyalty of their Christian countrymen.” 
 
 It was urged that the relation of a Mission to a Native 
 Church is a matter to be settled on the field and that the Board 
 should not interfere. For many years I have strongly empha- 
 sized as a cardinal principle of missionary administration the 
 dignitv anri authoritv of the ^Mission within their proper sphere 
 of responsibility. But the question whether a Mission shall co- 
 C’perate with a Native Church so vitally affects the main pur- 
 pose for which the Board and the Home Church suj^port mis- 
 sionaries. that the Board, which has been “constituted by the 
 General Assemblv to supervise and conduct the work of For- 
 eign Missions.” cannot regard it as a purely local matter. In- 
 deed it is doubtful whether the Board could long support a 
 Mission who.se work could not be done in harmony with the 
 Native Church. It would not be necessary to order with- 
 drawal. The strained relations on the field and the continued 
 paralysis of the work would inevitably result in loss of interest 
 
 • The Foreign Missionary, page 304. 
 
51 
 
 at home. In the distribution of available resources, it would be 
 inevitable that preference should be given to regions which 
 promise more harmony and success than would be possible in a 
 field where the position of the Mission is “not war, but in- 
 creasing isolation.” Withdrawal would take place automatic 
 ally. 
 
 Happily for us, however, the Board was not obliged to over- 
 rule our missionaries. Of the seventy-six on our roll in Japan, 
 1 could learn of only nineteen who are opposed to ‘Co-opera- 
 tion by Definition.” I announced this in a crowded conference 
 of the two ^Missions at Karuizawa and called for correction if 
 I was in error ; no one challenged the statement. Eight of the 
 nineteen, while greatly troubled by the Synod’s decision, are 
 nevertheless willing to acc|uiesce in the judgment of tlie major- 
 ity and give the “Definition” a fair trial. Only eleven out of 
 the entire seventy-six felt, when I was in Japan, that they could 
 not acquiesce. The fact that for convenience of local adminis- 
 tration our missionaries are divided into two Missions, and that 
 the present division has enabled the eleven dissenters to secure 
 a working majority of the smaller body, is an accident of the 
 situation which cannot be considered as affecting the merits of 
 the question at issue. The Board must be guided, in such a 
 large matter of policy, by the consensus of our missionary body 
 in Japan. It cannot acquiesce in following one policy in East 
 Japan and an opposite policy in West Japan. Both Missions 
 are dealing with the same Japanese Church. The conditions of 
 the work are substantially the same. “Co-operation by Defini- 
 tion” means the same thing in both Missions. 
 
 We may state the case in another way. There are four 
 bodies concerned, the East Japan Mission, the West Japan 
 Mission, the Church of Christ and the Board. Three of these 
 bodies were agreed upon “Co-operation by Definition.” 
 
 The Board, therefore, was not opposing its missionaries in 
 Japan in this matter: it was simplv sustaining a large majority 
 against a comparatively small minority. It might be added 
 that of the four Boards concerned, three — the Dutch Reform- 
 ed, the German Reformed and our own — have approved the 
 Definition. 
 
 In the conferences at Tokyo and Osaka, the Japanese inti- 
 mated that it was probable that the approaching meeting of 
 the Synod would consider some alternative for those Missions 
 which refused to accept Co-operation by Definition; but they 
 made it clear that if any such modification should be agreed to, 
 it would nor represent the judgment or the desire of the Synod, 
 but would be simply a compromise for the time with those 
 Missions which would not co-operate in the way desired by the 
 
52 
 
 Church and witli winch the Synod did not want open rupture. 
 As a matter of fact, the Synod at its meeting in October 
 ( 1909) adopted the following report of a special committee 
 on this subject; 
 
 “In 1906 the Synod formulated a Definition of Cooperation and ad- 
 vised the Missions hitherto known as ‘Cooperating Alissions’ to present 
 ab initio to the Japanese Board of Missions (Dendo Kyokn) plans of co- 
 operation based on the definition. 
 
 “The West Japan Mission of the Presbyterian Church and the Ger- 
 man Reformed Church presented plans of cooperation, based on the 
 definition which the Dendo Kyokn accepted and is at present putting into 
 operation. .According to what we positively know, it is .said that the 
 Presbyterian Board and the German Reformed Board heartily approve 
 the definition. 
 
 “However, some Missions are not willing to cooperate by definition, 
 but at the same time wish to retain certain connection with the Church 
 of Qirist in Japan, and so, according to the decision of the Synod of 
 1908, they proposed two or three methods to the Special Committee. The 
 Southern Presbyterian Mission and the North Dutch Missions introduced 
 almost identical proposals, and the South Dutch Mission introduced two 
 proposals, but not as a final agreement but as a basis of relations. The 
 East Japan Mission sent in proposals the same as the North Dutch 
 Alission, but as the E;ist Japan proposals had not the sanction of the 
 Board, the Committee were obliged to return them. The Special Com- 
 mittee, after careful consultation, recommend that the Synod adopt the 
 following resolutions in the spirit of tolerance and peace. 
 
 RESOLUTION. 
 
 “The Synod of 1906 adopted a definition of a cooperating Mission, 
 and still maintains the same regarding the fundamental principle in- 
 volved in it as proper. Nevertheless, out of regard for the hitherto 
 friendly relations existing between the Church of Christ in Japan and 
 the various Missions, togetlier with the Churches they represent, more- 
 over in order to avoid the establishment in Japan of a new sect for 
 which no necessity exists, proposes the following mutual agreement to 
 non-cooperating Missions, not as a substitute for co-operation. .A mis- 
 sion wishing to enter into this mutual agreement must first secure con- 
 sent of the Board in the matter. 
 
 “.ARTICLES ON MUTt'-M. AOREEMENT. 
 
 “Such Missions as desire to enter upon this mutual agreement shall 
 conduct their evangelistic work in accordance with the following 
 articles ; 
 
 “i, Such Alissions shall sincerely accept the Confession of Faith, the 
 Constitution and Canons of the Church of Christ in Japan; moreover 
 they shall recognize these as appropriate to and sufficient for ministers, 
 evangelists, and Mission Churches and preaching places connected with 
 Missions. 
 
 “j. .Anyone who wishes to engage in evangelistic (Dendo) work 
 under the Alission. may apply to Presbytery for licensure or ordination, 
 and when licensed or ordained shall be under the government of the 
 Presbyteiy. Alinisters shall have the standing of corresponding mem- 
 bers of Presbytery and Synod. 
 
 "3. Alission preaching-places and Alission-aided Churches shall have 
 no organic connection with the Church of Christ in Japan, but their 
 statistics shall be entered in a separate column, and they shall annually 
 
S 3 
 
 report to Presbytery their financial and spiritual condition. Moreover, 
 they shall use their every effort to promote the general welfare and 
 progress of the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 
 “4. Missions shall not organize churches. When Mission-aided 
 churches or preaching places wish to become Churches, they shall belong 
 to the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 
 "5. In case these articles of agreement are to be amended, on the 
 agreement of both Missions (having received the consent of their 
 Board) and the Synod (acting on the resolution of the Standing or 
 Special Committee) the amendment may be made. But such amend- 
 ment must not conflict with the action of the Synod in 1907. 
 
 “In case the desire is to terminate the agreement, the Mission with 
 the consent of its Board, and the Synod on action of its Standing Com- 
 mittee, must give notice a year in advance of such intention. 
 
 Kajinosuke Ibuka, Masahisa Uemura, 
 
 Kota Hoshino, Kwanji Mori, 
 
 Kojiro Kivama, Hokosaku Baba, 
 
 Takechi Hiravama, Matakichi Hoshino, 
 iMiBuo Saito, Kotano Hikaru. 
 
 The Committee 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 “i. A copy of the foregoing resolutions shall be sent to Missions who 
 desire to keep a certain connection with our Church by methods other 
 than cooperation. 
 
 “2. The Standing Committee or Special Committee has the authority 
 of making an agreement with any Mission which within the year informs 
 them that they will carry on their evangelistic work according to this 
 agreement. 
 
 “3. Missions that have entered upon this agreement and other Mis- 
 sions as well that wish to make ab initio plans of cooperation must 
 present proposals of cooperation to the Dendo Kyoku of the Synod.” 
 
 Thi.s may serve as a temporary working basis for those Mis- 
 sions which feel that they cannot accept Co-operation by De- 
 finition. It does not impress me, however, as affording any 
 real relief. We cannot afford, in our relations with a self-gov- 
 erning Native Church, to accept a compromise which has vir- 
 tually been extorted from it as the price of peace. It is to the 
 credit of the Church of Christ that it was willing partially to 
 waive its judgment in order to preserve at least the semblance 
 of amicable relations with missionaries. But such adjustment 
 cannot be considered a settlement of the matter. It is not Co- 
 operation and it is not likely to result in harmony. It is sim- 
 ply a truce. I was gratified, therefore, when tlie Board de- 
 clined to ask for the compromise and clearly reiterated its 
 willingness to accept “Co-operation by Definition” as the 
 Church desires. Its action, September 20, 1909, was as fol- 
 lows ; 
 
 “.A. communication was received from the East Japan Mis- 
 sion requesting the Board so to modify its action of December 
 21, 1908, as to authorize the Mission to present, uncondition- 
 ally to the Synod of the Church of Christ in Japan, through its 
 
54 
 
 Special Committee, a plan of affiliation as having the sanction 
 of the Board. The Board voted to reply, expressing regret that 
 there has been any misunderstanding in its action of December 
 21, 1908, tending to obscure in the minds of the Mission the 
 real position of the Board with reference to this whole question 
 of relations with the Church of Christ of Japan. The Board 
 has accepted the principle of co-operation, and not affiliation, 
 as the proper policy for our Missions to adopt in their work 
 in Japan. To this the Board stands committed irrevocably, as 
 long as the Church of Christ in Japan desires that policy, or 
 until a full and fair trial shall have clearly demonstrated that 
 such a policy is unworkable. The request of the Mission is, 
 therefore, declined, and the ^Mission once more urged to pro- 
 ceed immediately with negotiations for co-operation.” 
 
 When this action became known, the East Japan Mission 
 held another meeting (Oct. 11-12, 1909). A resolution “that 
 the }^Iission present to the Dendo Kyoku the plans of Co- 
 operation already approved by the Board” was finally carried 
 by a majority of nine to two. It was agreed that others might 
 record their votes, and the final vote stands about eleven to six. 
 
 Thus the long controversy appears to have ended, as far as 
 official actions are concerned, and “Co-operation by Definition” 
 has now been accepted by both of our Japan Missions. It is 
 onlv fair to add, however, that those who believe the “Defini- 
 tion” to be wrong in orinciple are apparently still of the same 
 opinion. They have yielded simply because, as one of them is 
 reported to have expressed it, “the attitude of the Church of 
 Christ and the Board is so clear and decisive that further oppo- 
 sition is useless.” 
 
 Let us now give “Co-operation b}' Definition” a fair trial. 
 After all, the whole plan is an experiment. We are in a period 
 of transition, and precedents do not guide. The “Definition” 
 was not chosen by us as the ideal one. It was the form in 
 which the Japanese pressed it. and we had to deal with the con- 
 dition, not the theory. Since we have yielded to the Church, 
 large responsibility rests upon it to make the trial successful. 
 If it is not, I venture to believe that the Church of Christ will 
 be willing to make any reasonable modifications. 
 
 THE NATIVE CHURCH. 
 
 I regret that the limits of this report do not permit a full 
 discussion of some other phases of the general question of the 
 relationship of the Missions and the Board to the Native 
 Church in other lands as well as Japan. The growth of the 
 Church in intelligence, stability and faith is at once the great- 
 est joy and the greatest anxiety of modern missionary work. 
 
55 
 
 These Churches are the fruition of the hopes and toils and 
 prayers of missionaries and their supporters in home lands. 
 With the Apostle John we can say that we “have no greater joy 
 than to hear that ‘our’ children walk in truth.’’ 
 
 But with the development of these Churches came new 
 problems that are more difficult than any which we have yet 
 had to face. We are dealing not with men of our own race and 
 speech whose customs and ways of thinking we understand, 
 but with men of other blood and different points of view, men 
 whose hereditary influences are far removed from ours and 
 whose minds we, as foreigners, cannot easily comprehend. They 
 are not interested in some of the theological discussions which 
 have long engrossed the attention of the Western world. They 
 find some of our methods unsatisfactory to them. They wish 
 to determine their own forms of government, to write their 
 own creeds, and to accept the advice of alien missionaries only 
 so far as it commends itself to their judgment. 
 
 It is inevitable in these circumstances that differences should 
 arise and that the Native Churches should do some things which 
 appear to us to be unwise and perhaps injurious. It is a new 
 experience for the white man, who has been accustomed to 
 feel that he represents superior intelligence, to find himself 
 shouldered aside by men whom he has long regarded as his 
 inferiors. It is usually hard for a parent to realize that his son 
 has come tc an age wdien he must decide certain things for 
 himself, and this feeling is intensified in the relations of mis- 
 sionaries from the West to the native Christians of the East. 
 
 All the more should w'e be on our guard against disappoint- 
 ment and wounded pride. We must recognize the fact that 
 the native Church has rights w'hich we ourselves claimed in 
 earlier days, rights w'hich are inseparable from those truths 
 which W’e have long sought to inculcate. W’e know' that the 
 knowledge of the Gospel awakens new life. Wh\ should w’e 
 be surprised that this knowledge is doing in Asia what it is our 
 boast that it did in Europe, and why should w’e be afraid of 
 the spirit which we ourselves have invoked? It is only people 
 of spirit who are worth anything. When the rights and dig- 
 nities of the ^Mission or the Board appear to be jeopardized, let 
 us not harbor a sense of injury or feel that we must resent 
 what we conceive to be an infringement of our prerogatives. It 
 is better to go to the other extreme and say that we have no 
 rights in Asia, except the right of serving our brethren there. 
 
 Tw'O phases have long been current in missionary literature 
 and correspondence which illustrate the difficulty of the situa- 
 tion. Thev are “native agents’’ and “native helpers.’’ “Agents 
 and helpers’’ of w’hom? ^Missionaries, of course. Precisely; 
 
56 
 
 and yet these men belong to proud and sensitive races and are 
 not infrequently our equals. We have now come to the point 
 in Japan, China and India, and we are rapidly •approaching it 
 in some other countries, where we should not only abandon 
 this terminology, but the whole attitude of mind of which it is 
 the expression. 
 
 It is a grave question whether our whole missionary policy 
 is not too largely centered upon the Board and the missionary, 
 rather than upon the native Church. We have theorized about 
 the interests of the Church, but we have usually acted upon the 
 supposition that our own interests were paramount. W'e are in 
 constant correspondence and contact with missionaries ; but, 
 save for an occasional secretarial visit, we have no oppor- 
 tunity to come into touch with the native Christians. We are 
 in danger of being ignorant of their points of view and states 
 of mind. \\’hen the Board makes out its annual appropriations, 
 it first sets aside everything required for the support of the 
 missionary himself — his salary, house-rent, furlough, children's 
 allowance, etc. What is left goes to the native and current 
 work. That which we have done financially, we have done in 
 everything. 
 
 To a certain extent this is not only right but necessary. The 
 missionary is “one sent” from a distant land. He is living far 
 from his natural environment and in such circumstances that 
 he must be wholly supported from home. We cannot send men 
 into the heart of Asia and Africa and subject them to uncer- 
 tainties as to their maintenance and position. The native is in 
 his natural environment. He supported himself before the mis- 
 sionary came and his ability to stay is independent of the mis- 
 sionary. We cannot, therefore, place the missionary and the 
 native minister on the same plane from the view-point of our 
 financial responsibility. We must maintain the missionary in 
 full to the very end, not expecting or permitting him to receive 
 the support of the Native Churches. We are not expected to 
 maintain the native Church to the end, but only to assist it in 
 getting started. 
 
 Making all due allowance for these considerations, the gen- 
 eral fact remains that our policy in its practical operation has 
 not sufficiently taken into account the development of the Na- 
 tive Church and the recognition of its rights and privileges. 
 We have built up Missions, emphasized their authority and dig- 
 nity, and kept them separate from the Native Church, until, in 
 some regions at least, the Mission has become such an inde- 
 pendent centralized body, .so entrenched in its station com- 
 pounds and with all power .so absolutely in its hands, that the 
 .Native Chmch feels heljiless and irritated in its presence. The 
 
57 
 
 larger re-enforcements we send, the greater the danger be- 
 comes. Many missionaries feel this so keenly that they urge 
 the abandonment of the policy of segregating missionaries on 
 compounds and favor distributing them in small groups and 
 even individual families so that they will live among the people 
 and identif)’ themselves with them. This is the German policy 
 and it has strong advocates among missionaries of other na- 
 tionalities. The Irish and Scotch ^Missions in Manchuria fol- 
 low this course, scattering their missionaries over many places 
 instead of concentrating them in a few. We have some sta- 
 tions of this kind, and indeed some whole ^lissions whose fam- 
 ilies are few and scattered enough in all conscience. But oui 
 general jx)licy is one of concentration in strong stations and 
 the small ones usually call pretty vigorously for i e-enforce- 
 ments. Full discussion of this question would take me too far 
 afield just now. There are two sides to it and on the whole I 
 favor our present iwlicy of well-equipped stations. But such 
 stations should be on their guard against the danger of a sepa- 
 rative, exclusive spirit, and it should not be assumed that effi- 
 ciency necessarily increases in proportion to numbers. The 
 machinery of large stations is apt to become complicated and to 
 require time so that doubling a station force seldom doubles the 
 work. Except where there are higher educational institutions, 
 four families are a better station staff than eight. Let the other 
 four, if they can be sent, man another station. 
 
 The reasons for vesting financial power in the Missions, as 
 far as foreign funds are concerned, are strong; but the time 
 has come when the Presbyteries on the foreign field ought to be 
 given a larger cooperative share insupervisingevangelistic work, 
 and in some places, full responsibility for expending the funds 
 which the}" raise. One reason why our Presbyteries in many fields 
 are not showing that fidelity and aggressiveness which we de- 
 sire is because they have practically no power. They are over- 
 shadowed by the Mission. All questions affecting the work are 
 decided by the missionaries within the close preserve of the 
 ^Mission. The native pastors and elders feel that they have no 
 voice in the real conduct of affairs and therefore they have little 
 sense of responsibility for it. Sometimes they acquiesce in- 
 differently in this situation and become negligent ; sometimes 
 they acquiesce under necessity and become irritated. In either 
 case, the result is unfortunate. 
 
 .-\.s I have already intimated. I emphasized conferences with 
 native leaders and tried to get into touch with them. I am not 
 so ignorant of the .Asiatic mind as to imagine that I wholly suc- 
 ceeded. Xo man can run out from .America for a visit in the 
 Orient, a man who does not understand the language and who 
 
58 
 
 has not lived among the people, and by any number of confer- 
 ences conducted through an interpreter familiarize hiuiself with 
 the native point of view. i\Ien who lived in Asia a life-time con- 
 fess that there is still much that is inscrutable to them. Still, 
 by asking questions of representative Christians in many differ- 
 ent fields and also by asking questions of experienced mission- 
 aries and thus getting the benefit of the knowledge of those who 
 are in a better position to judge, one can hardly fail to get some 
 idea of the Asiatic attitude. It is significant that in all m\ 
 conferences with native Christians in various parts of Japan 
 and China during this visit, and in the same countries, and also 
 in Siam. Laos. India, the Philippines and Syria during my for- 
 mer visit. I found substantially the same state of mind, and 
 conversations with hundreds of missionaries of our own and 
 other Boarcis have pointed to the same conclusion. In New 
 York we are constantly corresponding with missionaries scat- 
 tered all over the world, and in the course of years and in 
 many thousands of letters certain facts and opinions are clearlv 
 apparent. These confirm the impressions gained on the fiehl. 
 
 This general feeling naturally exists in varying degrees of in- 
 tensity. Sometimes, it is strong; sometimes weak; and in some 
 places, notably Korea, it is as yet hardly observable, for rea- 
 sons to which I refer elsewhere. But taking a wide view of the 
 situation in Asia, as I have had opportunity to study it on two 
 different journeys eight years apart, in many different countries 
 and in fifteen years of correspondence as a secretary, it seems 
 to me indisputable that the time has alread}' come, in some 
 places, and is swiftly coming in others, when the Native Church 
 is reaching self-consciousness, when it is restive under the domi- 
 nation of the foreigner, and when it is desirous of managing 
 more fully its own affairs. In Japan, the Church is cietermined 
 to do this at all hazards, even though it has to lose all foreign 
 assistance whatever. The Church of Christ is willing to have 
 foreign missionaries and foreign aid only on condition of co- 
 operaton as the Church defines co-operation. 
 
 In China, the same state of feeling is rapidlj' developing, 
 though the Chinese feel more strongly the need of financial as- 
 sistance from abroad. Twice in North China, movements have 
 arisen for the formation of an independent Chinese Church, 
 and the second movement, a recent one, would probably have 
 succeeded If it had been under more effective leadership and if 
 the difficulty of financing such a Church without outside aid had 
 not been so serious. I asked the Chinese in our Peking Confer- 
 ence why they were not satisfied with the Church which they 
 already have, and wdiich we are cordially w’illing to turn over 
 to them as fast as they are able to assume responsibility for it. 
 
59 
 
 The reply was to the efifect that the Chinese do not feel that the 
 present Church is Chinese ; they regard it as the foreigners’ 
 Church. 
 
 The same feeling developed in the large conference with 
 Chinese leaders in Shanghai. They evidently considered the 
 question the burning one and they discussed nearly all day. 
 Afterwards we took it up in the missionaries’ conference. 
 There, too. its gravity was fully recognized. The missionaries 
 faced it squarely and handled it with courage and wisdom. The 
 result was the unanimous adoption of the following paper: 
 
 “Careful consideration was given to the questions which were 
 raised by the Giinese leaders in their conference Saturday. 
 
 ‘A\’e cordially agree with our Chinese brethren, and indeed 
 we had already expressed the opinion, that the time has come 
 in some of the ^Missions, and that it is rapidly coming in others, 
 when the Presbyteries should be given a larger share of privi- 
 lege and responsibility, both in the conduct and support of 
 evangelistic work, the selection of Chinese evangelists, etc., than 
 now exists in many places. 
 
 “We also believe that it would be wise to give the Presby- 
 tery or Synod concerned some representation on the field board 
 of managers of theological seminaries, which are most vitally 
 related to the evangelistic work in the training of pastors and 
 evansrelists. 
 
 “^^’e recognize that there are many details which will have 
 to be worked out with care, and that conditions differ in vari- 
 ous Missions. We therefore content ourselves now with this 
 general expression of opinion, and we earnestlv commend the 
 whole subject to the earnest consideration of our respective 
 Missions at their next annual meetings. 
 
 “We wish to report to our respective Missions that the Chi- 
 nese. in the conference referred to. expressed great interest in 
 other educational institutions to which they look for the educa- 
 tion of their children: that they expressed concern about their 
 exclusion from consultation regarding them, particularly in 
 matters affecting location and removal, and that they expressed 
 deep concern regarding the cost of education of the children of 
 the poorer Qiristians and particularly the children of pastors 
 and evangelists. When asked whether they would prefer a 
 .special school for the free education of these children, or spe- 
 cial aid in schools and colleees already established, they unani- 
 mously voted for the latter.” 
 
 When these resolutions were made known to the Chinese, 
 they expres.sed unbounded relief and gratification. They ap 
 peared to feel that if this policy were ratified by the Missions 
 and became practically operative, the consequences would be 
 
6o 
 
 beneficial in the highest degree. Some fear was privately ex- 
 pressed that they read into the resolutions more than was in- 
 tenrled : hut as I left, copies were being translated into Chinese 
 so that the exact wording could he in their hands. 
 
 Nowhere did T find a better feeling between missionaries and 
 native Christians than in Shantung. A committee of three, 
 headed by the Rev. J. A. Fitch, formulated the following an- 
 swer to some of my questions on the Native Church and the 
 answers were approved by the conference: 
 
 ‘‘.\s a inattcr of fact", the Chinese constituency connected with tlic 
 IMi.ssion is already theoretically entirely tnider the control of the local 
 Presbyteries, as far as purely ecclesiastical matters are concerned. The 
 foreiorn missionaries sit as ordinary members of the local church courts. 
 1 he Chine.se Church is making steady progress in the direction of fitness 
 for e.xercising this power of self-government, especially in the Wei-hsien 
 field. .'Kny e.xtension of power could only be made in the direction of 
 giving the Chinese Church control of Mission funds. Such a step has 
 not yet been suggested by the Chinese Church, and would not, in our 
 judgment, be advisable. 
 
 “The Chinese power of self-government develops rapidly in the 
 Church. .As a people they are not wanting in a genius for government. 
 The development of financial independence and Christian education 
 ought to bring with it ample ability for self-government. 
 
 “Many think that our present methods do give sufficient scope to the 
 Native Church. to the present there has not been much evidence of 
 a desire on the part of the native leaders to have more power and a 
 wirier field. But there is just a little indication that they will soon be 
 beginning to reach out for more power of control. They give largely to 
 education, and it is but natural for them to feel that they should share 
 in the administration of educational affairs in some way. They also give 
 more or less toward helpers, and a similar question in regard to their 
 selection and direction easily arises. They have not been given this power 
 in the past further than the individual church choosing their own evan- 
 gelist, when they support him. There is here a middle ground partly 
 supported by foreign funds and partly bv native. .As yet no plan has 
 been worked out for joint control. In Wei-hsien field, however, where 
 the patrons are responsible for about three-fourths of the cost of the 
 hoys' day schools, the Presbytery has appointed a man who jointly with 
 the missionary in charge controls and directs the boys' day school 
 system. But whether some further control should not be yielded is a 
 serious qitestion, about which opinion is divided." 
 
 Later reports imlicate that even in Shantung evidences of the 
 general movement among Chinese ministers and elders are 
 manifesting themselves. They show no spirit of mere criticism 
 or complaint ; only the healthy ambitions of a normal devel- 
 opment; 
 
 I'he subject is too large and involves too many ramifications 
 to he adequately treated in this report. I can onlv raise the 
 question now in this tentative way, and express, the earnest 
 h ■'pe that the Board will study further and carefnllv into the 
 whole subject and hold itself in readiness to admit the Native 
 
6i 
 
 Churches to such larger i)articipatioii in the supervision of the 
 work and even in the use of money for evangelistic work as the 
 Missions may deem practicable in their respective fields. There 
 will be some risks ; but they can hardly be as formidable as the 
 risks of the present policy. W'e cannot always keep the 
 churches of Asia in leading strings, and we ought not to do so. 
 W’e must trust them and help to put them upon their feet. 
 
 W'e ought to face these new questions of relationship, not 
 simply because they are forced upon us, but because we our- 
 selves frankly recognize their justice. It would not be credit- 
 able to ua tc insist upon holding all power in our own hands 
 until some aggressive Church, like the Church of Christ in 
 Japan, forces us to let go. W'e ought to see these things our- 
 selves. If we really desire a self-reliant, indigenous Church, 
 let us not be angry or frightened when signs of self-reliance 
 appear. 
 
 The more I see of the Christians of Asia, the more I respect 
 and love them. I expected to find intelligence and earnestness in 
 the Japanese leaders, for I knew the social and intellectual 
 strata from which most of them come. But T confess that I 
 was surprised by what I saw in Korea and China eight year.-, 
 ago. anci particularly during this visit. In these countries, the 
 Christians, as a class, have come from the lower strata of so- 
 ciety. I do not mean from the very lowest, nor am I unmind- 
 ful that some of the Christians are men and women of the up- 
 per classes. Nevertheless, the average type has come from a 
 lower social, financial and intellectual level than the Christians 
 in Japan. The Korean communicants are, as a rule, humble 
 villagers or peasants ; the Chinese communicants small farmers 
 or shop-keepers. Few in either China or Korea had any edu- 
 cation or social advantages prior to their baptism. All in 
 Korea and the large majority in China have come out of super- 
 stition and ignorance within a generation. Pastors, elders, 
 evangelists and teachers have been taken from this level ; 
 though of course the strongest have been chosen and given such 
 training as was practicable. Our schools and colleges are now 
 turning out more highly educated men. But most of the leaders 
 of the Native Churches still belong to the first generation of 
 Christians, and had little education in youth or until they were 
 converted. But in our conferences, these men discussed large 
 questions with intelligence, courtesy and dignity. Sound opin- 
 ions were expressed and ably advocated. We felt that we were 
 conferring with men who were our equals. 
 
 These Christians are often mighty in prayer. A missionary 
 writes of two of the Qiinese pastors in his station; “The 
 prayerfulness and pastoral spirit of these leaders have been a 
 
62 
 
 rebuke and an inspiration to me. Their conversation is usually 
 on the Scriptures, the passages of which they can find better 
 than any foreigner I know ; and their thoughts are much on the 
 problems o) the little groups of Christians. Often on the road 
 we have stopped and prayed specifically for what the leaders 
 had jotted down of definite petitions for particular needs. The 
 reality, sincerity and naturalness of their prayers, both in 
 thanksgiving and petition, have impressed me. Men who are 
 not living ir the Spirit cannot ‘get up’ such prayers as they 
 pray all the time.’’ 
 
 ]\Iany of these men. too. endure hardness for Christ. They 
 do not have the mental and financial support of the foreigner. 
 Xo great body of influential people in other lands holds up 
 their hands. They stand alone, not only in their social and 
 business relations but sometimes in their own families. They 
 stand, too. as a rule, in such poverty as we but faintly imagine, 
 with only th.e barest necessities of physical life and few if any 
 of its comforts. But they manifest a fiflelity and courage and 
 loving devotion to Christ which deeply move me. If. as 
 Amiel said, “the test of every religious, political or educational 
 system is the man which it forms.” Christianity is meeting the 
 test in Asia. Tliese men are our brethren. They are doing, 
 to say the least, quite as well as any of us would do in similar 
 circumstances. Let us honor them and trust them. Let us not 
 call them any longer our “agents” or “helpers,” but our co- 
 workers and friends. 
 
 I felt anew in this tour that the .scattered Churches in Asia 
 today are in about the same position as the Churches of the 
 first . century to which the inspired writers addressed their 
 Epistles. They, too, were poor and lowly people in the midst 
 of a scoffing and hostile world. The rich and the great heeded 
 them not. and fidelity to Christ often meant loss of occupation 
 and persecution which were hard to bear. To them the Apos- 
 tles wrote, expressing the affection which they had for those 
 early Christians, their anxiety as they considered the tempta- 
 tions and problems which they were facing, and yet their abso- 
 lute confidence that God would guide His people aright. We 
 re-read those Epistles from day to day as we journeyed, and I 
 was impressed by the similarity of ancient and modern condi- 
 tions. The Apostles could hardly have written differently if 
 they had directly addressed the Churches of Asia in the twen- 
 tieth century. The little companies of believers at Philippi and 
 Colosse, Corinth and Ephesus, and the sojourners of the dis- 
 persion in Asia Minor are reproduced today in the Churches of 
 China, Japan and Korea, and in thinking of them we would 
 gladly say with Paul and Peter and Jude: “Grace to you, and 
 
63 
 
 peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank 
 my God upon all my remembrances of you, always in every 
 supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication 
 with joy, for your fellowship in furtherance of the Gospel from 
 the first day until now ; being confident of this very thing, that 
 He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day 
 of Jesus Christ : even as it is right for me to be thus minded on 
 behalf of yen all. because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, 
 both in mv bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the 
 Gospel, ye all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my 
 witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Jesus 
 Christ.* 
 
 “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it. do not 
 cease to prav and make request for you. that ye mav be filled 
 with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and un- 
 derstanding, to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, 
 bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowl- 
 edge of God.”J 
 
 “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, 
 if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, that the 
 proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that per- 
 isheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise 
 and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; whom 
 not having seen ye love ; on whom, though now ye see him not. 
 vet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full 
 of glory.”? 
 
 “Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling and 
 to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in 
 exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, be- 
 fore all time, and now, and for evermore. Amen.Ӥ 
 
 KOREA. 
 
 The Problem of Evangelistic Success and Political 
 Relationship Among a Helpless People. 
 
 • We must remind ourselves at the outset that the Koreans, 
 unlike the Japanese, are not a masterful people with imperial 
 ambitions. They are a subject race, and they have been for 
 centuries. It is true that there were periods of so-called inde- 
 pendence and that the monarch bore the proud title of “Em- 
 peror.” while ministers plenipotentiary were in the capitals of 
 Europe and America. But the independence was seldom more 
 than nominal. The Koreans were pulled and hauled by con- 
 tending powers until the nation developed an attitude of 
 hopeless submissiveness or rather of despair. It would be easy 
 to find many Koreans who would deny this, and easy to point 
 
 •Phil. 1;2-S. tcol. 1:8-9. tl Peter 1:6-8. lJude 24:25. 
 
 E 
 
64 
 
 to some who have made heroic struggles against it ; but the 
 people as a whole have so long acquiesced in the inevitable that 
 a certain state of mind has resulted. The Koreans do not 
 like their present rulers and would gladly exchange them for 
 the Russians or almost any others. Any western power which 
 might enter Korea would be welcomed with open arms. But 
 no other nation, except Russia, has the slightest thought of in- 
 terfering with Japanese occupation, and Japan is on her guard 
 against Russia. 
 
 .-\n inherent difficulty which runs deep and affects many 
 problems in both Church and State is the fact that Korea has 
 no middle class, no manufacturing or professional class, no 
 trained leaders of any kind. There are only two classes, the 
 “noble” and the peasant. It would be difficult to find men who 
 are less noble than the former, the Yangbans. They are ef- 
 feminate and corrupt to the last degree. The common people 
 appear, at first glance, to be the least attractive of the peoples 
 of Asia. They lack the energ\q cleanliness and ambition of the 
 Japane.se. the thrift, industry and strength of the Chinese. The 
 visitor usually comes from Japan and the contrast is painful. 
 The villages are a squalid collection of mushroom hovels. The 
 streets are crooked alleys and choked with filth, except where 
 the Japanese have enforced a semblance of cleanliness. The 
 people are dirty and slothful. IMore unpromising material, ap- 
 parently, could hardly be found. 
 
 Some travelers have accepted this first impression as final. 
 “The Korean has absolutely nothing to recommend him except 
 his good nature,” declares Whigham. * Dr. George Trumbull 
 Ladd says : “The native character is rather more despicable 
 
 than that of any other people whom I have come to know.”t 
 George Kennan writes : “They are not only unattractive and 
 un.sympathetic to a Westerner who feels no spiritual interest in 
 them, but they appear more and more to be lazy, dirty, unscru- 
 pulous, dishonest, incredibly ignorant, and wholly lacking in 
 the ,self-re.spect that comes from a consciousness of individual 
 power and worth. They are not undevelojicd savages : they 
 are the rotten product of a decayed Oriental civilization.” t 
 
 There is a great deal more to the Korean people than these 
 pessimistic utterances would indicate. One is remind- 
 ed of one of I\Ir. Russell’s stories in “Collections and Recollec- 
 tions.” When Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, asked the 
 Duchess of Buckingham to accompany her to a sermon by 
 Whitfield, the Duchess replied that the doctrines of the Meth- 
 odist preachers were most repulsive and strongly tinged with 
 
 * Manchuria and Korea. 
 
 + In Korea with Marquis Ito. 
 X Article in The Outlook. 
 
65 
 
 impertinence and disrespect toward their superiors. “It is 
 monstrous to be told," she wrote, “that you have a heart as 
 simple as the common wretches that crawl on the earth ; and I 
 cannot but wonder that your ladyship should relish any senti- 
 ments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding." 
 
 Physically, the average Korean is a robust man. He is not 
 as tall as the European or the Chinese of the northern pro- 
 vinces, but he is larger than the Japanese. The traveler is 
 amazed by the strength and endurance of the Korean porters. 
 .A.S our first tour of Asia was expected to last a year and a 
 quarter, we took with us not only small steamer trunks that 
 could easily be carried wherever we went, but two iarge store 
 trunks in which we kept extra supplies of clothing for various 
 emergencies. These store trunks we ordinarity left at a port 
 while we traveled through the interior. They were heavy, 
 weighing between 200 and 250 pounds. The Korean porters, 
 however made light of them. Each porter was equipped with 
 a wooden framework called a “jickie.” It roughlv resembles 
 a chair upside down and is held on the back by straps or ropes 
 which pass over the shoulders and under the arms. A porter 
 stooped while a friend placed that heavy trunk in the jickie, 
 and then the porter with comparatively little effort rose and 
 jogged along as far as we wished to go. In this way our 
 trunks were taken from the waterside at Chemulpo to the rail- 
 wav station, and then they were taken from the station in Seoul 
 to the house more than a mile away at which we were to' be 
 entertained. I was rather dazed by the performance. I walked 
 briskly myself and had nothing to carry, but the trunks were at 
 the house within five minutes after our arrival, the charge be- 
 ing fifteen sen each (about seven and a half cents). These men 
 live on a diet of rice and beans, with a few other vegetables 
 and an occasional fish. They wear short jackets and baggy 
 trousers, both of white cloth which is always dirty. But the 
 muscles in their legs and arms are mighty bulging knots as 
 hard as whip-cords. 
 
 .\ significant and rather startling fact is that with the ado]i- 
 tion of foreign dress it is impossible to tell Koreans and lap- 
 anese apart, except by the language. The marked dissimilar- 
 ity in appearance now proves to have been in the top-knot, 
 the hor.se-hair hat and the flowing white garment. The ma- 
 iority of the Koreans still adhere to their traditional garb, but 
 increasing numbers in the cities are cutting their hair Japanese 
 fashion and wearing the same style clothing as their conquer- 
 ors. To test the matter, I repeatedly asked old residents in 
 .Seoul to tell me whether men whom we met on the streets were 
 Koreans or Japanese, and they could seldom do so without 
 asking questions. 
 
66 
 
 The Korean’s personal courage is good, as he has repeatedly 
 shown in his former wars with the Japanese, though his lack 
 of organization and competent leadership and his ignorance of 
 the weapons and methods of modern warfare make him help- 
 less before the Japanese today. 
 
 Xor are Koreans lacking in intelligence. They are mentally 
 quite the equals of the Chinese and the Japanese and they de- 
 velop quickly under education. The helplessness of their po- 
 litical subjugation to a powerful neighboring nation and the 
 hopeless oppression and corruption of their own government, 
 united to their natural lack of initiative and ambition have 
 given the world a wrong impression as to their real ability. 
 Every one conceded that the best speech at the International 
 Student Conference of 1907 in Tokyo was made by a Korean. 
 He delivered it with splendid power in excellent English and 
 then, to the amazement and admiration of his audience, he 
 delivered it again in Japanese. Korean children arc remark- 
 ably bright scholars, as all missionary teachers testify. Most 
 of my visit to Korea in 1901 and a part of this visit were spent 
 among the country villages where my contact with the natives 
 was direct and constant. i\Iy long tour of Asia enabled me to 
 compare the average Korean with the average village types of 
 the Chinese. Japanese, Filipinos, Siamese. East Indians and 
 .Syrians. While the Koreans are less industrious and persist- 
 ent than the Chinese and Japanese, and less cleanlv than the 
 Siamese and Filipinos, they impressed me as quite as capable 
 of development as the typical Asiatic elsewhere, if conditions 
 were equally favorable. Archibald Little, who saw many of 
 the peoples of Asia, not only wrote of the superior pliysique of 
 the Koreans, but he declared that “in intelligence, whtre the 
 opportunity of its development is afiforded. they are not in- 
 ferior to other races of Mongol type.’’* 
 
 Their ancient history is one of honorable achievement. 
 Koradadbeh. the Arab geographer of the ninth century, tells 
 us that in his time the Koreans made nails, rode on saddles, 
 wore satin, and manufactured porcelain. Japanese records 
 show that the Japanese themselves first learned from Koreans 
 the cultivation of the silk worm, the weaving of cloth, the 
 principles of architecture, the printing of books, the painting 
 of pictures, the beautifying of gardens, the making of leather 
 harness, and the shaping of more effective weapons. Koreans 
 learned some of these arts from the Chinese ; but even so they 
 showerl their readiness to learn, while they themselves were the 
 first makers of a number of important articles. Whereas the 
 Chinese invented the art of printing from moveable wooden 
 
 • “The P'ar Ii/ast.” page 247. 
 
67 
 
 blocks, the Koreans in 1401 invented metal type. They used a 
 phonetic alphabet in the early part of the fifteenth century. 
 They saw the significance of the mariner’s compass in 1525. 
 They invented, in 1550, an astronomical instrument which they 
 very properly called “a heavenly measurer.” They used can- 
 non, explosive shells and iron-clad ships in attacking an in- 
 vading army of Japanese in 1592. Money was used as a me- 
 dium of exchange in Korea long before it was thus used in 
 northern Europe. 
 
 The Koreans of today have not improved upon the inven- 
 tions of their ancestors ami appear to have deteriorated rather 
 than advanced ; but this deterioration has been largely due to 
 conditions wdiich can be remedied, and as a matter of fact are 
 now' being remedied. A people which show'ed such intelligence 
 once can probably under more favorable conditions show equal 
 alertness again. With good government, a fair chance, and a 
 Christian basis of morals, the Koreans w'ould develop into a 
 fine people. 
 
 This view is supported by the rapid progress of Koreans wdio 
 have settled across the Yalu in Manchuria. Russian govern- 
 ment is far from being ideal, but the rule of the Russians prior 
 to their expulsion from Manchuria was much better than the 
 rule of the Korean government. There were at lea.^t a more 
 honest enforcement of law' and a greater security of life and 
 property. The result w'as that the Koreans in Alanchuria be- 
 came comparatively industrious, thrifty and prosperous. “The 
 air of the men has undergone a subtle but real change, and the 
 w'omen, though they nominally keep up their habit of seclu- 
 sion, have lost the hang-dog air which distinguishes them at 
 home. The suspiciousness and indolent conceit, and the ser- 
 vility to his betters, which characterize the home-bred Korean, 
 have very generally given place to an independence and man- 
 liness of manner rather British than Asiatic. ... In Korea I 
 had learned to think of the Koreans as the dregs of a race, and 
 to regard their condition as hopeless ; but in Primorsk I saw' 
 reason for considerably modifying my opinion. It must be 
 borne in mind that these people, w'ho have raised themselves 
 into a prosperous farming class and w'ho get an excellent char- 
 acter for industry and good conduct alike from Russian police 
 officials, Russian settlers and military officers, were not excep- 
 tionally industrious and thrifty men. They were mostly starv- 
 ing folk W'ho fled from famine, and their prosperity and gen- 
 eral demeanor gave me the hope that their countrymen in 
 Korea, if they ever have an honest administration and protec- 
 tion for their earnings, may slowly develop into men.”* 
 
 * Isabella Bird Bishop, “Korea and Her Neighbors,” pp. 235 and 236. 
 
68 
 
 \\'eale bears testimony to the same ef¥ect regarding the Ko- 
 reans at Harbin. Mr. Thomas \"an Ess, Auditor of the O. 
 C. Mining Company in northern Korea, wrote as follows to 
 the Rev. Graham Lee, of Pyeng Yang: 
 
 “Replying to your letter asking my opinion of Koreans as 
 clerks and'accountants, 1 would say I have had Koreans work- 
 ing under me in the above mentioned capacities for the past 
 thirteen years. 1 have always found them diligent, good work- 
 ers and very quick to learn, and in my opinion, taking them as 
 a whole, mucli easier to teach than the other Oriental races 
 with which I have also had many years experience. To cite 
 an individual case : 1 have with me now a Korean who is a 
 splendid typist, accurate, neat and a fast manipulator, 
 h'ive 3 ’ears ago he was only a cook and spoke very little Eng- 
 lish. I took him into the office as errand boj’ and general roust- 
 about. He has never received any regular schooling and prac- 
 tically taught himself to read and write English. He is accu- 
 rate at figures and a better t\-pist than some white men who 
 came out to work for the Company from America as stenograph- 
 ers and typists. He does not do his work mechanically but 
 uses his brains. The Company employs on the concession 
 about five thousand Koreans, and the heads of the different 
 departments can all certify and produce dozen of natives whom 
 they have taught from the very start, and who are now ex- 
 perts at their various duties, which duties include work as 
 miners, timhermen, hoist and stationary engineers, machinists, 
 blacksmiths, carpenters, electricians, assayers, mill men, hos- 
 pital assistants, etc. All that is necessary, to bring out tbe 
 splendid capabilities of the Korean is a practical education.” 
 
 IMy heart goes out with affectionate interest to those humble 
 Koreans as I recall tbe kindness of their welcome to the stran- 
 gers from across the seas, the mingled simplicity and dignity 
 of their bearing, and the poverty and wretchedness of their 
 lives. The}' are our brother men, who have been less fortu- 
 nately situated than ourselves, and they need what we can give 
 them. 
 
 The countr}’ is now in commotion. The time honored pla- 
 cidity which made the name “The Land of the Morning Calm” 
 eminently appropriate has been rudely disturbed. Korea is no 
 longer “the Hermit Nation.” Its capital is only fifty-three 
 hours by railway from rhe capital of Japan. Society is in 
 chaos. .\li the old conceptions of life are being broken up. 
 Whatever restraints the old order had are being removed. 
 Gambling is an old established vice in Korea, but it is now 
 worse than ever. New conditions are being created; new hab- 
 its are being formed ; new ideas are rushing in. When I was in 
 
69 
 
 Korea nine years ago, the top-knot was universal. I do not 
 recall seeing a Korean from one end of the country to the other 
 who did not have his hair done up in the traditional way. A 
 Korean without a top-knot at that time would have been 
 deemed a renegade. But during this visit, multitudes 
 of Koreans that 1 saw had cut off their top-knots and were 
 wearing their hair European fashion, or perhaps I had better 
 say, Japanese fashion, for the Japanese cut their hair short and 
 comb it straight up in pompadour style. Practically all of the 
 boys in the mission schools now wear their hair in this style, and 
 also a large majority of Christian adults. It would be difficult 
 to overestimate the significance of this apparently simple 
 change, for the top-knot stood for loyalty to ancient traditions 
 and almost everything that the Korean venerated. It was the 
 tie which bound him to the past. Its passing means nothing 
 less than the passing of the old Korea. 
 
 W hile this and other changes are due in part to the causes 
 which have brought about the general movement among the 
 peoples of Asia, the specific external force which has suddenly 
 been applied is the Japanese occupation, which we must now 
 consider. 
 
 THE JAPANESE IN KOREA. 
 
 I have already referred to the fact that the domination of 
 some foreign power was inevitable, and that the Koreans would 
 probably have been more willing to acquiesce if that power had 
 been some other than Japan. The two nations have been her- 
 editary enemies for a thousand years. Japanese invasions have 
 been numerous and the one in 1276 so terribly devastated the 
 country that Korea has been a wretched and dilapidated nation 
 ever since. Then the sufferings of the people were severe 
 during the China-Japan War of 1894 and the Russia-Japan 
 War in 1905, and as the Japanese were the victors in both 
 wars, they are naturally held responsible for the ruin which 
 followed. The Japanese, too, are not particularly conciliatory 
 in their dealings with the Koreans. They have long regarded 
 them as inferiors. They have not taken the pains that the 
 Russians toolc to cajole the natives, to keep the Emperor sup- 
 plied with money, and to conciliate popular good will. They 
 manage the Koreans with the brusqueness of the Anglo-Sax- 
 on rather than the suavity of the Oriental ; ignore “face” which 
 £very Korean sensitively cherishes ; and in general deal 
 with the Koreans about as Americans deal with the North 
 American Indians, and as the British deal with their subject 
 populations. The Anglo-Saxon is therefore hardly the per- 
 son to criticise the Japanese. 
 
70 
 
 Unfortunately, too, the first Japanese whom the Koreans 
 saw in numbers were soldiers and adventurers. The army 
 necessarily occupied the country during the war and for some 
 time after its close. ^Military rule is strict everywhere. It has 
 to be in the more or less lawless conditions which follow a 
 war ; but it is none the less galling to civilians. \\’e know how 
 Filipinos and Americans alike chafed under the rule of the 
 United States army in the Philippines notwithstanding the fact 
 that our generals were men of the highest efficiency and recti- 
 tude of intention. The Japanese soldiers in Korea immediately 
 after the war were those who had fought in the campaigns with 
 Russia. Tl'.ey regarded Korea as the prize of the war. and in 
 spite of Japanese discipline, they had something of that spirit 
 of exhilaration and lawlessness which has alwa3'S characterized 
 soldiers after a victorious campaign. White men who remem- 
 ber the conduct of European and American troops in Peking, 
 after the raising of the siege of the legations in the summer of 
 1900, will not be surprised that there was something of the 
 same disposition on the part of Japanese troops in Korea. Dur- 
 ing the period of military occupation there were un- 
 doubtedly many cases of brutalit}’, and the enterprises which 
 were necessar\- to strengthen Japanese occupation were carried 
 out with scant regard for the people. 
 
 The Japanese civilian immigrants, too, who poured into 
 Korea immediately after the war, were not the best type of 
 Japanese. Americans know the breed — their own countrymen 
 who rushed into California in 1849, "’fio did their ruthless 
 pleasure in Alaska, and who furnished the carpet-baggers of 
 the Southern States after the American Civil War. Our usu- 
 ally good-natured Mr. Taft characterized many of the disso- 
 lute, brutal and lustful Americans whom he found in the Phil- 
 ippines, when he became Governor General, with a sharpness 
 of invective which made them his bitter enemies. He said that 
 they were the worst obstacle to America's purpose to deal just- 
 ly with the Filipinos. Is it surprising that the same class of 
 Japanese hurried to Korea, and that they rode rough shod over 
 the helpless natives? 
 
 We must remember, in justice to the Japanese, that some of 
 the things which gave offense to the Koreans were inevitable. 
 It is not possible for a conquering army in time of war to 
 sweep through a country and not incur the fear and hatred of 
 the native population, and Japan had to do this twice within a* 
 decade. Moreover, when the Japanese took control of Korea, 
 they found one of the most rotten and inefficient governments 
 on earth. It would not be easy to exaggerate the e.xtremity of 
 the situation. Save for the few improvements which had been 
 
71 
 
 developed by foreigners, there were no roads, no railways, no 
 telegraphs, no schools worthy of the name, no justice in the 
 courts, no uniform currency, no anything that a people need. 
 The Japanese had to create the conditions of stable govern- 
 ment, and to do this against the opposition of the corrupt ruling 
 class and the inherited inertia and squalor of the people as a 
 whole. Of course, the Koreans w'ere furiously angry. Even 
 those who realized the necessity for the change were bitter, for 
 no people like to be ruled by aliens. 
 
 The common charges of forced labor and the seizure of 
 property without due compensation have two sides. There 
 have no doubt been instances of great hardship to Koreans who 
 were compelled to leave their own fields and toil on public 
 works, often at a distance from their homes, while other Ko- 
 reans received little or nothing for land which they were forced 
 to surrender. On the other hand, it should be remembered that 
 it would have been difficult if not impossible for the Japanese 
 authorities to carry out some of the improvements which are 
 of large value to the whole country, such as roads, railways, 
 sanitation, etc., if they had been obliged to depend upon the 
 voluntary labor of Korean peasants, who are admitted by their 
 warmest admirers to be indolent and shiftless and who, even 
 when diligent and ambitious, do not like Japanese ta.'kmasters. 
 As for land, every government has the right to take private 
 property under the privilege of eminent domain. It ought to 
 pay a fair price for it. The Japanese affirm that they did this, 
 but that the Korean magistrates, through whom the arrange- 
 ments were made, pocketed the money. But why did the Jap- 
 anese trust them when they knew their character? 
 
 While the course of the Japanese is generally exemplary in 
 regions where officers of high rank are in immediate charge 
 and where foreigners have opportunity to notice what is being 
 done, the treatment of Koreans by officials of lower grade in 
 places remote from the capital is not always so just. Inferior 
 men, far from the observation of their superiors, aie able to 
 indulge their temper with little fear of consequences. Doubt- 
 less some of the many stories of injustice are susceptible of ex- 
 planation ; but the reports are too numerous and explicit to be 
 dismissed as altogether baseless. We know what white men 
 do when they are placed in absolute control of a helpless peo- 
 ple. The Belgians in the Congo State, the French in Mada- 
 gascar, and hundreds of German, British and American officials 
 in other places, have been harsh and overbearing, and it is 
 not surprising that some Japanese officials show the same traits 
 in like circumstances. 
 
72 
 
 The sale of opium and morphine is another grievance. This 
 is contrary to Japanese law; but it is conducted more or less 
 openly by Japanese, particularly in the country districts, where 
 peddlers are spreading the morphine and opium habit among 
 multitudes of Koreans. The Japanese strictly enforce their 
 law in Japan, and Japanese magistrates in Korea will usually 
 punish the traffickers, if a case is brought so directly to their 
 notice that they cannot escape responsibility ; but the\ will sel- 
 dom press matters unless compelled to do so. and the effort to 
 make them is apt to be unpleasant. Thou.sands of Koreans are ^ 
 learning the use of the morphine .syringe from these Japanese 
 vendors, and as they are like children in the indulgence of their 
 appetites, as umsophisticated as North American Indians are 
 with liquor, the evil has grown to serious proportions. Every 
 hospital in Korea now has to treat opium and morphine fiends. 
 Opium-smokmg has long been a vice in China and the Chinese 
 have used opium in Korea ; but the evil has never been so great 
 as it is now. Protests of missionaries are beginning to make 
 some impression, but the demoralization of Koreans continues. 
 
 The social evil is still more demoralizing. The immoral con- 
 ditions in Japan have long been notorious. Although some im- 
 provement is ob.servable, licentiou.sness is still regarded by 
 many as a venial offense and it involves less reproach both to 
 men and women than in any other country in the world which 
 lays claim to civilized standing. The .statement of H. B. Mont- 
 gomery in his book, ‘‘The Empire of the East." that he has ‘‘no 
 liesitation in describing the morals of Japanese people to be on 
 the whole greatly superior to those of Western nations,” is sim- 
 ]3ly pathetic. A man who can visit Japan and carry away such 
 an impression is beyond argument. Murphy’s “The Social Evil 
 in Japan" describes the true situation with startling clearness. 
 
 It is not surprising that the Japane.se have carried their habits 
 to Korea. The tendency of men of all races to be more unre- 
 strained abroad than at home is not lacking in the Japanese, 
 and the result is a carnival of vice such as Korea never knew 
 before. The Koreans are not particularly moral, but they at 
 least left sensuality to individuals who wanted .it, and regarded 
 brothels as places to be kept from public gaze. But the Japan- 
 ese have licensed houses of prostitution in Korea as they have 
 built court houses and railway stations. Wherever they locate 
 their colonies, they set apart a section for brothels. Handsome 
 buildings are erected and filled with music and electric lights, 
 so that the whole place becomes one of the most attractive in 
 the city. Xor do they select retired locations. The most con- 
 spicuous part of Seoul in the evening is the brilliantiv illumin- 
 ated “Yoshiwara." It is on a hill slope within view of the 
 
73 
 
 whole city. Every boy and girl in onr two boarding schools 
 can see it. Every youth of both se.xes in Seoul cannot help 
 knowing that it is there and that it is thronged nightly by men 
 who consider themselves respectable. 
 
 Conditions substantially similar, ' though of course on a 
 smaller scale, exist in practically every Japanese colony in 
 Korea and Manchuria. Even where the number of Japanese 
 is very small, it includes prostitutes. Nor is the evil confined 
 to segregated sections. Geisha (dancing girls) are scattered 
 about every considerable town, and waitresses in most of the 
 inns and restaurants as well as the drinking sho])s are well 
 understood to be prostitutes. That the authorities know this 
 is apparent from the following figures, which were obtained 
 from ofificial sources for the year ending December 31, 1Q08: 
 
 Seoul. Japanese population, 27,000. 
 
 Prostitutes, Japanese 283 
 
 Geisha (Dancing Girls), Japanese 196 
 
 Waitresses in inns, saloons and restaurants, Japanese. .. 401 
 
 Total 880 
 
 Pyeng Yang. Japanese population, 7,292. 
 
 Prostitutes, Japanese 75 
 
 Geisha, Japanese 35 
 
 Waitresses, Japanese 105 
 
 Total 215 
 
 The official records also show that there is a monthly gov- 
 ernment tax collected from the prostitutes and geisha, the tax 
 for Pyeng Vang alone being 462 yen a month. The number of 
 Korean prostitutes reported by the authorities in Seoul is 304, 
 and of Kisang (dancing girls), 107, a total of 41 1. That is, 
 there are more than twice as many immoral women among a 
 Japanese colony of 27,000 as there are in a Korean population 
 of 300,000 ; though it should be said that the very publicity 
 with which the Japanese indulge themselves makes it easier to 
 tabulate their statistics than those of the Koreans, who are 
 more secretive in their habits. Racial distinctions are obliter- 
 ated by this social evil. Koreans are not only openly solicited 
 to vice, but I was informed that it is not uncommon for Jap- 
 anese to conduct small traveling parties of prostitutes from vil- 
 lage to village in the country districts. 
 
 Much has been said about the demoralizing effects of sensual 
 indulgence upon the Japanese. \'enereal diseases entail .seri- 
 ous physical as well as moral consequences. Of every one 
 hundred men who are examined for enlistment in the army. 
 
74 
 
 I was told that sixty have to be rejected and that seventy per 
 cent, of these are on account of syphillis. But it is the influence 
 of this vice upon Koreans that I am discussing now and the 
 gruesome subject surely needs no further elucidation here. 
 
 I am not unmindful that there is shameful immorality in the 
 cities of Europe and xA.merica, and that most of the foreign con- 
 cessions in the ports of Asia include sinks of iniquitv of which 
 Sodom and Gomorrah might have been ashamed. I\o Asiatic 
 can be viler than a degenerate white man. Xor is Japan alone 
 in licensing prostitutes. There are men in western lands who 
 deem governmental regulation under a license system a better 
 way of dealing with the social evil than to permit it to run at 
 large under prohibitory laws which are usually a dead letter, 
 except as police use them as a means for self-enrichment. Japan 
 has but followed the lead of Germany in licensing a vice which 
 no government has ever eradicated. But whatever may be the 
 theory, the practical effect in Japan is to advertise vice, make 
 it easy and attractive, and clothe it with apparent official sanc- 
 tion. \’erv few governments with which I am acquainted are 
 in such open alliance with vice as the Japanese municipal gov- 
 ernments appear to be, and no brothel in all the world, displays 
 Christian symbols or is regularly visited by Christian ministers 
 for the collection of money for religious objects and for the 
 offering of prayers for the prosperit}’ of its infamous business, 
 as Japanese brothels are frequently visited for these purposes 
 bv Buddhist priests. 
 
 1 am sorry to write so plainly on this unpleasant subject re- 
 garding a people whom I respect and admire in many ways. I 
 am glad to know that increasing numbers of Japanese lament 
 the quasi partnership of their authorities with the social evil 
 and would gladly see it dis.solved and the vice banished, at least 
 to the under-world to which other communities relegate it. I 
 am aware, too, that some remedial laws have been enacted in 
 Japan, and that some restrictive decisions have been handed 
 down by the courts. But these laws and decisions were obtain- 
 ed chiefly as the result of agitation aroused by missionaries led 
 by iMr. Mur])hy and the Salvation Army against an indifference 
 and opposition which i\Ir. Murphy has vividly described in his 
 book already mentioned. The benefit of these enactments and 
 decrees in Japan has not extended to Korea to any a])preciable 
 degree. Judging from what 1 could see and learn, many Japan- 
 ese do not vet have much conscience on the subject. They are 
 unmoral rather than immoral, and they frequently stare with 
 ill-concealed surprise when they are told that the common 
 licentiousness is wrong. One wa}’ to make them see that it is 
 wrong is for every one who visits their country and its depend- 
 
75 
 
 encies to make it clear that the public opinion of civilized man- 
 kind condemns vice, and that those who indulge in it are not 
 respected. 
 
 The establishment of civil rule under Prince Ito as Resident- 
 General inaugurated a better era than the one which followed 
 the war. I do not agree with those who reviled him as the arch- 
 enemy of Korea and the most dangerous foe of China. Grant- 
 ing that he was an Oriental, that Ire was Japanese to the core, 
 and that his private morals were criticised even by his own 
 countrymen, the fact remains that he was in many respects one 
 of the very wisest and best of the public men of Japan, and 
 that he had the largest and most considerate views of the Ko- 
 reans and of the duty of his country to them of any Japanese 
 in high public position. If Korea is to be ruled by Japan at 
 all, its friends could not have selected a better Japanese as 
 Resident-General than Prince Ito. I found a general opinion, 
 not only among Japanese but among missionaries and others 
 with whom I talked, that on the whole he was a firm and just 
 administrator, who earnestly tried to better conditions. He 
 had the statesmanship to see that, from the viewpoint of Japan 
 herself, it was expedient to deal justly with a subject people. 
 He placed a higher class of men in public office, enacted whole- 
 some laws, made roads, encouraged education, reorganized the 
 courts, placed the currency on a gold basis, and promoted other 
 salutary reforms. Fifty million yen have been spent on rail- 
 ways. The lines were operated at a loss at first, as they were 
 largely useu for the transport of troops and military supplies ; 
 but they now return a fair profit, the net balance last year being 
 316.544 yen. 
 
 Prince Ito’s published report on “Reforms and Progress in 
 Korea” is very interesting reading. After an explanatory in 
 troduction, it discusses the main subject under twelve heads; 
 .■\dministration. Judiciary, Defence, Finance. Currency, Bank- 
 ing, Commerce. Communications, Public Undertakings, Agri- 
 cultural aiul Industrial, Sanitation, and Education. Eleven ap- 
 pendices, as many more tables of statistics, three maps and five 
 full page illustrations make this report a valuable compendium 
 of Japanese efforts and intentions in Korea. The Japanese, 
 like Americans, naturally put their best foot forward in a report 
 issued for the outside world. The main facts, however, ap- 
 pear to be indisputable. 
 
 I had a long conference with Prince Ito when I was in 
 Tokyo. I shall not now attempt to give a full account of that 
 conversation. While it was private, he knew that I was seeking 
 information for public use and gave me full liberty to quote 
 him. He spoke excellent English and discussed the whole 
 
76 
 
 question of Japanese plans in Korea with every appearance of 
 candor. He freely admitted that mistakes had been made and 
 he lamented that many of the Japanese who at first went to 
 Korea did some regrettable things ; but he earnestly expressed 
 his desire to make his country's rule in Korea a real benefit to 
 a peo])le who. he deeply felt, had never had a fair chance. The 
 fanatic Indian Angan, who assassinated him at Harbin, Octo- 
 ber 26th, did the worst possible thing for Korea, for he mur- 
 dered the most powerful friend that his countrymen had among 
 the ruling Japanese. It is significant that the only enemies that 
 Prince Ito b.ad in Japan were of the party which favors a more 
 drastic policy in Korea. This party felt that Korea was. the 
 absolute projierty of Japan, that its prompt “Japanization” was 
 a military necessity, and that its people were .so hopelessly and 
 contemptibly inferior and incorrigible that as little attention 
 should be paid to their alleged rights as the United States paid 
 to the rights of the American Indians. Prince Ito. on the con 
 trary. held that the Koreans were capable of development, and 
 that it would not only be humane but to the advantage of Japan 
 to treat them fairly. The revolutionarv cabal in Manchuria 
 and California which planned and executed the foul murder 
 of Prince Ito therefore weakened their own ca.se and strength- 
 ened the hands of their enemies. What encouragement has any 
 Japane.se official to attempt to deal justly bv the Koreans if he 
 is in dange’* of being as.sassinated for his pains? P'crtunately, 
 intelligent Japanese know that the crime was that of a com- 
 paratively small number of reactionaries. The majoiity of the 
 people of Korea do not love their alien rulers, but they are not 
 disposed to shoot those who seek to deal fairly by them. 
 
 Prince Ito's successor is continuing the work on the lines 
 iir’icated by his distinguished predecessor. Seoul, once the 
 filthiest city imaginable, has been made fairly clean. A large 
 and admirably equipped public ho,si)ital treats Koreans at lower 
 rates than Japanese. During a call at the Resiflency-General. 
 I exi)ressed my interest in a rumor that other hospitals were in 
 contemi)lation. and that evening I received a courteous note 
 from Mr. M. Komatsu, stating that he had made inquiries at 
 the P)ureau in charge and had ascertained that the Government 
 intended to open charity hospitals before the end of the year 
 m Chung Ju. Chon Ju and Ham Heung. and that it is the plan 
 of the Government to open a similar hospital in the principal 
 city of each Province of Korea. 
 
 I was told on every side that conditions are steadily improv- 
 ing. The enlistment terms of the soldiers who fought in the 
 war have expired and most of the men have returned to Japan. 
 The adventurers who flocked in at the close of the war, finding 
 
77 
 
 present comlitions less favorable to them, are also going back 
 to their native land, and the Japanese who are coming now are 
 of a distinctly better class. The lot of the people is better in 
 many ways than formerly. Their alien masters arc, as a rule, 
 more just with them than the native officials were prior to Jap- 
 anese occupation. The average man is more apt to get justice 
 in the courts without bribing an official than he was when his 
 own magistrate judged his case. 
 
 The Japanese officials whom I personall}' met In Seoul, 
 Taiku and Pyeng Yang impressed me as men of high grade, 
 who compare favorably with many white colonial administrators 
 m similar positions in Asia. Judge Xoboru W'atanabe, Chief 
 Justice of Korea, is a Presbyterian elder, a Christian gentle- 
 ma’n of as fine a tvpc as one could find anywhere. He makes 
 no secret of his faith, and shortly after his arrival in Seoul, he 
 accepted Dr. Gale's invitation to speak to our large Korean 
 congregation at Yun Mot Kol. He took as his text Eph. 4:4-6. 
 and preached Christ with earnestness and power. 
 
 My interview with the Japanese Resident at Taiku, Septem- 
 ber 19th developed some interesting facts. I found the Resident 
 an intelligent Japanese of about fiftv years of age, who had vis- 
 ited the United States and spoke English fluently. He receiv- 
 ed me cordiallv and described with enthusiasm a plan of having 
 the Korean magistrates of the forty-one counties under his 
 iurisdiction come to Taiku once a year for special instruction. 
 He said that little could be accomplished by the mere promulga- 
 tion of laws and ordinances ; for while many of the Korean offi- 
 cials were well-meaning men, they were without the knowledge 
 and experience which would enable them to carry out the re- 
 forms which the Japanese had inaugurated. He stated that the 
 second annual conference of this kind was then in session and 
 that he would be glad to have me visit it. I replied that it 
 would be very gratifying to me to do so. and he thereupon took 
 me to the conference. It was held in a long, low room, well 
 lighted and ventilated. The Korean magistrates were seated at 
 two parallel tables extending the full length of the room. The 
 name and residence of each magistrate were on a .strip of paper 
 about six inches wide and fifteen inches long hanging from the 
 edge of the table in front of him. The Japanese Resident, the 
 Korean Governor, a Japanese Secretary, an interpreter and 
 six Japanese clerks occupied seats at the head of the room. The 
 Korean Governor was President of the Conference, though it 
 was evident that leadership was with the Japanese Secretary. 
 •\t the first conference the year before, twenty-nine of the 
 forty-one county magistrates were present, and all but three 
 wore the traditional top-knot. This year forty of the forty-one 
 
78 
 
 magistrates attended, and not one wore a top-knot, all having 
 their hair cut in Japanese style. The magistrates manifested 
 keen interest in the proceedings and discussed with animation 
 the various topics. Thev were apparently learning some useful 
 things. The Japanese Resident gave me a copy of the printed 
 program and the rules and the regulations which were being 
 taught. It was an octavo pamphlet of twenty-two l>ages. and 
 dealt with such subjects as the making and repairing of roads, 
 the erection and care of public buildings, the clerical staff re- 
 quired in offices of various grades, sanitary rules and their en- 
 forcement, police regulations, etc. Sample reports and vouch- 
 ers were given and methods of keeping accounts were explain- 
 ed. The conference was in session eight days, and I could 
 readily see how such instruction would increase the intelligence 
 and efficiency of the magistrates who attended it. Koreans who 
 accept office under the Japanese are not usually popular with 
 their countrymen, but these Koreans will certainly be wiser 
 magistrates than their predecessors. 
 
 I hold no brief for the Japanese. I would not defend some 
 of the things that they have done in Korea. I sympathize deep- 
 ly with the Koreans. They would be unwortby of respect if 
 they did not prefer their national freedom. One can under- 
 stand why the injustice of their own magistrates seemed less 
 irksome than the justice of alien conquerors. Nevertheless, I 
 confess to sympathy also for the Japanese. They were forced 
 to occupy Korea to prevent a Russian occupation which would 
 have menaced their own independence as a nation. They found 
 conditions so unspeakably bad that drastic measures of recon- 
 struction were necessary. They are doing against heavy odds, 
 with limited financial resources and against the dislike and 
 opposition of Koreans. Russians, Chinese and most of the 
 foreigners in the Far East, about what England or the United 
 .States would <^o in similar circumstances. It would be easy to 
 show that the Japanese are not doing as well as England is do- 
 ing in India and America in the Philippines; but they have had 
 control of Korea less than five years, and they have not had 
 the advantages which white men have had in dealing with these 
 large and difficult problems. Give them a chance. We shall 
 not help the Koreans by reviling the Japanese, but by co-oper- 
 ating with them. The anti-imperialists are simply aggravating 
 our situation in the Philippines, and the alleged friends of the 
 East Indians who are fomenting discord in India are only in- 
 tensifying the very conditions which they profess to lament. 
 Japan is in Korea to stay, and we can not aid the Koreans by 
 cursing their rulers. 
 
79 
 
 The Japanese Government both in Japan and Korea is 
 friendly to our missionaries and their work. Numerous evi- 
 dences of this might be cited. One of the most striking of these 
 was the address of Count Okuma, former Prime Minister of 
 Japan, at the Semi-Centennial of Protestant Missions in Japan 
 held in Tokyo last fall, and which I have quoted elsewhere. 
 
 The attitude of high Japanese officials in Korea is in sub- 
 stantial harmony with this. A noticeable change has taken place 
 within the last year. Formerly, there was considerable 
 irritation because of the alleged anti-Japanese attitude of Pro- 
 testant missionaries. Several well informed foreigners in Ja- 
 pan and some travellers who came into special relations with 
 Japanese officials reported that, for a time after the war, the 
 Japanese felt that American missionaries in Korea were inimi- 
 cal to their interests and that more or less unconsciously they 
 were giving such encouragement to the Koreans as to embar- 
 rass the Japanese in no small degree. I was informed in Japan 
 that there is still some of this feeling on the part of some civil 
 and military officials. 
 
 I was at pains to discuss this question fully with Prince Ito, 
 and also with several high Japanese officials whom I met in 
 Korea. Without exception, they stated that, whatever may 
 have been the case during the heated days which followed the 
 war. when lines were sharply drawn and everyone was under 
 great strain, the Japanese are now satisfied that the American 
 missionaries in Korea are careful to keep themselves free from 
 political entanglements. There are sensational journals in Ja- 
 pan, as there are in America, and inflammatory articles which 
 occasionally appear in them are repeated in our home papers ; 
 but intelligent Japanese are not deceived by them. In all my 
 interviews with Japanese, both in Japan and Korea, I heard 
 only two American missionaries (a husband and wife) men- 
 tioned with suspicion, and their alleged utterances were several 
 years ago, and their present relations with the Japanese are 
 harmonious. A Korean official. Sung Pyong-chun, Minister 
 for Home Afifairs in the Korean Government, was reported last 
 year by a Tokyo paper as having made the following statement, 
 which was widely reprinted in the Far East and in America: 
 
 “The most serious question now before us relates to the na- 
 tive Christians, numbering about 350,000, whose affiliations are 
 of a questionable nature. They are united in the common ob- 
 ject of opposing the present administration and resort to under- 
 hand measures. I am going to adopt drastic steps to annihilate 
 them as soon as they take up arms in insurrection. Of course 
 they are backed by a group of American missionaries. It is 
 F 
 
8o 
 
 likely that this will become one of the most important ques- 
 tions in Korea." 
 
 The missionaries in Seoul promptly held a meeting and com- 
 municated with Mr. Sung on the subject of this reported utter- 
 ance. He replied that he had not made the statement attributed 
 to him. The honorable Thomas J. O'Brien, American Ambas- 
 sador to Japan, addressed a communication to Prince Ito on the 
 matter, and asked him to state whether he had any reason to 
 believe that the statements attributed to Mr. Sung regarding the 
 attitude of American missionaries were correct. The following 
 is an extract from Prince Ito's reply to Mr. O’Brien ; 
 
 “During the Korean Emperor's recent trip to the northern 
 and southern parts of Korea. I met a number of missionaries at 
 Pyeng Yang, where many of them reside, and had an oppor- 
 tunity to ascertain that they not only take no steps whatever in 
 opposition to the administration of the Korean Government, 
 but that they are in sympathy with the new regime inaugurated 
 after the establishment of the Residency-General and are en- 
 deavoring to interpret to the Korean people the true purpose 
 of that regime. I am personally acquainted with many Amer- 
 ican missionaries stationed at Seoul, with whose conduct and 
 views I am fully familiar. The fact that they are in sympath)'^ 
 with the new regime in Korea, which is under the guidance of 
 the Residency-General, and that, in co-operation with the Resi- 
 dency-General. they are endeavoring to enlighten the Korean 
 people, does not, I trust, require any special confirmation. Not 
 only is the attitude of the American missionaries in Korea what 
 I have just represented, but I have all along been recommend- 
 ing to the Korean Government a policy of not restricting the 
 freedom of religious belief. I may also state that the Chris- 
 tians in Korea will continue to receive equal treatment with 
 other subjects, and to be dealt with only in case of distinct 
 violation of the laws of the country.” 
 
 Prince Ito contributed $2,500 to the fund for a new building 
 for the Japanese Christian Church at Pyeng Yang, and when 
 he attended the dedication of the Y. M. C. A. building in Seoul, 
 Dec. 4, 1908. he spoke as follows; 
 
 "It gives me great pleasure to be with you today on this 
 auspicious occasion. A year ago it was my privilege to assist 
 in the laying of the corner-stone of this building, and I re- 
 joice to see the edifice, then only just begun, completed and put 
 in shape in a manner worthy of the large-hearted citizen of the 
 great Republic who provided the means for its construction ; 
 and worthy, also, of the noble cause to which it is consecrated. 
 I am sinceiely gratified to see the Association installed in an 
 abode so well appointed for its purposes, because I recognize in 
 
8i 
 
 it a most potent instrument for the advancement of the social 
 and moral well-being of this people. I recognize in the Asso- 
 ciation a friend and fellow worker in the great cause of na- 
 tional regeneration which it is my duty and pleasure to further 
 to the best of my ability. I hard!}- need assure you. ladies and 
 gentlemen, that the Association may alwa3^s count upon my 
 sympathy and friendship. The Young Men’s Christian Asso- 
 ciation of Seoul has the sincerest wishes of all true friends of 
 Korea for its success and prosperity'. ” 
 
 He went further, and gave a banquet at his official residence 
 in honor of the Y. M. C. A. The Secretary of the Y. M. C. 
 A, reported him as saying on this occasion; “In the early years 
 of Japan’s leformation, the senior statesmen were opposed to 
 religious toleration, especially because of distrust of Christian- 
 ity. But I fought vehemently for freedom of belief and propa- 
 gation and finally triumphed. My reasoning was this : Civil- 
 ization depends upon morality, and the highest morality upon 
 religion. Therefore, religion must be tolerated and encouraged. 
 It is for the same reason that I welcome the Young Men’s 
 Christian Association, believing that it is a powerful ally in 
 the great task I have undertaken in attempting to put the feet 
 of Korea upon the pathway of true civilization.” 
 
 Prince I to personally told me, what he has repeatedly said 
 to others, that so far as he knew, and he had the best possible 
 means of knowing, there was no truth in the statement that 
 American missionaries have encouraged native Christians to op- 
 pose the Government or to revolt. On the contrary, “the rela- 
 tions between the Government, the Residency and llie foreign 
 missionaries were," he said, “becoming daily more cordial and 
 there is a perfect mutual understanding.” 
 
 M’hat is the attitude of the missionaries toward the Japan- 
 ese? There are four possible attitudes: First, opposition; sec- 
 ond. aloofness; third, co-operation; fourth, loyal recognition. 
 
 The first, opposition, is naturally the attitude winch many 
 Koreans, particularly among non-Christians, would be glad to 
 have the missionaries adopt, for they crave sympathy with 
 their aspirations for independence. I need hardly say that it 
 would be a totally wrong attitude for missionaries, and I could 
 not learn of a single Pre,sbyterian missionary in all Korea who 
 hold.s it. We are not in any non-Christian country to fight a 
 government, and when in another part of Asia a man connect- 
 ed with our Mission identified himself with revolutionists, the 
 Board promptly dismissed him. 
 
 The second, aloofness, however attractive in theory, is im- 
 possible in practice. One cannot live in a countr\' and ignore 
 its Government. The effort to Jo so would satisfy neither 
 
82 
 
 Japanese nor Koreans, but expose the holder to the suspicion 
 of both. 
 
 The third, co-o])eration, is almost as objectionable as 
 the first, opposition. Missionaries are not called upon to ally 
 themselves either with or against a government. Both the first 
 and third positions would take missionaries into politics, and 
 if there is any sphere in the world from which they should reso- 
 lutel}- exclude themselves, it is the political. The Roman Cath- 
 olic missionaries in Asia have stirred up enough trouble by 
 their political activities in China to serve as a warning for us 
 all. 
 
 The fourth, loyal recognition, is I believe the sound position. 
 It is in accord with the example of Christ, who loyally sub- 
 mitted himself and advised his Apostles to submit themselves 
 to a far worse government than the Japanese, and it is in line 
 with the teaching of P’aul in Romans xiii:i. 
 
 There was full discussion of these four alternative positions 
 in my conference with the Korea ^Mission at Pyeng-Yang. Dr. 
 Gale led by strong advocacy of the fourth position. A vote 
 was taken and it was unanimously in favor of loyal recognition. 
 
 Dr. Underwood, who voted with the others for thi^ position, 
 made the point in the discussion that when the missionary op- 
 poses wrong, he should not be understood as opposing the Jap- 
 ane.se or the Japanese government. This is a distinction which 
 should be carefully noted. iNIissionaries have vehemently op- 
 posed some things which the American Government has done 
 in the Philippine Islands ; but they have not been considered 
 hostile to the Government on that account. It is the duty of a 
 missionary to oppose evil wherever it exists and under what- 
 ever auspices. W hen missionaries protest against the opium 
 traffic, they are simply doing what the Japanese Government 
 itself is attempting to enforce by law in Japan. Wdien they 
 oppose the establishment of brothels, their desire is to fight 
 vice, not the Government. So far from missionaries inciting 
 Koreans against the Japanese, they have really done more to 
 influence them to submit to Japanese Government than any 
 other class of men. Repeated eflforts to embroil the churches 
 in revolutionary propaganda have been suppressed b} mission- 
 aries. 
 
 Shortly after the conference at which these conclusions were 
 reached, I held a conference with the leaders of tilt Korean 
 Church. I explained to them the four alternative positions, 
 stated above, and asked their views. They also unanimously 
 agreed upon the fourth position, loyal recognition. They did 
 not, of course, manifest any special love for the Japanese; but 
 they were emphatic in their declaration that the Christian 
 
83 
 
 Church must hoKl itself aloof from politics and lawfully obey 
 the constituted authorities of the country. It is significant that 
 on one occasion some months ago. the Korean pastor of one of 
 our churches so successfully exerted his great influence to re 
 strain the Koreans that an anti-Japanese outbreak was pre- 
 vented. 
 
 .\fter going back and forth through Korea three limes, and 
 getting the opinions of missionaries and Korean Christians from 
 one end of the country to the other, I am satisfied that our 
 missionaries in Korea are taking the right position on this (pies- 
 tion. 
 
 The question of abolishing the extra-territorial laws is cer- 
 tain to arise before long. Indeed it is already being agitated. 
 It cannot reasonably be expected that the Japanese, who sought 
 and obtained the abolition of extra-territorial laws for their 
 own country, will long acquiesce in their continuance in Korea. 
 Rumors are current that the Japanese are even now quietly 
 sounding other governments on the subject, and some foreign- 
 ers are quite anxious about the outcome. Our interest in this 
 question is great, as our Mission includes more American citi- 
 zens and more American property than any other. 
 
 In my judgment, however, we should keep out of the cpies- 
 tion absolutely. It is a matter to be determined between the 
 governments concerned. Missionary interests in Japan suffer- 
 ed no ill effects from the abolition of extra-territorial laws 
 there, and we should not assume that they would be imperilled 
 by their abolition in Korea. It is true that Japanese rule is not 
 as well settled in Korea as it is in Japan, and that conditions are 
 different in some respects. But it is our business as a mission- 
 ary enterprise to adapt ourselves to the governmental regula- 
 tions of the country in which we work. If the missionary is in- 
 jured in person or property, he has his remedy thiough the 
 American Consul and the American Government, whether we 
 have extra-territorial laws or not. The danger that the Japan- 
 ese would make oppressive use of power over foreigners if they 
 had it is not a tenth part as great as the harm that would result 
 from efforts of missionaries to thwart the Japanese in ob*tain- 
 ing that control over their dependency which Americans them- 
 selves would insist upon in like circumstances, and which as a 
 matter of fact they have in the Philippines. 
 
 I must not close this phase of the subject without reference 
 to the Japanese Christians in Korea. One finds them in many 
 parts of the country. The sincerity of their faith 's evidenced 
 by the fact that they have established the worship of God, in 
 some important instances without any foreign initiative or as- 
 sistance, and they are witnessing a good confession for Christ. 
 
84 
 
 There are no less tlian eleven organized Japanese churches in 
 Korea, besides several unorganized groups of believers. The 
 churches are at Fusan, jMokpo, Taiku and Wonsan, one each; 
 Chemulpo and Pyeng Vang, two each; and Seoul, three. Five 
 of these (Fusan, Mokpo, Taiku, Wonsan, and one in Seoul) 
 might be called Presbyterian, as they are affiliated with The 
 Church of Christ in Japan; three are iNIethodist (one each in 
 Seoul. Pyeng Yang and Chemulpo ) ; two might be called Con- 
 gregational, as they are affiliated with the Kumiai Churches of 
 Japan, Congregational: and one (Chemulpo) belongs to- The 
 Church of England. 
 
 The work of the Rev. Frederick S. Curtis, who was trans- 
 ferred from the West Japan Mission to labor among the Japan- 
 ese in Korea, is admirable. Alissionaries and Japanese alike 
 speak of it in high terms. He forms an acceptable medium of 
 communication between our Alission and the Japanese officials, 
 and conducts an influential evangelistic work among the Japan- 
 ese in various parts of the country. 
 
 MISSIONS IN KOREA. 
 
 There are strategic times and places in the Kingdom of God. 
 Alan cannot always forecast them. He must hold himself in 
 readiness to avail himself of them as God points the way. 
 Twenty-five years ago, no student of the non-Christian world 
 would have selected Korea as a strategic base. Any favorable 
 predictions at that time were simpl}' those which are common 
 to the friends of mission fields everywhere. What was there 
 except human misery to attract Christians of the West to this 
 small and weak country, with its untidy, ir lolent and apathetic 
 people? Did Air. D. W. AlcWilliams of Brooklyn and the 
 Rev. Dr. John F. Goucher of Baltimore see the gold in the 
 dirt of Korean character when they made the gifts which sent 
 the first Presbyterian and Alethodist missionaries to this distant 
 and then little known land? It may have been, for they are 
 far-seeing men. Alore probably they were prompted by that 
 spirit which impels the true disciple of Christ to stretch out the 
 uplifting hand to those who seem to be farthest out and lowest 
 down. At any rate, Korea was a land which knew not Christ, 
 and there were missionaries ready to go ; this was enough. 
 
 1 need not repeat here the oft-told story of those early days. 
 I have told it in outline elsewhere* and 1 hope to tell it more 
 fully in another connection. Progress was slow at first. The 
 missionaries encountered the suspicion and opposition which 
 are usually incident to the beginnings of missionary work every- 
 where. Ten years after their arrival, there were only 141 
 
 •The Nearer aud Farther East, pp. '1J77-312. 
 
85 
 
 Cliristians in the whole country. The heroi.sm and sympathy 
 of the missionaries in Pyeng Yang amid the terrors of the 
 China-Japan War of 1894 and in Seoul during an epidemic of 
 cholera not long afterwards marked the turning point. Since 
 then, Korea has been opened to the Gospel as no other field in 
 the world. The Spirit of God has moved upon the hearts of 
 the people with great power. Revival after revival has swept 
 over certain stations until Pyeng Yang in particular has become 
 known to the whole world. The statistics for that station are 
 marvelous, but hardly less remarkable are those for several 
 others. Taiku, Syen Chyun, Chai Ryung, and Kang Kai, have 
 histories which, though covering but a few years, are crowded 
 with inspiring facts. When I journeyed through Korea in 
 1901, I wa.i stirred by the wonderful things that God was do- 
 ing. I asked myself then, as many others did: Will this work 
 continue? It has continued. In 1909, I found no sign of 
 abatement but rather signs of increasing power. It is difficult 
 to give a sober account of the situation. Every year, it has 
 seemed that the movement must have reached its climax and 
 that there would certainly be a reaction ; but every year has 
 seen the movement broadening and deepening until it now looks 
 as if Korea would be the first of the non-Christian nations to 
 become evangelized. Statistics are said to be dry, but who can 
 read unmoved the following record for our Korea Mission: 
 
 Year 
 
 1 
 
 Out-stations — Places ofi 
 Regular Meeting. 
 
 Organized Churches, 
 
 Churches Entirely Self- 
 Supporting. 
 
 Total Communicants. 
 
 Communicants Added 
 During the Year. 
 
 1884-5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1885-6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 1886-7 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 20 
 
 1887-8 
 
 
 1 
 
 V 
 
 65 
 
 45 
 
 1888-9 
 
 
 1 
 
 . 2.0 
 
 104, 
 
 39 
 
 1889-0 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 100 
 
 3 
 
 1890-1 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 t/j 5 
 
 119 
 
 21 
 
 1891-2 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 ■$< 
 
 127 
 
 17 
 
 1892-3 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 z 
 
 141 
 
 14 
 
 1893-4 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 
 236 
 
 76 
 
 1894-5 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 
 286 
 
 50 
 
 1895-6 
 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 530 
 
 210 
 
 1896-7 
 
 73 
 
 10 
 
 40 
 
 932 
 
 347 
 
 1897-8 
 
 205 
 
 24 
 
 170 
 
 2.079 
 
 1.153 
 
 1898-9 
 
 261 
 
 261 
 
 230 
 
 2,804 
 
 841 
 
 1899-0 
 
 287 
 
 253 
 
 255 
 
 3,690 
 
 1,086 
 
 1900-1 
 
 30C 
 
 268 
 
 270 
 
 4,793 
 
 1,263 
 
 1901-2 
 
 34C 
 
 a 
 
 295 
 
 5,481 
 
 970 
 
 1902-3 
 
 372 
 
 a 
 
 302 
 
 6,491 
 
 1,436 
 
 1903-4 
 
 385 
 
 7 
 
 353 
 
 7,916 
 
 1.876 
 
 1904-5 
 
 418 
 
 1C 
 
 329 
 
 9,756 
 
 2,034 
 
 1905-6 
 
 628 
 
 2C 
 
 480 
 
 2,546 
 
 2,811 
 
 1906-7 
 
 767 
 
 21 
 
 611 
 
 5,152 
 
 3,421 
 
 1907-8 
 
 801 
 
 42 
 
 787 
 
 9,65^ 
 
 5,423 
 
 1908-9 
 
 971 
 
 57 
 
 965 
 
 25,057 
 
 6,532 
 
 s 9 
 
 
 §:! 
 
 ■s-S 
 
 a 
 
 > 
 
 < 
 
 
 in 
 
 o 
 
 Z 
 
 486 
 
 410 
 
 1,059 
 
 1,009 
 
 2,078 
 
 3,163 
 
 (O 
 
 6,800 
 
 7,500 
 
 9,634 
 
 13,569 
 
 13,694 
 
 16,333 
 
 22,662 
 
 23,356 
 
 30,386 
 
 44,587 
 
 54,987 
 
 73,844 
 
 96,443 
 
 c3.-= 
 
 in > 
 
 o< 
 
 Z 
 
 2,344 
 
 2,800 
 
 3,426 
 
 4,000 
 
 4,480 
 
 5,986 
 
 6,197 
 
 6,295 
 
 7,320 
 
 11,025 
 
 16,721 
 
 19,336 
 
 23,885 
 
 S2 
 
 
 2 
 
 54 
 
 (/) > 
 
 2 
 
 40 
 
 
 2 
 
 40 
 
 
 2 
 
 35 
 
 
 3 
 
 115 
 
 
 3 
 
 115 
 
 4,800 
 
 9 
 
 545 
 
 5,200 
 
 165 
 
 1,139 
 
 6,500 
 
 225 
 
 4,302 
 
 9,114 
 
 250 
 
 5,000 
 
 10,865 
 
 250 
 
 8,678 
 
 13,836 
 
 237 
 
 1,816 
 
 15,306 
 
 290 
 
 5,834 
 
 16,869 
 
 316 
 
 15,407 
 
 22,121 
 
 361 
 
 17,894 
 
 35,262 
 
 491 
 
 20,689 
 
 46,235 
 
 596 
 
 36,975 
 
 58,308 
 
 793 
 
 49.545 
 
 72,676 
 
 942 
 
 87,177 
 
86 
 
 The statistician of the Mission, Mr. Clark, summarizes the 
 most important items as follows ; 
 
 Twenty-five years ago, not one Christian; now 100,000 in 
 our Church alone, of whom 25.057 are full communicant 
 members. 
 
 Last year in eleven months, 6.522 were baptized, a net in- 
 crease of 27 per cent. The average net increase for thirteen 
 years is 38 per cent. 
 
 In eleven months of last year, the Church raised for all pur- 
 poses Yen 162,150.34. 
 
 Last year, in our 591 Church primary schools, 10.916 boys 
 and 2,511 girls were studying. 
 
 Three hundred and seven Korean Christian workers on sal- 
 ary, 246 or 80 per cent, of whom are paid by the Church. 
 
 Including school teachers, of the 1,152 employees of the 
 Church, 94 per cent, are supported without any foreign funds. 
 
 Bible Study Classes were held at 800 different places with a 
 total enrollment of 50,000, making one-half of our adherents 
 attending such classes. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. H. G. L'nderwood, of Seoul, places the number 
 of Christians in the whole country at 200,000. This figure 
 must include catechumens ; but these are really Christians in 
 the sense in which the term is used in western lands. 
 
 W hile our mission work is far the largest in Korta, that of 
 other Boards is also being greatly blessed. The Rev. D. A. 
 Bunker, of the Methodist Church, recently wrote to a friend : 
 “W'ork along all lines goes forward rapidly, so fast that we 
 can hardly keep within sight of the van. It is a great oppor- 
 tunity for winning souls for Christ in this land, and we are all 
 on the run to keep pace with the work we have in hand. The 
 people of the Qiurch of which I have charge in the city are 
 carrying on home mission work in over 140 villages outside 
 this city wall. Every Sunday, the members and the workers 
 they have enlisted carry on regular preaching in eleven mis- 
 sion chapels. 
 
 "Last Sunday, I was at one of these chapels and received 
 twenty-three probationers. The native pastor and myself are 
 out among these chapels more than half our Sundays. At every 
 chapel, there are candidates for baptism or full membership 
 or probationship awaiting us. A few Sundays ago, at one 
 chapel, I baptized si.x persons the average age of whom was 
 above seventy. One husband was seventy-nine and his wife 
 seventy-six. As result of revival meetings which the members 
 of my Church have been carrying on for the past ten days, 61 1 
 new names have been added to the list of believers. Other 
 churches are no whit behind in bringing in new believers.” 
 
8 / 
 
 And these Korean Christians give and pray and study their 
 Bibles and seek tlie conversion of others. Though they are 
 among the most poverty-stricken people in the world, those in 
 connection with our ^Mission support in full 588 of their pri- 
 mary schools and 965 of their regular congregations. Their 
 contributions for all purposes, including hospital fees, have 
 increased as follows; (one yen equals 50 cents). 
 
 IQ02 yen 5,470.48 
 
 1903 “ 6,583.30 
 
 1904 “ 9,962.11 
 
 1905 “ 17,882.69 
 
 1906 “ 33.349-89 
 
 1907 “ 49.189-73 
 
 1908 “ 77.335-86 
 
 1909 “ 94,811.02 
 
 The wage of a Korean laborer is about twenty cents a day, 
 as compared with $1.50 or $2.00 in the United State-.. Imagine 
 tl.en the significance of gifts in a single year aggregating yen 
 94,811.02, or sixty-four cents for every dollar given by the 
 Board. 
 
 -A visitor interested in Sunday-school work was troubled be- 
 cause he found what seemed to be a small proportion of chil- 
 dren in the Sunday-schools. The fact was that the whole con- 
 gregation of each group of believers was in Sunday-school 
 studying the Word of God. Practically all the boys and girls 
 were there : but scattered through the great assemblages with 
 their parents, they were not so readily noticed by an American 
 to whom a Sunday-school meant a gathering of chddren with 
 only a handful of adults. Korea has the best kind of Sunday- 
 schools, for they are congregational Bible schools. 
 
 -As for prayer, there is a family altar in ever}’ home and no 
 meal is eaten without asking the blessing of God. The prayer 
 meeting, like the Sunday-school, brings together all who are 
 phy.s'ically able to come. The Pyeng A^ang prayer meeting has 
 been often described ; it is the largest in the world. I attended 
 the prayer meeting in the ATm Alot Kol Church in Seoul. It 
 was a dark, rainy night. A Korean was to lead, and the people 
 did not know that a traveler from the West would be present ; 
 but I found about 1,000 Christians assembled. Xo visitor, 
 however distinguished, would bring out 1,200 American church 
 members on prayer meeting night in any city in the United 
 States, but 1,200 people packed the Syen Chyun Church the 
 evening we spent there. It is worth going far to hear those 
 Korean Christians pray. They bow with their faces to the 
 floor and utter petitions as those who know what it is to have 
 daily audience with God. This spirit of prayer and Bible study 
 
88 
 
 pervades their daily lives. The Rev. F. S. Aliller writes from 
 our recently e.stablished station at Gnmg Jn: 
 
 “We are in a mountain village in a rocky gully at the foot of Yellow- 
 Crane IMountain. These people appreciate the light and joy it brings 
 into their dark homes. They have time to think and pray and study 
 during the w-inter. They appreciate our visits, too. The little bands of 
 Christians scattered through the mountains have a common bond of 
 union with each other and wdth the great Church out in the world, a 
 bond that gives them a new vision, a new life. v 
 
 “Dr. Purviance is leveling off the south end of the hill, on which our 
 station stands, for a hospital. .-\s I w-alked over the site the other day, 
 I noticed a niche in the bank and that it contained four Testaments and 
 hymn books. Where in .America do you find a band of workers taking 
 Testaments and hymn books to work with them, I thought. Then I 
 remembered how I had found one of my coolies on the top of a pass, 
 resting by the side of his load and learning to read out of a copy of 
 Alark’s Gospel. That was last year; this year when I came back from 
 -America, I heard him offer a helpful prayer in prayer-meeting, and he 
 is only about one year old in his Christian life. 
 
 “.As I stood thinking these things over, the men came around the 
 bank, laid down their shovels and picks and asked me to lead their 
 ‘rest time prayer meeting.’ Perhaps only half of them were Chris- 
 tians, but all .sat in respectful silence and bowed their heads in prayer. 
 Xot a few of those who are Christians were led to Christ when we 
 erected our building two or three years ago." 
 
 .An interesting phase of tiie evangelistic situation in Korea 
 is the willingness of the churches to consider their responsi- 
 bilities toward others. Training classes have become a con- 
 .spicnons feature of the Korean work. They assemble the lead- 
 ing Christians from a wide station area for devout study and 
 prayer. Beginning with one class of seven men in 1891, the 
 classes have increased in numbers until in 1909, 743 
 classes enrolled 30,500 men and 11,334 women, a total of 
 42,812. .Allowing for individuals who attended more than one 
 class, about thirty-nine per cent, of the Christians were in at 
 least one class last year. .All expenses are met by the Koreans 
 themselves, who often come from considerable distances. It 
 is not uncommon for men to walk two hundred miles to these 
 classes, and in some instances they have come from an even 
 greater distance. These men and women go back to their vil- 
 lages to speak of Christ to their unconverted neighbors. 
 
 The following extracts from recent letters from Dr. \V. O. 
 Johnson of Taikn, and the Rev. A\'. L. Swallen of Pyeng 
 A'ang, are samples of scores that I might cite from my regu- 
 lar correspondence. The' former writes : “The men's class 
 which has just closed was attended by 500 men. They came 
 from all parts of the Province, and studied well. The spirit 
 was fine. 250 men pledged enough days of preaching to equal 
 the work of one man for nine years, and a large body of men 
 
8g 
 
 pledged themselves to begin eacli day with the petition to the 
 Lord: “W'liat wilt Thon have me do today?’ " 
 
 Mr. Swallen writes: "Since you were with us here at Pyeng 
 Yang, 1 have been over my field and visited every Church. 
 Things are in good condition. The Church is waking up to a 
 strenuous effort to take the Gospel to every house and every 
 man and woman this year. I baptized 619 adults and 51 chil- 
 dren. At a circuit class which 1 belli for a week, 250 were 
 present, all staying till the close of the last session. One evening 
 was given to the subject of personal work, and an opportunity 
 for pledging a number of days’ work during the year resulted 
 i)i an aggregate of 2,700 days of preaching pledged. The helpers 
 who had no time of their own to give pledged each a half 
 month’s salary. W’hen these return to their cliurclies, many 
 more days of preaching to unbelievers will be pledged by those 
 who were r.ot at the class. 
 
 "An ox-load of 4,000 copies of Mark’s Gospel was sent to 
 me during the class, and in less than half an hour they were all 
 gone. I had not sufficient to supply the demand. These Gos- 
 pels are purchased by the Christians and given gratis to such 
 as promise to read it. On returning home, 1 presented the sub- 
 ject of personal work to my South Gate Church in the city, 
 and two extra evangelists were provided for the year. I have a 
 map of mv territory made and every house is marked. The 
 Gospel is going to reach every Korean this year.” 
 
 .Another and later letter includes the following: "I have just 
 returned from a class at Syen Chyun where there were 1,400 
 present. 3.300 copies of Alark’s Gospel were purchased by the 
 Christians to give away in their preaching to unbelievers. Af- 
 ter an address on the subject of tithing, several himdred de- 
 cided hereafter to give the tenth to the Lord. .At the close of 
 a sermon on Rom. 12: 1-2, over 400 stood up and solemnly 
 dedicated themselves wholly to the Lord. I never was in a 
 more blessed meeting. From every part of the country come 
 in good reports of what the Lord is doing. A colporteur, while 
 coming into the city from ten miles out, counted 400 men who 
 had received a Gospel. Alen coming in from churclies where 
 they were having a week of Bible study say that the churches 
 are crowded with new believers. In some instances, the con- 
 gregations are doubled and people are standing outside the 
 doors listening to the Gospel.” 
 
 Nor is the thought of the Korean Christians confined to their 
 imme hate neighborhoods. One of the seven men ordained 
 September 17, 1907, Ah Ki Poung, was .set aside as a mission- 
 ary to the island of Quelpart, the Church to provide his e.x- 
 penses and support. It is interesting to note that this first Ko- 
 
90 
 
 rean missionary was a man who stoned Dr. iMofifett on the 
 streets of I’yeng Yang nineteen years ago. Korean Christians 
 are now earnestly considering whether they ought to assist in 
 the evangelization of the Chinese, particularly those who are 
 on their northern border in iManchuria. Mr. Miller says that 
 one day he happened to hear a Korean praying in church, and 
 this was the petition: “O Lord, we are a despised people, the 
 weakest nation on the earth. But thou art a God who choosest 
 the despised things. W ilt thou use this nation to show forth 
 Thy glory in Asia." Mr. Miller adds: “W’e believe th.at prayer 
 is being answered before our eyes. If the poor in spirit, the 
 weak, they that mourn, and the peacemakers are blessed be- 
 yond the self-.satisfied, the proud and exultant, then Korea is 
 blessed of God. To the fleshly man, Korea is a decadent na- 
 tion ; to the spiritual man she is a nation being born in a day.’’ 
 
 The last mails bring an account of the plans of the mission- 
 aries represented in the General Council of Missions to seek to 
 lead a million people to Christ during the coming year. Dr. 
 Um'erwood writes : "It was found that a million this year would, 
 mean that each member of the Church, counting the enrolled 
 catechumenate as members, would have to go out and win one 
 soul a month during the twelve months. You can see how easy 
 it woul.l be if each will do his work. W’e are now trying to 
 get each one to start. The iMethodist Conference was a most 
 enthusiastic one. The 15c; men who were present plediged some 
 3,000 days during the next three months. At Chai Ryung, to 
 which I was asked to go, the training class, when the matter 
 was presented to them, pledged during the next three months 
 over 5,000 days. W'e have secured from the British and For- 
 eign Bible Society a special copy of Mark, that is being printed 
 in large quantities. These will be .sold to Christians who will 
 take them and with a wDrd of prayer and advice give them to 
 their heathen friends. The Society first ordered 100,000, and 
 then cabled to make it 200,000. Finding their orders were 
 nearly 300,000, have made it 400,000. W’e expect consider- 
 ably over a million of these Gospels will be distributed during 
 the year, and a determined effort will be made to see that every 
 household in Korea during this year hears the story of Christ 
 in an intelligent manner. The whole country will be districted, 
 and in some way or other every house will be reached." 
 
 It is in my heart to write more at length regarding the details 
 of the wonderful work of God in Korea ; but all this has been 
 done with fullness and vividness of detail in a pamphlet of 
 140 pages entitled "Quarto-Centennial Papers Read Before the 
 Korea Mission at the Annual Meeting in Pyeng Yang, August 
 27th, 1909." It would extend my report to unreasonable length 
 
91 
 
 if I were to inclmle that story, and it would be a pity to weaken 
 its effect bv simply giving extracts from it here. I wish that 
 it might b'- read in connection with this report, so ibat every 
 reader of my words will get the wide vision and inspiring ac- 
 count of the wonder-working of God in this little country. 
 
 I have beard the criticism that the alleged progress in Korea 
 is simply a mass movement of peasants which is largely emo- 
 tional in character and with no sufficient basis in education. 
 The sense of national weakness and helplessness, the heavy 
 consciousness of woe and oppression incline the Koreans to 
 follow the leadership of missionaries. Will their Christianity 
 be as virile and permanent as that of the slower and more ten- 
 acious Chinese and the more philosophical and mystical East 
 Indian? The Koreans are turning to God from the depths of 
 utter worldly despair, accepting the Gospel as their only hope 
 and help in this world. Will they give it the same supremacy in 
 their lives when their worldly conditions improve and life has 
 in it more of the opportunities and ambitions which characterize 
 other peoples ? 
 
 I do not share these forebodings. It is true that the Koreans 
 are coming to the Church in large numbers ; but it is not true 
 that they are received in a mass. ]\Iissionaries deal with each 
 individual separately, carefully examining him and testing him 
 as a catechumen for an average period of a }'ear. He is not 
 enrolled as a communicant until he shows reasonable familiar- 
 ity with the Bible, maintains family prayers, contributes in pro- 
 portion to his means, and lives a consistent Christian life. If 
 membership in American churches were confined to Christians 
 of that type, would the enrollment be as large as it is now? 
 
 It is true also that there is a large emotional element in Ko- 
 rean Christianity ; but why should we distrust the work on that 
 account? The heart is quite as likely to be right as the head. 
 Repentance, faith and devotion which enlist the profoundest 
 emotions of the soul are surely not to be slighted. Love is the 
 strongest and most lasting of human passions ; and when it is 
 centered in Christ, it affiords firm foundation for the Chris- 
 tian life. The Japanese can war, the Chinese can work, and the 
 Korean can love. There is room for them all in the large plan 
 of the universal God. 
 
 But it is not true that Korean' converts are not grounded in 
 the faith and that they are not receiving an education. I have 
 already referred to the congregational Bible schools everv Sun- 
 day, and to the Bible Training Classes which are held at all the 
 stations. These special means of instruction are supplemented 
 by preaching sendees and by daily study in the homes. If there 
 are any other Christians in the world who are more familiar 
 
92 
 
 with the Scriptures than the Korean Christians, I have not had 
 the pleasure of meeting them. I refer elsewhere to the schools 
 for general education and to the need of better equipment for 
 them ; but let it be noted here that almost every group of Chris- 
 tians in the country maintains a primary school, that our sta- 
 tions are as well equipped with boarding schools as the average 
 stations in other fields, and that a college has already been 
 started. 
 
 Political conditions have undoubtedly made the progress of 
 the Gospel more ea.sy than in .some other lands. The Christian 
 movement, hoAvever, attained large proportions before the 
 Japanese occupation and while the Koreans were under their 
 own Government. Since the Japanese occupation, missionaries 
 and Korean Christian leaders have been indefatigable in 
 insisting upon the separation of the Church from poli- 
 tics. Attempts to use the mission work in the interests 
 of a revolutionary propaganda have been strongK resist- 
 ed. In some instances, congregations and Young Men’s 
 Christian Associations have been disbanded on that ac- 
 count. The only Christian agency in Korea whose numbers are 
 materially mcreaserl by political feeling is the Salvation Army. 
 The military organization, equipment and methods of the Army 
 naturally mislead many of the simpler-minded Koreans. As 
 the Salvation Army officers do not yet know the Korean lan- 
 guage, and are therefore obliged to preach through hired inter- 
 preters with no means of knowing how accurate the interpreta- 
 tion is. thev are being deceived by apparent results which I 
 fear will not endure. Xo Presbyterian missionary would be 
 allowed to engage in independent evangelistic work and to re- 
 lAort large numbers of converts within a few months after his 
 arrival in the country. The Salvation Army is doing good 
 work in some other places in Asia, and its officers will learn 
 ere long that it is wise to move more cautiously in Korea than 
 they have a et done. 
 
 Taking Korean Christians as a whole, the facts which have 
 been stated regarding their giving, their study of the Bible, 
 their zeal for the conversion of others, and the consistency of 
 their daily lives, should protect them against the charge of be- 
 ing unintelligent and merely emotional Christians. Their con- 
 fession of heinous sins during the intensity of revivals has been 
 cited as evidence that their Christianity is shallow. It is odd 
 that any one should draw such a conclusion. The Spirit of 
 God led those poor Koreans to confess to the very sins which 
 are notoriously not wanting among those who are called Chris- 
 tians in Europe and America. It ill becomes travelers from 
 countries where such sins are not confessed until investigations 
 
93 
 
 expose them to criticise Christians in Korea wlio have the 
 grace to confess them voluntarily. 
 
 For myself, I cannot withhold the tribute of my confidence 
 and love for those Korean Christians. As 1 met them in vari- 
 ous parts of the country, in villages and cities, churches and 
 homes, I was profoundlv impressed by their sincerity and de- 
 votion. We arrived at Chai Ryung about dark Saturday even- 
 ing, after a journey of five hours in chairs from the railway 
 station. As I was tired and dusty. I did not expect to meet the 
 Christians that evening. Learning, however, that many of them 
 had assembled in the church, I went over, and during the 
 meeting, asked them to tell me in their own way what they 
 found in Christ that lead them to love and serve Him. One 
 after another those men rose and answered my question. I 
 jotted down their replies, and find the following in my notes: 
 “Deliverance from sin," “forgiveness,” “peace," “guidance," 
 “strength," “power to do," “joy," “comfort," “eternal life." 
 Surely these earnest Koreans have found something of value in 
 Christ. As we bowed together in a closing prayer, my heart 
 went out to them as to those who, with fewer advantages than 
 I had enjoyed, have nevertheless learned more than I of the 
 deep things of God. 
 
 \\’e are not doing too much, as some allege, for the evangeli- 
 zation of Korea. Grant that it is weak and obscure from 
 the viewpoint of the world. Is it not of the very essence of 
 the religion of Christ that we should go out to the poor and 
 weak? What right have we to assume that those who appear to 
 be so lowly will not be of future worth and influence? Histor- 
 ically. the two most powerful and aggressive religions of the 
 world did not emanate from the stronger nations. Moham- 
 medanism was born in barren and insignificant Arabia; Chris- 
 tianity sprang from subject and helpless Palestine. The Ko- 
 reans are no more contemptible in the eyes of the world today 
 than the Christians of the first century were to the haughty 
 Romans. But God chose the Jews as the ])eople through whom 
 to manifest His power to the world. iMav He not be choosing 
 the humble Koreans for like spiritual purposes in the Far East? 
 Their verv political impotence, the absence of worldly ambi- 
 tions to divert their minds, the fact that they are not under the 
 weight of an established non-Christian faith, make them all the 
 more accessible to the Gospel message and all the more free to 
 declare it to others. Once again it is true that “God chose the 
 weak things of the world that He might put to shame the things 
 that are strong ; and the things that are despised did God 
 choose, . . . that He might bring to nought the things that are ; 
 that no flesh should glory before God.” 
 
94 
 
 Tlie problem of relationship to the Native Church, which has 
 become so prominent in Japan and China, can hardly be said 
 to exist in Korea. The problem here is the antithesis of the 
 problem in Japan. We are dealing, not with a self-governing 
 Church, bm with one which gladly accepts foreign leadership. 
 There is probably no other place in the world where missionary 
 supremacy is more ab.solute, nor is there any other where na- 
 tive Christians look up to the missionary with greater confi- 
 dence and affection. The relationship is not so much that of 
 friend to friend as of child to parent. The temperament and 
 peculiar situation oT the Korean people will probably mean a 
 long continuance of these conditions. 
 
 The Church, however, is becoming well established. The 
 Mission was late in consummating the formal organization of 
 the Church, for reasons which I set forth in my report on my 
 visit in 1901. Since then notable advance has been made. Sep- 
 tember 17, 1907, was a memorable day, for it witnessed the 
 solemn constitution of the Presbytery of Korea in accordance 
 with authority given by the General Assemblies of the four 
 Presbyterian Churches whose Missions are united in the Gen- 
 eral Council: Presbyterian North, Presbyterian South, Cana- 
 dian Presb}'terian and Australian Presbyterian. The Rev. 
 Samuel A. Moffett. D.D., was chosen Moderator. 
 
 “The Presbytery at its organization consisted of 33 foreign 
 missionaries and representative elders from 36 organized 
 churches, two other churches with elders not being represented. 
 The Presbytery made its first work the examination of the 
 seven men who had finished the theological course of five years. 
 At an limpressive service that evening, these men were or- 
 dained the first Presbyterian ministers of the Korean Church.’’ 
 The Pre.sbytery then had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over a 
 church with 17,890 communicants, 21,482 catechumens, 38 or- 
 ganized churches, 984 churches not all fully organized, adher- 
 ents numbering 69,098, and 402 day schools with 8,61 1 pupils. 
 The Presbytery adopted its own Confession of Faith and P'orm 
 of Government. The former is the same as that which was 
 ac'opted by the Presbyterian Church in India at its organization 
 in 1904. with the addition of the Shorter Catechism as the 
 (Tatechism of the Church. The Form of Government follows 
 largely that ac’opted in India, but introducing several features 
 which are an outgrowth of our already developed policy in 
 Korea. Few other churches in history have enrolled so many 
 members during the first few years of their existence, and few 
 today have brighter jmospects. It is ungenerous and indicative 
 of a lack of faith in both humanity and God to take a pessimis- 
 tic view of its future. Let us rather be led to new devotion by 
 
95 
 
 the modern manifestation of that child-like faith which the 
 Master himself pronounced a condition of entrance into the 
 Kingdom ol Heaven. 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 The Problem of New Life in an Old Empire. 
 
 Much has been written about the awakening of China, but it 
 is difficult to comprehend the stupendous transformation that is 
 taking place. When a people numbering nearly a third of the 
 human race and occupying a tenth of the habitable globe begin 
 to move, one may ask with a wonder not unmixed with awe; 
 Whither? The Boxer uprising of 1900 marked the transition 
 between the old and the new. China now welcomes a reorgan- 
 ization of methods which she then fanatically resisted. Knowl- 
 edge and inventions, whiph western nations obtained by degrees 
 and which they could therefore gradually assimilate, have pour- 
 ed into Qiina all at once in a surging flood, and the people are 
 naturally bewildered. History affords no parallel to the situa- 
 tion, unless it may be in the upheaval of mediaeval society which 
 followed the Crusades. That upheaval resulted in the rise of 
 modern Europe, and it may well be that the vaster transforma- 
 tion which is now taking place in China will issue in a new Asia. 
 A few facts will illustrate the startling changes in this ancient 
 Empire. 
 
 In 1876, China had only fourteen miles of railway: in 1881 
 there were 144 miles; in 1889, 566; and now there are 6,300, 
 while additional lines have been surveyed. A dozen years ago, 
 the telegraph service connected only a few cities near the coast, 
 and the telephone was unknown. Now, 40,000 miles of wire 
 reach all the principal centers of population, and hundreds of 
 yamens are ecpiipped with telephones. The postal system, which 
 was established twelve years ago, has made rapid growth. The 
 number of pieces handled has increased as follows: 1904, 66,- 
 000,000; 1905, 76,500.000; 1906, 113,000,000; 1907, 168,000,- 
 000; 1908, 252,000.000. The number of post offices increased 
 from 2.803 in 1907 to 3,493 in 1908. The postal routes now in 
 operation cover no less than 88,000 miles. 
 
 Prior to the Boxer upnising, there was no vernacular press, 
 except a few small publications in Peking and one or two port 
 cities. News was communicated by word of mouth or by pla- 
 cards posted on walls. Over 200 Chinese newspapers are now 
 published, and their circulation is large and rapidly growing. 
 The official class. Which at first paid little attention to them, has 
 recently awakened to the influence which they are exerting, and 
 within the last year a number of the more influential journals 
 have been bought up or subsidized by men connected with the 
 
 G 
 
96 
 
 provincial governments. This may not prove to be a wholesome 
 change, for these journals were actively promulgating reform. 
 Their future utterances will probably be more carefully guard- 
 ed. 
 
 The Chinese, who invented the art of printing by movable 
 type five hundred years before it was known in Europe, are 
 free!}’ using the improved methods of western nations and job 
 presses are springing up all over the Empire. I may note here 
 that these native presses are seriously affecting our Mission 
 Press in Shanghai. Its facilities have been greatly enlarged 
 since my former visit in 1901. The office, salesroom and store- 
 room remain at the old location in the heart of the city. The 
 new manufacturing plant several miles away was being 
 started in the midst of an uninhabited swamp when I saw 
 the place before. It now includes bandsome buildings 
 with modern machinery; but instead of being out in the 
 country, it is in the centre of a fine residence sec- 
 tion of Shanghai, so rapid has been the growth of the city in 
 that direction. The Board is aware that the Central China Mis- 
 sion, at its meeting in 1908. gave careful consideration to the 
 new problems which are affecting the Press, and that the Mis- 
 sion proposed a plan of reorganization which was afterward 
 approved by the Board. There are still questions, however, 
 which need consideration and which the new China Commission 
 might well consider. They are not peculiar to our Press, but 
 affect to a greater or less degree the presses of other Boards in 
 the Far East. The Chinese and Japanese have developed mark- 
 ed facility for job printing. Mission presses cannot compete 
 with them on an even financial basis, and this for three reasons; 
 First, the native press does not have expensive foreign super- 
 vision ; second, it employs cheaper labor : third, it does not have 
 to do the unprofitable work which every mission press is com- 
 pelled to do. The latter must produce tracts and periodicals 
 for use in Christian work, some of which have to be given awav 
 or sold bel( w cost, while some of the books that are required 
 cannot now be .sold in sufficient quantities to be commercially 
 profitable. Tlie time has not yet come when we can dispense 
 with our Press or limit the scope of its operations. It is an 
 enormous influence for good in China, an indispensable part of 
 our missionary equipment ; but each year its position becomes 
 more difficult. 
 
 Its chief competitor is “The Commercial Press, Limited,” of 
 Shanghai. This Press was started twelve years ago by Chris- 
 tian Chinese, who had learned the trade while employed by our 
 Mission Press. After a time, these young and ambitious Chinese 
 naturally wanted to go into business for themselves. They 
 
97 
 
 therefore left our employ and opened a small job printing shop 
 near by. By skill and diligence, their business soon increased. 
 W hen the new government system of education was adopted 
 and foreign text-books were called for, the managers were en 
 terprising enough to foresee the opportunity. The\ enlarged 
 their plant and began to turn out the desired books. Today, this 
 Press is the largest in all Asia, employing over one thousand 
 hands, all of them Chinese except about a dozen Japanese. It 
 is equipped with the latest and best German, English and Amer- 
 ican machinery. It has a capital of $1,000,000, one-third of 
 which is held by Japanese and two-thirds by Chinese It uses 
 not only Chinese paper, but stock imported from Austria, Swe- 
 den, England and Japan, chiefly from Austria and Sweden. It 
 has opened twenty branch presses in various cities of China. 
 It is managed on the co-operative plan, sharing profit.-, with its 
 employees. The net profits are divided into twenty parts. Five 
 of these are distributed among the employees, ten go to the 
 share-holders, three to the reserve fund, and two to the schools 
 of children of employees, to sick and injured employees and 
 the widows and orphans of those who have died. The net 
 profits di.stributed in these ways last year were $200,000 Mex. 
 It is gratifying to know, not only that the managers of this 
 great institution are Christian men, but that of the three foun- 
 ders and present managers, one is the son-in-law and the other 
 two are sons of the first pupil of our boarding school at Ning- 
 po. The head of every important department, except one, is a 
 Christian, and sixty per cent, of the men who are in responsible 
 positions are Christians. This Press now issues most of the 
 text-books used in the Government schools and a large propor- 
 tion of the bank notes which are in circulation. It would be 
 small and narrow indeed to begrudge the success of such an 
 institution or lament that it makes the position of our own 
 Press more difficult. 
 
 One of the remarkable events in China is the beginning of 
 constitutional government. September 20, 1907. an imperial 
 edict provided for the establishment of a National Assembly of 
 ministers at Peking to consider questions affecting the interests 
 of the State. Ten days later, another edict ordered the ap- 
 pointment of town councils and local representatives ; and Octo- 
 ber 18, a third edict directed the establishment of Provincial 
 Assemblies. It will thus be seen that China is providing for a 
 graded system of representative bodies from town councils to 
 Provincial and National Assemblies, the members of the Na- 
 tional Assembly at Peldng being selected by the Provincial As- 
 semblies. The qualifications for membersliip are partly prop- 
 erty and partly educational. Any male who has property 
 
98 
 
 amounting to 5.000 taels, or who holds a degree under the old 
 examination system, or who has been graduated from a gov- 
 ernment middle or high school, may be chosen. 
 
 October 14, 1909. was a memorable day in the history of 
 China, for it signalized the opening of the first of the Provincial 
 Assemblies. All of the vernacular papers gave the event large 
 space, and two appeared with their first pages printed in Ver- 
 million to commemorate the auspicious occasion. 
 
 These Assemblies were of varying qualities. It would not 
 have been reasonable to e.xpect that the first popular bodies in 
 an ancient nation would be characterized by eminent wisdom or 
 unity. Some of the assemblies did little that was of value. 
 Others addressed themselves seriously to the task before them, 
 and in many there were individual members who showed ability 
 and courage. All things must have a beginning and pass 
 through a period of development. The Chinese Provincial As- 
 semblies are not likely to be exceptions to a rule which western 
 nations have conspicuously illustrated. But the movement is 
 full of hoj)e for the future of China. It is certain to stimulate 
 new ideas which, once promulgated, are not likely to be for- 
 gotten. 
 
 The language is being adapted to the changing conditions. 
 A young missionary writes : “There are six of us studying 
 Chinese together. Our teachers tell us that we must pay more 
 attention than is usually given to the new words now coming 
 into use. I do not mean the host of scientific terms being turn- 
 ed into Chinese ; but the miscellaneous phrases coined chiefly 
 since 1900 to meet the needs of the new style of thought. These 
 expressions have gained currency mainly through the news- 
 papers. and so we go to the newspapers to find them, rather 
 than to the sinologues whose vocabularies were acquired in 
 ante-Boxer days. There is one new word that everybody glibly 
 recites to the inquiring newcomer ; it is the word for an ideal, 
 meaning literally, ‘the thing you have your eye on.’ A fit com- 
 panion to this is a new wav of speaking of a man's purpose in 
 life: ‘his magnetic needle points in such and such a direction.' 
 A group of new expressions with the following meanings : 
 society, reform, the public good, constitutional government, 
 ])rotection of life, taking the initiative, removing obstructions, 
 to volunteer one’s services, indicate the direction in which the 
 winds of thought are blowing in China. The newspapers now 
 have a word meaning rotten which they apply freely to manda- 
 rins, to the army, to schools and to things in general. Freedom 
 of religion is another new phrase in Chinese : .so is a term mean- 
 ing to educate as distinguished from to instruct. The use of 
 the latter was illustrated by a distinguished Chinese (not a 
 
99 
 
 Giristian) when he declared that tlie Y. M. C. A. school in 
 Tien-tsin was better than the Confucian schools, because it edu- 
 cates its pupils, develo])ing them both in morals and knowledge; 
 whereas the Chinese practice is to hand out chunks of learning 
 and ethical advice for the pupils to swallow or not as they 
 choose.” 
 
 The new life that is stirring the people affects women as well 
 as men. A writer in a Hong Kong journal says: “Not the 
 most optimistic or enthusiastic revolutionary, who from the 
 view-point of twenty years ago looked forward to the changes 
 that then seemed impending, would have dared to prophesy an 
 overturning and recasting so complete as that which now meets 
 the gaze in certain aspects of social and political life in China. 
 Few things have been more ra])id or more startling than the 
 emancipation of women, and the acquiescence of officials and 
 other responsible leaders among the people in the position of 
 women as a leading factor in public life. The Orientalized 
 woman in the chief centres of intellectual activity is a creature 
 of the past. She is becoming every year more Occidental in re- 
 spect to the position claimed by her, and accorded to her, as a 
 figure in the new world, where she is ultimately to achieve vic- 
 tory in every conflict for the rights of her sex in the advanced 
 and progressive commonwealth. National spirit in its most po- 
 tent forms, working for good or for evil, is raised to the high- 
 est plane of effectiveness when it dominates womanhood." 
 
 A remarkable meeting of women in Canton in 1908 is de- 
 scribed as follows by a correspondent of The China Mail : "The 
 meeting, convened in connection with the difficulty between 
 Qiina and Japan, was a unique one, and is responsible to a very 
 great e.xtent for the growing strength of the boycotting move- 
 ment. The proceedings were conducted in a perfectly orderly 
 manner, and stirring addresses were made for four hours. The 
 weather conditions were wholly adverse; but notwithstanding 
 the drenching rain that fell continuously, fully ten thousand 
 women came together at the place of meeting. For the first 
 time in the history of this great commercial centre, the main 
 thoroughfaies were kept open by properly appointed police, told 
 oft' for the duty of regulating the traffic in order to facilitate the 
 progress of the wives and daughters of its citizens to a meeting 
 in which they were to vindicate their claim to be heard in in- 
 dignant protest against national injustice and wrong. Leaving 
 out of account the merits of the question at issue, we say ad- 
 visedly that there never was a more significant function in its 
 bearing on the future of a nation than the women’s mass meet- 
 ing in Canton.” 
 
lOO 
 
 One more quotation from The China Mail may be of interest : 
 ‘Tn matters educational in China, it is of special significance 
 to note that schemes of magnitude, which hold in them possi- 
 bilities such as the most sanguine never contemplated until 
 within the past decade, are now come to be regarded as every- 
 day events within the sphere of the common-place. Thus we 
 find notice of a memorial to the Throne from the Board of 
 Education, asking that $70,000 be devoted to found in the Capi- 
 tal a normal school for the training of women teachers, the 
 .school to be maintained by an annual grant from the Govern- 
 ment of $40,000. The feature of this memorial which makes it 
 essentially of the new time is the proposal to spend year by 
 year so considerable a sum in providing for female education.’’ 
 
 One recalls the significant statement of \'iceroy Yuan Shih 
 Kai, shortlv before his retirement from office: “The most im- 
 portant thing in China just now is that the women be edu- 
 cated.” Increasing numbers of Chinese women are unbinding 
 their feet, and the movement has the support of the Govern- 
 ment and of many daily papers. 
 
 Proposals have even been made for cutting the queue and 
 adopting foreign dress. Those who memorialized the Throne 
 on the subject based their objections to the queue on the faci 
 that it is unsanitary and inconvenient, and that it exposes Chin- 
 ese to the ridicule of foreigners. The Prince Regent feared 
 that the nation was hardly ready for such drastic changes and 
 rejected the proposal; but there are many who believe that the 
 days of the queue are numbered. A large majority of the Chi- 
 nese in the United States have cut off their queues, a step which 
 no Chinese could have taken a dozen years ago without being 
 ostracised by his countrymen. 
 
 A notable movement toward reform in personal habits is the 
 anti-opium crusade. The opium habit has long been the curse 
 of China. The missionary, who has inaugurated every moral 
 reform in China during the last hundred years and whose teach- 
 ings have been the chief cause of the awakening of the Chinese 
 mind, deser\es the credit of inaugurating this reform also. The 
 memorial of twelve hundred Protestant missionaries, presented 
 through a friendly Mceroy to the Throne in 1906, resulted in 
 the now famous Imperial edicts of September, 1906, l\Iay and 
 June, 1907, and March, 1908. Those who know how often 
 Chinese edicts have been simply high-sounding declarations 
 which were never carried out were naturally skeptical about 
 the eff ect of this one ; especially as it dealt with the favorite in- 
 dulgence of many millions of Chinese, as thousands of the offi- 
 cials who would have to enforce it locally were themselves vic- 
 tims of the habit, and as the vice itself, once fairly established 
 
TOI 
 
 in a man’s life, creates pathological conditions wliich make its 
 cure extremely difficult. Great were the surprise and gratifica- 
 tion, therefore, when China set itself to the task with a vigor 
 and success which leave no doubt as to its sincerity. It is true that 
 some officials are indifferent or hostile to the reform ; but when 
 evidence of their failure to enforce the law is presented in high 
 quarters, punishment is so swift and drastic that officials every- 
 where get a wholesome impression as to what is likely to hap- 
 pen to them if they are not careful. The suspension from office 
 of two Princes convinced lesser magistrates throughout the 
 Empire that no mercy would be shown to them. Thousands of 
 acres, which were formerly devoted to the cultivation of the 
 poppy, now grow grain and vegetables. Innumerable opium 
 dens have been closed. Enormous quantities of paraphernalia 
 have been burned, 5,000 pipes being publicly consumed in 
 Hang-chou at one time. Sir John Jordan, British Minister to 
 China, wrote to his Government some time ago : “China has not 
 hesitated to deal with a question which a European nation, 
 with all the modern machinery of government and the power 
 of enforcing its decision, would probably have been unwilling to 
 face." She has lost about forty millions in revenue from the 
 opium traffic, “a far more serious question,” says Sir John Jor- 
 dan, “in the present state of the Chinese national exchequer, 
 than the similar problem with which the Indian Government 
 will have to deal in sacrificing the opium revenue." 
 
 The deaths of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, No- 
 vember 14, 1908, resulted in some disquieting developments. 
 The former had little power, but the latter was a woman of ex- 
 traordinary force of character. The capture of her capital by 
 the allied armies in 1900 convinced her that China’s age-long 
 policy of isolation and resistance to outside influences could no 
 longer be maintained, and she amazed her subjects by com- 
 manding some of the very reforms which she had punished the 
 progressive young Emperor for encouraging in 1898. Under 
 her leadership, counselled by Yuan Shih Kai and Chang Chih 
 Tung, China was being swiftly reconstructed. How much she 
 really desired the new era is a disputed question ; but at any 
 rate she was shrewd enough to direct what she could not quell. 
 Her death therefore caused considerable uncertainty as to the 
 future. Would the progressives or the reactionaries dominate? 
 
 Many people question whether the passing of the Emperor 
 was due to natural causes. The Empress Dowager had been 
 the real ruler of China, and she had surrounded herself with 
 high officials who were loyal to her and whom the helpless Em- 
 peror did not love. It was plain that the atmosphere of Peking 
 would not be conducive to the longevity of these officials if the 
 
 
102 
 
 Empress Dowager’s death were to leave the Emperor in a posi- 
 tion to wreak his vengeance on those who had long humiliated 
 him. His health had long been frail and his death may have 
 been a normal one. Xo one can prove that it was not, for pal- 
 ace secrets are closely guarded in China. But few believe that 
 so opportune a demise was a mere coincidence./ j 
 
 The successor to the throne was the baby son of Prince Chun, 
 a brother of the Emperor ; the Prince himself becoming Prince 
 Regent. The latter will therefore be the real ruler of China 
 for a long period. 1 le is a young man who is supposed to have 
 good intentions. He has had a better opportunity than his 
 predecessors to see the rest of the world ; for it was he who was 
 sent to Germany in 1901 as Imperial Commissioner to apolo- 
 gize for the murder of the German Alinister in Peking in June, 
 1900. Many stories are current about the energy and demo- 
 cratic tendencies of the Prince Regent, and he is personally 
 popular. Thus far, however, he has shown little evidence of 
 the masterful leadership which China needs at this transition 
 period. Instead of conciliating the rapidly growing feeling of 
 the Chinese that they ought to have a larger voice in the man- 
 agement of their national affairs, he has more openly concen- 
 trated power in the hands of the Manchus. 
 
 One of his first acts was the summary dismissal of Yuan 
 Shih Kai, who, after having been promoted from the Governor- 
 ship of Shantung to the Vice-Royalty of Chih-li, had become a 
 Grand Councillor of the Empire. This was not unexpected, for 
 every one knew that the family of the late Emperor hated him 
 for his part in the events which led to the virtual imprisonment 
 of the Emperor in the coup d’etat of 1898. It was a foregone 
 conclusion that he would be one of the first to suffer when the 
 support of the Empress Dowager was withdrawn by death ; 
 although there were not wanting those who hoped that the 
 Prince Regent would not go so far as to degrade the most pow- 
 erful subject in the Empire. If the youthful Prince Regent 
 hesitated at all, the animosity of the late Empress overcame his 
 scruples. The method adopted was in accord with the finest 
 traditions of Chinese “face.” The Prince Regent issued a 
 statement in January, 1909, expressing his profound solicitude 
 that so distinguished a subject as His Excellency Yuan Shih 
 Kai was suffering from rheumatism in his leg, and tlie concern 
 that the Imperial heart felt because it would be necessary for 
 so useful a servant of the Throne to retire to private life for a 
 time, in order to gain relief from pain and to restore his impair- 
 ed energies. With true Oriental courtesy and dignity. Yuan 
 Shih Kai, who was in excellent health, laid down his great office 
 
103 
 
 and went to his estate not far from Shunte-fn, where he is now 
 quietly living and on a modest scale. 
 
 The diismissal of Yuan Shih Kai deprived China of her ablest 
 and best statesman, the one who was best fitted to counsel the 
 new Government at this critical period. Some relief was felt 
 when it was learned that his successor was the capable and 
 broad-minded head of the Imperial Chinese Commission which 
 visited America in 1906, \'iceroy Tuan Fang. As he is a 
 Manchu, it was supposed that his official life would be more se- 
 cure, and much was hoped from his progressive leadership. His 
 removal in October, 1909, deepened the anxiety of all true 
 friends of China as to the future course of the Empire. What 
 can be expected of a country which disgraces its best and 
 strongest leaders? 
 
 Another serious loss was the death of the veteran Chang Chin 
 Tung, October 4, 1909. He also was a Grand Councillor of the 
 Empire, and had long shared with Yuan Shih Kai the reputa- 
 tion of being the wisest and ablest of China’s progressive states- 
 men. His book, “China’s Only Hope,” was a remarkable de- 
 liverance and caused a profound impression. It is said that 
 when he passed away, the Prince Regent knelt beside his bier 
 and wept bitterly. It was an evil day for China when it was 
 deprived of such leadership, and thus far there is faint reason 
 for believing that men of equal grade are likely to be found. 
 
 The consequence is that, politically, China is in confusion. 
 Xo one is in control. The local Governors and Viceroys are 
 less amenable than ever to the central authority at Peking. The 
 younger men who have gained a smattering of western learning 
 are voluble and headstrong. The common people are becoming 
 more restless. With all the changes that are taking place in the 
 thought and life of the nation as the result of the inrush of new 
 ideas, it is a serious thing to have the central Government weak- 
 ened. Not for a long time has the opportunity for successful 
 revolt been so good as it is today, and what the future may 
 bring forth, no one knows. Our late Secretary of State, John 
 Hay, would have added reason now to repeat the warning which 
 he uttered not long before his death : “The political storm- 
 center of the world has shifted steadily westward from the Bal- 
 kans, from Constantinople, from the Persian Gulf, from India, 
 to China ; and whoever understands that Empire and its people 
 has a key to world-politics for the next five centuries." 
 
 The Japanese are eager to counsel the Chinese in this forma- 
 tive period. For two or three years after the Russia-Japan 
 War, their prestige was great, and China appeared to be willing 
 to follow the ambitious islanders. Japanese advisers were influ- 
 ential in shaping Chinese military and political affairs, and 
 
104 
 
 thousands of Chinese students flocked to Japan for instruction. 
 But recently the sentiment of the Chinese has undergone a 
 marked change. The Chinese are of¥ended by the assumption 
 of superiority which has characterized the Japanese since their 
 victory over Russia. The number of Qiinese students in Japan 
 has dwindled from approximately 15,000 to 4,000. It should 
 be said that the larger number included many who rushed to 
 Japan in the first enthusiasm which followed the Russia-Japan- 
 ese War, and that the present number is composed of more 
 earnest and intelligent men. But Japanese agents who are try- 
 ing to influence China's policy find themselves rebuffed. Dis- 
 cussing this subject with an educated Chinese gentleman, he 
 said rather contemptuously: ‘‘Japan is too small and too poor 
 to help China, either in finance or in war, and her people are so 
 immoral that contact with them would be harmful rather than 
 helpful to the Chinese. China wants the best there is in the 
 world, and as all nations are now open to her, she can get the 
 best. Why should we take ideas from Japan when the differ- 
 ence between China and Japan and China and Europe or Amer- 
 ica is only the difference between six days and fourteen days ? 
 What are eight days, especially when they mean superior influ- 
 ences?” When a well-meaning foreigner proposed a memorial 
 service in Shanghai after the assassination of Prince Ito. Chi- 
 nese who were consulted opposed it so strongly that the projec- 
 was abandoned. They declared that they saw no reason why 
 Chinese should honor a Japanese statesman, and particularly 
 one who represented the Asiatic ambitions of Japan. 
 
 The traveller wearily wishes that the reform movement 
 would extend to the currency, but Chinese individualism still 
 reigns supreme in finance. Japan, Korea, India and the Philip- 
 pines now have a uniform currency on a gold basis, but Chi- 
 nese currency is still in primeval chaos. Its varieties are enough 
 to give a traveller nervous prostration. Each important center 
 has its own coins, which are either not good at all elsewhere or 
 are accepted only at discount. Peking money is not good in 
 Shanghai, aiul Tien-tsin money is not good in Hankow. Even 
 bank notes of such standard institutions as The Hong Kong 
 and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the Yokohama Specie 
 Bank are sometimes refu-sed outside the territory of the branch 
 which issued them. A branch of one of these banks in one 
 city will usually charge a discount on its own issue by another 
 branch. The traveller may have his money refused as he at- 
 tempts to buy a railroad ticket just before the departure of a 
 train, unless he has taken the precaution to go to a money ex- 
 changer and secure the local currency. If he seeks to avoid 
 difficulty by carrying the silver Mexican dollar, which is more 
 
generally accepted than any other coin in Qiina, he must be 
 careful to see that he has the particular kind of Mexican which 
 is accepted in that locality. As these Mexican dollars are large 
 and heavy and worth about 43 or 44 cents gold, it is no small 
 undertaking to carry many of them around. Even if the trav- 
 eller has obtained the right ones, he will find that shop-keepers 
 and ticket-agents will test each separate coin to make sure that 
 it is not counterfeit. Some of my Mexican dollars were re- 
 jected, although I had been careful to get my dollars at a reli- 
 able bank. Usually the coin turned out to be all right, but it is 
 difficult to persuade a suspicious agent while a train is waiting. 
 
 If the traveller leaves the beaten routes and goes into the in- 
 terior, he will probably discover that bank-notes are regarded 
 as worthless bits of paper, and that the people insist upon silver 
 or cash. Tlie latter is a copper coin of varying size, with a 
 square hole in the center. A thousand are supposed to equal a 
 Mexican dollar. They come an strings of a hundred, and the 
 price of an article is so many "strings of cash.” These strings 
 are almost invariably short several pieces, while other pieces 
 are counterfeits. Twenty dollars’ worth of cash will load a 
 coolie, and a hundred dollars worth a donkey. The best way 
 to carry money in the villages is in bullion silver. This can al- 
 ways be sold to local money changers for a supply of coins 
 which are good in that particular neighborhood. 
 
 Confusion is still further confounded by the fluctuating value 
 of silver. There is no governmental guarantee of fixed value. 
 A Chinese silver coin is worth simply the market value of the 
 silver at the time it is offered, and this rises and falls with the 
 price of silver in the world’s markets. 
 
 Chinese who spend their lives in or near their home towns are 
 not concerned by this problem, but the traveller finds the ques- 
 tion a very annoying one. The railways are encouraging the 
 Chinese to move about more freely than formerly, so that there 
 is an increasing number of Chinese who are beginning to appre- 
 ciate the advantages of a uniform currency. Reform, how- 
 ever, will be slow, for the present confusion is profitable to 
 three powerful classes : bankers, officials and money 
 
 changers. There is big profit in exchange when every traveller 
 has to get his money turned into some other currency. High 
 officials are enriched by a system which permits \ iceroys and 
 Governors to mint and even to counterfeit their own coins. It 
 will probably be about as difficult to get the Chinese Govern- 
 ment to adopt a uniform currency as it is to get a real revision 
 of the tariff through an American Congress. Those who are 
 beneficiaries of the existing system are numerous, and they 
 have strong financial reasons for resisting reform. 
 
io6 
 
 ATTITUDE OF OFFICIALS TOWARD MISSIONARIES. 
 
 The attitude of the governing classes toward the missionary 
 enterprise has undergone some change. At first, officials re- 
 garded missionaries and their work with a suspicion which in- 
 cluded an element of contempt. Tliey did not understand why 
 missionaries came. The idea that white men would incur so 
 much trouble and expense from disinterested motives seemed 
 preposterous. Ulterior designs were invariably suspected, and 
 these designs were ordinarily believed to be of a political char- 
 acter. dliis belief was strengthened by the open alliance of 
 Roman Catholic missionaries with the political ambitions of 
 France: while the number of times that British, German and 
 .American diplomatic and consular officials pressed questions 
 affecting I’rotestant missionaries and their property brought 
 the latter under the same suspicion. Native officials seldom 
 knew the difference between Roman Catholic and Protestant 
 missionaries. They simply knew that missionaries were at 
 work ; and when complaints were sent in, the reports usually 
 failed to specify the affiliations of the alleged offenders. The 
 consequence was that Protestant missionaries generall}'^ shared 
 in the odium which the policy of the Roman Catholic mission- 
 aries developed. 
 
 I am not criticising the Roman Catholic Church ; I am simply 
 referring to the well-known historical fact that the policy of 
 that Church in .Asia is more aggressive in property matters 
 and in support of converts who are involved an law-suits than 
 the policy of Protestant Societies. Tlie result is that Roman 
 Catholics have stirred up antagonisms which Protestant mis- 
 sionaries usually avoid. The Chinese are now beginning to see 
 this. Several times, officials spoke to me with considerable feel- 
 ing of the embarrassments which the Roman Catholic policy 
 frequent!}' involves and they appreciatively referred to the fact 
 that Protestant missionaries refuse to interfere with political 
 questions or to support converts against whom lawsuits are 
 pending. 
 
 The Imperial edict of Alarch 15, 1899, which gave official 
 rank to Roman Catholic priests and bishops and which was 
 a source of great irritation to the Chinese, was rescinded in 
 1908. The forty bishops and 1,100 priests in China now have 
 the same relation to the Government as Protestant mission- 
 aries ; or rather, Roman Catholics, like Protestants, have no 
 official relation to the Government at all. Time has thus vin- 
 dicated the wisdom of Protestant missionaries in declining the 
 official status which was offered to them as well as to Roman 
 Catholics when the French Minister at Peking extorted the 
 privilege from the Government in 1899. 
 
107 
 
 Many officials understand Protestant missionaries far better 
 than they did a dozen years ago. Instances of personal friend- 
 ship are much more numerous. Prefects, Taotais, Governors 
 and \’iceroys have visited mission schools and hospitals and 
 manifested keen interest. In the fall of 1907, twentv-five iffis- 
 sionaries representing various Boards were in conference at 
 Tsinan-fu. the capital of the Province of Shantung, and inquir- 
 ed whether the Governor would receive a committee of three 
 to pav respects in behalf of the conference. He replied that he 
 would be glad to have the missionaries call in a body. When 
 they did so. they were received with everv mark of cordiality. 
 The Governor returned the call the following day, accom- 
 panied by a number of high officials and a military escort, and 
 he invited all the missionaries to a feast at his yamen the same 
 evening. There he again received the missionaries with every 
 honor. The feast was served in foreign style and would have 
 done credit to any hotel in the home land. The Governor made 
 an address, in which he .spoke in high terms of the work of the 
 missionaries and the help which they were giving in many ways 
 to his people. This was the official who, while holding a high 
 position in the Province of Shan-si during the Boxer Uprising, 
 was commanded by his Governor, Yu Hien, notorious for the 
 murder of seventy missionaries, to kill all the missionaries re- 
 siding in his district. He promptly assembled forty mission- 
 aries. but sent them under military escort to a place of safety, 
 saying that he could not kill good and law-abiding men and 
 women. 
 
 On a steamer off the coast of China. I noted that a fellow* 
 passenger was a Chinese official whose dress and retinue indi- 
 cated rank. As soon as he learned that I was from New York 
 and connected with Presbyterian mission work, be eagerly in- 
 (|uired wdiether I knew' a Aliss Rogers. \Vhen I replied that I 
 did, he expressed gratification, explaining that many years ago, 
 when he was connected wdth the consular service, he had studi- 
 ed English in New York under Miss Rogers. He spoke of her 
 with marked respect and gratitude, and asked me to take her 
 his card and a message of remembrance. He was not a Chris- 
 tian, but his conversation indicated that be had received from 
 Miss Rogers an impression of missionary character and pur- 
 pose wdiich made him sympathetic, and he frankly allowed the 
 resultant influence upon his own life. 
 
 It was arranged that I should meet the \dce-Presidtnt of the 
 Imperial Board of Education in Peking. At the appointed time 
 I drove to his official residence, in company with the Rev. J. 
 Walter Lowrie, D.D., and the Rev. M’illiam Gleysteen. No 
 sooner had we entered, than the \dce-President recognized Dr. 
 
io8 
 
 Lowrie with evident pleasure, inquired about the health of his 
 mother, expressed deep sympathy when he learned that she was 
 dead, and asked many questions regarding Dr. Lowrie and his 
 friends in Paoting-fu. It appeared that many years ago. when 
 this Chinese gentlemam who is a Hanlin scholar of the highest 
 rank, visited a friend in Paoting-fu. he was suddenly taken ill, 
 and that he was treated for several months by our missionary 
 physician at that time. Dr. George Yardley Taylor. It would 
 be unfair t(- represent the \'ice-President as a Christian or as 
 expressing any interest in Christianity; but I was impressed by 
 the fact that he had come -into such personal contact with our 
 missionaries at Paoting-fu that he had formed a favorable 
 opinion of their character and worth. 
 
 It would be easy to cite other instances of sympathetic com- 
 prehension of Protestant missionaries and their work. But 
 taking the official class throughout the Empire, it must be ad- 
 mitted that it is still suspicious and resentful. The suspicion is 
 not so often mingled with contempt as it was formerly; it is 
 now more often mingled with fear. Official China believes that 
 the success of the missionary enterprise would be subversive of 
 some of the most sacred and time-honored customs of the Em- 
 l)ire. particularly of ancestral worship and that reverence for 
 Confucius and his teachings to which China clings as tenaci- 
 ously as ever. These officials are not blind to the growing num- 
 bers and power of the Missions and the Chinese Churches, and 
 they are beginning to be apprehensive lest the Christian move- 
 ment may attain larger proportions than they had at first deem- 
 ed possible. 
 
 Mr. Hoste, Director of the China Inland Mission in Shang- 
 hai, told me that the reports which he was receiving from the 
 China Inland Mission missionaries throughout the Empire, and 
 they are more widely scattered than the missionaries of any 
 other Board, are to the general eflfect that there is a distinct 
 hardening of attitude on the part of the official class, an ap- 
 parent forgetfulness of the lessons of the Boxer L’^prising, and 
 a disposition to hamper missionarv work. A British Consul, 
 who has spent a quarter of a centurv in China and to whom I 
 ([noted this opinion, said that it was in accord with his experi- 
 ence and observation ; that the anti-foreign spirit of the Chi- 
 nese official class is increasing rapidly, and that the people are 
 becoming more unfriendly. An American Consul assented to 
 this, and added that “refonn is simply to get equipment which 
 will enable China to fight the West.” 
 
 Officials in various parts of the Empire are again demanding 
 statistics of missionary work and blank forms for this purpose 
 have been distributed. The Government apparently desires to 
 
109 
 
 have exact facts regarding the whole Christian movement in 
 China. One may speculate at will as to the reason for this. It 
 is not unreasonable for any Government to desire precise in- 
 formation regarding the religious bodies within its jurisdiction. 
 The United States Government collects such data for its cen- 
 sus reports. Perhaps the Chinese Government has no othei 
 object in calling for similar information. It goes farther, how- 
 ever, when it asks the names, residences, occupations and pos- 
 se.ssions of- Christians, the salaries of all church and mission 
 officers and employees, for what objects mission money is ex- 
 pended, and how much is applied to those objects. It is difficult 
 for one who knows the situation in Gtina and who understands 
 the attitude and temperament of Chinese officials as a class to 
 restrain the fear that the motive in calling for all these details 
 is not whollv friendly, and that if such information regarding 
 the property and incomes of converts is on file at the various 
 Yamens, it miglit be used for sinister purposes. It does not 
 necessarily follow that this information is being obtained for 
 deliberatelv hostile uses; but it will readily be seen that if dis- 
 turbances should occur again, Christians will be marked men 
 and women. W henever Chinese revolutionists wish to make 
 trouble for the Government or for some local official, they are 
 apt to begin by attacking Christians. This is partly because 
 they hope in this manner to embroil the officials with their su- 
 periors, and partly because the resultant confusion and exciter 
 ment offer cover under which plotters mav advance to other 
 ends. Mr. Evan Morgan writes in The Chinese Recorder: 
 
 “What shoi'ld he the attitude of the missionary in responding to these 
 requests for information? We 'might take precedents as a guide in 
 finding an answer. I recall two instances when a like request was 
 made. One was immediately before the Boxer Outbreak. The reply 
 was niade that the Church was not a political institution, and therefore 
 had no need of official recognition. .Another request was made after 
 the Boxer trouble. The names of Christians and the number of church 
 members were demanded. Reply was made that as the Church was only 
 a brotherhood for spiritual edification, there was no need to give official 
 cognizance to its members, and it was useless to give the number of 
 Christians in various districts as it constantly varied. To the request 
 that the missionaries should state their own names and the value of 
 their houses and personal property, the names were given, and the 
 magistrate was invited to put any value he liked on the buildings, as 
 they were always open for his inspection ; but as to personal property, 
 it was pointed out that his Honor was exceeding the limits of courtesy 
 and law. A British minister supported the legitimacy of these views, 
 and I think, they will be found to be consistent with justice and Chinese 
 practice and law.” 
 
 It seems to me that the fact that an unfriendly purpose is 
 suspected does not justify refusal to comply with an official re- 
 quest. We cannot quarrel with a Government which is seeking 
 information within its own jurisdiction. The Chinese author- 
 
no 
 
 ities have the right, which governments everywhere have, of 
 knowing what is taking place among their people, especially 
 when a given movement like Christianity is reported, however 
 falsely, to be at variance with 'national customs and observances 
 which the Government expects all its subjects to maintain. We 
 could gain nothing hut sus])icion and ill-will bv refusal ; for offi- 
 cials could secure the information through their own agents 
 anyway. 
 
 But a distinction between missionaries and Chinese Chris- 
 tions may be fairly taken. \\'e have nothing to conceal re- 
 garding ourselves or our ])roperty and institutions. Let the 
 officials know all they wish about our schools and hospitals and 
 the missionaries themselves. We publish essential facts on 
 these subjects in our annual reports, whic*h we would be glad to 
 have the officials read. It might be well to do as Mr. Hoste, 
 Director of the China Inland Mission, did — simply send the 
 official a copy of the report with a pleasant note stating that he 
 woul 1 doubtless find in it the information he desired. It is 
 (juite another thing for the missionary to pry into the private 
 afifairs of Chinese Christians, or to betray to anc' one informa- 
 tion regarding personal matters which he may have accidentally 
 obtained in the confidence of missionary relationship. The Chi- 
 ne.se Government should deal with its own subjects directly 
 and not through foreigners. It is sufficient therefore if the 
 missionary, in sending information regarding himself and his 
 work, courteously adds that he has no control over the private 
 affairs of Chinese. Christian or non-Christian, and that he is 
 unable therefore to report regarding them further than to refer 
 to the general statistics which may be found on pages so and 
 ■SO of the printed report of the Mission, a copy of which is sent 
 herewith, etc. 
 
 The exclusion of Chinese graduates of mission schools from 
 the new Provincial Assemblies is another disquieting sign. 
 There has been much speculation as to the cause of this action ; 
 but some reasons are apparent. To the average Chinese offi- 
 cial, Christianity is still the foreigner’s religion. He .sees that 
 the mission schools are controlled bv foreigners, and he sus- 
 pects that Chinese who have been trained in them have been 
 educated away from things Chinese and have allied themselves 
 with aliens who are trying to overthrow the worship of Con- 
 fucius and to subvert national customs. He therefore naturally 
 hesitates to permit Chinese of this alleged type to make laws 
 for China and to advise the Government in political matters. 
 This consideration is intensified, in some places at least, by the 
 fact that some graduates of mission schools are men of such 
 superior capacity that they would probably exert dispropor- 
 
Ill 
 
 tionate influence in the Provincial Assemblies. The Chinese 
 will learn in time that men trained in onr schools are as loyal 
 and patriotic as any men in the Empire, and that they are far 
 more trustworthy than others. 
 
 It should be noted, however, that the attitude of the Chinese 
 people as a whole, both among officials and common people, is 
 anti-foreign as well as anti-Christian, and that, as a rule, it is 
 more anti-foreign than anti-Christian. The victory of Japan 
 over Russia, which had been regarded by the Chinese as the 
 most powerful of western nations, the extension of railways 
 and telegraphs, the multiplication of newspapers and post 
 offices, the ferment of new ideas, and the social, economic and 
 intellectual changes which are taking place, are giving the Chi- 
 nese a new sense of unity and of national .self-consciousness. 
 They, like the Japanese, are more and more disposed to resent 
 the leadership of foreigners. They feel an irritation, which we 
 should be reasonable enough to understand, in realizing that 
 the new railway thoroughfares of the country are largely in 
 the hands of outsiders. Only 1,930 miles of the 6,300 in the 
 Empire are under Chinese control. Russians hold 1,077 miles, 
 Belgians 903, Japanese 702, Germans 684, English 608, and 
 French 396. China is determined to put an end to this, and the 
 Government not only refuses to grant any more railway con- 
 cessions to foreigners, but the Chinese are buying existing con- 
 cessions as fast as they can. They propose to manage their 
 own railways, operate their own mines and, in general, manage 
 their own affairs. 
 
 The Chinese Recorder for January, 1910, declares that “the 
 indiscriminate anti-foreign agitation which is being urged for- 
 ward by many restless spirits in China is among the most seri- 
 ous signs of possible disturbance to the Empire. The tone of 
 certain recent popular pamphlets, which have been disseminated 
 in some provinces, shows that the most unscrupulous methods 
 are being used in order to stir up the minds of the ignorant 
 mass of the people against all foreigners in China. Statements 
 regarding an official decision on the part of the western powers 
 to divide up Chinese territory have been invented, and other wil- 
 ful misstatements put into circulation with no other than mis- 
 chievous intent. Here is one of the greatest dangers attendant 
 upon China’s political reforms. If the officials of the Empire 
 were wise, they would see to it that no such agitation as this 
 anti-foreign movement were permitted room to live ; it cannot 
 help but lead to national disaster if its vicious course proceeds 
 unchecked, and in the final result officialdom will not suffer 
 least.” 
 
 H 
 
II2 
 
 As I am writing these pages, cable despatches announce riots 
 in Chang-sha, in the Province of Hunan, in which the mob de- 
 stroyed not only the mission compounds, but the Governor's Ya- 
 men ; and while the missionaries had to fly, the loss of life 
 among the Chinese themselves is reported to be large. There 
 has not been time for letters to arrive, but as far as one can 
 judge from telegraphic reports to the daily press, the tumult 
 was caused partly by scarcity of food, partly by the inportation 
 of workmen from another district to build the British consulate, 
 and partly by a general state of irritability ; and the fury of the 
 rioters was wreaked indiscriminately upon natives and for- 
 eigners alike. 
 
 It is evident that the modern forces which are now operating 
 in China have brought the Chinese people to the parting of the 
 ways, and that troubled days may be ahead. The situation is 
 one which calls not for depression and wavering, but for a 
 stronger faith and courage and for efifort on a larger scale. Our 
 legal rights are clear under Article XI of the Treatv between 
 the United States and China for the extension of the commer- 
 cial relations between them, signed Oct. 8. 1903, and which 
 reads : 
 
 “The principles of the Christian religion, as professed by the Protes- 
 tant and Roman Catholic Churches, are recognized as teaching men to 
 do good and to do to others as they would have others do to them. 
 Those who quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be 
 harassed or persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether 
 citizen of the United States' or Chinese convert, who. according to these 
 tenets, peaceably teaches and practices the principles of Christianity 
 shall in no case be interfered with or molested therefor. No restric- 
 tions shall be placed on Chinese joining Christian churches. Converts 
 and non-converts, being Chinese subjects, shall alike conform to the 
 laws of China : and shall pay due respect to those in authority, living 
 together in peace and amity; and the fact of being converts shall not 
 protect them from the consequences of any offence they may have com- 
 mitted before or may commit after their admission into the church, or 
 exempt them from paying legal taxes levied on Chinese subjects gener- 
 ally, except taxes levied and contributions for the support of religious 
 customs and practices contrary to their faith. Missionaries shall not 
 interfere with the exercise by the native authorities of their jurisdiction 
 over Chinese subjects; nor shall the native authorities make any distinc- 
 tion between converts and non-converts, but shall administer the laws 
 without partiality so that both classes can live together in peace. 
 
 ‘Alissionary societies of the United States shall be permitted to rent 
 and to lease in perpetuity, as the property of such societies, buildings 
 or lands in all parts of the Empire for missionary purposes, and, after 
 the title deeds have been found in order and duly stamped by the local 
 authorities, to erect such suitable buildings as may be required for 
 carrying on their good work.” 
 
 Legal right.s in mi.ssionary work, however, are like legal 
 right.s in the marriage relation — the less often they are invoked 
 the better. Missionaries did not go to China because treaties 
 
permitted them to go; they went long before any tieaty was 
 mentioned to them, and the motives which impel them are inde- 
 pendent of governmental conventions. Let us not be dismayed 
 by signs of tumult. “If God be for us, who can be against us?’’ 
 "Ve shall hear of wars and rumors of wars," said Christ to his 
 disciples ; “see that ye be not troubled ; for all these things must 
 come to pass, but the end is not yet. ^ . .lie that shall en- 
 dure unto the end, the same shall be saved. . . . And this 
 gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a 
 witness unto all nations." 
 
 PROGRESS OF CHRISTIAN WORK. 
 
 Amid all the tumult and confusion incident to the new life 
 which is stirring the Empire, the Gospel is steadily pressing its 
 way. The story of its struggles and triumphs is one of the most 
 fascinating in all the history of the Church. The contrast since 
 my former visit in 1901 was startling. Then there were less 
 than 100,000 Protestant Christians in China. Our station 
 plants at Peking, Paoting-fu and W’ei-hsien were in ruins, while 
 the buildings at Ichow-fu and Tsinan-fu had been looted. The 
 fires of the Boxer Uprising were still smouldering, though the 
 I period of actual violence had passed. The women of the North 
 
 I China and West Shantung Missions were huddled in Peking 
 
 and the East Shantung ports.* Some of the men had returned 
 I to the interior stations, bnt they were living in temporary 
 quarters and in much discomfort. Everyone was discouraged 
 and appalled by the apparent ruin of the work and the massacre 
 of beloved associates. Many of the Chinese Christians had been 
 ! murdered. Some of the survivors were scattered no one knew 
 where, and the few that could be found were depressed and 
 poverty-stricken. It was pitiful to look into their faces and 
 heart-rending to hear the stories of what they had suffered. 
 The allied armies of Europe and America had crushed the 
 Boxer Uprising, but the people were sullen and ugly. At home, 
 too, there was a renewed outbreak of criticism and of hostility 
 to all missionary effort. Many believed that the missionary en- 
 terprise in China had received a blow from which it would 
 never recover. No Chinese, it was said, would ever again con- 
 fess Christ. 
 
 How diff erent the situation today ! Our destroyed stations 
 at Peking, Paoting-fu and Wei-hsien have been rebuilt on a 
 larger scale than before, and they are now among our best 
 equipped plants. Every station that had to be abandoned has 
 been reoccupied, property that was not destroyed has been put 
 in order, new buildings have been added, and the missionary 
 force has been increased. ^Missionaries travel freely through 
 
every part of the countr)' from which they were driven by the 
 Boxers. More Chinese have been baptized during these eight 
 years than in half a century preceding the Boxer Uprising. The 
 Rev. J. Campbell Gib.son, D.D., noted a wider contrast at the 
 Centenary Conference of 1907; ‘‘The great achievement of the 
 first century of Protestant Missions in China has been the 
 planting of the Chinese Church. A vast amount of contribu- 
 tory work has been done, — evangelistic, pastoral, educational, 
 medical, literary, social, — and a large experience has been gain- 
 ed which should enable us to direct all these with growing 
 precision and force to the attainment of their ends. A great 
 multitude of men, women and children have been led into light, 
 and we nee 1 not doubt that tens of thousands have been born 
 again. 
 
 “Xow at the end of the century there is a Church of at least 
 iSo,ooo communicants, which implies a Christian community 
 of some 640,000 souls who have chosen the service of Christ, 
 besides some 120.000 children and young people who are grow- 
 ing up in the same holy fellowship. 
 
 “This body of 750,000 Christians, with its equipment of 
 gathered spiritual exi)erience, of Bible, hymnology and Chris- 
 tian literature, its places of worship, its churches, schools, col- 
 leges, hospitals and printing presses, its ordinances of worship, 
 its discipline of prayer, and itsTabits of family and personal 
 religion, with its martyrolog}', and its gathered memories of 
 gracious living and holy dying — this is the wonderful fruit 
 which one hundred years have left in our hands.” 
 
 Dr. Gibson's figures were those of three years ago. The 
 present number of adult communicants, exclusive of Roman 
 Catholics, is placed by good judges at more than 260,000, be- 
 sides a great number of enrolled inquirers. Not less than 400,- 
 000 people call themselves Christians in China today. 
 
 The past year has been marked by .some remarkable mani- 
 festations of spiritual power. The revival in the Aits’ College 
 of the Shantung Christian University, at W'ei-hsien in April, 
 1909. was one of the most hopeful movements in the history of 
 missions. It began quietly and continued without any artificial 
 efiforts to work up excitement. l\Ir. H. M'. Luce writes : “The 
 various committees of the College Y. 1\I. C. A. had done their 
 work with marked faithfulness. Meetings were exceptionally 
 well attended and good interest shown in Bible work. One or 
 two sermons were preached on the power and joy of the life 
 surrendered to God. On two Sunday evenings preceding Pas- 
 tor Ding's arrival, there were meetings where, in resj.'onse to a 
 simple announcement, about eighty men gathered for prayer. 
 
The character of these meetings was such that w'e did not doubt 
 that Jehovah was going forth to victory.” • 
 
 One of the graduates of the College, the Rev. Ding Lee IMay, 
 began special services March 30th. Mr. Luce continues: 
 
 “A room for personal interviews was prepared. The work in this 
 room became one of the main features of the meetings. After the first 
 day, it had grown to such an e.xtent that all college e.xercises were set 
 aside for two days. The first two chapel meetings seemed to be with- 
 out special results; but a sermon on ‘The Duties of the Watchman’ 
 struck home and led seven of our seniors, the flower of the class, to 
 give their lives to the ministry. An hour’s prayer meeting was held 
 each morning at six-thirty, preaching service at ten and again at two- 
 thirty. In the evening, there was a general service for all on the com- 
 pound, including the students in the girls’ school, convalescents in the 
 ho.spitals and church members. This was the daily programme. Mr. 
 Ding became physically exhausted the third day, but the meetings were 
 continued by others, and it was soon seen that the power of the meet- 
 ing was not of men. In response to an early suggestion, students were 
 asked not to enter the main College building and Converse Science 
 Hall unless for the purpose of Bible study or prayer. When meetings 
 were not going on, the various rooms of these buildings were in con- 
 stant use by individuals or by groups praying or studying the Bible. 
 The personal interviews in Pastor Ding’s room continued. The number 
 of those deciding for the ministry increased to twenty and then to 
 thirty. Some of us, familiar with the early days of the Student Volun- 
 teer iMovement in the United States, began to urge caution. Still the 
 list grew. There seemed to be no undue excitement of any kind, no 
 adequate outward manifestation of emotion. The number increased to 
 sixty and then to eighty. There seemed to be no legitimate way to stop 
 the tide, and there was no reason for so doing except the largeness of 
 the number being added to the list. Saturday night, Mr. Ding was able 
 to conduct a ‘witness meeting’ in which those who had decided for the 
 ministry gave their reason. Only one man wept, and none broke down. 
 But all were conscious of a closeness of approach of the Holy Spirit 
 such as they had never known before. This spirit continued through 
 Sunday with unbated strength, and it was found that 116 had volun- 
 teered for the ministry. The number of the students in the College is 
 300 and in the .Academy eighty. It is a mighty challenge to the young 
 Church in Shantung, as indeed it is to the Church at home, that they 
 fail not in prayer and aid at such a time as this.” 
 
 This revival promises more for the Kingdom of God than 
 any otlier wliich China has seen, for the men xVliom it led to a 
 decision will go out as Christian ministers to lead multitudes 
 of their own people. We need not assume that every one will 
 do this. Some may change their minds, and some may be found 
 unsuitable for the ministry; but if no more than half shall be 
 ordained, the addition of such a body of highly educated men 
 to the ministry of the Chinese churches will be a splendid rein- 
 forcement. 
 
 The revival in the Shantung Christian University is not the 
 only one which China has recently witnessed. Much might be 
 said about the great awakening in Alanchuria in connection 
 with the preaching of Mr. Goforth, of the Canadian Presby- 
 
ii6 
 
 terian Church. The pamphlet, “Times of Blessing in Man- 
 churia,” recounts stirring experiences. During the past year, 
 Mr. Goforth conducted services in twenty-eight centers in dif- 
 ferent sections of China. He was fittecl for his special work 
 by a residence of many years in China and fluent command of 
 the Chinese language. In Nanking, the meetings w'ere held in a 
 tent which accommodated 1,200 people ; but the interest was so 
 great that 1,400 and even 1.500 people were crowded into it. The 
 usually impassive Chinese broke down completely before the 
 marked presence of the Holy Sjiirit, and scenes were witnessed 
 which missionaries of a generation ago w'ould have deemed al- 
 most incredible. Conversion was invariably accompanied by 
 confession of sin, and many instances of restitution proved the 
 sincerity of repentance. At Kai-ting, in the far west of China, 
 the meetings were characterized by such spiritual power, and 
 by such changes in the lives of converts, that non-Christian 
 Chinese on the streets said to one another; “The Christian’s 
 God has come down." In the Province of Shan-si “waves of 
 confession and prayer j)assed over the congregations, and the 
 very atmosphere seemed charged with Pentecostal influence. 
 One man confessed that during the Boxer uprising a large sum 
 of money was sent by the foreigners in Ping Yang-fu to a mis- 
 sionary who afterwards died. The money was hidden for 
 safety in the court-yard of a native Christian. Pie dug it up 
 and used it ; and now after the lapse of years he made full con- 
 fession. .\s one of the humble hearers said: “The Holy Spirit 
 surely has come.” 
 
 The Chinese Recorder for .September (1909) describes a re- 
 vival in Hing-hwa in the P^rovince of P'uh-kien, which was sig- 
 nalized by like power. .Among the converts were members of 
 a firm of importers of morphine, who brought their entire stock 
 to the house of God and turned it over to the pastor to be de- 
 stroyed. The church, which seats a thousand people, could not 
 accommodate the throngs that attended. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Hunter Corbett writes of another revival: “The 
 members, wishing to have the blessing extended to other cen- 
 ters, invited pastors and leading members of churches in all 
 the surrounding country to come and receive a spiritual uplift 
 that they might return to their homes and help others. The 
 Church sending the invitations subscribed liberally to pay for 
 the entertainment of the guests. The members of a Training 
 School for Bible Women recpiested that each might be per- 
 mitted to fast three times a week for a month, and that the 
 money saved be paid into the entertainment fund. Later, in 
 scores of places, jiastors began to pray, first for a revival in 
 their own hearts and then in the Church and community; and 
 
tlie prayers were answered. One pastor wrote of the revival 
 in liis Church that the voice of praise and the cry of penitent 
 confession mingled together. More than one hundred men and 
 women were confessing their sins with weeping. Daily meet- 
 ings, twice a day for fifty days, had prepared the large company 
 to expect great things from God. Thousands instead of hun- 
 dreds, as were expected, were present. Saturday night a count 
 was made and 4,800 found. Sunday night there were four 
 simultaneous meetings, aggregating between 6,000 and 7,000. At 
 another centre, the revival was preceded by more than a hun- 
 dred assembling for four days waiting upon the Lord.” 
 
 The Rev. Charles E. Scott, of Tsing-tau, writes as follows of 
 a tour which he made in company with three Chinese, a minis- 
 ter, a teacher and an elder : 
 
 “Four of us tramped to our farthest out-station. Under the sultry 
 noon sun, we climbed a long hill. From its summit we counted thirty- 
 live villages, encircling the one for which we were bound. The little 
 elder, under strong feeling, cried out; ‘Pray! Pray!’ He led us stand- 
 ing. When we had finished our wrestling with the Lord, we were all 
 flat I’lpon our faces. But we knew that in that hour the Spirit had ener- 
 gized us to win His battle in that centre. On our arrival, the little group 
 of Christians who lived in that village were so cold and indifferent that 
 none came to see us, though the entire population knew we had arrived. 
 Those few days were days of testing for us: And then we had to leave, 
 in order to traverse several hundred li before the convening of 
 Presbytery. Arrived again at the summit of our prayer-nvount, we be- 
 sought the Lord, as did Abraham for the unworthy cities of the plain, 
 resolving to return again for a series of revival services beginning on 
 -Ascemsion day. What results? We pitched a big tent at a nearby vil- 
 lage in which every five days a big market is held. Not only on the 
 market days, but each day, the tent was filled with people eagerly listen- 
 ing at each of the three sessions. The Christians themselves' got a great 
 blessing. They went out with us in groups of two and three, and 
 preached the Gospel in the surrounding villages. They participated with 
 us in street preaching at the markets, and helped to get the crowds to 
 the tent-meetings. Some 3,000 people in the groups heard the Gospel 
 among the villages, and twice that number in the tent. It mattered not 
 that often there the air was choking wdh dust : the people listened. One 
 afternoon when a Christian and I were out in a village, a wind blew' 
 up fierce and hot; but all the afternoon men crowded into that dirty, 
 ill-smelling room to hear the Gospel. When the wind slackened, the 
 entire village ' as it seemed — patriarchs, middle aged and youth — 
 sat or stood around us in the dusty main street to hear the 
 Word. Each group of workers reported the same experience of eager, 
 willing listeners.” 
 
 .And still the work goes on. As I am writing these pages, let- 
 ters come from Ichou-fu station of onr West Shantung Mission, 
 from which I make the following extracts ; 
 
 “For a long time, things have seemed at a dead stand-still in Tchou-fu, 
 and those most interested in the Gospel have been praying for an awak- 
 ening of interest. It was almost with fear and trembling that we looked 
 forward to the coming of the Chinese evangelist. Pastor Ding, in Janu- 
 
ii8 
 
 ary. There seemed so many difficulties in the way. The time was un- 
 seasonable, being the last month of the Chinese calendar, when the 
 people are busiest. The church elders shook their heads. Then, too, 
 the weather was very cold and the roads unusually bad owing to deep 
 snow, and we feared that but few of the country Christians whom we 
 had invited would be able to come. You see our hope was small and 
 our faith not great. 
 
 "However, on the very day of Pastor Ding’s arrival, surprises began. 
 All day long the question was : ‘How many country Christians have 
 
 come ?’ At first, twenty-eight ; that was very good, we had not expected 
 as many. Then the number went up to fifty; we were surprised. By 
 nightfall there were one hundred. We opened our eyes wide and said. 
 'How can this thing be? Whoever heard of Chinese traveling on such 
 roads as these?’ 
 
 "So the meetings began. Pastor Ding is an exceptional character. 
 He is humble and modest where one feels that one might be proud ; 
 so gracious and full of tact that we foreigners, when with him, forget 
 that he is a Chinese. When he speaks in the pulpit, you do not see the 
 man; you only feel the earnestness of his words. From the first, the 
 people were attracted by his simple eloquence. Day after day the num- 
 ber grew, until they taxed the utmost capacity of our new church. 
 Meetings were held four times a day. On the third day, opportunities 
 were given to those who wished to study the Gospel to come forward 
 while their names were recorded. Eighty-two responded. At all the 
 succeeding meetings, names were added. The Christians began to work 
 — the children to bring in their playmates, the laborers their friends, 
 the students their class-mates, and the rich their companions. They could 
 not all come forward, and so individuals were given paper and pencil 
 to take the names throughout the congregation. The number reached 
 865. -\fter a few more days, the enrollment reached 1,000; and still 
 the number grew until it stood at over 1,400. ' 
 
 "It is hard to realize just what these figures stand for; we ourselves 
 cannot tell. They are not converts, such as you have in America, but 
 only just wanting to learn the way which leads to salvation. It is a 
 great step in advance of the indifference which has hitherto prevailed. 
 Only a small per cent of the whole are women, largely because women 
 cannot attend public meetings as men do, while many who might have 
 come could not get through the mud with their bound feet. 
 
 "It is seldom given to missionaries to see an ingathering like this, 
 far beyond one’s greatest hope. It looms up like a great mystery, 
 holding us in awe and having but one solution : ‘Not by might not by 
 
 power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.’ Will those at home remember 
 these inquirers in prayer that the grace of the Lord may abound unto 
 them ?’’ 
 
 It would be easy to mention other revivals in various parl^ 
 of China, but I must not prolong this account. Surely enough 
 has been said to evoke profound thanksgiving and gratitude to 
 God and to make us feel that a new day is dawning in China. 
 A spiritual movement which has manifested itself in such dif- 
 ferent parts of the Empire as Fuh-kein, Kiang-si, Shan-si, 
 Shen-si, Honan, Shantung and Che-kiang, which has been char- 
 acterized by the preaching of Chinese ministers more than that 
 of missionaries, and has been attended by large accessions and 
 by enriched spiritual life of the Church, unmistakably indicates 
 a mighty trend toward the goals of God. 
 
IT9 
 
 I would not give the impression that all China is about to be- 
 come Christian and that there is no reason for anxiety. Side by 
 side with these remarkable' manifestations of spiritual power, 
 there are the evidences of growing suspicion and even hostility 
 to which I have already referred. This might normally be ex- 
 pected. As long as the work was small and obscure, there was 
 no special reason why the Chinese as a whole should assume any 
 particular attitude toward it. Multitudes indeed knew nothing 
 about it, and many who did know regarded it with contemptu- 
 ous indifference. As numbers grow and as congregations be- 
 come more influential, the Chinese people begin to consider this 
 new movement. Indifference changes to curiosity, and this in 
 turn develops either into open sympathy or open opposition. 
 This is indicative not of failure, but of success. Brighter lights 
 always mean darker shadows. Christianity in China has reach- 
 ed the point where men are taking sides for or against it. 
 
 WILL THERE BE WAR? 
 
 Students of world conditions which affect the missionary 
 enterprise cannot ignore the prevailing belief in Europe and 
 the Far East that war is highly probable before many years, 
 and that the first clash is likely to come between the United 
 States and Japan. I deplore exceedingly such published pro- 
 phecies. Most of them belong to the category of thoughts which 
 are fathered by a wish. Alen who fear and dislike the Japanese 
 are eager to see some nation fight her. 
 
 If war were caused only by rational considerations, we might 
 promptly and emphatically reply that there would be no war at 
 all. The peaceful intentions of the United States are well 
 known. In spite of their national swagger and high temper, 
 the American people are not disposed to rush into actual hostil- 
 ities. Moreover, every sensible man knows that, while we have 
 a splendid navy, our army is too small to be a serious factor 
 against the disciplined troops of a first-class power. Putting 
 rifies into the hands of clerks, farmers and mechanics does not 
 make an effective force in this age of the world. In our Civil 
 War, there were volunteers on both sides. In the Spanish- 
 American W'ar, we fought a decrepit, rotten nation. It would 
 be quite another thing to contend against a really formidable 
 foreign foe. Our population and resources and our ocean-wide 
 distance from other nations are so great that we could easily 
 defend our home territory against any invader ; but we could 
 do little in offensive operations where any war of the first mag- 
 nitude would probably be conducted, and the first thing thai 
 would happen to us would probably be the loss of the Philip- 
 pine Islands and perhaps the Hawaiian Islands. iMany Amer- 
 
120 
 
 leans have ‘‘the valor of ignorance" which boastfully imagines 
 that we couUl whip the world ; but intelligent men know better. 
 They understand that war could bring to us absolutely nothing 
 that we want but only things that we do not want. I venture 
 the assertion that no other nation in the world is less likely to 
 make war upon any other nation. The ambitions of the people 
 of the United States are not military. We not only lack an 
 army capable of foreign aggression, but we have not the slight- 
 est intention of developing one. The only real danger of trouble 
 with Japan lies in our irresponsible mobs and demagogues; and 
 if we can keep them from exasperating beyond endurance the 
 ])roud and sensitive Japanese, there is not likelv to be trouble. 
 
 suggestion that any considerable ))ortion of respectable Amer- 
 icans cherish hostile sentiments against the Japanese would be 
 greeted with derision anywhere in the United States ; except 
 possibly in a few local communities on the Pacific Coast, where 
 the competition of Japanese immigrants has become serious, 
 for the white and yellow laborer do not live on the same scale 
 and cannot mix readily. The feeling of the American people as 
 a whole is one of real friendliness toward Japan. 
 
 Japan does not desire war for the reason that she wants time to 
 pay the heavy war debt which she is already carrying, to develop 
 her internal manufactures and her foreign trade, to carry out 
 her program in Korea, Manchuria and Formosa, and in general 
 to strengthen the position which she has already won. She 
 knows that she has a formidable enemy in Russia, that it will 
 be no easy task to bring the twelve millions of Koreans into a 
 condition where they would remain quiet in the event of an- 
 other war, and that the Oiinese are increasingly jealous of her. 
 She is not disposed to make another enemy of the Phiited 
 States, for whose friendship and helpfulness in the past she 
 feels deeply grateful and for whose progressive spirit and fair 
 dealing slie has ])rofound admiration. Americans were long in 
 coming to the conclusion that they ought to have the Ha- 
 waiian Islands, and it would not be surprising if in time the 
 Japanese come to feel that, for the same reasons, they ought to 
 have the Philippines. Put the conditions are hardlv parallel, 
 for the Hawaiian Islands did not belong to another friendly 
 nation and the ruling class was composed of men of our own 
 blood and speech who had been seeking annexatior. for many 
 vears. Whatever deeper causes might have led in time to an- 
 nexation, the immediate cause was pressure from the Islands 
 themselves, to which our Government, after much hesitation, 
 finally yielded. The Philippine Islands are as alien to Japan 
 in both government and people as Hong Kong, and could’only 
 be taken by force in a great war. Japan has no notion of tak- 
 
I2I 
 
 ing tliem in that way. Of course if war should break out from 
 other causes, the first act of Japan would doubtless be the occu- 
 pation of tiic Philippines, just as her first act in the war with 
 Russia was the occupation of Korea. But other causes will not 
 lead to war if .Americans keep their heads. The Japanese, 
 in spite of their martial spirit, are not as eager to fight other 
 nations as their critics allege. Japan has had comparatively 
 few foreign wars, and she diil not begin hostilities against Rus- 
 sia until she had been humiliated and endangered ancl goaded 
 for years in ways that no western nation would have tolerated. 
 Japan fought Russia only as. a last resort after every other 
 means had been e.xhausted. But when she did begin, she con- 
 tinued. in a fashion which should make other nations think 
 twice before i)ushing her into war again. Large significance 
 should be given to the opinions of the .American missionaries 
 resident in Japan. They are in a position to know the attitude 
 of the people. Several years ago, when .sensational newspapers 
 in .America were frantically predicting a Japanese attack, the 
 whole missionary body united in making a statement which in- 
 cluded the following: “W'e, the undersigned, wish to bear tes- 
 timony to the sobriety, sense of international justice, and free- 
 dom from aggressive designs exhibited by tbe majority of the 
 Japanese people, and to their faith in the traditional justice and 
 equity of the Lnited States, and our belief that the alleged 
 belligerent attitude of the Japanese does not represent the real 
 sentiment of the people.” 
 
 .At the Semi-Centennial celebration of Protestant Missions 
 in Japan last October, the appended resolution was unanimously 
 adopted by tbe large and representative number of missionaries 
 who were present : 
 
 "While the Government and people of Japan have maintained a gen- 
 eral attitude of cordial friendship for the United States, there has 
 sprung up in .some quarters of the latter country of spirit of distrust 
 of Japan. There have issued from the sensational press such exag- 
 gerated and even false rumors concerning the 'real' and ‘secret’ pur- 
 pose of Japan as to arouse suspicion that even war was not unlikely — 
 a suspicion that was largely dispelled by the cordial welcome given by 
 Japan in the fall of igo8 to the .American fleet and the delegation of 
 business men from the Pacific Coast. 
 
 "Both in connection with the embarrassing situation created by the 
 proposed legislation in California regarding Japanese residents and the 
 attendance of Japanese children in the public schools; and in connec- 
 tion with the problem of Japanese immigration into the United States, 
 many articles appeared in the .\merican sensational papers, revealing 
 profound ignorance of Japan and creating anti-Japanese sentiment. In 
 spite of this irritation, the press and the people of Japan, as a whole, 
 maintained a high degree of self-control. Nevertheless they were often 
 reported as giving vent to belligerent utterances and making belligerent 
 plans. Trivial incidents were often seized on and exaggerated. 
 
122 
 
 “In this day of extensive and increasing commingling of races and 
 civilizations, one of the prime problems is the maintenance of amicable 
 international relations. Essential to this are not only just and honest 
 dealings between governments, but also, as far as practicable, the pre- 
 vention as well as the removal of race jealousy and misunderstanding 
 between the peoples themselves. Indispensable for this purpose is trust- 
 worthy international news. False, or even exaggerated reports of the 
 customs, beliefs or actions of other nations are fruitful causes of con- 
 tempt, ill-will, animosity and even war. If libel on an individual is a 
 grave offense, how much more grave is libel on a nation? 
 
 "Therefore, we American missionaries residing in Japan would re- 
 spectfully call the attention- of lovers of international peace and good 
 will to the above mentioned facts and considerations, and would urge 
 the importance of receiving with great caution any alleged news from 
 Japan of an inflammatory or belligerent nature; and of seeking to edu- 
 cate public opinion in the United States so that, in regard to foreign 
 news, it will cultivate the habit of careful discrimination.” 
 
 France has no discoverable reason for making trouble in the 
 Far East. She already has large colonial possessions in 
 Southern Asia, and apparently feels that she can get what more 
 she wants without lighting for them. Germany and Great Bri- 
 tain both require peace in order to carry out their ambitions ui 
 the Far East, which are now distinctly commercial. England 
 has an added motive for avoiding war, for it is clear that she 
 has reached her zenith as a world power. War could give her 
 nothing more and it would probably cost her some territor}' 
 which she now holds. A nation whose possessions are scattered 
 in exposed places all over the world and whose home popula- 
 tion is dependent for food on foreign sources of supply has a 
 powerful reason for keeping the peace. 
 
 The most serious menace is Russia. No one who understands 
 that Empire believes for a moment that it will permanently ac- 
 cept the results of the late war with Japan. Just now indeed the 
 two countries appear to be on fairly good terms and they are 
 seeking certain common interests in an amicable way. But all 
 tlie reasons which led to the Russia-Japan War exist in undi- 
 minished force, and are intensified by the rage and chagrin of 
 defeat. The factor which now compels peace is llie Anglo- 
 Japanese Alliance. Neither Russia nor any other nation is like- 
 ly .0 begin liostiliiies which would have to be conducted against 
 two such nations. But that Alliance expires August 12, 1915, 
 and no one knows whether it will be renewed. B. F. Putnam 
 Weale is sc sure of trouble that he entitled one of his books. 
 “The Truce in the Far East,” and he declares: “It is quite vain 
 to suppose that the war has accomplished anything more than 
 the destruction of Russian naval power in the Far East for a 
 period of fifteen years and the establishment of Japan, at a cost 
 out of all proportion with the result attained, as a military 
 power. W ere it not for the Alliance with Great Britain, Rus- 
 
123 
 
 sia would be in a far better position than she has ever been to 
 wage war." The internal troubles of Russia are more likely to 
 encourage war than to discourage it. It is an old trick of a 
 jeopardized ruling party to involve the nation in a foreign war 
 in the hope of diverting attention from revolutionists and unit- 
 ing the people in defense of the fatherland. Meantime, Russia 
 is making X’ladivostok impregnable, strengthening her hold 
 upon northern Manchuria, developing its agriculture and flour 
 mills so that it can furnish abundant food supplies, and increas- 
 ing the facilities of the Trans-Siberian Railway so that it can 
 tian.sport troops and munitions of war more rapidly than in 
 
 ^905- 
 
 The unsettled condition of China also begets uncertainty. It 
 is impossible to foresee what may result from the conflicting 
 forces which are operating there and the ambitions of rival na- 
 tions to secure predominating influence. Mliite nations have 
 frec|uently warred to obtain more territory, or to resent 
 slights upon what they were pleased to term their national 
 honor, or because, like individuals, they simply got mad. His- 
 tory makes it painfullv apparent, therefore, that the possibility 
 of war is always with us. Fortunately, the influences which 
 make for peace are strong, especially among the English-speak- 
 ing peoples, and. I may add. the German-.speaking peoples, too; 
 for Germany, although the greatest military power in the world, 
 wants trade and colonies, not war. Fortunately, too, the in- 
 creasing influence of those ideas of international order, justice 
 and brotherhood, which the Christian religion inculcates, tends 
 to diminisli the probabilit}' of conflict. No less an authority 
 than the Hc>n. James Bryce, British Ambassador at Washing- 
 ton. has recently said that the jarring contact of many nation:, 
 in the Far East today imperatively calls for the strengthening 
 of that Foreign Missionary work which must be the chief influ- 
 ence in smoothing that contact, in allaying irritation, and in 
 creating those conditions of international good-will which are 
 essential to the preservation of peace. 
 
 THE FUTURE. 
 
 I do not profess to know what the future has in store. There 
 are encouraging and discouraging factors. ‘Alen ask us for 
 the botcom facts," exclaims Dr. Arthur H. Smith, of Peking. 
 “They can’t have them, because there is no bottom and there 
 are no facts.’’ 
 
 We must not under-estimate the difficulties of the situation. 
 The hindrances to the progress of the Gospel were at first sus- 
 picion, dense superstition, the inertia of centuries of stagna- 
 tion, fear and dislike of anything associated with white men, 
 
124 
 
 and powerful, established non-Christian faiths. These hind- 
 rances still exist in varying degrees of intensity. Some are 
 showing unmistakable signs of disintegration. Xew hindrances, 
 however, are developing. Knowledge of western nations is 
 bringing new temptations and arousing stronger antagonisms. 
 Xative ministers frequently lamented the increasing greed, ma- 
 terialism. intemperance, gambling and impurity. 
 
 Asia's increasing knowledge of Europe and America is not 
 wholly to our advantage, for men in the Far East now know 
 that the so-called Christian nations arc characterized by much 
 that is selfish and greedy and lustful. Religion to the Asiatic 
 is a national rather than an individual matter. He imagines 
 that western nations are Christian nations, and when he sees 
 them trying to despoil his territory, and finds that their rela- 
 tions with bis country are characterized by trickery and deceit, 
 he naturallv concludes that he does not want the religion of 
 such a country. 
 
 The comhict of many foreigners in the I'ar East has long 
 been a cause of irritation to .\siatics and one of the serious ob- 
 stacles to missionarv effort. It is small wonder that the average 
 Oriental distrusts and fears white men when he observes what 
 many of them are and what thev do. The history of the com- 
 mercial and political relationships of western nations with 
 eastern nations is not comfortable reading for those who seek 
 to inculcate sentiments of mutual res])ect and good will. “There 
 are many humorous things in the world." observes i\Iark 
 Twain; “among them the white man's notion that he is less 
 savage than the other savages." I found the following “Special 
 Xotice" conspicuously posted in a dozen places about the JMing 
 Tombs near Xanking: 
 
 “Owing to past acts of vandalism and defacement of the Imperial 
 tablets, monuments and ancient relics in the vicinity of the Ming 
 Tombs, palings have been erected by order of His Excellency, Viceroy 
 Tuan b'ang. for the preservation of same. Visitors are therefore here- 
 by requested to abstain from entering within the said palings or doing 
 anything that may be detrimental to the said Imperial tablets, monu- 
 ments and relics in this vicinity. 
 
 Wan. Taotai. 
 
 Liang-kiang, Bureau of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 Yang, Prefect of Kiang-ning." 
 
 June, 1909. 
 
 This was printed in English. French, Russian, German, Ital- 
 ian and Japanese, but not in Chinese— that was not necessary. 
 
 glance at the arches, monuments and buildings afforded hu- 
 miliating evidence not only of the necessity for the notice but 
 of the nationality of those for whom it was intended. Objects 
 sacred to the Chinese were grossly disfigured by names and 
 
125 
 
 other marks scrawie-l and cut upon the stone and woodwork, 
 most of them in English. Who can blame the Chinese for hat- 
 ing and despising foreigners who do such tilings? 
 
 The foreign communities in the ports of Asia include a larger 
 number of men and women of high character than formerly. 
 There are some splendid people in those cities ; but the propor- 
 tion of the dis.solute is still painfully great. Thanks to Judge 
 Wilfrey, it is no longer true in Shanghai that the term "Ameri- 
 can girl" means an e.xceptionally attractive woman of ill-repute; 
 but it is still true that every port in the h'ar East swc*rms with 
 bad characters from Europe and America. I agree with the 
 Hon. John Eowler, American Consul at Chefoo, in the state- 
 ment that a Chinese who sincerely worships a stone image is a 
 better man to deal with and a more promising man to convert 
 than a white man who does not believe in anything. The for- 
 mer at least reveres the best that he knows. The latter, know- 
 ing the better, ignores it. The most hopeless individual any- 
 where is the one who. understanding truth, refuses to conform 
 his life to it. Every Chinese is a Confucian and a Buddhist, and 
 he imagines that every white man is a Giristian. Cl'.ristianity 
 therefore has to bear the reproach of men from the West who 
 deliberately reject its teachings. 
 
 Certain problems, too, have grown out of evangelistic success 
 in the churches themselves. One of these is the reflex influence 
 of prosperity. As congregations become larger, will the early 
 spiritual fervor continue, or will it give place to self-satisfac- 
 tion? The Church at Syen Chyun, Korea, has had a wonderful 
 growth ; but one of the elders expressed to me this fear. He 
 said that at first practically every Christian was an evangelist; 
 but that now there are some Avho are content with Sunday wor- 
 ship and prayer meeting attendance. In other words, the Ko- 
 rean Church is in danger of becoming more like our home 
 churches in America ! This leveling up, or down rather, is go- 
 ing on in many places. Tlie conditions aft’ecting church devel- 
 opment are fast becoming the same the world over. This fact 
 should lead us to a better understanding of the needs of our 
 Asiatic fallow Christians and to a deeper sympathy with them. 
 They are facing our proiblems and we are facing theirs. 
 
 .Another difficulty grows out of the appearance in Asia of re- 
 ligious cranks. Their personal character and sincerity are usu- 
 ally high and they often toil indefatigably and self- 
 sacrificingly ; but they repre.sent idio.syncrasies of Christian 
 belief which bring the cause of Christ into ridicule with intelli- 
 gent Chinese. They do not confine their activities to non-Chris- 
 tians, but appear to deem it their duty to persuade Ciiinese who 
 are already communicants or adherents that they are not fol- 
 
126 
 
 lowing the teachings of the Bible. They therefore cause con- 
 siderable trouble. This of course cannot be helped. There is no 
 law to prevent any fanatical visionary from going to Asia and 
 teaching what he pleases ; but when such an earnest effort is 
 being made to present the Gospel of Christ in a united and dig- 
 nified manner to the people of Asia, it is unfortunate, to say 
 the least, to have Christianity identified in the popular mind 
 with freakish individuals who mistake their own vagaries for 
 religious truth and arraign all who do not agree with them as 
 disobedient to God. 
 
 There is immense opportimitv for further missionary work 
 in Japan ; but it must be done on terms which are imposed by 
 the Japanese Church. There is a great work to be done in Ko- 
 rea ; but it must be done amid new social and political compli- 
 cations. There is a vast work to be done in China ; but it must 
 be done amid the upheaval of Chinese society, the surging cur- 
 rents and counter-currents of a new era, the increasing anti- 
 foreign spirit, and the growing feeling of the official class in 
 China that Christianity is not only identified with foreign ideas 
 but is subversive of ancestral worship to which the Chinese 
 tenaciously cling. The situation is clouded by these uncertain- 
 ties. and if we leave out God, mass the difficulties and consider 
 them alone, we might almost be discouraged. 
 
 But there is another side. It would not be fair, as it would 
 not be Christian, to consider the difficulties of the future apart 
 from the influence which the Gospel of Christ has in modifying 
 those difficulties. It is true that forces of evil and demoraliza- 
 tion are at work. It is also true that the constructive force of 
 the Gospel is at work, and that it is the mightiest force of all. 
 The Gospel has shown its overcoming power in other lands and 
 times, and it will show it again in the Far East. There is all 
 the more reason, therefore, why we should address ourselves to 
 the colossal task with redoubled effort and faith and prayer. 
 ^^'e may thus by God’s grace help to prevent the domination of 
 evil forces and to create better conditions. 
 
 God must not be left out of our contemplation of the future. 
 Me is working in mighty power and His purpose will not fail. 
 \\'hy should we be pessimistic because Asia has not been re- 
 generated within a century of comparatively .small effort? A 
 recent traveler declares that it will take 500 years to convert 
 China. Well, Christianity has been operating upon the Anglo- 
 Saxon race for 1.500 years, and neither Great Britain nor 
 America is converted yet. Indeed, there are some who think 
 that the prospect for their conversion is rather faint. No 
 other cities in the world have had the pure Gospel preached to 
 them for a longer period than London, Edinburgh and Glas- 
 
127 
 
 4 
 
 gow ; but the Christians in those cities confess that they are 
 appalled b\ the wickedness in them. Even if it does take 
 500 years to convert China, which has nearly three times as 
 many people as Great Britain and America combined, it would 
 not be a reason for discouragement. 
 
 Grant that the evangelization of /\sia is a big task, and it cer- 
 tainly is ; we may be cheered by the great progress that is be- 
 ing made, by the evidence that Christianity has taken root, so 
 that there is a Church which is so well established that it is 
 certain to grow. We may be encouraged, too, by the fact that 
 the Churches contain a larger number of Christians of the sec- 
 ond and third generations, and are attracting men of intelli- 
 gence who are fitted for leadership. The Christian movement 
 is gaining strength and momentum, the larger faith and the 
 sounder character of men w'ho are at a farther remove from 
 original heathenism. The first converts find it very difficult 
 to emancipate themselves from inherited superstitions and 
 wrong practices ; but these superstitions and practices are weak- 
 er in the second generation, and still weaker in the third, while 
 the Christian convictions and standards are proportionately 
 stronger. There is a limit to this line of argument, for the 
 oldest Church in time is not always the best in character; but 
 broadly speaking, children who have grown up in a believing 
 household, accustomed from their earliest recollections to 
 prayer and the Word of God, and who are led to Christ before 
 idolatry and vice gain a hold, are apt to be better Christians 
 than those who grow up in heathenism and become Christians 
 later in life. It is, therefore, a distinct encouragement that we 
 now have a considerable and rapidly increasing number of 
 such Christians. Everywhere I went, I asked not only mis- 
 sionaries, but native pastors, elders and evangelists what they 
 thought of the future, and without exception I found their 
 attitude hopeful to the point of enthusiasm. They felt abso- 
 lutely confident that the cause of Christ is firmly established in 
 Asia and that great days are to come. As I journeyed through 
 that great continent, asking questions, making investigations 
 regarding the conditions and perplexities of the work, and 
 noting the changes that have taken place since my former visit, 
 I found myself repeatedly uttering the words: “What hath 
 God wrought?” 
 
 I have returned from this second journey around the world 
 oppressed by the magnitude of the task which we have under- 
 taken, feeling keenly its difficulties, not underestimating the 
 formidable opposition which we encounter. But I have also 
 returned impressed by the fidelity and enthusiasm of the mis- 
 sionaries and cheered by the example of native Christians who, 
 
 I 
 
128 
 
 amid toil and poverty and sometimes persecution, are serving 
 their Lord with gladness of heart. I am inspired by a stronger 
 confidence in the vitality of the Gospel, a more assured convic- 
 tion that amid all the tumult of a changing order, ttie purpose 
 of the omnipotent and ever-living God is being steadily de- 
 veloped. If all the Ghurches in Europe and America will ad- 
 dress themselves to the world-wide opportunities of the age, 
 the next decade may decisively affect the spiritual destinies of 
 the whole non-Christian world. The following hymn, which 
 was sung by thousands of voices at the last Pan-Anglican Con- 
 gress, well de.scribes the majestic march of events in Asia: 
 
 “God is working His purpose out as year succeeds to year ; 
 
 God is working His purpose out, and the time is drawing near — 
 Nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that sliall surely be, 
 
 \\ hen the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover 
 the sea. 
 
 ‘From utmost East and utmost \\’est, wherever man's foot hath trod, 
 By the mouth of many messengers goes forth the Voice of God. 
 
 Give ear to me, ye continents — ye isles give ear to me. 
 
 Till the earth may be tilled with the glory of God as the waters cover 
 the sea. 
 
 ‘What can we do to work God’s work, to prosper and increase 
 The brotherhood of all mankind — the reign of our Prince of Peace? 
 ATat can we do to hasten the time, the time that shall surely be, 
 'rVhen the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover 
 the sea? 
 
 March we forth in the strength of God with the banner of Christ un- 
 furled ; 
 
 That the light of the glorious Gospel of Truth may shine throughout 
 the world : 
 
 Fight we the fight with sorrow and sin to set their captives free: 
 
 Till the earth may he filled with the glory of God as the waters cover 
 
 “.•Ml we can do is nothing worth unless God blesses the seed : 
 
 Vainly we hope for the harvest till God gives life to the seed: 
 
 Yet nearer and nearer draws the time — the time that shall surely be. 
 When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover 
 the sea.’’ 
 
 SPECIAL PROBLEMS. 
 
 Many problems of mission work and policy were considered 
 in my conferences with missionaries and native Christians. 
 The most formidable one— that of missionary relationship to 
 the rapidlv growing Native Church — has already been dis- 
 cussed in the .section on Co-operation with the Church of Christ 
 in Japan. I now take up some of the other questions. 
 
 MISSIONARY MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD PRESBYTERIES. 
 
 I found wide difference of oftinion among missionaries as to 
 whether it is wise for them to be members of Presbyteries on 
 the field. This difference of opinion is not new. The old 
 
Manual of the Board included a pjyuigraph advising mission- 
 aries to take their letters from home Presbyteries and unite 
 with the Presbyteries on the field. The revised Manual re- 
 scinded that recommendation, and the i)resent policy of the 
 Board is to advise missionaries to retain connection with their 
 home Presbyteries and to content themselves with correspond- 
 ing membership of the foreign Presbyteries. 
 
 The Board of course docs not legislate on this ecclesiastical 
 subject, but simply expresses its opinion. Some missionaries 
 have tried to solve the problem by being members of both home 
 and foreign IVe.sbyteries, and I believe that the General As- 
 scmhly has permitted this in one or two exceptional instances. 
 'I'hc Rev. W’m. If. Roberts. D.D., LI^.D., Stated Cltrk of the 
 General Assembly, writes me as follows on this subject: 
 
 “There have already been submitted to me two requests made to 
 Presbyteries of the Presbjrterian Church in the U. S. A., asking that 
 ministers of the Presbyterian Church in China he given a dual relation- 
 ship, — one to our Church and the other to tlie Church in China. I have 
 given the opinion in Iwth case.s that any such dual relation is contrary 
 to the Constitution of the Pre.sbyterian Church in the U. S. A. It is 
 impossible for our Church, without an amendment to the Form of 
 Government, to accept any such dual relationship for any minister. 
 
 “.Allow me to suggest what I have already written to the Stated Clerk 
 of one of our Presbyteries, that the right way to adjust this matter is 
 for foreign missionaries who arc ministers, and who desire to he en- 
 rolled in one of the .American Presbyteries, to secure a letter of dis- 
 missal from the Presbytery in China, and then be enrolled in an Amer- 
 ican Presbytery. If, after such enrollment, the Presbytery in China 
 sees proper, in view of the fact that the work of the foreign missionary 
 lies within its bounds, to give to such foreign missionary a relationship 
 as corresponding member, then the matter under consideration will be 
 decided by the proper party, without creating an anomalous situation in 
 either denomination.” 
 
 The majority of the missionarie.s with whom I conferred on 
 this trip feel that they should belong to the Presbytery on the 
 field, even when such membership involves withdrawal from 
 the home Church. The following letters illustrate this : 
 
 “My Dfar Dr. Brown : — With regard to missionaries being members 
 of the Chinese Presbyteries, w-e find, as Dr. Garritt so well stated, that 
 it is better for us in this part of China to be members. .At the time of 
 the establishment of the Synod of China at Ranking four years ago, 
 there was considerable discussion of this subject. .All the Chinese pas- 
 tors felt that the missionaries should join the Presbyteries in China 
 and voted for the missionaries to be members. They regarded with 
 disfavor the plan of the Southern Presbyterians that the mi.ssionary 
 should hold' a double membership at home and in China. For myself, 
 I feel that I must cast my lot in with the Chinese and be subject to the 
 Presbytery here. Anything that may be interpreted as distrust is fatal 
 to the best influence. I do not find that thoughful Chinese take to our 
 theory of the separateness of the missionary and the Church, even as 
 outlined in the Manual.” 
 
 J. E. WILLIAMS. 
 
130 
 
 “My Dear Mr. Brown ; — In reply to your request for a written 
 statement of the relationship which exists between the missionaries and 
 Chinese brethren in the Ningpo Presbytery, I may say that it was at 
 the very urgent request of the Chinese brethren that we became full 
 members of the Chinese Church when it came into existence as an inde- 
 pendent body some three or four years ago ; and nothing but the most 
 cordial relations have prevailed ever since. Xot only do they not wish us 
 to withdraw from active membership, hut any proposal to do so 
 makes them feel that we lack confidence in them ; as was shown very 
 clearly in the meeting this fall when Mr. Fitch wished to have his letter 
 made out to his home Presbytery instead of to Hang-chou Presbytery. 
 Xo doubt the fact that the missionaries are a very small minority of the 
 body has much to do in bringing about the above result. Furthermore 
 we always try to emphasize the rights of the Presbytery and give to its 
 evangelistic and other committees a large share in the control of the 
 tiative helpers working within its bounds, and any other matters which 
 they can undertake satisfactorily.” 
 
 J. E. SHOEMAKER. 
 
 The West Shantung Mission voted on this subject as 
 follows : 
 
 “Theoretically, missionaries should not be voting members of the Xa- 
 tive Church, but rather consulting members. Xeither should the na- 
 tives be members of the Mission. The reason for not admitting the 
 native leaders into the Mission administration is that we do not believe 
 any considerable number of them to be advanced enough in stability 
 of Christian character to be yet entrusted with large fiduciary powers, 
 and if we do not allow them voice in the administration of funds from 
 native sources, we should not share in any power of administration over 
 funds from native S'ources. But in the early beginnings of work where 
 there are no native pastors, under our Presbyterian system there does 
 seem to be need of foreigners taking the real lead and the responsibility 
 of voting, though there may be those who question whether even here 
 the foreign pastor should not refrain from voting.” 
 
 Several mi.s.sionaries called my attention to the following 
 deliverance of the General Assembly of 1901 : 
 
 “Every Presbytery has oversight of the work within its own bounds. 
 If a minister of another Presbytery refuses to connect himself with the 
 Presbytery within whose bounds he labors, the Presbytery may refuse 
 him permission to continue his labors within their bounds and may com- 
 plain to the Presbytery of which he is a member, in case he continues 
 his labors without such permission.”* 
 
 It is evident that the Committee of the Assembly which 
 framed this action had in mind ministers working within the 
 bounds of a Pre.'^jbytery in the United States but refusing to 
 connect themselves with it. The Assembly of 1887 made a 
 deliverance more to the point.t It makes curious reading to- 
 day, as it reflects a situation which subsequent events have 
 largely modified. At that time, the X’ative Church, as an au- 
 tonomous body with a mind of its own, was not an appreciable 
 entity, save in a few fields ; nor was the study of mission policy 
 
 •Assembly Mimitos, pp. 107-168. 
 t Assembly Minutes, pp. lS-25. 
 
as far advanced as it is now. I do not believe that it is the de- 
 sire of the (jeneral Assembly today, to compel its foreign mis- 
 sionaries to leave their mother Church and to join independem 
 churches in Asia. The opinion of onr Hoard and of a large and 
 growing number of missionaries throughout the world, and the 
 plain requirements of our increasingly complicated relations 
 with the rapidly growing Native Churches, are in accord with 
 the declaration of the Executive Committee of the Southern 
 I’resbyterian Church to the General Assembly of 1886: “The 
 prevailing view in our Church favors the method of having 
 Presbyteries on mission ground composed exclusive!}- of na- 
 tive presbyters, the missionaries holding only advisory rela- 
 tions to the Presbytery.’’ 
 
 Here again we need to distinguish between aim and method. 
 Our aim is to make the native Christians feel that the Church 
 and its judicatories belong to them. Whether a missionary 
 should join a Presbytery therefore is not to be determined by 
 abstract considerations, but by the bearing of the question upon 
 our supreme aim. In some places, that aim may be served by 
 missionaries belonging to the local Presbytery, for a time at 
 least; in other places, that aim may be better served if mis- 
 sionaries retain their Presbyterial relationships in America and 
 become corresponding members of the field Presbyteries. The 
 essential thing is that the missionary should not dominate the 
 Presbytery, and that he should not decide whether he ought 
 to be a member of it without conference with the native min- 
 isters and elders. Much depends on their point of view. I ad- 
 here to the position that I have taken elsewhere on this sub- 
 ject that, as a general principle, it is better for the missionary 
 to retain his ecclesiastical relationship in America, and that all 
 the influence in the native I’resbytery that he ought to exert 
 can be exerted quite as well as a corresponding member.* The 
 average w-hite man cannot be in a native Presbytery without 
 trying to run it, and whatever reason 'there was for running it 
 in the past is rapidly passing. It is true that native ministers in 
 some places are willing to have missionaries members of the 
 field Presbyteries, and in some instances desire them to be. 
 This is a tribute to the cordiality of the relations of mission- 
 aries and native ministers. It would be easy, however, to infer 
 too much from this. The fundamental fact is that the Chris- 
 tians .of .Asia, like those of Japan, want to manage their own 
 affairs ; though all have not yet pressed this demand as far as 
 their brethren in Japan. Judging, however, from what I heard 
 in many parts of Asia, both on this tour and the former one, I 
 
 •Compare fuller discussion in “The Foreign Missionary,” pp. 313-317. 
 
132 
 
 am inclined to believe that, except where special personal rela- I 
 
 tions exist or where missionaries are in a hopeless minority, I 
 
 Asiatic ministers and elders would promptly exclude mission- 
 aries from membership in local Presbyteries if it weie not for 
 the financial aid which foreigners represent. 
 
 APPLICATION OF THE GOSPEL TO SOCIAL CONDITIONS. 
 
 Boards and missionaries have long recognized that social 
 conditions in non-Christian lands are radically and lamentably 
 wrong. Indeed the evils are so great and the neglect of the 
 defective classes is so heartless that missionary letters and ad- 
 dresses have frequently given them ])rominence. 
 
 Ihitil comparatively recent years, however, little systematic 
 effort has been made to meet these evils by direct methods. It 
 is true that the Gospel has wrought enormous changes in so- 
 ciety, as the monumental work of the Rev. Dr. James S. Dennis 
 on “Christian Missions and Social Progress" abundantly shows. 
 
 These results, however, while usually considered of primary 
 importance by government officials and others who are not par- 
 ticularly interested in the spiritual phases of missionary work, 
 have been regarded as more or less incidental by the majority 1 
 
 of Boards and missionaries. The theory has been that the sole i 
 
 duty of the missionar}^ enterprise was to make known the j 
 
 Gospel of Christ and to plant the Church. Medical missions 
 were encouraged chiefly as a means of opening doors of op- j 
 
 portunity for preaching, and not because hospitals were recog- j 
 
 nized as an essential ]>art of missionary work. Indeed I have 
 heard arguments to the effect that hospitals are no longer 
 needed in Korea, as the opportunities for preaching the Gospel 
 are now sufficiently great without the assistance of medical , 
 missions. Industrial schools were sharply denounced. Robert j 
 Needham Cust, an acknowledged authority of a few years ago, ■ 
 wrote as follows: “No one can doubt the benevolence of those 
 who undertake such enterprises ; but I ibink most probably the 
 s])irituality of the manager must be driven out of him. ... 
 
 The whole thing is so thoroughly contrary to apo.stolic prac- 
 tice, and ])ost-apostolic experience. /The duty of the mission- j 
 ary is to preach the Gospel, and nothing else, except what helps 1 
 the preaching of the Gospel. His converts and his Church 1 
 
 may be poor and uncivilized; that is not his affair; the poor ’ 
 
 have the Gospel preached to them ; that is his sole duty.^’* f 
 
 Many missionaries have concerned themselves with the piti- ; 
 fill condition of famine sufferers, prostitutes, the blind, the 
 insane, the orphaned and the deaf and dumb ; but they have » 
 usually acted on their own initiative. In some instances, their 
 
 • “Essay on Prevailing Methods of the Evangelization of the Non -Christian 
 'World," p. l(j. 
 
 i 
 
133 
 
 efforts were disapproved by their associates and by their 
 Boards. Dr. and Airs. John G. Kerr, of Canton, built their 
 Refuge for the Insane, Dr. Alary Xiles, also of Canton, her 
 School for the Blind, Airs. Annetta T. Alills her School for the 
 Deaf and Dumb at Chefoo, without assistance from our Board, 
 which left them for many years to carry personally, not only 
 the burden of superintending their respective institutions, but 
 of obtaining financial support for themy' Their names re- 
 mained upon the roll of the Board and witn one exception their 
 salaries were continued ; but the Board assumed no responsi- 
 bility for tbeir work, h'ortunately, these missionaries had large 
 self-reliance and force of character, and by indefatigable la- 
 bors, which sometimes involved almost crushing anxieties, they 
 managed to develop and sustain their enterprises. The great 
 rescue work for Chinese prostitutes in Shanghai was conceived 
 and is being carried on, not as the result of any missionary 
 policy, but by an independent group of people. The splendid 
 effort that has been made in behalf of the prostitutes in Japan 
 was inaugurated by an individual Alethodist missionary, and 
 the only agency which has officially taken up this work as an 
 integral part of its regidar operations is the Salvation Army. 
 Dr. James W. AIcKean, of Laos, is heroically trying to finance 
 a beneficent work for lepers, and other instances might be cited 
 in various lands. 
 
 These are, of course, general statements. It would be easy 
 to cite exceptions ; but the main fact remains that, as a rule, 
 the application of the Gospel to social conditions, the over- 
 throw of vice and the care of the unfortunate, have not been 
 recognized as an essential part of the missionary enterprise but 
 have largely been left to individuals. The feeling has been 
 that the Gospel could be left to work out its own reformatory 
 effects in society. It was recognized that social conditions 
 needed to be changed ; but it was believed that the Native 
 Churches would attend to them in due time. When a certain 
 missionary on furlough was asked, in a conference with stu- 
 dents, what his Alission was doing in the way of social service, 
 he replied: “Nothing; we are too busy preaching the Gospel.” 
 It would be easy to show that this answer was not a fair char- 
 acterization of the work of his Alission ; but it illustrates the 
 attitude of mind which has long prevailed in missionary cir- 
 cles. Similar convictions at home built up churches which had 
 eloquent preaching and in.spiring music, paid for by pewhold- 
 ers some of whom, as recent events have painfully shown, spent 
 their week days as insurance grafters, political corruptionists, 
 betrayers of trust funds and child-labor employers. When an 
 indignant public .sentiment began to castigate them, they actual- 
 
134 
 
 ly lifted their hands in innocent surprise that anyone should 
 imagine that they had been doing wrong. Religion to them had 
 meant a theory and not a practice. 
 
 Such an attitude represents one extreme ; but we should not 
 go to the other extreme by insisting that the supreme duty of 
 the missionary is not to declare the Gospel but to effect social 
 reforms. Christ and His apostles believed the preaching of 
 the Gospel to be the most necessary thing, and they did not or- 
 ganize societies for the prevention of crime or found orphan- 
 ages or insane asylums. 
 
 On the other hand, the age in which Christ lived and the 
 time and circumstances of Christ’s brief ministry did not make 
 it practicable for Him to do many things which He might have 
 done in other circumstances and which He expects His fol- 
 lowers to do. If He and the first disciples did not undertake 
 special lines of social service, neither did they organize Sun- 
 day-schools, Women’s Societies, Young People’s Societies, 
 Mission Bands, Young Men’s Christian Associations, and other 
 agencies which are now deemed indispensable parts of Chris- 
 tian activit}'. But Christ did heal the sick on a large scale. He 
 opened the eyes of the blind. He made the deaf to hear, the 
 dumb to sp^eak, the lame to walk, and He restored reason to 
 the insane. 
 
 The spirit of Christ calls us to do something more in the di- 
 rection of social service than the Church either at home or 
 abroad has yet done. No such highly developed creeds and 
 church organizations as we have today were formulated by 
 Christ or His apostles; but we are not going to disband our 
 Churches or burn our creeds on that account.^ I believe, with 
 all my heart, that the supreme duty of the missionary enter- 
 prise is to make Jesus Christ intelligently known as a personal 
 Saviour, to induce men to accept Him as such, and to aid them 
 in establishing a self-propagating, self-supporting and self- 
 governing Church. I would make evangelistic work, there- 
 fore, first in importance always and everywhere./ 
 
 But I also believe that when the Gospel is introduced among 
 a non-Christian people, we ought not to leave converts to as- 
 certain and work out unaided the meaning of that Gospel in 
 human society. It has taken the white race many centuries to 
 learn that lesson. Why should we leave Asiatics and Africans 
 to stumble along for the same number of centuries? It is a 
 reproach to the churches of America and Europe that they 
 have so largely left the out-working of the Gospel to outside 
 organizations. It is true that these organizations are chiefly 
 supported by Christians ; but they have usually been left to in- 
 dividual initiative. The Gospel of Christ is as truly presented 
 
135 
 
 in the John G. Kerr Refuge for the Insane, the School for the 
 Blind, and the School for the Deaf and Dumb in China and the 
 orphanages in India as it is in what we call evangelistic work. 
 Are they not evangelistic too? I dissent strongly from those 
 who feel that we should leave the institutions for the blind, the 
 insane, the deaf and dumb and the orphaned to outside organ- 
 izations, and who begrudge every dollar that the Boards spend 
 upon them lest it be taken away from “direct Christian work." 
 
 I am not urging anything that is new to the Board, for it has 
 already expressed its readiness to take over the institutions for 
 the blind and the insane at Canton, and the deaf and dumb at 
 Chefoo as integral parts of its work. I discuss the question 
 here partly because the Board’s course in this matter will not 
 be unanimously approved, and partly because the whole sub- 
 ject of the relationship of the missionary enterprise to such 
 work needs to be more systematically studied. The Boards 
 have been doing something in this direction sporadically, and 
 the fact that such large results have followed is a powerful tes- 
 timony to the natural out-working of the Gospel in these direc- 
 tions. But there is need that the situation should be more ade- 
 quately faced, and that we should not be afraid to follow our 
 Christian impulses to aid the afflicted and dependent in the 
 name and spirit of our Lord for fear that we may do some- 
 thing outside of our missionary responsibilities. 
 
 Eft'ort should be made to impress the Native Churches with 
 their duty tow'ard the social evils of their respective countries. 
 They are not yet financially able to carry this burden unaided ; 
 nor do they yet know how' it could be done, even if they were 
 financially able. It would not be practicable for us to establish 
 institutions for the afflicted and dependent classes all over the 
 world, or even all that are needed in any particular country. 
 But we should have a few representative institutions which will 
 serve as object lessons to the peoples of Asia, to show what the 
 Christ spirit involves. It would be lamentable if the Church 
 were to pass by on the other side and leave many of the Mas- 
 ter’s helpless ones to be neglected or to be cared for by secular 
 and perhaps anti-Christian agencies. 
 
 As for removing prejudices, winning good-will and creating 
 opportunities for making Christ known in places which are or- 
 dinarily difficult of access, what could be more effective than 
 loving ministries to the suffering? A native of Yamada lost 
 both legs in the war with Russia. The missionary, the Rev. 
 \V. F. Hereford, thought that the poor, helpless cripple would 
 have a better chance to earn a living if he had an invalid’s roll- 
 ing chair. Mrs. Hereford raised some money by selling curios 
 and embroideries, and a stereopticon lecture and a few small 
 
136 
 
 
 local gifts made up the sum required to buy the chair in Amer- 
 ica and to pay the freight. Nothing was left but the duty — 
 yen 30 ($15.00). Mr. Hereford suggested to a prominent 
 Japanese that, as the man had given his legs for his country, 
 the country ought to give the duty on the chair. “He laughed 
 at me and said that no one but a foreigner would ever think of 
 such a thing. I argued the question with him and told him how 
 the Empress had given cork legs to those who could use them, 
 and that 1 knew that if our request could get up high enough, 
 it would be granted. I suggested that we order the chair 
 through the iMayor, and get him to sign our request. By this 
 time I had converted him, and not only the Mayor but the 
 Governor signed the request. Japan is a country where regula- 
 tions are not lightly set aside ; but we had permission for the 
 chair to come in duty free long before the chair got here. It 
 came to the city office. The Japanese pastor carried the man 
 there on his back, and he had his first ride in the city office in 
 the presence of all the officials. We were glad to be able to 
 do this work for a man who was not a Christian.” 
 
 All this took time and trouble, but both were unselfishly given 
 to help an afflicted man who had never been inside of a Chris- 
 tian church. The result was a profound impression upon the 
 whole city which recognized the spirit which animates the fol- 
 lowers of Christ. 
 
 The Gospel means something more than physical aid for the 
 afflicted, something more than hospitals, asylums and orphan- 
 ages. It is not our main object to clean up houses and cities, 
 lessen poverty, and change man’s external conditions so that 
 he will be a more decent and attractive animal. But it is also 
 true that the Christian life means something more than preach- 
 ing and praying. The Epistle of James has some caustic words 
 on this subject. W’e must enunciate and explain the teach- 
 ings of Christ : but we must do more — we must show an ignor- 
 ant people what these teachings mean in daily life. The Old 
 Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles dealt not 
 only with doctrines but with the ills and weaknesses and wrongs 
 of human society — the sick, the blind, the lame, the deaf, the 
 demoniac, impurity, intemperance, shiftlessness, poverty, 
 crime, oppressions by the rich and powerful and the wrongs 
 and suft'erings of the poor. When Christ preached in Nazareth 
 "He found the place where is was written: ‘The Spirit of the 
 Lord is upon me. because He anointed me to preach good tid- 
 ings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the 
 captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty 
 them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the 
 Lord.’ ”* He made the spirit of the helpfulness for human 
 
 •Luke IV: 17-20. 
 
 1 
 
T37 
 
 need one of the proofs of ITis ^fessiahship wlien the discour- 
 aged Jolin the Baptist sent his disciples to ask; “Art thou He 
 that conietli, or look we for another? . . . And he answered 
 and said unto them, Go your way and tell John what things ye 
 have seen and heard ; the blind receive their sight, the lame 
 walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are 
 raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them.”f 
 
 And in His solemn description of the rewards and punish- 
 ments to be declared when He “shall come in His glory," He 
 declared that the inheritance should be given to those who had 
 ministered to their hungry, thirsty, lonely, sick and imprisoned 
 fellowmen, and that those who had failed to do this should be 
 banished from His presence forever. + 
 
 Let us declare and exemplify the whole Gospel as Jesus did. 
 RELATIONS OF THE BOARD AND THE MISSIONS— CRITICISMS— 
 SPECIAL OBJECT GIFTS. 
 
 Under this general heading I propounded the seven question^ 
 noted on a preceding page. I urged entire frankness in dis- 
 cussing them, reminding the missionaries, not only that they 
 have a right to criticise, but that we desire them to do so ; that 
 the Board has no personal interest in its decisions except a de- 
 sire to do the best for the cause ; that a given ruling is based 
 on the information or the financial necessities of the time; and 
 that if later information or ability calls for modification or 
 reversal, the Board is cordially willing to change it<= attitude. 
 “Xothing is final,” I said, ‘‘except the interests of the work; 
 and any policy or method or position is subject to revision 
 whenever the interests of the work require it.” I have no rea- 
 son to believe that the missionaries hesitated in their response ; 
 they talked with the utmost freedom and did not appear to feel 
 under any restraint whatever. 
 
 First of all, it shoukl be said that the general attitude of the 
 missionaries toward the Board is one of marked confidence. 
 It would not be possible for a representative of the Board to 
 see and hear what I saw and heard and doubt this for a mo- 
 ment. The opinion was repeatedly expressed that the rela- 
 tions between the Board and the missionaries are more satis- 
 factory than they have ever been. 
 
 Criticisms that were made were not in any spirit of fault- 
 finding. Indeed, 1 doubt whether they would have oeen made 
 at all, if I had not diligently sought for them and brought them 
 out. These criticisms may be grouped under five classes. 
 
 The first relate to specific decisions of the Board, and par- 
 ticularly to purchasing and shipping of goods and payments 
 
 tl.uke VII: 20-22. 
 i Note Matt. XXV:34-4G 
 
f 
 
 138 
 
 therefor and to dealing with candidates for appointment. It 
 is hardly worth while to discuss these in a printed report. Some 
 were easily explained ; others involved inquiries regarding cir- 
 cumstances or mere questions of varying judgment m particu- 
 lar instances. I have taken them up with the departments of 
 the Board to which they belong. 
 
 The second class relates to special gifts for designated ob- 
 jects. The statement was actually made that it was not right 
 for the Board to accept gifts for one field and spend them in 
 another, and I was solemnly counseled that special gifts ought 
 not to be diverted. Of course, I asked whether specific in- 
 stances of such diversion could be cited, and I stated that if 
 they could be, the Board would promptly make restitution and 
 apolog\'. There are occasional miscarriages of intentions ; but 
 in my fifteen years as Secretary, I recall less than half a score 
 which were due to errors in the Board’s office, and they were 
 rectified as soon as the facts were ascertained. A fairer form 
 of the question was that of a Committee of the Shantung Con- 
 ference : "Can something be done to comply with the wish of 
 special donors, other than allowing so many of these gifts to 
 go into the general fund? It is not clear just how this use of 
 a special gift is justified.” 
 
 The chief difficulty arises from a misunderstanding of the 
 principles which affect the use of special gifts. In spite of all 
 that has been said and printed, the average missionary and 
 donor assume that a designated gift is an addition to the 
 Board's regular appropriations for the year, and v.dren they 
 learn that it is not in all cases an addition, they are surprised 
 and perhaps aggrieved. I do not refer to special gifts for new 
 property or new missionaries, which, from the nature of the 
 case, are invariably appropriated as extras ; but to contribu- 
 tions for current work. The undesignated gifts to the Board’s 
 treasury fall far short of the cost of maintaining the mission- 
 aries and their work. The Board knows from experience, 
 however, that a large number of specially designated gifts will 
 be received in the course of a year. It does not always know 
 who will make those gifts or for what objects they will be 
 designated ; but it is aware that a certain sum may be counted 
 upon. 
 
 Manifestly, two courses are open to the Board. One is to 
 make "the regular appropriation” at the beginning of the fiscal 
 year include only such a sum as will be covered by undesignated 
 general gifts, and then appropriate the special gifts as extras 
 as they are received. This would be exactly in line with the 
 present expectation of missionaries and donors, as every spe- 
 cial gift would be an extra. 
 
139 
 
 The objection to this course is that it would mean consider- 
 ably smaller “regular appropriations” than are now made, 
 ^lissionaries would be subjected to great uncertainty. They 
 would not dare to ])roject their work on its present scale or to 
 make annual contracts with native evangelists and teachers, 
 because they could not tell whether the money would be re- 
 ceived. Sums which did come would arrive irregularly. A 
 worker might have to run for nine or ten months with nothing 
 but the Board's small appropriation, in the hope that the rest 
 might be supplied in the last two months. The whole work 
 would be thrown into uncertainty and confusion, and the re- 
 sultant anxiety to the missionary would be serious. 
 
 The other course is the one we now follow, namely, for the 
 Board to relieve the missionary of this uncertainty and an- 
 xiety by making an advance estimate of the total amount of 
 money which is likely to be received, including these special 
 gifts, and then guarantee it to the Missions. In other words, 
 the Board underwrites special object gifts, transferring to itself 
 all the risk which under the other policy would rest upon the 
 missionaries. Manifestly, if the Board does this, special gifts 
 are to be counted, when received, as a part of the Board’s 
 guarantee ; otherwise the Board could not make it. The mis- 
 sionary receives the special gifts of his friends when he draws 
 his “regular appropriations.” for they are made up in part of 
 the special gifts. The regular appropriation sheets include a 
 note which carefulh^ explains all this, specifically stating that 
 the grant includes all known pledges and a further sum which 
 has not yet been pledged but which the Board expects will be 
 offered during the year. 
 
 I told the missionaries, therefore, that the Board, in handling 
 special gifts as parts of the advance appropriations, supposed 
 that it was acting in the interests of the Missions, in order that 
 they might have something definite to depend upon ; and I 
 asked whether they would prefer to have the Board rescind that 
 section of the iNIanual which relates to this policy, reduce the 
 “regular appropriations” at the beginning of the fiscal year to 
 a sum equal to estimated undesignated gifts, and then appro- 
 priate special object gifts as extras as they were received. I 
 stated that it would be an immense relief to the Board and its 
 officers if the present system were abandoned, and that we had 
 no interest whatever in maintaining it except the conviction 
 that it was for the benefit of the missionaries and their work. 
 
 I said, too, that as a rule, missionaries, when the matter was 
 explained to them, emphatically endorsed the present policy 
 and deemed it the only one on which a stable work could be 
 maintained ; but that the individual missionary was apt to feel 
 
140 
 
 that the policy did not apply to gifts for his own work. We 
 therefore have a fine theory which breaks down in practice ; an 
 excellent rule which does not work. I added that there had 
 been so man}- complaints on this subject that one or two things 
 should be done; either the policy should be changed, or mis- 
 sionaries should unite with the Board in the maintenance of 
 the present system and in educating their supporters at home 
 to be loyal to it. The average American Christian designates 
 the object to which he wishes his money applied, not because 
 he has any personal knowledge of it, but simply because he is 
 interested in a particular missionary and has gotten the im- 
 pression from him that specified need is the most import- 
 ant one. Cifts are rejieatedly coming to the Board for ob- 
 jects of which it would not have been possible for the donor to 
 hear except from the missionary concerned, and the donor 
 would have designated his money just as readily for something 
 else if the missionary had interested him in it. I urged, there- 
 fore. that it was largely within the power of the missionaries 
 to put an end to the frequent criticisms on this subject; that if 
 our jilan of handling special object gifts is right, we ought to 
 follow it; and that if it was not right, we ought to abandon it. 
 
 \\ ithout a single exception, the missionaries at the various 
 conferences which I attended unanimously voted for the con- 
 tinuance of the present policy. Perhaps the most representa- 
 tive opinion was that e.xpressed by the \\'est Shantung Mission, 
 which, at its annual meeting in 1908. considered this subject on 
 the basis of some correspondence at that time with the Board : 
 
 "The A"e«t Shantung Mission, after careful consideration of certain 
 comnninications from the Board : viz, ‘special Gifts and Current Work,’ 
 'The use of special Gifts,’ the letters of .-kpril ist and May 26. 1908. be- 
 sides letters to individi'al members of the Mission, wishes to express its 
 views as, to ‘Special Gifts' as follows: 'First of all. the Mission would 
 
 express its deep sense of obligation to the Board for the feeling of 
 stability and encouragement in the work secured in the past through 
 *^he Board's annual guarantee of funds needed for the year, and its 
 realization of absolute dependence for the future for such guarantee. 
 M’ithout it the work of the Mission would be thrown into chaos, and 
 its efficiency disastrously crippled, .\ccordingly the Mission considers 
 it the first duty of donors, of the Board of the Mission, and of individ- 
 ual missionaries, to see that the funds are secured for the regular ap- 
 propriation grants. Special objects are rightly to be considered of sec- 
 ondary importance. 
 
 "In the case of such unsolicited gifts as may come to any station or 
 missionary, it is understood that these should be applied to the work 
 provided for in the annual appropriations, unless this course be abso- 
 lutely incompatible with the wish of the donor : in the latter case they 
 should be applied to the objects mentioned in column IV of the esti- 
 mates, or this also being impossible, to objects quite outside the estimates. 
 Such gifts should in each case be reported to the Station Treasurer, 
 and by them reported to the Board, as provided for in section 49 of the 
 Manual. 
 
‘‘The Mission furthermore believes it to be true that wliile the Board 
 cannot be expected to accept special gifts for designated objects, unless 
 the objects are such that the Board and the Mission can wisely assume 
 responsibility for them : yet we would request the Board not to decline 
 such gifts nor divert them to other objects merely because the Mission 
 has not written requests for them on its estimate sheets. Many objects 
 exist or which the Mission would be willing to accept responsibility 
 were the money in hand for them; but it is evidf'ut that the estimate 
 sheets cannot contain every such possible object. When therefore such 
 a gift comes to the Board designated for an object not mentioned on 
 the Mission estimate sheets, the Mis.sion requests the Board to ascer 
 tain the desire of the Mi.ssion before diverting the gift to some other 
 object. 
 
 “We note that it is the rule of the Board to notify the missionary or 
 station concerned of special gifts for their work But we would call 
 the attention of the Board to the fact that this has .sometimes been 
 overlooked: and this neglect has caused embarrassment by preventing 
 missionaries from making proper acknowledgment to donors, or has 
 caused them to write letters of self-justification to such givers, to the 
 effeet that certain special gifts have never been received.’’ 
 
 But while we feel that the present policy is the best ami, in- 
 deed, the only practicable one, we in the Board should recog- 
 nize that there are occasional special gifts which should be 
 dealt with in an exceptional manner. No rule can cover every 
 case. Some gifts can be obtained as extras winch could not be 
 obtained for anything else. We cannot reduce our whole fiscal 
 system to a set of iron-bound regulations. W e are dealing with 
 living agents, with a growing work, and with changing condi- 
 tions. A donor who has given all that he will give in the usual 
 way may be willing to make an additional gift for the station 
 of a missionary in whom he is particularly interested. We 
 should hold our.selves in readiness to give sympathetic consid- 
 eration to such gifts. W'^e are justified in making sure that the 
 giver has borne bis part of the burden for the year, or that he 
 has done all toward it that he will do; and we are justified also 
 in insisting that the money shall not be used in ways which will 
 involve the Board in additional responsibilites after his gifts 
 shall have ceased. But within reasonable limitations, we should 
 recognize im'ividual interest. I fear that in onr anxiety to se- 
 cure the funds which we have pledged in the budget, we are in 
 danger of too rigidly interpreting a sound and necessary rule. 
 Missionaries can hardly realize the crushing sense of responsi- 
 bility involved in a guarantee of a million and a half a year, 
 when the Board’s income is subject to all the uncertainties 
 which beset missionary offerings. It is not easy to assume an 
 impartial attitude toward the use of money when we are bor- 
 rowing to keep up our pledges to the missionaries, and a heavy 
 deficit appears imminent. 
 
142 
 
 One fundamental difficulty is that the missionaries and the 
 Board are lacing in opposite directions on the relation of spe- 
 cial gifts to the regular appropriations. The missionary agrees 
 with the Board that the budget for the year is the most impera- 
 tive need ; but he feels that this need has been met by the 
 Board's guarantee. He does not therefore worry about it. He 
 stands with his back toward it ; his outlook is toward the addi- 
 tional things which ought to be done and for which the Board's 
 budget does not provide. He is not considering how the budget 
 can be met. but bow he can get more. And he needs more. 
 A missionaiy writes? "The difference of opinion between us 
 starts here. If my missionary work, or that of any other mem- 
 ber of the Mission, was limited to the work authorized in the 
 official appropriations for the year, a great deal of that which is 
 now going on in the name of the Board and reported to the 
 Board would have to stop. M'e have to turn in slices 'of our 
 own salaries and gifts from personal friends because the offi- 
 cial appropriations do not cover other things that must be done 
 or kept up if the regular work is to meet with failures." 
 
 The Board, however, is facing the budget ; for to the Board 
 that is the need which has not been met. a need far more urg- 
 ent aiifl vital than any other. The missionary is therefore 
 thinking of one class of needs and the Board of another class. 
 Missionaries who are privately supporting work outside of the 
 regular appropriations would not be permanently helped if the 
 Board were to appropriate all special gifts as extras, b^ause 
 that course would simply impair the Board's ability to maintain 
 the regular appropriations. Indeed the more money that goes as 
 extras the worse the plight of the missionary becomes, for it 
 means diminishing regular appropriations. The Board can- 
 not underwrite special pledges if the money when received can- 
 not be used to redeem the guarantee. 
 
 Perhaps there is mutual danger — danger that the missionaries 
 may not appreciate the Board's difficulty in securing the vast 
 sum which it has pledged to them, and danger on the other hand 
 that the Board will be so anxious about its budget that it may 
 discourage effort which might result in a better equipment 
 without injury to the responsibilities which it has assumed. 
 
 Criticisms of the third class turn upon the rights of the 
 individual missionary as compared with those of the organiza- 
 tion to which he belongs. Some of the most perplexing ques- 
 tions in missionary administration involve this fundamental 
 difference between individualism and organization. The mis- 
 sionary is a man of energy and self-reliance, who has been 
 charged with responsibilities for a certain work, who is eager to 
 
143 
 
 have that work properly ecjuipped, and who has friends who 
 are interested in him and disposed to help him. 
 
 On the other hand, the missionary is not on the field as an 
 independent individual. He voluntarily applied for appoint- 
 ment to a Board which represents the whole Church. In ac- 
 cepting that appointment, he accepted the rules and regulations 
 which have been found necessary for the orderly conduct of 
 that work. He is not only a missionary of a Church and of a 
 Board, but a member of a Mission. He receives the large bene- 
 fits which his connection with the organized work secures. His 
 acts as a missionary involve both his Mission and his Board, 
 for he is doing work for whose maintenance the Mission and 
 the Board must provide. They have a right therefore to a 
 voice regarding his policies and expenditures. They cannot 
 permit the missionary enterprise of the Church to degenerate 
 into a multitude of disconnected and unregulated individual 
 efforts. 
 
 Neither of these alternatives can be unqualifiedly accepted 
 without reference to the other. The policy of individualism 
 alone would mean chaos — all sorts of projects which would in- 
 volve waste of mone}" and energy. A policy of organization 
 alone would make the missionary force a mere machine, or at 
 best an army. 
 
 We must somehow recognize both the reasonable freedom 
 of the individual and the rights of the organization. Human 
 nature being what it is, these two divergent views will probably 
 never be balanced in such a way that there will be no trouble. 
 We are not dealing with mechanical units, but with living men 
 and women. We must always have individuals, and we must 
 always have organizations, and to the end of time they will 
 occasionally clash. Some individuals will forge ahead, either 
 through thoughtlessness or enthusiasm or temperamental in- 
 ability to submit to restraint. Sometimes, too. the authority of 
 the organization will be arbitrarily and unwisely exercised and 
 the result will show that the individual was right or that he 
 has a just grievance. 
 
 The only principle that I can suggest is mutual recognition 
 of the fact that the individual missionary is expected to assume 
 responsibility, to take initiative and to push his work in every 
 possible way : but that he should remember that even the best 
 of men are fallible, that the wise worker confers with his as- 
 sociates, and that the Mission and the Board have a right to be 
 consulted before steps are taken which involve their responsi- 
 bilities. We have inspired authority for the statement that 
 “none of us liveth to himself,” and this is as true in missionary 
 work as it is in the Christian life. 
 
 J 
 
144 
 
 Here again “the false alternative" should be guarded against. 
 The individual and the organization, rightl}’ considered, are 
 really one. for the simple reason that the organization is made 
 up of individuals who are banded together for mutual advan- 
 tage. It is not necessary, therefore, for a man to be untrue to 
 his fellows in order to protect his own interests. The best re- 
 sults are achieved when we work together. 
 
 But there always will be difficulty at home with people who 
 insist that the missionary in whom they are particularly inter- 
 ested shall be dealt with in an exceptional way. They do not 
 see why he should not have all the money he wants if they are 
 willing to supply it. They fail to realize that the Board and 
 the Missions endeavor to conduct the whole work on an equi- 
 table scale, and that they cannot permit one worker to be left 
 with half what he needs while his associate has double, or one 
 school to be closed for lack of funds while another in the same 
 Mission is adding new equipment. Every one admits that the 
 Board's rule is sound, but no amount of explanation will con- 
 vince some donors that the rule is fairly applicable in their spe- 
 cial case : so that we might as well make up our minds that 
 this class of criticisms will continue. We may solace ourselves 
 with the reflection that these criticisms are not nearly as num- 
 erous and formidable as those which we would get from the 
 missionaries and their friends if we adopted the opposite policy. 
 Our work then, instead of making orderly progress, would be 
 fiHul and spasmodic. 
 
 Criticisms of the fourth class are the most numerous and per- 
 sistent. They assume various forms, but all resolve them- 
 selves into the common need of more men and money. “Why 
 does the Board leave our station so poorly manned’’’ “Does 
 
 it realize that i\Ir. is killing himself with overwork?’’ 
 
 “The Board will not permit us to take advantage of our oppor- 
 tunities." “The Board refuses to give us necessary buildings.’’ 
 “^^’hy does the Board persist in the policy of keeping its work 
 under-manned and under-equipped?’’ “It is amazing that the 
 Board should close a hospital during the furlough of a physi- 
 cian.” These statements, and a dozen others of similar import, 
 are common in interviews and correspondence. They are ap- 
 parently based upon the almost pathetic assumption that the 
 Board is omnipotent, that unlimited resources in a rich home 
 Church are at its command, and that it can do an)qhing that it 
 really wants to do ; so that if it does not give all the funds and 
 reinforcements that are needed, it is either because the Board 
 is indifferent or the Secretary has failed to inform it. 
 
 IMost missionaries, however, understand the limitations un- 
 der which the Board operates, and the}' know that the Board 
 
145 
 
 would gladly do a great deal more if it could. It may be said 
 that the Board .should get more money ; but missionaries on 
 furlough who. with the full approval of the Board, have tried 
 to raise large sums have found that it is not so easy to get 
 money as they had imagined. Small sums for particularly at- 
 tractive objects can usually be picked up without difficulty; 
 but enough to justif}’ real advance is another matter. One 
 able missionary failed to secure $35,000 for the college with 
 which he is connected, although the Board gave him almost 
 carte blanche for two years. About a decade ago, the Board 
 authorized an effort to raise $250,000 for the equipment and 
 endowment of another college. Six different representatives 
 of that college have worked at this fund, one of them on a 
 salary for a year, and the total amount raised thus far is only 
 about a quarter of the amount sought. If there is any one 
 thing that the Board and it;^ officers know more clearly than 
 anything else, it is that the Missions need re-enforcements and 
 larger grants. M e have to face for all the Missions the ques- 
 tion which each Mission has to face for its stations— namely, 
 how to make an inadequate force and appropriation provide 
 for needs which call for considerably larger supplies. It is 
 natural that those whose work sorelv needs more money should 
 occasionally become impatient because it is not forthcoming. 
 
 better mutual understanding between the missionaries and 
 the Board will not only make the Board more patient and sym- 
 pathetic with the lonelv and over-burdened workers on the 
 field, but will make them more patient and sympathetic with us. 
 The Missions and the Board are working together for a com- 
 mon end. and each will do its part better when each knows 
 and appreciates the difficulties and the brotherly good will of 
 the other. 
 
 Criticisms of the fifth class are to the effect that the Board 
 starts new work while the old work is ill-equipped. Return- 
 ing travelers often join missionaries in this criticism. Few 
 missionaries and travelers realize that the Board is far more 
 conservative than the ^Missions on this subject. Missions are 
 continually asking the Board to open new work, and the Board 
 is almost as continually replying that it can not do so in justice 
 to existing work. Two [Missions in China passed resolutions 
 protesting against opening new work until the old was better 
 cared for, and at the very same meetings urged the Board to 
 open a great deal of new work within their own bounds. Sev- 
 eral recent travelers have strongly protested against the estab- 
 lishment of more stations until we can more adequately main- 
 tain those that we have, and in the same interview have insisted 
 that a statesmanlike policy would greatly extend work in such 
 
146 
 
 strategic fields as Korea, China, and the Philippines, where 
 expenditures promise the largest results. 
 
 As a matter of fact, both Missions and travelers are right, 
 for there are two sides to this question. Unquestionably there 
 should be due regard to the needs of existing work, and cau- 
 tion shoidd be exercised in developing new work when that 
 already in hand is not properly equipped. This is and has been 
 the policy of the Board. 
 
 On the other hand, the argument that new work should not 
 be opened until the old is well equipped would have confined 
 Christianity to Palestine and Syria. There never was an old 
 field in greater need than Antioch when the Holy Ghost or- 
 dered Paul and Barnabas to go out and open new stations. The 
 missionary who urges that new work should not be openevl 
 until the old is well supported cuts the ground from under his 
 own feet, for on that policy his own work would never have 
 been started. The .\merican churches were for the most part 
 small and weak, their .schools and colleges were struggling for 
 existence, when the Protestant missionary enterprise was in- 
 augurated. Missionaries would never have been sent out if the 
 Church had listened to the protest under consideration. Indeed 
 the most frequent objection to foreign missions today is that 
 we ought not to send so much abroad when there is so much 
 to be done at home. If the missionary imagines that the old 
 work at home is well-equipped even after all these year?, let 
 him correspond with the secretaries of our Boards of Home 
 Missions and Church Erection, and with the presidents of the 
 western colleges upon which we chiefly depend for our min- 
 isterial supply. 
 
 The fact is that God sometimes makes it clear that new work 
 should be undertaken even when the old does need more help, 
 an.l it does not necessarily follow that the new work is at the 
 expense of the old. It mav represent not only new gifts which 
 would not otherwise have been received, but an enlarged sym- 
 pathy and strength which are helpful to the whole enterprise. 
 Who will say that it was a mistake to enter Macedonia before 
 Asia Minor was evangelized, or to enter Korea before a tenth 
 of Africa was enlightened by the Gospel, or to send mission- 
 aries to China before America was half Christianized? We 
 must follow the leadings of Providence, making sure however 
 that Providence is leading. We must avoid the opposite ex- 
 tremes of a stubborn conservatism and a rash progressiveness. 
 Xo cast-iron rule can be laid down that will apply to every 
 case. Each call must be judged upon its merits. When there 
 is doubt about the advisability of undertaking new work, the 
 benefit should be given to present obligations. It is, as a rule. 
 
U7 
 
 fair to assume that a lialf-finished enterprise should be com- 
 pleted before we begin a new one. W'e have a right to insist 
 that the fresh adventure shall demonstrate its rights by a call 
 clear beyond reasonable cjnestion. 
 
 FIELD SUPERVISION OF MISSION WORK. 
 
 The chief difficulties in our present methods of mission or- 
 ganization and control are two : 
 
 The first is that our methods do not make adequate provi- 
 sion for a broad study of the situation in a given country and 
 for forming and executing large plans. Each missionary 
 is assigned a local work, which is so exacting as to require 
 all his time. Indeed, he is often over-worked. There is no 
 one who can give himself to study and effort along the wider 
 lines of mission policy and development. There may be some 
 individual who sees what ought to be done, but it is not his 
 special duty to do it. He, like his associates, is already over- 
 burdened. Perhaps, too, his modesty prevents him from tak- 
 ing the lead. Our Presbyterian work as a whole impresses me 
 as characterized by an immense amount of faithful and labori- 
 ous local effort but by an absence of unity of movement, 
 breadth of conception and definiteness of plan. Large things 
 that need to be done are apt to be neglected, because they are 
 everybody's business, which practically means nobody’s busi- 
 ness. We have eight Missions in China, and these Missions, 
 although working in a common country, among a common 
 people ami for common ends, are working independently of one 
 another. The South China Mission has hardly any more con- 
 tact with the North China Mission than it has with the West 
 Africa Mission. Missionaries in one part of the Empire seldom 
 know what their associates in another part are doing. Once in 
 a hundred years, there is a Shanghai Conference where mis- 
 sionaries of all communions get together, and occasionally there 
 are sectional assemblages of missionaries ; but such meetings 
 are too occasional and exceptional to afford adequate relief. 
 
 Nor is this want of co-or, filiation peculiar to China. I could 
 name two Missions in another country which, until recently, 
 have moved along opposite lines of policy on a fundamental 
 matter, with resultant confusion which has done no small harm 
 to the work. When I inquired why two other adjacent Mis- 
 sions should not be united, I was told that their policies were 
 different. Why should Presbyterian missionaries in a region 
 no larger than an American State be working at cross pur- 
 poses? Even in the same Mission, the policies of stations are 
 sometimes not alike. Grant that some diversity is a necessary 
 concomitant of a living and growing work ; are such conditions 
 justifiable ? 
 
148 
 
 
 The second difficulty is the frequent failure of the Alissions 
 to make the judgment of the majority effective. This is not 
 true of all our ^Missions, or of any one iNIission at all times; 
 but it is common enough to challenge attention and remedy. I 
 reiterate my long established conviction that the Board can 
 safely trust and wisely follow the concensus of missionary 
 judgment; but our methods often fail to disclose to the Board 
 what that concensus really is. A ^Mission is supposed to be the 
 organized body of all the missionaries residing within a given 
 territory, comprising anywhere from three stations to nine or 
 ten. These stations are supposed to be united in the ^Mission ; 
 but the union is sometimes nominal rather than real. The Mi.s- 
 sion meets only once a year. Its docket is crowded with rou- 
 tine business. It hears reports, makes out fiscal estimates, at- 
 tends to a variety of pressing matters, has inspiring devotional 
 meetings, affords delightful fellowship, and then it adjourns 
 for a year. Our theory is excellent, but in practice each sta- 
 tion does about as it pleases and carries on its work in its own 
 way. If it is following some line which the majority of the 
 Alission disapprove, there is often no one whose official duty 
 it is to apply a check. Correction waits for individual initia- 
 tive ; and the individual may be reluctant to criticise where he 
 is not personally concerned, or he may not be wise aiid tactful 
 enough to achieve the desired result. 
 
 The problem of personal relationships in a Mission is far 
 more difficult and delicate than it is easy for those in the home- 
 land to realize. An experienced missionary writes; “In the 
 nature of the case, perhaps there is no circle in the world, ex- 
 cept the family circle, in which its members need to guard one 
 another's susceptibilities so carefully, as the foreign luissionary 
 circle. The fewness, the intimacy, the parity, the isolation, the 
 conspicuousness, the indispensable harmony, all conspire to 
 make this so. It follows that delicate subjects affecting per- 
 sonal and local interests are nowhere in the world so difficult 
 to handle, as in the mission circle. And it is often necessary, 
 in the interest of internal harmony, to neglect or postpone im- 
 portant measures. Hence, in dealing with such questions, the 
 Board must often need to take the initiative, and to follow it 
 up if necessary with no little pressure, to counteract the per- 
 sonal forces at work, and get beyond the compromises into 
 which these are apt to lead, and into the region of the inde- 
 pendent and impartial judgment of the Mission as a whole.” 
 
 An eager individual wishes to buy or build or begin a new 
 work. His associates may hesitate to oppose him. Perhaps 
 they feel that the Boar.l must decide anyway. The motion, 
 therefore gets a perfunctory acquiescent vote which simply 
 
refers it to New York. The Board receives what purports to 
 be a unanimous request from a trusted Mission, together with 
 urgent letters from the individual interested. The Board may 
 not know that manv of the members of the Mission doubt the 
 wisdom of the proposal, and would be secretly relieved if the 
 Board would veto it. 
 
 Such cases are not general, but they occur often enough to 
 be disquieting. It is not too much to say that our missionary 
 work as a whole is still almost in the condition described in 
 the book of Judges, when "every man did that which was right 
 in his own eyes.” In s])ite of our admirable principles of or- 
 ganization, our work is unduly characterized by individualism. 
 Even when the organization does act decisively, it sometimes 
 acts spasmodically and irregularly under the impulse of the 
 particular leaders who may for the time be prominent. Mis- 
 sionaries frequently lamented to me in private that in station 
 and mission meetings there was altogether too much of the 
 feeling: “You let me alone, and I’ll let you alone; you vote for 
 what I want, and I’ll vote for what you want.” I could cite 
 illustrations ; but each one would probably be identified as a 
 sore subject with some Alission. I shall be relieved and grate- 
 ful if any one who really knows the situation can successfully 
 challenge the accuracy of my statements. I am more than 
 willing to be convinced that my conclusions are wrong, for they 
 are as distasteful to me as they can be to any one. 
 
 Let no reader get the impression that missionaries are ex- 
 ceptionally prone to disputes. There is no more fiiction on 
 the foreign field than there is at home ; but abroad the workers 
 are so closely associated and their personal interests are so in- 
 extricably intertwined, that difficulties more quickly affect the 
 common peace and work. 
 
 Readers of this report who do not belong to our Church 
 should not lay the flattering unction to their souls that Presby- 
 terians are sinners above their brethren. What I have said 
 applies witii equal and sometimes greater force to missionaries 
 of all communions, except those which have Bishops, and in 
 some cases even to them. A Bishop has to be a masterful man 
 to overcome the difficulties under discussion ; and when he is 
 such a man, his very masterfulness engenders other d.ifficulties 
 which most Presbyterian, Baptist and Congregational mission- 
 aries regard as more serious than those which now trouble 
 them. 
 
 W’e are not dealing with an easy problem. The missionary 
 force is not an army that it can be ordered about by generals, 
 nor are missionaries gentle, timid little souls who will meekly 
 submit to leadership. Our missionaries are strong, self-reliant, 
 
150 
 
 energetic men and women, who have ideas of their own and 
 want to push them. I am glad that this is so. I respect men 
 of that type far more than I respect the flabby weaklings who 
 haven’t spunk enough to make a blunder. When a certain can- 
 didate for appointment was described to us as so faithful and 
 obedient that if we set him to watch a rat hole, he would stay 
 there for a year unless we relieved him, the Board promptly 
 decided that he had better watch his rat hole in the United 
 States. Better the freedom, variety and initiative of vigorous 
 life than a mechanical or apathetic uniformity. But is that the 
 alternative? May we not have life and a uniformity that is 
 neither mechanical or apathetic? Liberty is consistenc with or- 
 der ; it is not individualism gone to seed. How to have able, 
 resourceful missionaries work effectively together is the 
 problem. 
 
 I do not wish my remarks to be understood as too sweeping. 
 I could easily mention IMissions which are supervising their 
 work with reasonable effectiveness. It should be borne in mind, 
 too, that some difficulties which are unmanageable imder our 
 system are unmanageable under any system, simply because 
 they spring out of characteristics of human nature which grace 
 does not eradicate. Is the problem peculiar to the foreign 
 field? Is it not precisely this difficulty which characterizes our 
 Presbyteries and Synods and General Assembly at home ? The 
 typical Presbyterian Mission in Asia is managing its affairs in 
 about the same way as the typical Presbytery is managing its 
 affairs in the United States. Indeed, some familiarity with 
 both Alissions and Presbyteries inclines me to believe that our 
 Alission organizations are more efficient than our Presbyterial. 
 
 The supervision which is now most continuously and 
 generally operative is that of the Board. There must be a 
 Board and it must have final authority, subject only to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly. But its members are among the busiest minis- 
 ters and laymen in America, and they cannot possibly give their 
 personal attention to the innumerable and complicated details 
 of our vast and widely extended work. The practical super- 
 vision, therefore, falls upon the Secretaries; but they cannot 
 do everything that needs to be done. We need not resort to 
 the Orientalism of depreciating unduly the Secretaries’ knowl- 
 edge of the work and its problems. But how can men ten 
 thousand miles away wisely regulate the countless local affairs 
 of missionaries in Asia and Africa? It seems to me that our 
 present methods centralize too much control in the Secretaries 
 of the Board. No one but an angel from Heaven could have 
 wisely decided all the questions and effectively done all the 
 
things that I was expected to do on tliis trip and that we are 
 constantly expected to do in the office. 
 
 Questions often arise which missionaries feel that they can- 
 not settle under the present policy, chiefly because there is no 
 one who has authority to settle them and no one who is suffi- 
 ciently detached from local relationships to enable him to han- 
 dle them impersonally upon their merits without personal com- 
 plications. So these questions are referred to the Secretary of 
 the Board if he is on the field, or sent to him if he is in New 
 York. But secretaries are few in number ; their wisdom, like 
 Sam Weller's “wision,” “is limited,” and what there is of it is 
 on the other side of the world. There is always danger in such 
 circumstances that we may act upon partial information, as the 
 letters from the field may state some elements of the case out 
 of proportion. Our present system requires the Secretaries to 
 be infallible popes. The foreign missionary work of our 
 Church has come to be too vast, too widely distributed, it in- 
 volves too many people and interests, to make it longer prudent 
 for the missionaries, the Board, and the Church, to depend so 
 largely upon the omniscience of four Secretaries in New York. 
 
 I am aware of the limitations of this position. Many of the 
 wants of Missions involve the responsibility of the Board in 
 providing funds, and in such matters, the Board must, of 
 course, have a final voice. Occasionally, too. Mission requests 
 are contrary to the concensus of missionary experience in many 
 lands and throughout a long series of years. Secretaries are in 
 a better position to know that concensus of opinion than the 
 members of an isolated Mission, for we are so placed that we 
 are in touch with all the Missions and also with the home 
 Church. I do not mean, therefore, that the Board should abdi- 
 cate its powers and duties; but 1 do feel and 1 have felt for 
 years that there is an increasing tendency on the part of the 
 Missions to refer many matters to New York which might 
 properly be settled on the field, if there were some recognized 
 authority there to settle them. Missions would probably act 
 under a weghtier sense of responsibility if they knew that the 
 decision more often rested with them instead of with a distant 
 Board. 
 
 The difficulties of the present situation are no more the fault 
 of the missionaries than they are our fault. There are no abler 
 or wiser Christian workers anywhere than those who represent 
 our Church abroad. They can handle a larger proportion of 
 their problems and manage their work more efficiently if they 
 are organized aright. I could name dozens of missionaries who 
 are admirably qualified to render valuable service of this kind 
 if it were specifically assigned to them and if they were so re- 
 
152 
 
 leased from local work that they would have opportunity for it. 
 An illustration of this occurred a few years ago. Trouble 
 broke out m a certain station. It increased and, as in the case 
 of most troubles on the field, was in time referred to New 
 York for settlement. The facts as presented to the Board ap- 
 peared to be so diametrically opposed that it was difficult to 
 decide which party was right. Each seemed to be right in some 
 things and wrong in others, an inextricable tangle of difficul- 
 ties. The Board, on recommendation of the Secretaries, finally 
 appointed three missionaries from other Missions to go to that 
 station and straighten things out. They went, dealt with all 
 concerned face to face and heart to heart, and handled the 
 whole matter with a combination of firmness, judgment and 
 tact which could not have been surpassed and which proved 
 effective. Why not have a standing committee which can deal 
 with local questions before they reach the troublesome stage? 
 
 The Presb 3 ’terian Church at home has led the way toward 
 reform by constituting Executive Commissions which are now 
 trving to get some order out of chaos and to give to our Church 
 as a whole greater unity and efficiency, while at the same time 
 preserving that full measure of liberty which Presbyterians so 
 highly prize. This is substantially what I recommend for the 
 foreign field. Each of our' Missions ought to have an Execu- 
 tive Committee, an 1 the Chairman’s local station work should 
 be so lightened that it will be possible for him to attend to such 
 general duties as may be assigned to him. Where there are 
 several Missions in one countiy as in China, the Chairmen of 
 the Mission Executive Committees should constitute a Na- 
 tional Executive Committee, whose Chairman should be ex- 
 pected to give his whole time to the work of the Committee. 
 
 There are other and larger reasons for the proposed improv- 
 ed field organization. Correct and balanced information is in- 
 dispensable to the Board if it is to discharge its responsibilities 
 wisely and for the best interests of the missionaries and the 
 Church. Present methods make it difficult for us to get that 
 information. We are unduly dependent upon secretarial visits 
 to the field which are necessarily occasional, and upon corres- 
 pondence which is apt to be one-sided. Some of the best mis- 
 sionaries are poor or irregular letter writers. There should be 
 a Committee in each Mission whose business it is to see that the 
 real judgment of the whole missionary body in that field is 
 properly expressed to the Board. Such an arrangement would 
 be of great benefit to the missionaries, ensuring a fair knowl- 
 edge of their views and a greater probability that they will be 
 carried into effect. The Chairman of such a Commiitee would 
 be of great service to his brethren. He would be available for 
 
153 
 
 counsel and assistance wherever needed. It would be a bless- 
 ing to the lonely workers in many an isolated station to have a 
 visit from a strong, experienced missionary, who could help in 
 some special meetings and bring cheer in many wa>s. There 
 are, too, public interdenominational occasions in most countries 
 at which such a man would he a proper representative. 
 
 I hope that no timid souls will feel that these proposals in- 
 volve the development of any ecclesiastical authority. Surely, 
 we are not prepared to say that Presbyterianism is so inherent- 
 ly weak that it necessarily implies inefficiency. I have no sym- 
 pathy with the type of Presbyterianism which lies awake 
 nights for fear that some one or something will encroach upon 
 liberty. The average Presbyterian loves power as well as any 
 other man? and expects his authority to be recognized in his 
 family, his Church and his work. But he does not intend to 
 have any one rule him. Well, I am not proposing that any one 
 shall rule him, but simply that he or one of his equals shall be 
 so placed that he can help the work of all. The Chairman of 
 an Executive Committee should not be understood as having 
 any superior rank or dignity. He ought to be a missionary like 
 his brethren, a man who has had practical experience on the 
 field, who knows the language of the people, who is familiar 
 with mission problems and methods, and who unites ability and 
 wisdom. He should be elected for a limited temi of years and 
 required to work in consultation with and under the control of 
 his Executive Committee. His election should be ratified by 
 the Board, and the bodies which elect him should be free to 
 call him to account and, if necessary, to dismiss liim. His 
 term will expire anyway, and he need not be re-elected if he is 
 not satisfactory. Such a man would no more interfere with 
 the reasonable liberty of in.lividuals than American Mayors 
 and Governors interfere with the civil liberty of citizens. A 
 Mission is in a bad way if it does not have at least one man 
 who can be trusted to work for the interests of all, especially 
 when he i.s^ elected by his associates and is related to a Com- 
 mittee which is responsible to them. Even the Baptists, whose 
 principles of church polity might be supposed to make them the 
 most conservative on this question, have adopted the plan of 
 appointing "General Missionaries" whose functions are much 
 the same as those of the Chairman of Executive Committees 
 now under consideration. In reply to objections, the Execu- 
 tive Committee of the American Baptist Missionary Union ap- 
 proved a letter by its Secretary, the Rev. Thomas S. Barbour, 
 D.D., in which he said; 
 
 “The Committee has been surprised to learn that employment of the 
 new agency is thought by some to be out of harmony with accepted 
 
154 
 
 denominational standards. The practice of our Home Mission Soci- 
 ety. in the home field and in the work in Porto Rico and Cuba, is well 
 known. Indeed, it is difficult to see how employment of General Mis- 
 sionaries invohes unjust infringement upon personal liberty unless 
 other familiar features of missionary administration are open to the 
 same accusation ; e. g., creation of a Board of Managers and an E.xecu- 
 tive Committee (at home) and appointment of Corresponding Secre- 
 taries. Administrative work compels employment of administrative 
 agencies. The thought that the office of General Missionaries is an- 
 alogous to the bishopric of churches of the Episcopalian order obvious- 
 ly is erroneous, both because the agency has no relation to the govern- 
 ment of churches and because it is expressly provided that its function 
 shall be not that of exercise of authority but purely that of brotherly 
 counsel and cooperation. The Committee cannot believe that they should 
 hesitate to avail themselves of the advantages afforded by the new 
 agency because of a fear that the General Missionary may develop an 
 autocratic spirit. Without doubt he should be on his guard against 
 such a possibility. But the peril must be recognized as pertaining to all 
 official positions created by missionary administration, — to the work of 
 the Board of Managers, the Executive Committee and the Secretaries, 
 and) to the relation sustained by missionaries to bodies of believers.” 
 
 Baptist missionaries liave so long been accnstome 1 to inde- 
 pendence of one another on the field and to government only by 
 the Executive Committee and its Secretary in Boston, that it 
 is diiificult for them to accept the new arrangement , but that 
 it is a long step in the right direction is apparent to everyone 
 who studies the question from a disinterested viewpoint. The 
 eft’ort to supervise effectively local details on the field by means 
 of a ten days’ conference of missionaries once a year is not a 
 success. Recognition of this is not a modification of Presby- 
 terianism. It is simply an application of its inherent principles 
 to the conditions of modern life. 
 
 The Board is aware that this subject has been up before. 
 Feb. i6, 1903, the Rev. Dr. Calvin Alateer, of the East Shan- 
 tung Mission, pre.sented a written statement to the Board, 
 frankly criticising methods of field organization and strongly 
 urging Mission Committees of Superintendence. The Board 
 heard Dr. Mateer's statement with great interest, but deferred 
 definite action, pending my report as to the judgment of vari- 
 ous ^Missions which I consulted during my former visit to 
 Asia, Dr. Mateer having given me a copy of his statement be- 
 fore he came home on furlough. I reported that the Alissions 
 which I visited did not concur in all the statements of Dr. Ma- 
 teer’s paper and expressed varying judgments with reference 
 to the plan, but that I believed that the appointment of Execu- 
 tive Committees with larger duties and responsibilities would 
 be helpful to many Alissions. The Board sent Dr. Alateer’s 
 suggestions and my report and recommendation thereon to all 
 the Alissions in a circular letter dated August i, 1904, adding: 
 
155 
 
 “As you know the Manual of the Board has for some years provided 
 for Executive Committees in the various Missions as follows: Any 
 
 Mission may at its annual meeting appoint :in Executive Committee, ad 
 interim, to have authority to indorse as approved any request to the 
 Board. All actions submitted to the Committee must have the approval 
 of the proper station or stations.” 
 
 “In republishing the Manual, the Board amended this paragraph by 
 adding the sentence: Any Mission may commit to its Executive Com- 
 
 mittee, if it desires, the discharge of any of the functions and duties of 
 the Mission as defined in the Manual.” 
 
 “The Board desires to lay the whole matter before the Missions and 
 to ask their judgment. 
 
 “The Board has no desire in raising this question to suggest any de- 
 parture from the democratic principles of the Church and its methods 
 of missionary organization, hut it does desire to see the unity and effi- 
 ciency of missionary administration improved, if there is any method 
 by which this can be accomplished.” 
 
 The repltes of the ^Missions varied, a.s might have been ex- 
 pected, for it is in Presbyterian blood to move cantionsly in any 
 matter which appears to involve control, in spite of the fact 
 that the essence of otir polity is government by representatives 
 chosen by the people. Several Missions, however, promptly 
 acted in the direction indicated, and the idea gradually made 
 its way in others until now of our 25 organized Missions (Co- 
 lombia and the Chinese and Japanese in the United States do 
 not have mission organizations and Guatemala has only two 
 families), 17 have Executive Committees as follows: 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES. 
 
 I. 
 
 North China. 
 
 TO. 
 
 West Japan. 
 
 2. 
 
 Central China. 
 
 II. 
 
 Philippines. 
 
 .3- 
 
 South China. 
 
 12. 
 
 Siam. 
 
 4- 
 
 East Shantung. 
 
 1.3- 
 
 Laos. 
 
 5- 
 
 West Shantung. 
 
 14. 
 
 Punjab. 
 
 6. 
 
 KiaVig-an. 
 
 1.3. 
 
 North India. 
 
 /• 
 
 Hainan. 
 
 16. 
 
 West Africa. 
 
 8. 
 
 Korea. 
 
 17- 
 
 Mexico. 
 
 9. 
 
 East Japan. 
 
 
 
 
 NO 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES. 
 
 I. 
 
 Hunan. 
 
 5- 
 
 Syria. 
 
 2. 
 
 East Persia. 
 
 6. 
 
 Chili. 
 
 .3. 
 
 W'est Persia. 
 
 7- 
 
 Central Brazil. 
 
 4- 
 
 Western India. 
 
 8. 
 
 Southern Brazil 
 
 The Executive Committee has thus become an established 
 feature of our field organization in the majority of our Mis- 
 sions. There appears to be no disposition to dispense with any 
 of them and it is probable that most of the Missions which do 
 not have them will ere long fall into line with their sister or- 
 ganizations. 
 
156 
 
 The usefulness of these Executive Committees varies con- 
 siderabh". Some are constituted of men who are selected with 
 reference to their fitness for the duties to be performed ; others 
 are appointed at random ; and one ^Mission places its men on 
 the Committee in rotation, which is about the worst method 
 imaginable. Some Committees have practically no power ex- 
 cept to start circular letters on the rounds of the stations and 
 to transmit requests to the Board. They are not expected to 
 do anything of importance and they fulfil the expectation. 
 Others are really grappling with the problems of their respec- 
 tive fields. 
 
 There is a growing feeling that the powers and duties of 
 these Executive Committees should be increased and more ac- 
 curately defined, and that the Chairman should be chosen from 
 the ablest and wisest missionaries and have their local station 
 work so lightened that they can give more time to the work of 
 the Committee. This feeling is farthest advanced in China. 
 Three of the Missions voted in 1908 in favor of a Field Secre- 
 tary for China. The Kiang-an Mission, while not definitely 
 deciding against the proposal for the appointment of an experi- 
 enced missJonary as Field Secretary, preferred the plan of an 
 Executive Committee of three elected by the China Missions 
 an 1 ratified bv the Board. The Mission enumerated the follow- 
 ing advantages to be gained by greater centtralization : “1. 
 
 Greater efficiency in our existing work. 2. Mdser distribution 
 of our forces. 3. Larger returns on our investment of men 
 and money. 4. The need of binding our diflferent Missions 
 more closely together. 5. Greater harmonv in individual Mis- 
 sions and stations by providing a disinterested committee to 
 which can be referred all matters in dispute, instead of decid- 
 ing as is at present done by vote of those personally inter- 
 ested." The East Shantung Mission in the same year consid- 
 ered an elaborate plan of reorganization, but took no final ac- 
 tion. The Central China Mi=;sion adopted the following reso- 
 lution ; 
 
 “We believe that these problems are of the utmost importance and 
 ujxm their right solution the development of greater efficiency largely 
 depends. Tn our opinion it will be impossible to obtain a satisfactory 
 result by the desultory efforts of the different Missions. We therefore 
 strongly recommend that the Board send out either Mr. Speer or Dr. 
 Brown to spend sufficient time to make a thorough study of the situa- 
 tion in all the ^Missions of our Board in China and help work out a 
 plan of unification and a policy for the conducting of the work.” 
 
 The way was thus prepare-l for some definite action during 
 my conference with the representatives of five of the China 
 ^Missions at Shanghai, in Xovember, 1909. The result of our 
 discussions was the adoption of the following statement: 
 
157 
 
 "At the conference of delegates from the Canton. Hainan, Central 
 China, Kiang-an, and Hunan Missions, which met in Shanghai, October 
 28th to November 2nd, Dr, Brown raised the question of the desirability 
 of a Field Secretary for China and whether aii} development of the plan 
 of the Executive Committee was practicable. A committee of five, one 
 from each of the above Missions, was appointed to consider the subject. 
 They presented the following report, which was adopted by a prac- 
 tically unanimous vote. 
 
 “It is the deep and growing conviction of many missionaries that the 
 evangelization of China can be more successfully accomplished if the 
 workers in mission groups are brought into relations of greater mutual 
 helpfulness. 
 
 "The work of Missions has grown to such proportions and is assum- 
 ing such important relations to questions of Chinese national life, which 
 are coextensive with the Empire, that individual effort, however well 
 conceived and executed, must inevitably lose a large part of its effec- 
 tiveness, unless it is coordinated with all other work and guided by a 
 policy broad enough to provide for the highest interests of all China. 
 For the Missions of our Board to attain their greatest efficiency, there 
 must be fuller knowledge of the work of all the Missions and a more 
 sympathetic co-operation of individual workers and Missions. 
 
 "To this end we beg to make the following 
 
 RECOM .MENIIATIONS. 
 
 “I. The ofpoiiitnient of a committee to represent all the missions of 
 our Board in China. 
 
 “1. Method of affointment . — Each of the Presbyterian Missions in 
 China shall elect one man from among its own members to represent it 
 in a general committee, which shall be known as The China Council 
 (of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of -\merica. ) It is 
 recommended that an alternate be also elected by each Mission to act 
 in case the principal is unable to perform the duties of his office. 
 
 “2. Term of office of the members of the Council . — Each member of 
 the Council shall be elected for two years and shall be eligible to re- 
 election. He shall take office at the first stated meeting of the Council 
 following his election. In order that only half the members be changed 
 each year, it is suggested that at the first election. Canton, Central China, 
 Honan, and West Shantung shall elect their members for one year only. 
 Thereafter all elections shall be for two years. 
 
 "3. Suggested duties of the Council. 
 
 “(i.) To pass upon the estimates of all the Missions and upon all 
 special appeals for funds, including ‘special objects,' making recommen- 
 dations to the Board concerning the same. 
 
 “(2.) To distribute, in accordance with the estimates already ap- 
 proved by the Council and the Board, all money appropriated by the 
 Board for work in China (it being understood that all special object 
 funds shall be administered according to the agreement made by the 
 Board with the givers). 
 
 "All appropriations for old work (namely items in columns i, 2, 
 and 3 of the appropriation sheets) shall be distributed directly to the 
 Missions in accordance with the approved estimates of the Council. 
 AH increase in appropriations (namely items in columns 4 and 5 
 of the appropriation sheets) shall be distributed so far as possible in 
 accordance with a plan decided on by the Council at the time of their 
 consideration of the estimates. 
 
 "It is believed that it will be possible for the Council, when 
 it passes on the estimates, to arrange, on the basis of the appeals for 
 new work and new property made by the different ^Missions, a schedule 
 
158 
 
 to be followed in the distribution of any increase in appropriations. It 
 could then, if thought desirable, instruct its chairman to make the said 
 distribution, unless there arises, during the time between the sending 
 home of the estimates and the arrival of the appropriations, some emer- 
 gency which necessitates his conferring with the members of the Coun- 
 cil. 
 
 “(3.') To pass upon all appeals for new missionaries asked for by 
 the different Missions and to determine their relative urgency and to 
 assign the new missionaries to the different Missions. 
 
 “(4.) To make temporary or permanent transfers of missionaries 
 from one Mission to another when, in the judgment of the Council, 
 such transfers will be conducive to the highest efficiency of the work 
 of our Missions in China (but in no case shall a missionary be trans- 
 ferred without his own consent and that of his Mission). 
 
 “(5-) To develop and have oversight of general mission policy, to 
 coordinate the work of the various departments, and to approve or 
 recommend such new work as may be necessary to meet the changing 
 conditions and to gain increased efficiency. 
 
 “(6.) To confer with the representatives of other Missions regarding 
 all matters of common interest, such as division of the field, union 
 effort along educational and other lines, etc. 
 
 “(7 ) To deal with all matters which may be referred to it by the 
 Board, or by one or more of the Missions, and with cases of appeal 
 from the decision of a Mission. It shall make definite recommendations 
 to the Board on all matters requiring its approval. In all other cases 
 its decision shall be final (subject of course to appeal to the Board). 
 
 “4. Meetings of the Coiineil. — There shall be at least one stated an- 
 nual meeting of the Council at a time to be determined by the Council. 
 The chairman shall call a special meeting upon the request of any three 
 members of the Council. 
 
 “II. The election of a Field Secretary. 
 
 “1. Method of election. — The Council shall elect a Field Secretary, 
 subject to the approval of the Board. He shall be chosen from amongst 
 the missionary body and shall be ex-officio chairman of the Council. 
 A two-thirds vote of the Council shall be necessary for election. 
 
 “Should the missionary selected be a member of the Council, the 
 Mission which he represents shall elect some one to fill his place for the 
 unexpired term of office. 
 
 “2. The term of office of the Field Secretary. — The term of office of 
 the Field Secretary shall be for three years, and he shall be eligible to 
 re-election. 
 
 “3. Duties of the Field Secretary. — The Field Secretary shall be re- 
 leased from all duties in his own ^fission in order that he may travel 
 as widely as possible throughout all of our Missions in China, giving 
 such spiritual uplift and such help of an advisory nature as he may be 
 able, and gathering information that shall be of use to the Council and 
 to the Missions. He shall also perform such other duties as shall be 
 appointed by the Council. 
 
 “4. Expenses of the Council and of the Field Secretary, place of 
 residence of the Secretary, office equipment, etc. — All questions of this 
 kind shall be decided by the Council in consultation with the Board. 
 
 EDWARD C. MACHLE, Acting Chairman, 
 for DR. H. V. NOYES. 
 
 E. C. LOBEXSTINE, Secretary.” 
 
159 
 
 It is interesting to note that this report was unanimously 
 adopted by the representatives of five of our eight Missions in 
 China. It then went to each of the Missions separately for 
 detailed consideration and official action. The Central China 
 Mission, which convened on the adjournment of the Confer- 
 ence. promptly adopted it without a dissenting vote. Dr. Sid- 
 ney Lasell. one of the delegates from the Hainan Mission, was 
 appointed by the Conference to accompany me to my confer- 
 ence with the East and West Shantung Missions at Wei-hsien 
 and explain the matter there. He did so. and after full con- 
 sideration, the Shantung Conference also adopted the recom- 
 mendation of the Shanghai Conference, suggesting some 
 amendments, but none which affect the substance of the action. 
 The East and West Shantung Missions, which assembled sep- 
 arately a day or two later, gave official ratification. Other Mis- 
 sions have since acted. The only unfavorable vote which has 
 reached Xew York, as this report goes to press, is that of South 
 China, where a majority of one “preferred dealing directly with 
 the Board.” It was so evident, however, that the plan would 
 carry, that the Mission immediately elected its representative 
 on the Council. The essential features of the plan have there- 
 fore already been unanimously adopted by conferences repre- 
 senting all of our eight Missions in China, and have been offici- 
 ally ratified by so many of the Missions that there is no pos- 
 sible doubt that it is in accord with the wishes of an overwhelm- 
 ing majoritv of our 296 missionaries in China. It does not fol- 
 low that every phase of the Shanghai plan meets with unani- 
 mous approval. There is ample room for modification in de- 
 tails. The wide geographical distribution of the Commission, 
 with the attendant expenditure of time and money in holding 
 meetings, is an objection; but a plan which gave each Mission 
 representation was the only one which commanded general as- 
 sent. The important thing now is to get the Committee con- 
 stituted. and then we can learn by experience from year to 
 year and make such changes as experience may dictate. I hope 
 that the Board will give its prompt approval.* 
 
 I am strongly of the opinion that it would be greatly to the 
 advantage of our work not only to have such a Committee and 
 Chairman for China but to have a similar arrangement for 
 India. Persia, Japan and other Missions. Local adaptations will 
 doubtless be necessary, but they can be made. Where a Mis- 
 sion covers a whole country, as in Korea and the Philippines, 
 all that is necessary is to adapt the powers, duties and chair- 
 manship of the already existing Executive Committee. I have 
 no idea that the proposed change will lighten the work of the 
 Secretaries or the responsibilities of the Board. Our work and 
 
 • Later the Board approved the plan May 16. 1910. 
 
 K 
 
i6o 
 
 responsibilities will still be so heavy as to challenge our best 
 energies and make the most exacting demands upon our time. 
 Foreign Missions has come to be the vastest and most compli- 
 cated enterprise of the Church, involving problems and rela- 
 tionships which touch innumerable questions in religion, fi- 
 nance. politics, commerce, education and philanthropy. The 
 new plan will simply enable us to deal more efifectively with 
 the larger phases of our world-wide enterprise. We now have 
 to spend so much time in deciding questions of detail, which 
 ought not to come to us at all. that some of the important 
 things that must from their nature be handled in New York 
 are in danger of being .subordinated. If the present system is 
 to be continued, a larger Secretarial force is needed ; but I 
 should like to see a fair trial of a better organization on the 
 field. 
 
 Under this general subject of field organization, I may add 
 a few words about the voting power of women missionaries in 
 station and mission meetings. The Board’s Manual rule gives 
 each Mission discretion in determining whether the franchise 
 shall be given to women missionaries. The Missions have 
 exercised this discretion in various ways. Some give women 
 the right to vote on all questions ; with the result that the bal- 
 ance of power is sometimes in the hands of wives who are so 
 burdened with family cares that thev have never learned the 
 language and do little or no missionarv work. Other Missions 
 do not permit women to vote at all. except, perhaps, on certain 
 .specified subjects : the result being that some of our single 
 women, who have been from ten to thirty years on the field 
 and who are among the most experienced and valuable mis- 
 sionaries. have no voice whatever in the determination of pol- 
 icy and methods and in the expenditure of money. This is an 
 unfortunate situation. It occasionally works injustice, and I 
 could cite places where it has caused friction. 
 
 It seems to me that the proper course is to eliminate the sex 
 line altogether. If a woman, whether a wife or a single woman, 
 has passed her language examinations and has been assigned 
 responsible work by the Mission, she ought to have the same 
 voice and vote as a man ; otherwise she ought not to have 
 either voice or vote. I do not wish to be understood as dis- 
 criminating against those wives and mothers who have such 
 family cares that it is impracticable for them to learn the lan- 
 guage or to accept work outside of their homes. I am aware 
 that some devoted missionaries belong to this class and that 
 their influence is gracious and helpful. I believe, however, that 
 from the view-point of official mission membership and author- 
 ity, the line should be drawn at the place indicated. As the 
 
i6i 
 
 necessary authority is alrea^ly in the hands of the Missions, I 
 simply express my opinion and leave it for such action, if any, 
 as each Mission may deem wise. 
 
 WHERE MONEY IS MOST NEEDED; INCREASING 
 COST OF MAINTENANCE. 
 
 I asked missionaries to indicate the classes of expenditure in 
 which relief was most urgently called for, specifying salaries, 
 children’s allowances, home allowances, property, reinforce- 
 ments and current work. It was like asking the father of six 
 children which one he loves most. ^Money is required for so 
 many things that it is not easy to say which is the most im- 
 perative. 
 
 Few missionaries are asking for higher salaries. While a 
 variant opinion was occasionally expressed, the missionaries 
 generally appeared to feel that their support was as fair as 
 could reasonably be expected for Christian workers when the 
 needs of the work are so great. The average missionary is 
 obliged to exercise rigid economy, and in some cases the pres- 
 sure is heavy. But missionaries are more anxious about their 
 work than they are about themselves, and’are unwilling to take 
 a larger proportion of the common fun.l for their personal sup- 
 port. Those who find the greatest difficulty in making ends 
 meet are those who have children. The increase in children's 
 allowances, made last year, was a great relief to many care- 
 burdened parents. Further assistance should be in the direc- 
 tion of schools for the children of missionaries, a subject which 
 will be discussed in the next section. 
 
 •\n exception to this might be considered in a rea ljustment 
 of the rule regarding traveling expenses. Under the present 
 rule, a missionary is entitled at any one time either to field sal- 
 ary or home allowance or traveling expenses, but they must not 
 overlap. This means that no salary or home allowance is paid 
 during the period of travel, the theory being that the Board 
 pays a support rather than a salary and that traveling expenses 
 cover support. There is force in this. Any one. however, who 
 has had occasion to make the long voyages between America 
 and Asia is painfully aware that it is difficult to keep expenses 
 within an official allowance. Special clothing often has to be 
 bought. This is often a serious expenditure, as after a family 
 has been six or eight years away from home, every member of 
 it has to be reclotheJ. Some other expenditures do not cease 
 during a journey. I am not sure that it is fair to leave a mis- 
 sionary and his family without any cash resources for two or 
 three months, with no means of meeting the extra expenses 
 which the furlough involves, but which the travel account sel- 
 dom covers. 
 
The fieU salaries of missionaries vary from $800 to $1,550 
 for a married man. so that it might not be equitable to continue 
 the field salary ; but the home allowances, being a horizontal 
 rate applicable to all missionaries, might properly begin at the 
 time of departure from the field. Certain expenditures, about 
 which there is now apt to be difference of opinion, might then 
 be regarded as personal. The fact that the period of travel 
 varies from a week for the Mexico missionary to two or three 
 months each way for the Laos missionary, raises a question as 
 to equitable dealing which may require adjustment. This can 
 be worked out in the Executive Council without taking up space 
 in this report. 
 
 Consideration might also be given to the inequitable oper- 
 ation of the present rule limiting the number of single trips of 
 children to four. This was fair enough when the term of ser- 
 vice was longer; but now that the term has been shortened to 
 three years for Africa and to five and six for several other 
 tropical fields, it is often difficult and sometimes impossible for 
 the missionary to adjust his children’s trips to his own fur- 
 loughs. The rules give some missionaries from six to ten 
 single trips in eighteen years, hut permit only four for their 
 children. What shall such missionaries do? Relatives and 
 schools for missionaries' children solve the problem for some 
 families, but not for all. The Board must carefulh consider 
 the question of increased expenditures in justice to other de- 
 mands. but some relief appears to be called for. 
 
 Everv mission in the world wants reinforcements, and in 
 some places this need is so peremptory that it must be supplied 
 at any cost. Speaking broadly, however, the opinion of the 
 missionaries is practically unanimous that the most pressing 
 needs are, first, for enlarged regular appropriations for current 
 work, and, second, for better property equipment. Xew mis- 
 sionaries come next, on the soun.l principle that it is more im- 
 portant to give reasonable appliances to those who are already 
 on the field than to increa.se the number of men who are so 
 badly equipped that they cannot work to advantage. “We are 
 putting a lot of money into missionaries, but little into the 
 work," said one veteran with emphasis. 
 
 In appointing new missionaries, it is wise to adhere to the 
 present rule that, except where imperative vacancies are in- 
 volved, new missionaries should represent new money. The 
 Missions have impressed upon me their conviction that, badly 
 as they need reinforcements, they do not want them if they 
 must cut down existing work to provide for their language 
 teachers and other expenditures. Salary does not cover the 
 cost of maintaining a missionary any more than the salary of a 
 
pastor covers the cost of running a church. Our present force 
 is as large as can work to advantage under the present scale of 
 appropriations. To send more men without increasing those 
 appropriations would perpetuate and intensify the trying situ- 
 ation which already exists. Residences for the new families 
 should be considered a part of their equipment ; otherwise great 
 embarrassment and perhaps hardship may result. 
 
 The traveller is strongly impressed by the property needs, 
 probably because they are more visible to the eye. The entire 
 income of tire Board for a vlecade has been so inadequate to the 
 support of our growing work that little or nothing could be set 
 aside for property, except as particular .sums were designated 
 by the donors. A good deal of money has been given in this 
 way, but as its distribution has been primarily determined by 
 personal relationships, it has not always been available for the 
 most vital necessities. The result is that many of our plants 
 are not in satisfactory condition. Some missionaries do not 
 have suitable houses. Compounds are cramped on insufificient 
 land, and schools and hospitals are overcrowded or dilapidated, 
 sometimes both. A fund for putting our plants in reasonable 
 shape is absolutely necessary. 
 
 In the use of such a fund, I suggest that preference be given 
 to residences for missionaries at stations where suitable houses 
 cannot be rented. This is the most imperative need, one that 
 is essential not only to the reasonable comfort but to the health 
 and efficiency of the missionary. Schools and hospitals should 
 come next. Land is required not only for new buildings, but 
 for the enlargement of compounds. Alany of our compounds 
 are too small. Insufficient land was purchased when many sta- 
 tions were opened and now that more is required, the cost is 
 comparatively high. There is no real estate market at the aver- 
 age mission station. Land is a hereditary possession and own- 
 ers do not like to part with it. If they know that a foreigner 
 wants it, they are not only apt to hold on the harder but to ask 
 exorbitant prices. In such circumstances, missionaries have to 
 watch chances and take swift advantage of them when they 
 occur. More than once we have lost opportunities to secure de- 
 sirable and urgently needed tracts while the Board was trying 
 to get the money. We ought to have a land fund of at least 
 $50,000 for use in such emergencies. Alissions could continue 
 to present their wants in their regular estimates, but when they 
 cable New York that an opportunity has opened, the Board 
 would be able to make instant reply. When new stations 
 are opened, great care should be exercised to get sufficient land. 
 It is always easy to sell some if we get too much ; but very diffi- 
 cult to buy if we get too little. 
 
X 
 
 164 
 
 Appropriations of foreign money for the erection of 
 cliurches and chapels should be comparatively few. A central 
 station church should sometimes be considerably larger than 
 the native Christians can provide, because it is needed for union 
 meetings and general station purposes. It is occasionally de- 
 sirable too that the station church should be a model for other 
 congregations in adjacent towns and villages. Foreign aid may 
 properly be given in such circumstances. The rules of the 
 Korea and Philippine Missions forbid the use of foreign funds 
 for chapels at out-stations and require that the native Chris- 
 tians shall contribute at least a part of the cost of churches at 
 stations. The China and Japan Missions frequently ask the 
 Board for money for chapels in places where new work is to 
 be opened. The Board seldom grants such requests, except 
 where the buildings are to be used for street-chapel evangelistic 
 work in cities. Exceptions of this kind are sometimes wisely 
 made. As a rule, however, native Christians should be e.x- 
 pected to provide their own ])laces of worshij). modest edi- 
 fice which they have paid for will mean more to the cause of 
 Christ than a pretentious one which belongs to foreigners. The 
 Chinese Recorder for Xovember, 1909, says; 
 
 “In the establishment of Qiristian churches in country towns through- 
 out Cliina, how far is it wise and right for money subscribed for mis- 
 sionary work to be devoted to the erection of buildings of a foreign 
 nature for the purposes of Chinese Christian worship? How much 
 trouble accrues to the Christian community through the enmity raised 
 among officials and people by the supposed aggressive development 
 which a foreign building, erected under foreign supervision, and with 
 foreign money, e.xpresses, is only too well known. This difficulty, how- 
 ever, is one which the progressive habit of the Chinese in regard to 
 buildings will in time obviate. The greater difficulty remains. 
 
 ".\s a matter of policy, it may seriously be questioned whether already 
 too much along the line of direct financial support is not being done in 
 behalf of the Chinese Church. The great need of the Church in China 
 is for an equipment of men — not bricks and mortar. For institutional 
 work, useful buildings are necessary, and where these are gathered in 
 missionary compounds it is natural that missionary Societies should 
 provide them; but for these Societies to proceed with a policy of susten- 
 tation in the matter of buildings is unnecessary as well as impolitic. 
 For, given a sufficiently large number of members in any centre, the 
 Chinese Christians, if the root of the matter is in them, will themselves 
 set about the necessary preparations for a place of meeting. Our busi- 
 ness is to encourage growth, and the time has surely come when, as a 
 general rule, the communities of Chinese Christians may be expected 
 to look after their own needs in the matter of places of worship. Cer- 
 tainly if they are not ready to provide at least a proportionate share of 
 the cost of the new church building, it is no part of the duty of the 
 missionary to use home funds for the purpose of making up for their 
 shortcomings.’’ 
 
 While on the subject of property, I may refer to a related 
 phase of the subject. The charge that missionaries live in ex- 
 
i6s 
 
 pensive houses is an old one. It cannot be maintained against 
 missionaries as a class. A few have private incomes or wealthy 
 relatives, and some of these missionaries have homes which at- 
 tract the criticism of casual travellers. The scale in such cir- 
 cumstances is not a representative one, and no sensible person 
 will blame a Christian worker for surrounding himself with 
 reasonable comforts when he is able to do so out of personal 
 resources. 
 
 1 .saw a few residences which approached the limit of pro- 
 priety. It is unfortunate when the missionary’s house is the 
 liandsomest and most conspicuous building on the compound, 
 or when it is so constructecl as to attract unnecessary attention 
 and contrast. There are some residences to which exception 
 might fairly be taken from this viewpoint. Sometimes, it is 
 true, they are occupied by more than one family, and in other 
 cases wide verandas make them look larger and more impos- 
 ing than they really are. But not all residences can be excused 
 in this way. A missionary writes in The East and West for 
 January, 1910, defen;ling himself and his associates against the 
 charge of luxurious residences, but adding: 
 
 “There is, however, one point which seems to me of vastly greater 
 importance than the size, and that is the position of the houses. It has 
 always seemed to me a fundamental mistake that missionaries’ houses 
 should be planted down in civil lines or cantonments, surrounded by offi- 
 cial Europeans, and far away from the Indians amongst whom our 
 work lies, and who are debarred from visiting the missionary by the 
 position of his house. 
 
 “Let us at all costs get into the native cities, live in a native or Eu- 
 ropean house, big or little, but at least amongst the people with whom 
 we wish to identify ourselves. Objections will doubtless be raised on 
 the score of health ; but many of us who have tried it know it to be 
 possible. Even should it cost some lives, they will not be sacrificed for 
 naught if they help to prove to the people of the country — Christian 
 and non-Christian — that in every possible way we desire to put ourselves 
 on an equality with them and share their life.” 
 
 The writer is a missionary in India, but his point is applicable 
 to other lands. I do not see how any one who has visited a 
 Chinese or Korean city can hold that a missionary should al- 
 ways live in it. Even if he were disposed to do so, it would 
 often be impossible to secure the necessary land, at least for a 
 practicable price. But the spirit of the writer is sound. 
 
 The Boards are as much responsible as missionaries for the 
 scale on which houses are constructed. A missionary deserves 
 a good home. It means more to him, far from his native land 
 and in an uncongenial local environment, than a home means to 
 a minister at home. Missionaries’ residences ought therefore 
 to be comfortable. But the Boards may wisely give closer at- 
 tention to the plans of missionary residences. As a rule, the 
 
 I 
 
i66 
 
 missionary has to bull. I his own house. He knows nothing of 
 architecture and has had little or no experience in building. 
 Theological seminaries and medical colleges do not include 
 such subjects in their courses. He seldom has the benefit of 
 local architects, contractors and skilled workmen, as we have 
 at home. He must make his own plans, purchase his own ma- 
 terials, and engage and superintend the native workmen, who 
 perhaps have never built a foreign house and have the vaguest 
 ideas of what the white man wants. The IMission has a Prop- 
 erty Committee, but its members are usually men like himself, 
 or are widely scattered among several stations. The mis- 
 sionary therefore has to grope and experiment and do the best 
 he can ; and sometimes it is well-nigh impossible at the begin- 
 ning to tell where he is going to come out financially, because 
 he is dealing with so many elements which are beyond the range 
 of his experience. 
 
 The plan of sending an architect and builder from America 
 has been tried with not unmixed success. His buildings have 
 usually been better constructed ; but they have cost considerably 
 more money, and his ignorance of the country an^l the language 
 of his workman have rendered it necessary for a missionary 
 to be with him almost constantly to interpret and to settle dis- 
 putes. Unless he is an unusually patient and tactful man, he 
 does not get along well with native workmen, and the mission- 
 ary has to bear the blame. At best, an architect can be sent from 
 America only when an unusually large amount of building is 
 to be done, so that the average missionary receives no 
 benefit. The Korea ^fission had many buildings to 
 erect last year, and the Board suggested the advisability of em- 
 ploying a competent architect in China or Japan, or if neces- 
 sary in the United States. The Mission made the following 
 reply ; 
 
 "We do not believe that such action would be economical 
 or desirable. In the first place, it would require about 500 yen 
 out of every house appropriation to pay the architect. Possibly 
 an architect might save a little on buying from America, buc 
 lack of knowledge of local conditions would cause extra ex- 
 pense on the field to ofifset the other saving, so that the net sav- 
 ing would do little towards the architect's salary. Then, too, 
 with buildings going up all over Korea, an architect in charge 
 of them all could do little more than travel back and forth be- 
 tween them, and there would be practically no saving of mis- 
 sionary time and strength, for in each place, as in the past, some 
 one must give the greater part of his time to the continual 
 supervision absolutely essential where Oriental workmen are 
 used. We feel, however, that some change should be made in 
 
167 
 
 our past procedure, and we recommend that a sub-committee of 
 three members of the Propert}' Committee be appointed to ad- 
 vise with the stations on all matters of construction, to special- 
 ize on buying of all import materials in order that it may act 
 as a purchasing agent for the stations, and in case of special 
 need, to visit the stations and give personal assistance where 
 buildings are being erected ; it being understood, of course, that 
 the expenses of the committee on such personal trips are to be 
 paid out of the appropriations for the buildings concerned.” 
 
 The Board, however, might have model plans and specifica- 
 tions draw’ll up by competent architects and approved by a 
 building committee on the field, so that they may represent both 
 the reasonable needs of the missionaries in a given country and 
 at the .same time sound principles of construction. India and 
 North China require different types of houses, but the differ- 
 ence does not aflfect the question under consideration, which 
 simply is that the missionary needs some assistance, whether he 
 is to build for a cold climate or a hot one. 
 
 reasonable limit of cost should be fixed and the Board 
 should not permit it to be exceeded except for strong reasons. 
 The making of plans and the determination of the size of the 
 residence should not be left solely to the individual who is to 
 occupy it. The building is not to be his personal property, but 
 that of the Alission and the Board. It forms a permanent part 
 of the equipment of the station, and it is likely to be used at any 
 time by other missionaries. The personal judgment of the first 
 occupant should be checked by the judgment of a committee 
 composed of three or five missionaries who have had most ex- 
 perience in building matters, and plans should be approved not 
 only by this committee but on the approximate basis of the 
 model plans sent out by the Board. A building should never be 
 begun until plans, specifications and careful estimates of cost 
 have been worked out and approved by the proper authority. 
 A missionary who starts a residence or school without having 
 taken these precautions, and on the naive supposition that he 
 can get through on the lump sum which was asked on general 
 principles, is riding for a fall. We have had some costly ex- 
 periences of this kind, and they should not be repeated. 
 
 The changed policy which I suggest would, I believe, be 
 gratefully welcomed by missionaries. It would give them relief 
 where they feel that they need it, and it would prevent any un- 
 authorized individual from carrying out plans which his asso- 
 ciates disapprove — a not infrequent cause of trouble on the 
 field. 
 
 Returning to the question as to w’here money is most need- 
 ed, the conferences w'ere emphatic in their conclusion that the 
 
pre-eminent need is for larger grants for current work. The 
 Board’s income has been increased during recent years ; but 
 about all of the increase has been absorbed by reinforcements, 
 advances in salaries and children's allowances, and objects out- 
 side of the budget for which gifts have been designated. The 
 result is that current evangelistic, educational and medical work 
 has had little if any benefit, the slight advance that has been 
 made not being sufficient to cover the enlargement of the work 
 and the greater cost of maintenance in this era of rising prices. 
 Native pastors, evangelists and teachers cannot live today on 
 the salaries of a decade ago, and the higher class of men can 
 not live on the salaries which are paid to men of lower grade. 
 An educated man has more wants than an uneducated one. A 
 missionary writes : 
 
 most perplexing ])roblem to us is the cost of living for 
 our native workers. Not only has the actual cost increased 
 about fifty per cent, in the last four or five years, but the Chin- 
 ese schools of all grades and the Y. M. C. A. are paying from 
 five to ten times what we pay for the services of teachers. In 
 such circumstances, it is manifestly impossible, except in rare 
 cases of self-sacrifice, for us either to secure or hold high grade 
 men and women, and the question of students for the ministry 
 is going to be a much more serious one here than it is at home, 
 where, at the worst, the differences between salaries in the 
 Church and out of it are never startling. It seems as if we 
 absolutelv must at least double the wages paid to the various 
 grades of native workers.” 
 
 Another missionary in the same country, China, writes on the 
 other side : 
 
 “Tile most embarrassing feature is the constant tendency to increase 
 native salaries. So long as this is normal and comes from actual compe- 
 tition from purely Chinese sources, the danger is not serious. But much 
 of the demand for higher wages arises from unwise ambition on the 
 part of enthusiastic missionary educators to place the educated Chinese 
 upon an approximate level with foreigners of like attainments. This 
 is an abnormal condition and one calculated to work much evil in the 
 Church. It not only causes an artificial increase in mission expenditure, 
 but tends to discourage the Chinese churches in their effort at self- 
 support, by engendering discontent among their pastors, who see their 
 college colleagues receiving princely (to them) incomes while they 
 themselves are getting a small wage for more arduous labors. At the 
 same time, these pastors realize that the churches are doing their best 
 to support the ministry, and therefore they cannot find fault with their 
 parishioners. The temptation is therefore gradually to withdraw from 
 the pastorate to occupy positions in educational institutions, which, be- 
 ing intimately connected with the Church, afford an honorable calling, 
 more comfortable conditions, and a higher salary. I am happy to say 
 that thus far our pastors have stuck nobly to ibeir posts : but we know 
 that they feel keenly the injustice of this inequality of incomes created 
 by artificially imposed competition. It will be said in reply that the 
 
169 
 
 competition in educational salaries arises out of the high salaries paid 
 by the Government Colleges. So it does, but to my amazement I found 
 out only this week that the excessively high scale of salaries now in 
 
 vogue in the Government University at , was at the suggestion 
 
 and with the approval of the English missionaries who have been closely 
 connected with that institution. Xor is this an isolated case where like 
 unwise advice has come from foreigners. The normal status of educa- 
 tion in China has heretofore been that of other countries, to wit, that 
 teachers have been content with small salaries because of the honorable 
 distinction which accrues to them as instructors. To suddenly raise a 
 college professor’s income to $1,000 gold, as actually has been done at 
 
 , is to turn the norm of education upside down. Granted that 
 
 the salaries in the Government Schools are excessively high, my con- 
 tention is that the mission Boards and Societies are not bound to com- 
 pete with them, but must be content to maintain lower salaries with 
 inferior teachers (if it comes to that), or else incur great damage to 
 the evangelistic work.” 
 
 A missionary in another field said in one of our conferences 
 that it would be a serious mistake to imagine that money could 
 solve the problem of securing highly trained men for the min- 
 istry. From the time of Paul to the present, the ablest spir- 
 itual leaders have consecrated themselves to the service of 
 Christ without regard to financial rewards, and they will con- 
 tinue to clo so. He therefore urged that it was spiritual rather 
 than material strengthening that was needed. 
 
 The late Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D.D., LL.D., who gave this 
 question much study during the closing years of his secretary- 
 ship, embodied his opinion in the following minute, which the 
 Boarvl adopted July 2, 1900: 
 
 "As having reference to the question of self-support of the 
 Xative Churches on the mission field, and in view of the fact 
 that some of its Missions are proposing to increase the salaries 
 of native preachers and helpers on account of the increased 
 cost of living the Board is constrained to look with no little 
 apprehension upon the prospect of continuing and increasing 
 demands of foreign aid in proportion to the contributions made 
 by the Churches themselves. Increased intercourse of eastern 
 nations with those of the West has led and will still further 
 lead to a gravlual assimilation to western ways and western 
 prices, and unless the self-reliant spirit of the Churches can 
 be stimulated to a proportionate advance, there is a sure pros- 
 pect that the drafts upon mission funds will be larger and 
 larger in proportion to the amount of work accomplished. In 
 view of these conditions, it was resolved that the Missions in 
 which such increase is proposed be earnestly requested to 
 arouse the Churches to the purpose and the endeavor to meet 
 this increased expenditure instead of laying still larger bur- 
 dens upon the resources of foreign funds. The Board deems 
 this necessary not merely to the interest of its expanding work 
 
f 
 
 170 
 
 but to the self-reliant character, the future stability and self- 
 propagating power of the Churches themselves.” 
 
 I have discussed the subject so fully elsewhere* that I need 
 not devote much space to it here. I may only add that the solu- 
 tion of the problem, if there is one, probably lies between the 
 positions which have been quoted. Missionaries should realize 
 that the increased cost of living affects their supporters in 
 .America as seriously as it affects them and their work. Mr. 
 P'rank Greene, editor, of Bradstreet’s Journal, shows by com- 
 parative tables that the prices of thirteen classes of staple com- 
 modities have made an average increase of sixty-one per cent, 
 since July i, 1896, and that prices are still going up.f Amer- 
 ican Christians cannot pay the increased cost of living for their 
 own families and also for the families of the host of native 
 workers in Asia, Africa and Central and South America; 
 neither are they willing to have all the advance in giving which 
 they can make absorbed by higher salaries for the native work- 
 ers already employed. The Churches of Europe and America 
 cannot support the Native Churches of Asia and Africa, or 
 render their ministry financially attractive. That is not what 
 they are trying to do, nor what they ought to do. They could 
 not if they would, and they would not if they could. The rea- 
 sons why Christians on the foreign field should be required to 
 look toward self-support are so familiar and so fundamentally 
 imperative from the viewpoint not only of the ability of the 
 Christians of the West but the real welfare of the Native 
 Church itself, that it is unnecessary to repeat them here.t 
 
 On the other hand, Christians at home should remember that 
 the Native Church in non-Christian lands is yet in its infancy, 
 that they themselves needed help at the corresponding period 
 of their development, and that the Presbyterian Church main- 
 tains no less than six Boards to give aid to the home mission 
 churches and institutions of our own country. The Native 
 Churches on the foreign field have not yet reached the stage of 
 the Churches of the West, where there are numerous wealthy 
 congregations which can aid the small and weak ones and send 
 home missicnaries to preach to the unevangelized. Here and 
 there praiseworthy beginnings of this kind have been made in 
 .Asia ; but speaking broadly, the native congregations are made 
 up of very poor people who are less able to support their 
 churches than members of home mission churches in the United 
 States. It is undoubtedly better to let them struggle and sac- 
 
 •Cf. "New Forces in Old China.” Chap. IX — "The Economic Revolution in 
 Asia." and C'hap. XXIII — "The Strain of Readjustment to Changed Economic 
 Conditions.” 
 
 t Article I in The Outlook, March 12, 1910. 
 
 1 Cf. The Foreign Missionary, pp. 38-43. 
 
171 
 
 rifice than to give them help which woiiLl foster the spirit of 
 dependence ; but we should not see the leaders who are most in- 
 dispensable to the growth of the Church, the extension of the 
 Gospel and the maintenance of our schools and colleges, driven 
 into commercial life or government employ because their full 
 support cannot yet be provided by their poverty-stricken fel- 
 low Christians. The question which confronts many a capable 
 Asiatic minister and teacher is not so much additional comfort 
 as the bare necessities of life for himself and his family. A 
 larger sum for this purpose, judiciously use.l by prudent Mis- 
 sions, will not harm but strengthen our work.* 
 
 SCHOOLS FOR MISSIONARIES’ CHILDREN. 
 
 .A. request to the Board regarding the establishment of schools 
 on the field for the education of the children of missionaries 
 was referred to me prior to my departure in order that I might 
 discuss the subject in conferences with missionaries whom I 
 might meet during my tour. I found some difference of opin- 
 ion among missionaries as to the best course to be pursued. 
 
 The majority of those whose views were obtained prefer to 
 keep their children with them during the years of primary and 
 grammar school training. British and Continental missionaries 
 are often willing to send their young children away from home 
 to school, and a few American missionaries will do so : but most 
 of our missionary parents will not. It would be impossible 
 for the Boards to send out the hundreds of teachers who would 
 be required for such local schools, and there appears to be no 
 practicable alternative but to leave primary and grammar school 
 training where it is now — with the missionaries themselves. 
 Many mothers teach their own children during these years ; 
 but in the larger stations, parents sometimes unite in supporting 
 a teacher privately. Most countries now have one or two of 
 the<;e private schools, so- that a parent who wishes to send a 
 child of eight or ten away to school can ordinarily make some 
 arrangement with the missionaries where a private school is 
 conducted. 
 
 '^here appeared to be unanimity of opinion that college train- 
 ing should be in the home land. Apart from the impractica- 
 hilPv of maintaining institutions of collegiate grade on the field 
 solely for foreign children, parents realize that it is far better 
 that a youth of eighteen and over should have the advantages 
 which can only be obtained in America or Europe. 
 
 The period of greatest perplexity is that which lies between 
 the ages of 12 and 18, and which, educationally, is represented 
 by the High School or Preparatory School. I found that some 
 
 • Cf. The Foreign Missionary, pp. 291. 292. 
 
172 
 
 missionaries have no zeal about the establishment even of such 
 schools on the forei.e;n field, unless the schools are to be in their 
 immediate neighborhood. They said if they were going to send 
 their boys and girls away from home at all, they would rather 
 send them to America than to another city in Asia. Most mis- 
 sionaries. however, took a different view. Thev were .leeply 
 grateful for the schools for missionaries' children which have 
 been founded in America. Thev felt that these schools were 
 rendering inestimable service and that among the thousands of 
 children represented bv the more than seven thousand Amer- 
 ican missionaries, there will always be enough who must be 
 educated at home to tax the accommodations of such schools. 
 They appreciate, too. the generous and sympathetic provision 
 which some boarding-schools make for the children of mis- 
 sionaries. But they expressed their strong unwillingness to 
 send their children so far away as America at the formative 
 period in a child's life when parental influence is greatly needed 
 and when total separation from home for a prolonged period 
 involves both physical and moral dangers. Relatives are not 
 always available during vacations and health emergencies. 
 
 The urgency of the appeals for assistance in solving this 
 problem were pathetic in some instances. Familiaritv with mis- 
 sionary life changes one's opinion as to where the real strain 
 comes. i\ranv imagine that it lies in physical hardships. These, 
 however, except in a few fields, are relatively insignificant. 
 There are onlv two great hardships in missionary life: first, 
 the sense of loneliness and expatriation which comes to one who 
 feels that he is far from relatives and native land and the move- 
 ments of his country's life: second, the separation of fam- 
 ilies. The latter is the heavier of the two. There comes a 
 time in the life of most missionarv parents when they realize 
 that their children cannot be nroperlv trained on the fiekl. The 
 barrier of language, of methods of 'living, and of different 
 moral and social standards, puts the .schools for native chil- 
 dren out of the question. Parents cannot teach their children 
 themselves without interfering too seriously with their mission- 
 ary work : and such education anyway is not good for a boy of 
 more than ten or twelve vears. He needs contact with other 
 boys in the life and discipline of a school, if manly qualities are 
 to be developed. Some missionaries feel that the establishment 
 of suitable schools on the field is so indispensable that, if not 
 provided, they must resign. But resignation would separate 
 them from the life work to which they consecrated themselves 
 and be an injustice to the cause which needs them and to the 
 Church which sent them out and maintained them during the 
 years of inexperience and language study. The proposal that 
 
173 
 
 the wife go home with the cliiKlren and leave the iuisband on 
 the field will be suggested only by those who have the least idea 
 of what it means. 
 
 In a few of the largest stations, the problem has been par- 
 tially solved by missionaries uniting in the support of a teacher 
 brought from America for the purpose. But schools of this 
 kind are necessarilv small and lacking in the equipment which 
 is required for good training, while they are quite beyond the 
 reach of missionaries in smaller stations ; and these missionaries 
 form a large majority of the total force. 
 
 INIaking all allowance for missionaries who prefer to send 
 their children to America, a great preponderance of mission- 
 ary opinion strongly favors the establishment of pieparatory 
 schools on the field. The earnest efiforts of the missionaries in 
 the Yang-tse \"alley to secure funds for a union school at Kill- 
 ing. and of tdie missionaries' in Korea to enlarge the school at 
 Pyeng Yang, and the pathetic failure of both efiforts are well 
 known. Missionaries should not be left to struggle unaided 
 with such a burden, when it is an inseparable concomitant of 
 missionarv life under Protestant ideals. 
 
 The financial problem involved is a serious one. It is easy to 
 reply that special funds could be secured. But every experi- 
 enced administrator of missions knows that the education of 
 the children of missionaries appeals chieflv to those who are 
 alreadv so leeply in sympathy with missionaries and their work 
 that they are giving about all that can be expected from them. 
 That, much sought for individual, “the man who can give a 
 great deal more than he is giving.” is far more likelv to respond 
 to an appeal for a hospital or some other form of direct mis- 
 sionary work among natives. He seldom understands why we 
 should feel any special responsibility for children ; “they are 
 not taken into consideration in the support of any other class of 
 Christian workers in the world, why should thev not be deem- 
 ed the personal resnonsibiltv of the parent, like the children of 
 ministers at home?” 
 
 This ob'ection can be answered, as we all know: but we can 
 not follow it up evervwhere ; and when we have convinced any 
 particular person, we have done so bv such arguments and 
 brought him to such a point that he will give for almost any 
 phase of missionarv work, so that his gift cannot properly be 
 considered “an extra which would not otherwise be made.” 
 There are exceptions ; we know some of them : but they are not 
 , numerous enough to warrant the establishment of permanent 
 and expensive institutions in dependence upon them. Here 
 and there a particular plant may be secured by a special extra 
 gift; we hope that many such gifts might be secured. But the 
 
174 
 
 Boards may as well face at the outset, the probability that they 
 may have to underwrite the expenditure. Moreover, I doubt 
 the wisdom of appealing for objects for which the Boards are 
 not prepared to assume responsibilit}’. 
 
 It is better to meet the issue squarely and saj^ that, if schools 
 for missionaries' children should be aided from America at all, 
 they should be regarded as an integral part of our missionary 
 duty. The principle has been virtually accepted by every Board 
 which pays a children's allowance — and all Boards do in one 
 form or another. Unless we are prepared to advocate a celibate 
 missionary body, we must recognize the family as a part of the 
 expense involved in the maintenance of the worker on the for- 
 eign field. Conditions at home are not parallel, for the Chris- 
 tian worker here is paid a salary which may be increased with 
 years and experience, and he has an abundance of schools for 
 the education of his children. But the foreign missionary is 
 not given a salary but simply a support ; nor is he in the home 
 land where his children might have access to the schools which 
 are so abundantly provided for the children of our home minis- 
 try. We would not press this principle too far. M e are aware 
 that foreign missionary life inevitably involves some disadvan- 
 tages as compared with life in the United States and that it 
 would be unreasonable to expect the Boards to equalize the con- 
 ditions. He who accepts foreign missionary service accepts 
 certain limitations both for himself and for his family. The 
 fact, therefore, that a missionary does not enjoy some oppor- 
 tunities which he would have enjoyed if he had stayed at home 
 does not necessarily prove that it is the duty of the Boards to 
 try to supply them. But recognition of this fact does not lessen 
 our duty to help him in a matter so vital as the education of his 
 children. 
 
 A distinction, however, may be drawn between plant and 
 maintenance. The former must, of course, come from America. 
 Teachers must be selected here and perhaps part of their sal- 
 aries may have to be provided in some cases. But maintenance 
 can be largely aided by the missionaries themselves. Current 
 expenses should not be large, as the life of the school should be 
 as plain as would be consistent with health and thorough work, 
 as every missionary parent receives an allowance for children 
 which would enable him to pay at least $ioo annually for each 
 child, and as self-help facilities should be provided. It would 
 be cheaper for missionaries to send their children to schools on 
 the field than it is to send them to schools in the United States, 
 as most of them now do. Living expenses are less in Asia and 
 the children's allowances would go farther. This appears to 
 be the opinion of the large and representative Committee of the 
 
175 
 
 missionaries in the Yang-tse Valley, China, for they state in 
 their printed appeal : 
 
 “As to the current expenses of the school, it has been reckon- 
 ed by the management of the Anglo-American School that a 
 grant of gold $2,500 a year from the American Boards would 
 guarantee the financial stability of the school. When 
 it is considered that some of the Boards make edu- 
 cational grants for the children of their workers, and that many 
 of the beneficiaries would be glad to have this grant allocated 
 to the Killing School, the grant requested, when allotted among 
 ten or even five Boards, would hardly appear as a charge at 
 all.” 
 
 The Right Rev. L. H. Roots, D.D., Bishop of Hankow, 
 writes: “We all feel that if the Boards will take up the matter, 
 that they could find the teachers, and that under the supervision 
 of a joint committee of the Boards, the school management 
 would be efficient and the stafif of teachers satisfactory. Granted 
 these two conditions, there seems to be no reason why the school 
 should not meet the greater part of its own expenses, especially 
 if some few individuals could be interested, as no doubt they 
 could be, to provide tbe larger items of expense involved in 
 securing land and buildings. Tbe matter of three to five hun- 
 dred dollars a year for each of the Boards does not seem a very 
 serious one financially, and if that were all that were involved, 
 I think that the missionaries on the field could meet the ex- 
 pense, since they have actually contributed Mex. $5,000 a year 
 for the past three years.” 
 
 The question of expense is not all one of outgo. The prob- 
 lem of keeping a force in a condition of high efficiency is as 
 serious in missions as in war. An anxiety which wears upon 
 nerves, which often begets depression, which interferes with 
 work, and which not infrequently causes return to America of 
 the mother, and sometimes of the father also, is a matter which 
 may well be considered from the viewpoint both of efficiency 
 and economy. 
 
 In presenting this subject, I do not ignore the fact that some 
 schools for the children of missionaries already exist. We 
 could easily name several ; some of them, like the China Inland 
 School at Chefoo, China, being large and well equipped institu- 
 tions. India has several schools, and Japan and a few other 
 countries have one or more. A few cities which have a con- 
 siderable British population have private boarding schools. The 
 needs of certain regions are fairly supplied by these schools. 
 There should be no interference with them. The difference be- 
 tween British and American methods is not serious enough to 
 justify duplication in a region which has already a British 
 L 
 
176 
 
 ? 
 
 I 
 
 school. \\’h.ere the existing school lacks equipment which 
 would enable it to meet the needs of its vicinage, there should 
 be consultation with a view of ascertaining whether enlarge- 
 ment is practicable, before another institution is established. 
 Speaking generally, however, the schools now in existence are 
 too few, too widely scattered, too restricted in curriculum, and 
 either too limite.l in accommodations or too expensive to meet 
 the requirements of a large majority of missionaries. With 
 occasional exceptions, they are small private schools, or they 
 are maintained by particular Societies for the children of their 
 own missionaries. They gladly welcome the children of other 
 missionaries as far as their accommodations permit, but this 
 “left over space" is apt to be variable and uncertain. The sub- 
 ject calls for a larger and more adequate haiivlling, a definite 
 fixing of responsibility and policy. 
 
 For these and other reasons, which I have not time to con- 
 sider here, I report the following conclusions : 
 
 First: The proper care and maintenance of our missionary 
 force require schools on the field for the education of white 
 children. 
 
 Seconfl : These schools, wherever practicable, should be 
 union schools. This does not necessarily involve change in the 
 government of any already established school. No one, for ex- 
 ample, would propose altering the type of such an institution 
 as the C. I. AI. School at Chefoo. But practically the entire 
 force of the C. I. M. is concentrated in one country, and it is 
 therefore practicable for it to do some things for its mission- 
 aries which are not practicable for Societies whose missionaries 
 are scattered all over the world with not enough constituency 
 in any single country to justify a separate school. There is 
 absolutely no good reason why the children of missionaries of 
 the various .\merican Boards and Societies should not be taught 
 in the same institutions. No denominational necessity separ- 
 ates them, and the union school can have a larger constituency, 
 a more permanent support, a better equipment, and a student 
 body of wider range and sympathies. 
 
 Third : These schools should be .American. We need hardly 
 say that no reflection is intended upon our British and Con- 
 tinental brethren. But the language question would make it 
 impracticable to unite with missionaries from the Continent of 
 Europe, while many .American missionaries feel that the Brit- 
 ish and .American educational methods are so dififerent that it 
 would be better for us to establish our own schools ; though, of 
 course, as cordial welcome should be extended to children of 
 British missionaries as the British China Inland Mission School 
 at Chefoo extends to the children of .American missionaries. 
 
1/7 
 
 Fourth: Not more than one school should be established in 
 a country, except where a given country, like Africa or China, 
 is of such continental proportions that a single institution could 
 not properly meet its needs. 
 
 Fifth: The schools should be designed for children between 
 the approximate ages of twelve and twenty, the schools not to 
 undertake either primary or collegiate work, but to make the 
 courses preparatory to college entrance. 
 
 Sixth : Each Board co-operating in a given school should pay 
 that proportion of cost which its missionary force in the region 
 concerned sustains to the total missionary force of that region. 
 
 Seventh : The local management of each school should be 
 committed to a Field Board of Directors, composed of mission- 
 aries wdio are members of the Missions in the region served by 
 the school. 
 
 Eighth : Questions of property, equipment, endowment, tui- 
 tion, curriculum, the relation of boarding and tuition charges 
 to children’s allowances, admission of children ot non-mis- 
 sionary foreigners, number and selection of teachers, manual 
 and other labor as an aid in diminishing expenses, and other 
 matters of detail, should be worked out by the Societies and 
 Field Board of Directors co-operating in a given school. 
 
 This subject also is one which, in my judgment, should be 
 dealt with, not by denominational Boards acting independently, 
 but by joint action. I therefore presented it to the Conference 
 of representatives of the Foreign ^Missions’ Boards of the Unit- 
 ed States and Canada in my report as Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Reference and Counsel, and the following action was 
 taken : “Resolved, That the Conference express its interest in 
 the investigations already made by the Committee on Refer- 
 ence and Counsel on the subject of Schools for Missionaries' 
 Children, and that this Committee be requested to secure an 
 expression of judgment from the Boards in North America as 
 to the plans outlined by the Committee, and to report their find- 
 ings to the Conference of iQir.” 
 
 The Committee is taking up the matter in the way indicated. 
 Meantime, the way appears clear for our Board to move at 
 once, in co-operation with the other Boards concerned, for the 
 equipment of schools in a few places where conditions are ripe 
 for them, notably in Korea and China. 
 
 FURLOUGHS AND TERMS OF SERVICE. 
 
 The present Manual rule makes the term of service in Japan, 
 Korea and most of China eight years and the furlough one year 
 in addition from the time of travel. The Korea Mission asked 
 the Board to authorize a shorter term and a shorter furlough. 
 The Board took the following action April 5th, 1909 : 
 
178 
 
 “As the principles involved have thus far been accepted only in the 
 case of Missions in the tropics, and as the extension of them to Korea 
 would involve a similar extension to all other Missions in temperate 
 regions which might desire them, it was deemed wise to defer action 
 until Secretary Brown can ascertain the views of other Missions during 
 his proposed visit to Japan, Korea and China.” 
 
 I found wide differences of opinion among missionaries. 
 Some strongly feel that eight years are too long for a mission- 
 ary to remain in Asia without returning to the conditions of 
 the home land. They.urge that he gets too much out of touch 
 with the atmos])here and movements of a Christian civilization; 
 that it is difficult for him to retain his physical strength and 
 vitality at full vigor for so long a period amid the conditions of 
 a non-Christian land ; that the last year or two of the present 
 term is in many in.stances a dragging along while waiting to go 
 home : and that the missionary’s efficiency would be maintained 
 at a higher level and that there would be fewer disastrous health 
 breaks, if the term were shortened. 
 
 It is true that the IManual authorizes return to America at 
 any time if. in the judgment of physicians and the Mission, 
 health emergencies are imperative. But this requirement is 
 rightly understood to apply only to serious cases of illness or 
 accident, and it is urge.l that it does not give the desired relief, 
 since it does not permit the return of the missionary who is 
 simply tired out and needs a rest and change. INIany mission- 
 aries. too. do not like to submit to what they regard as the 
 stigma of being sent home on a medical certificate of broken 
 health. Xo man likes to be treated like an invalid unless his 
 condition is very serious. 
 
 The majority of the missionaries whose opinions I heard 
 favor this position. I have alrea.lv indicated that the Korea 
 Mission asked for a modification of the present regulations, and 
 a majority of the representatives of the five Missions assembled 
 at Shanghai ex])ressed the opinion that the pre.sent term of ser- 
 vice is too long. It was jwoposed to recommend si.x years as 
 the best length for the first term of service in the Yang-tse ^’al- 
 ley and South China. The vote on this stood seventeen for 
 and nine against. 
 
 There are missionaries, however, who state with some em- 
 phasis that they believe that the present terms are reasonable ; 
 that with the increasing comforts which surround missionary 
 life in the Far East, an.l the decreasing isolation and loneli- 
 ness due to the more frequent mail service and the multiplying 
 conveniences of civilization, there is no reason why a mission- 
 ary should have the working period of eight years shortened, 
 especially amid the favorable climatic conditions of Korea, 
 Japan and the northern half of China. The medical and surgical 
 
179 
 
 skill which is now accessible to the average missionary is often 
 as good as that which is accessible to the home missionary in 
 America, while the health resorts of Killing, Tsing-tau, Chefoo 
 and Peita-ho, China, and several coast and mountain resorts in 
 Korea and Japan are excellent. It is alleged that one reason 
 why some missionaries become so homesick and depressed be- 
 fore the expiration of their terms of service is that they do not 
 succeed in developing that mental attitude toward their field 
 and environment which missionary life presupposes. As one 
 missionary put it : “We do not come out here as temporary resi- 
 dents. We come to live, to make our homes among these peo- 
 ple and to find our friends among them. We ought to feel that 
 this is our place, and not be so eager to go back to America at 
 every opportunity.” 
 
 It is diificujt for one who has not resided for a long period in 
 a non-Christian land to write intelligently on such a subject. 
 It is almost impossible for him to appreciate the conditions 
 which are involved. The necessity for furloughs in the temper- 
 ate zone ^Missions is more mental than physical; but it is none 
 the less real on that account. Man is something more than an 
 animal. A Christian man in particular finds it difficult to main- 
 tain his spiritual vigor and ideals in a non-Christian land where 
 the environment is debilitating. Nostalgia, too. while not physi- 
 cal. afifects disastrously the physical condition, as every army 
 surgeon and medical missionarv knows. It is easy to say that a 
 missionary ought to feel that his station is his home ; but it is 
 not easy for a normally constituted person to emancipate him- 
 self from all longing thoughts of loved ones and native land. I 
 still hold to the statement in paragraph 17 of the Alanual, which 
 I drafted: "Missionaries live and w'ork amid conditions wdiich 
 are not only trying to health, but which involve peculiar nerv- 
 ous strain. It is therefore not only desirable, but necessary, 
 that they should have occasional furloughs in the United States 
 for purposes of physical recuperation, mental change and spir- 
 itual reinvigoration.” 
 
 The frequency and duration of furloughs, however, is a fair 
 subject for discussion. The ^Manual paragraph therefore con- 
 tinues : 
 
 “The frequency with which said furloughs should be taken varies 
 with the degree of isolation, the healthfulness of the climate and the 
 vigor of the missionary, there being wide differences in these respects 
 which make any rigid and uniform term of doubtful expediency. 
 
 "While the Board can establish the approximate term of service for 
 the country, there is force in the suggestion which has come from the 
 field, that the Mission itself can best determine the precise limits for 
 the individual missionary, as it is more conversant wth the physical con- 
 dition of the individual and with the work which will be affected by his 
 departure. 
 
i8o 
 
 “The vastness of the field and the comparatively small number of 
 laborers, the urgent importance of every available missionary being at 
 his post, the serious interference with the work which furloughs neces- 
 sitate and the additional burdens which they lay upon already over- 
 worked colleagues, as well as their costliness and the criticism, however 
 unwarranted, which they frequently cause in this country render it de- 
 sirable that the furloughs should be limited to the reasonable necessities 
 of each case. It is believed that increased facilities for intercommuni- 
 cation, and the extension of the conveniences of civilization, make the 
 lot of the missionary more tolerable than it was a generation ago, and 
 that in these circumstaiifes it is not unreasonable to expect that the 
 tendency should be toward a lengthened rather than toward a shortened 
 term of service.” 
 
 The question, from an administrative viewpoint, is compli- 
 cated by the every-present problem of finances. Furloughs cost 
 money; a good deal of it. The furlough travel of a single indi- 
 vidual averages about $600 gold, and families swell the amounts 
 to large figures. There are usually about 150 missionaries of 
 our Board on furlough, and it will be readily seen that the ex- 
 penditure is heavy. Every dollar added to that expenditure is 
 a dollar deducted from the amount available for the field. The 
 custom of the Board, in making its regular appropriations, is to 
 set aside the required sum for missionaries’ salaries, children’s 
 allowances, furloughs and administrative expenses, and assign 
 what is lef. to the native work classes. Anything, therefore, 
 that increases the former class of expenses decreases the lat- 
 ter. This is not of itself a reason why the term of service 
 should not be shortened. Indeed there are missionaries who 
 claim that more frequent furloughs would be economical, as 
 they would prevent total breakdown of health, which is the 
 most costly of all, and would keep missionary vigor at a. higher 
 stage of efficiency. They urge that prevention is cheaper than 
 cure, especially as many a sick missionary has to take a pro- 
 longed furlough and, in some cases, retire from the work alto- 
 gether. However, it can hardly be doubted that more frequent 
 furloughs would cost more money, and this is a serious matter 
 wdien the Missions are telling the Board that their most im- 
 perative necessities are more funds for current work. 
 
 . W'e must consider, too, the effect of frequent furloughs upon 
 missionaries remaining on the field. Our average station force 
 is inadequate even when all the members are at their posts. 
 When a hospital or a school has to be close. 1 , or evangelistic 
 work in a large section practically discontinued for a )’ear and a 
 (juarter while the missionary in charge goes home on furlough, 
 it is a .serious matter. Some laymen who have visited the for- 
 eign field in recent years have severely criticised this effect of 
 furloughs. 
 
i8i 
 
 My own conviction is that both the terms of service and the 
 furloughs are too long. Xo one needs to be away from his field 
 work fourteen months every eight years, unless he is ill ; and if 
 he is, he will get the needed time anyway. All reasonable re- 
 cuperation and visiting can be done in a shorter absence, and 
 the field work would not be so badly demoralized by prolonged 
 absence, while there would be fewer breakdowns if there were 
 some provision by wdiich a missionary who is not utterly broken 
 could go home before the expiration of the term period of eight 
 years, when in the judgment of the Mission it is wise for him 
 to do so and practicable from the viewpoint of his work, I be- 
 lieve. however, that the present e.xpenditure for furloughs is as 
 large as it is practicable to make it, in justice to the native work. 
 
 These two conditions might be met by the adoption of the 
 principle that a full furlough of one year in this- country in 
 addition to the time for travel, with the full payment of ex- 
 penses both ways, should be given only after a full term of ser- 
 vice, except when serious conditions of ill health certified by 
 physicians and the Mission shall render an emergency return 
 necessary ; but that when not less than half the temi of service 
 shall have expired, the missionary should have the privilege of 
 a return to the United States for a proportionate part of his 
 regular furlough, with the payment by the Board of a propor- 
 tionate part of his expenses ; provided that the circum- 
 stances are approved by the Mission and the Board and 
 provision for that part of the expense which is to be 
 met by the Board is inserted in the regular appropria- 
 tions for the year. For example, if the term of service 
 is eight years, and it appears necessary for a missionary 
 to take a furlough after six years, he might do so on the follow- 
 ing conditions: ist — That the Board will pay three-quarters of 
 his traveling expenses, he to pay the other ; 2d — That he is 
 to take three-quarters of the regular furlough instead of the 
 full period; 3d — That he is not to leave the field without the 
 approval of the Mission and the Board; 4th — That provision 
 for the expense involved be made in the regular estimates, so 
 that the Board will not have to cover it by special appropria- 
 tion after the budget for the year has been fixed. 
 
 The chief objection to this plan is that it would be most prac- 
 ticable for missionaries who have private resources apart from 
 their salaries, or relatives who can aid them, and that mission- 
 aries who are not as fortunate might not be able to afford the 
 expenditure which is involved. Xo plan, however, will fit every 
 case. I submitted this proposal to the conferences of mission- 
 aries, and it met with general approval. The vote in the Xorth 
 
China conference was unanimous. I recommend ils consider- 
 ation by the Board. 
 
 The whole question should be approached from the viewpoint 
 of deep sympathy with missionaries. Loneliness, homesickness, 
 the oppressive sense of conditions alien to one’s thought 
 and life are sore trials on the foreign field. We had 
 no such feeling during our two absences in Asia ; we 
 would gladly have prolonged our stay ; but we were visitors, 
 not residents. If I were a missionary, I am quite sure that it 
 would not be good for me to have liberty to go home when I 
 felt like it ; for there might be times when the desire to see the 
 home land again would be so strong that I should need the cor- 
 rective and restraining influence of a rule to prevent me, in a 
 temporary period of depression, from doing what my soberer 
 judgment would later regret. Freedom to leave my work on 
 my own initiative would "ofifer too large a temptation to certain 
 qualities of universal human nature,” of which I have my full 
 share. It would be wholesome for me, not only to know that 
 reasons for my premature return would have to be approved by 
 others, but that it would cost me some money, unless it was 
 necessitated by actual ill-healtb. The more therefore do I ad- 
 mire the vlevotion of the large number of missionaries who do 
 not want to leave the field until they have to, and who are then 
 eager to return to it as soon as they can. 
 
 OUTFIT FOR NEW MISSIONARIES. 
 
 The outfit allowance of $200.00, which the Board grants to a 
 new missionary, is small when one considers clothing which 
 must be purchased and the cost of furnishing a room or house. 
 But many missionaries feel that it is not ordinarily used to the 
 best advantage. The Board has long cautioned new mission- 
 aries about the danger of using up their outfit allowance in the 
 L'nited States for articles which, after their arrival on the field, 
 they may wish that they had not bought. No amount of pre- 
 liminary advice, however, appears to suffice, and every year 
 new missionaries arrive on the field with articles which they do 
 not need at all, or which they could have bought cheaper on the 
 field. The parts of Asia where our Mission stations are most 
 numerous are no longer in primitive commercial days. Many 
 articles, particularly of clothing and furniture, can be bought or 
 made on the field at less cost than in America. Several mis- 
 sionary wives in China and Laos showed me handsome tables, 
 chairs and bedsteads which had been made by native carpenters 
 at half what they could have been obtained for in the United 
 States and, they urged me to tell new missionaries not to bring 
 any furniture to the field at all, except mattresses. The North 
 China Mission officially took the following action: 
 
i83 
 
 "The Xorlh China Mission recommends: 
 
 "ist — That only one-lialf of the outfit allowance be paid newly ap- 
 pointed missionaries to the North China Mission before leaving 
 the United States, as the greater part of the outfit can be purchased 
 with greater wisdom and economy after reaching the field ; 
 
 “2nd — That in order to be consistent with the above, we revise and 
 shorten all former outfit lists furnished by our Mission ; 
 
 “3rd — That a permanent Committee be appointed, the duties of which 
 shall be to write immediately upon appointment to the newly appointed 
 missionary a letter of welcome, setting forth the probable location for 
 the first year and conditions in that place.” 
 
 This impresses me as a wise suggestion. It involves no loss 
 to the missionary who may find that more than half of his sup- 
 plies need to be bought in America ; for under the rules of the 
 Board, the outfit allowance can be drawn at any time within a 
 year after departure, and the Purchasing Department of the 
 Treasurer’s Office is cordially willing to make any purchases 
 which missionaries may order by letter after their arrival on the 
 field. 
 
 POLICY OF THE BOARD REGARDING THE DOC- 
 TRINAL SOUNDNESS OF CANDIDATES. 
 
 This question was raised by a number of missionaries in vari- 
 ous places. The records of the Board indicate a definite posi- 
 tion on this subject. Unfortunately, they are not accessible to 
 missionaries on the field, except perhaps the one which is quot- 
 ed in the Minutes of the General Assembly of 1905, and even 
 that has passed from memory among the mass of Assembly ac- 
 tions year after year. As the clearest statement of the Board’s 
 policy has been made since my return (March 7, 1910), and as 
 this Report is to be printed for the use of the Missions, I ap- 
 pend that action for information: 
 
 “The question of the powers and duties of the Board in determining 
 the doctrinal attitude of candidates for appointment as foreign mission- 
 aries having again been under consideration, and in view of some appar- 
 ent misunderstanding of the Board’s policy, the Board adopted the fol- 
 lowing declaration : 
 
 “It is the supreme aim of the Board to hasten the day when the world 
 shall be won to allegiance to Jesus Christ. To this end, its primary pur- 
 pose in the selection of candidates is to commission those who have a 
 clear and positive message of salvation through Christ which it is their 
 purpose to declare to men. This supreme aim for which the Board was 
 organized is set distinctly before every applicant. The Board deems it 
 vital that those who are sent out to preach the Gospel as representatives 
 of our Church in other lands should be sound in faith, holding firmly 
 to the doctrines of evangelical Christianity as understood by the Presby- 
 terian Church and defined in its doctrinal Standards. The question 
 therefore is not whether unsound men should be commissioned, for the 
 Board has no intention of commissioning them ; the question is, who is 
 to determine what constitutes soundness? 
 
i84 
 
 ‘‘The Board reiterates its long established policy, repeatedly expressed 
 and specifically approved by the General Assembly, particularly in 1905, 
 and which is a fundamental principle of Presbyterianism, namely, that 
 the phase of the question which relates to the doctrinal soundness of 
 candidates is within the jurisdiction of the Presbyteries and not of the 
 Board. The Board is not a judicatory of the Church and it has no 
 authority in ecclesiastical matters. It is simply the agency of the 
 Church for the conduct and supervision of its foreign missionary work. 
 While it has, and from the nature of the case must have, sole authority 
 in matters of administration and in determining the general qualifi- 
 cations of missionaries, subject only to the General Assembly, its au- 
 thority does not, and in the opinion of the Board should not, extend to 
 the determination of what constitutes that soundness in the faith which 
 entitles one to admission into the ministry either at home or abroad. 
 This authority the Presbyterian Church has lodged in its Presbyteries 
 and it does not permit its Boards to override them in the lawful exer- 
 cise of their constitutional functions. 
 
 “An appointment of the Board is therefore subject to examination for 
 ordination by the judicatory under whose care the candidate belongs. 
 Such appointment in the case of ministers ordinarily has to be made oe- 
 fore the examination for ordination. This e.xamination is seldom prac- 
 ticable until the spring meeting of the Presbytery at the close of the 
 candidate’s seminary course. The determination of general qualifi- 
 cations for appointment to the foreign field involves many other ques- 
 tions which should be passed upon at aii earlier date. Presbyteries be- 
 fore which such conditional appointees appear for examination should 
 understand that the Board's prior appointment is not equivalent to a 
 request for favorable action, that it is not to be interpreted as an expres- 
 sion of opinion on the part of the Board as to the candidate’s doctrinal 
 views, and that it does not prejudge or embarrass the matter in any 
 way. It is simply a reference to the Presbytery of that portion of the 
 candidate’s examination for foreign missionary appointment which re- 
 lates to fitness for entering the ministry. 
 
 “The Board expresses the hope that all Presbyteries which are called 
 upon to examine candidates for foreign missionary appointment, will 
 bear in n.ind that the Board is obliged to rely upon the careful exercise 
 of their prerogative in respect of doctrinal soundness in order that 
 young men who go to the foreign field should have a positive Gospel 
 to meet the alert and inquiring minds of an awakening non-Christian 
 world. Xo appointment by the Board will be deemed final until the re- 
 ceipt by the Board of an official statement from the Presbytery to the 
 effect that the candidate’s examination has been sustarned and that he 
 is commended to the Board as doctrinally qualified for appointment. 
 
 “The Board directed that these resolutions be spread on its records 
 and that copies be sent to Stated Clerks for the information of the 
 Presbyteries.” 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 The most serious defect of otir present work is the lack of 
 a sufficient miniher of competent native ministers, evangelists, 
 teachers and phvsicians. \\ e. have a smaller native force in 
 proportion to our foreign force and expenditure than several 
 other Boards. W’e stand near the head of the list in number 
 of missionaries and amount of money, but away down in na- 
 tive workers. (Jur work cannot be properly done as things 
 now are. It is too largely dependent upon missionaries. There 
 
i85 
 
 are not enough of them to do anything like what needs to be 
 done, while Inrlonghs bring the work of some institutions al- 
 most to a standstill. W’e have neither the men nor the money for 
 reinforcements large enough to handle our great and growing 
 work by missionaries alone, or even in chief part. Even if we 
 vlid have the men and money, it would not be wise to make 
 everything depend upon foreigners. The future success of the 
 work depends upon a self-reliant Native Church; but bow can 
 there ever be such a Church unless it has the right kind of na- 
 tive leadership? It is vital that we should at once t..d<e meas- 
 ures to secure a larger native force. Pioneer evangelistic work 
 can often be done by untrained Christians, but congregations 
 and schools recjuire educated leaders ; and we shall never have 
 them unless we have schools to develop them. The most urg- 
 ent need of the work today therefore is a better equipment of 
 the institutions on which we must depend for the training of 
 native leaders. This is the work of the Boards. The Native 
 Church can and should take a rapidly increasing share of re- 
 sponsibility for direct evangelization ; but it cannot for a long 
 time to come provide the institutions for training its preachers. 
 
 I therefore asked at each conference: “Has the Mission any 
 definite policy and method for securing a more adequate sup- 
 ply of native ministers, evangelists and teachers? Are our 
 schools sufficiently emphasizing this need?” Replies showed 
 that some Missions have worked out this problem in an intel- 
 ligent way, and that others have not. We already have a con- 
 siderable number of boarding schools, and some colleges, nor- 
 mal schools, training schools for evangelists and theological 
 seminaries ; but a depressingly large number of academy and 
 college students enter other callings than the ministry. Why? 
 Let the critic tell me why our colleges at home are not pro- 
 ducing more students for the ministry, colleges founded 
 by the Church for the chief purpose of training them? 
 Why are theological seminaries and committees of (leneral As- 
 semblies deploring the falling off in the number of candidates 
 for the ministry’ in a country where Cliristianity is the prevail- 
 ing religion, so that the ministry offers an income and social 
 position which are denied in lands where Christianity is yet a 
 suspected, alien faith, unable to off'er its ministers anything 
 beyond direst poverty and often social ostracism? If a Chris- 
 tian youth in .America says that he can exert an influence for 
 Christ as a business man, a teacher in a government school, or 
 an official in government .service, why should not a Christian 
 youth in Asia say this, and with equallv good reason ? 
 
 But answering home critics does not make foreign clergy- 
 men, and foreign clergymen we must have. W'e must pray for 
 
them, remembering that God must call them ; but we must 
 adopt the means which God demands of us. To do nothing 
 ourselves because only God can summon men to the ministry 
 would be to take our place beside the venerable fossil who said 
 to the youthful Carey, when he was urging a century ago that 
 the Gospel might be sent to the heathen: "Sit down, young 
 man ! W’hen God wants the heathen converted, He will do 
 it without your help.” 
 
 EDUC.tTIOX IN j.\p.\x. 
 
 Good beginnings have been made in Japan. We have two 
 institutions for men: the Meiji Gakuin in Tokyo, which has 
 high .school, collegiate and theological courses with 325 stu- 
 dents, in whose support we unite with the Board of Foreign 
 Missions of the Reformed Church: and the Dendo Do.shikan 
 (training school for evangelists) at 0.saka, where about 30 
 men are being prepared for Christian work. We have no 
 other boarding schools for boys, but the Dutch Reformed, 
 Gemian Reformed, and Southern Pre.sbyterian Missions have 
 such schools, so that the Church of Christ receives the benefit 
 of their educational work as well as ours. Two of their insti- 
 tutions are of college grade: Steele College at Nagasaki (Dutch 
 Reformed), and Sendai College (German Reformed). The 
 number of students for the ministr}- in the various institutions 
 of the Presbyterian and Reformed Alissions has increased from 
 25 in 1902 to over too in 1910; an increase which promises 
 much for the growth and stability of the Church. The Church 
 of Christ has no educational in.stitutions of its own, except iMr. 
 Uemura's theological seminary in Tokyo. 
 
 We have a larger number of boarding schools for girls. To- 
 kyo has the Joshi Gakuin with 250 girls; Osaka the W'ilmina 
 School with 254; Sapporo, the Hokusei Jo Cakko with 175; 
 Otaru the Sieshu Jo Cakko with 50 boarders; Yamaguchi the 
 Kojo Jo Gakuin with 75. The Kanazawa School has been re- 
 vluced by temporary causes to too. These institutions are ad 
 mirably conducted, have fair equipment and are doing good 
 work. The Tokyo and O.saka Schools carry their curricula to 
 higher grades than the other schools for girls, and this arrange- 
 ment should be continued. We cannot duplicate expensive 
 plants at several points. The number of girls who can be ex- 
 pected to go from other boarding schools to these institutions 
 is not large, as the distances in some cases are considerable ; but 
 the more local schools take a large majority of the girls as far 
 as they an.l their parents wish them to go. The two central 
 schools in Tokyo and Osaka should be expected to do our high- 
 er educational work for girls. They are located in the two 
 
i87 
 
 greatest cities, one in the East Japan Mission and the other in 
 the West Mission. 
 
 wise policy will strengthen onr educational institutions in 
 Japan, for they are virtually our sole dependence for training 
 the kind of men and women that we want. 
 
 Government recognition gives an institution great prestige 
 with the Japanese. In the case of young men. it renders ad- 
 mission to the Imperial University easier, and after graduation 
 it opens avenues to that official preferment which is much cov- 
 eted. But this recognition is conditioned upon several require- 
 ments. The plant and equipment must 'be .satisfactory to the 
 Government ; the curriculum must be the same as that of Gov- 
 ernment schools of similar grade; and at least two-thirds of 
 the teachers must hold certificates from the Government Xor- 
 mal Schools. The first and second of these conditions are 
 more easily met. but the third presents practical vlifficulties. 
 The Government gives teachers' certificates only to those who 
 have graduated from its own Normal Schools. Our schools de- 
 sire teachers who have had Christian training in our own 
 schools, and it is therefore difficult to secure the required num- 
 ber of certificated teachers. 
 
 EDUC.XTIOX I-V KORE.X. 
 
 The Korea Mission was late in beginning its educational 
 work. This is partly because the Mission itself is comparative- 
 ly new. The first Protestant missionary did not enter Korea 
 until a quarter of a century after the beginning of work in 
 Japan and three-quarters of a century after the beginning of 
 work in China. Then the very evangelistic success of the work 
 delayed education. The ^Mission has been, from the beginning, 
 pre-eminently evangelistic. Schools were not necessary to 
 secure a foothold, as in some other lands, and the INIission was 
 so engrossed by its evangelistic opportunities that everything 
 else fell into the background. There was, too, a period when 
 many of the missionaries rather dreaded the development of 
 institutions and were disposed to permit them only on a small 
 scale. They feared that large schools and hospitals would fos- 
 ter the spirit of institutionalism and divert energy from preach- 
 ing the Gospel. Down to 1900, the Mission did not have a 
 single permanently established academy for boys and only one 
 for girls. 
 
 I called attention, in my fir.st visit to Korea nine years ago, 
 to the danger which could even then be foreseen and which 
 was beginning to trouble some of the missionaries. Thousands 
 of children in the homes of believers were growing up without 
 education. W’e could neither acquiesce in this nor see them go 
 to anti-Christian schools. Either alternative would have jeop- 
 
ardized the permanence of the evangelistic results which were 
 being achieved. An illiterate Church among an emotional people 
 would be built on sand. Moreover, we needed Korean pastors 
 to lead the increasing multitudes of Christians. 
 
 Thus far the evangelistic development in Korea has been su- 
 perintended almost wholly by missionaries. In order that there 
 might be enough workers to handle the rapidly growing work, 
 we have built up a larger force than we have in any other Mis- 
 sion. There are now J13 men and women in our Korea Mis- 
 sion, a far greater number in proportion to the population than 
 in any other field and more than one-ninth of our entire force 
 throughout the world. The Mission feels that still further re- 
 inforcement is imperative. I cordially concur; but I believe 
 that the Mission is approaching a rea.sonable limit, and that 
 while some further accessions are desirable, there should be a 
 larger concentration of future effort upon the development of 
 a native ministry. We cannot adopt the policy that everything 
 that ought to be (’one in any field must be done by missionaries. 
 \\ e cannot secure for any Mission enough men and money for 
 such a policy, and it would not be for the permanent good of the 
 Church even if we could. 
 
 \\ hen I urge reasonable ecpiipment of institutions. I do not 
 mean the scale of an American university, but only that which 
 will render efficient work possible. We need not fear the in- 
 fluence of such institutions, if we resolutely insist that they 
 shall not be divided into two classes, religious and secular. All 
 should be spiritual, and there is no valid reason why they should 
 not be. There is indeed danger that a school, especially when 
 it becomes large and flourishing, will become secular in spirit. 
 Precisely the same danger confronts the Qnirch when it be- 
 comes large and flourishing. Prosperity is often debditating to 
 spiritualitv : but we cannot leave our sons and daughters in 
 illiteracy for fear of worldliness, or disband our strong 
 churches lest they become proud and self-satisfied. Strength 
 and devotion are not necessarily antagonistic, and all small 
 things are not pious. 
 
 I svmpathize with the feeling that it is not the primary mo- 
 tive of mission Boards to maintain schools for non-Christian 
 parents who want us to give their children a general education 
 without Christianity. Xeverthele'ss we must remember that 
 everv boy in Korea who gets an education must get it from 
 either the non-Christian school or the missionary school. If 
 we are going to have schools at all. we can, at a small addition- 
 al expense, teach a larger number of pupils than the local 
 Christian constituencies are likelv to furnish. We should there- 
 fore take pupils from non-Christian families, provided it is 
 
189 
 
 distinctly understood that our schools are Christian and that 
 it is our intention to do everything in our power to lead all our 
 pupils to Christ. A school conducted in this spirit may be of 
 itself an evangelistic agency. The dominating motive of our 
 educational work in Korea, however, and one which should de- 
 termine the character and curricula of the institutions should be 
 the training of pastors, evangelists, teachers and the large num- 
 ber of laymen who are needed as church officers. Sunday-school 
 teachers, etc. The chief need of the Mission today is for well- 
 equipped boarding and preparatory schools at the various sta- 
 tions. and particularly a College, Normal School, Theological 
 Seminary and Medical College. 
 
 The Mission now clearly recognizes the necessity for institu- 
 tions which will conserve the results of the evangelistic work 
 an;l guarantee their permanence, and within the last half dozen 
 years it has given far greater attention to education. Few 
 other Missions today are more thoroughly alive to educational 
 needs. The Mission is making up for the lateness of its be- 
 ginning by the vigor of its present efforts. 
 
 Plans now are fairly well outlined. W’e have 589 primary 
 schools scattered all over the country. iVIost of them are at 
 out-stations Practically every group of Christians in Korea 
 has a primary school. Sometimes there is a separate building, 
 and sometimes the church building is used. 588 of these schools 
 are supported by the Korean Christians themselves ; an extra- 
 ordinarily encouraging fact. The growth of these .schools is 
 indicated by the fact that in 1902 there were only 63, with 845 
 boys and 148 girls; whereas now there are 589 with 10,916 
 boys and 2,511 girls. The primary schools are tributary to the /> 
 
 boarding or high .schools, which are located at the stations. The 
 theory is that each station .shall have a boarding school for boys 
 and another for girls. This plan has been realized at the older 
 and larger stations, and should be carried out at the others as 
 resources become available. 
 
 Coming to details, we have four station academies for boys. 
 
 The oldest is at Pyeng Yang, which began academic work pro- 
 per in 1900. It represents a union of Presbyterians and Meth- 
 odists, has one building erected in 1901, and an enrollment of 
 366 boys. It has already graduated 92. The second, if we 
 except an earlier one which was closed, was opened in 1901 at 
 Seoul, and is known as the John D. Wells Training School for 
 Christian Workers, the funds for the one substantial building, 
 erected in 1906, having been contributed by the relatives and 
 friends of the late President of the Board, the Rev. Dr. John 
 D. Wells. Fifteen have been graduated and the enrollment last 
 year was 210. The third academy is at Taiku and is less than 
 
four years old ( 1906). It has 78 students and one good build- 
 ing, which was erected in 1908 with funds chiefly given by the 
 family of the Rev. J. E. Adams. The fourth is at Syen Chyun. 
 It also is less than four years old. having been opened in 1906. 
 It had 89 pupils last year and it has graduated nine. Mrs. Hugh 
 O’Neil, of New York, has generously provided an excellent 
 plant for this school in-memory of her son, Hugh O’Neil, Jr., 
 after whom the institute is named. It is to be conducted with 
 larger reference to industrial conditions than any other of our 
 schools in Korea. There is a farm in connection with the insti- 
 tution and a promising development is under way. 
 
 W’e have four academies for girls. The oldest, founded in 
 1889, is ill Seoul. It has an enrollment of 80 and has graduated 
 15. This has a good location but only one permanent building. 
 The other buildings are old, dilapidated native structures, little 
 more than hovels. A friend has pledged $10,000 for a new 
 building and this generous sum will provide an excellent plant. 
 The second is in Pyeng Yang, and is conducted as a union insti- 
 tution with the INIethodists. It dates from 1905 and has an 
 enrollment of 107. Five have been graduated. There is no 
 permanent building, the school occupying the old hospital quar- 
 ters — a temporary makeshift. Another friend proposes to 
 make a gift which will supply this great need. The third 
 is in vSyen Chyun. It was not opened till 1906. It has 33 pu- 
 pils and no plant ; the sessions being held in temporary quar- 
 ters. The fourth is in Fusan. This building is not large, but 
 it is the best equipped girls’ school building that we have in 
 Korea, the gift of Air. L. H. Severance and Mr. D. B. Gamble. 
 The attendance this year is small on account of temporary con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Our educational system in Korea culminates in a College in 
 Pyeng Yang, jointlv supported by Presbyterians and Alethod- 
 ists : a Theological Seminary, also in Pyeng Yang ; and a Aledi- 
 cal College in Seoul, d'he College in Pyeng Yang was opened in 
 1906 and there are 17 men in the regular college course ; but the 
 number will rapidlv increase as the auxiliary academies gradu- 
 ate their students. The College has a site but no separate build- 
 ing, the academy building being used temporarily. A main 
 building has been started and Airs. Cyrus AIcCormick, of Chi- 
 cago, has just given $5,000 for dormitories. There was at 
 first some question whether the College should be developed at 
 Seoul or at Pyeng Yang, or whether there should be two insti- 
 tutions, one in each city. It is now clear that in such a com- 
 paratively small country as Korea and with easy railway com- 
 munication, we should not attempt two colleges, at least until 
 one has been well equipped. That College should be at Pyeng 
 
I9I 
 
 Yang. Temptations and distractions here are fewer than in 
 the capital. The missionary community and the Korean Church 
 are the dominant influences, so that it is easy to keep young 
 men from the country towns in a bracing Christian atmosphere. 
 This is not possible in Seoul, the political center of the country. 
 While the John D. Wells Training School for Christian Work- 
 ers is a very important institution and should magnify its work 
 and opportunity, it should not attempt the higher collegiate 
 grades but should send to Pyeng Yang such of its graduates as 
 desire collegiate training. 
 
 The Theological Seminary represents a union of the four 
 Presbyterian bodies in Korea — Southern Presbyterian, Austra- 
 lian Presbyterian, Canadian Presbyterian and our own. It has 
 an enrollment of 138 students, a remarkable number for such a 
 young institution. It has already graduated 15 men. Mrs. 
 Cyrus McCormick is generously providing a main building and 
 a dormitory. 
 
 The Medical College has made a fine start and graduated 
 seven men in 1908. There are 23 students now in training, and 
 the additional plant which has been pledged by a generous 
 friend, who wishes his name withheld, will doubtless attract a 
 larger number of students in the near future. A Training 
 School for Nurses is conducted in connection with the College 
 and the Severance Hospital adjoining. Nine young women are 
 under instruction. 
 
 In addition to this educational system, but as a part of it, 
 reference should be made to the normal schools and Bible in- 
 stitutes at several stations, referred to in a preceding section of 
 this report. 
 
 The Mission should make every effort to co-ordinate the 
 country primary schools with the station boarding schools, and 
 to co-ordinate the station boarding schools with the Pyeng 
 Yang College and the related theological and medical schools, 
 so that the educational policy of the Mission will be a connected 
 whole, each grade leading to the one above it. 
 
 It is vital that this educational scheme should be energetically 
 carried out. The reasons which I urged in my leport on my 
 first visit to Korea nine years ago are intensified today. A great 
 Christian constituency has been gathered. The number of con- 
 gregations has become so numerous that it is physically im- 
 possible for the missionaries to give them proper oversight. 
 Native ministers for these congregations are indispensable, and 
 it is almost equally indispensable that the right kind of teachers 
 should be selected for the hundreds of primary schools which 
 are steadily growing in size and influence. The time has come 
 M 
 
192 
 
 when considerable sums of money are urgently needed for 
 educational equipment in Korea. 
 
 The educational problem in Korea is naturally affected by the 
 educational plans of the Japanese. They have established pub- 
 lic schools in many parts of the country. The best equipped 
 of these are for Japanese children, but schools for Koreans 
 have also been opened. Most of the latter thus far do little 
 more than teach the Japanese language, and they are not very 
 popular with the Koreans. The text-books prepared by the 
 Japanese for the Korean primary schools are excellent, better 
 indeed than those prepared by the Koreans ; but no historical 
 or geographical text-books have yet been issued. The Koreans 
 do not like the Japanese books, and are irritated because the 
 Japanese have forbidden certain Korean books which the peo- 
 ple liked. Three Japanese institutions, however, are attracting 
 considerable numbers of Koreans and are doing excellent work. 
 These are the Normal School and Medical College in Seoul and 
 the model farm at Sui-won, about thirty miles South of Seoul. I 
 visited the two former institutions and was impressed by the 
 excellence of their equipment. The President of the Normal 
 School is a Korean, but the financial manager is a Japanese. 
 The Medical College staff, of course, is Japanese, as there are 
 not yet enough trained Korean physicians and surgeons to 
 man such an institution. The public Hospital adjoining the 
 Medical College is for Koreans and Japanese alike. The plant 
 is a splendid one and would do credit to a large American city. 
 The plans of the Japanese contemplate several provincial indus- 
 trial and agricultural schools. 
 
 The laws on education, which the Japanese have formulated, 
 are comprehensive. They provide among other things for 
 registration and for Government censorship of text-books. 
 This law applies to schools which are built and supported by 
 Koreans. It is a mooted question whether the law applies to 
 boarding schools built by foreign money, on foreign ground 
 and conducted by foreigners. It is possible that we might suc- 
 ceed in having our institutions exempted under the extra-terri- 
 torial law ; but I was glad to learn that the missionaries were 
 strongly opposed to such an effort. They feel that it would 
 simply be a legal subterfuge which would arouse ill feeling. 
 We must, of course, guard our rights ; but we need not assume 
 that the Japanese are inimical to them. The last annual meet- 
 ing of the Mission adopted a report on this subject from which 
 I quote the following extracts : 
 
 “It was decided that, in accord with the wish of the Government, our 
 schools should apply for Government permits; Mr. Sammons, the 
 American Consul-General, in our behalf receiving from the Government 
 assurances that in so registering there should be; First — Freedom of 
 Christian religious teaching in schools thus registered ; Second — Mutual 
 
193 
 
 co-operation in continuing- established Christian school work ; Third — 
 That Christian schools and Christian school graduates are to receive 
 the recognition and benefits enjoyed by Government schools, thus avoid- 
 ing discrimination. 
 
 "A great many schools have received their permits. In many cases 
 the missionary was entered as the “Kyo Chang,” or patron of the school, 
 where there is as yet no Korean , pastor or ordained elder, who it was 
 thought might better act as patron. In granting the permits the Gov- 
 ernment has taken exception to certain books, which were in the curri- 
 culum and made some suggestions as to rules. 
 
 "It is not yet clearly defined as to what is the attitude of the Gov- 
 ernment toward the management of Christian schools; but there seems 
 to be good reason to infer that in the matter of text^books we shall be 
 given a hearing on the question of the suitability or non-suitability of 
 books which we may wish to use.” 
 
 The Mission has appointed a committee of three experienced 
 missionaries (Dr. Underwood, Dr. Gale and Mr. Adams) to 
 confer with the Japanese authorities on this subject. I accom- 
 panied the Committee on a call to the Japanese Minister of 
 Education. He received us very pleasantly and we had a sat- 
 isfactory interview. Tact and wisdom will be called for in 
 working out the necessary readjustments under the new laws; 
 but missionaries and Japanese officials appear to be working 
 harmoniously together and the outcome will doubtless be mut- 
 ually satisfactory. 
 
 EDUCATION IN CHINA. 
 
 The educational problem in China is, of course, vaster than 
 that in Japan and Korea, partly because the population is vast- 
 er, and partly because historic conditions make the problem 
 more vital. 
 
 My visit has not changed but has rather intensified the opin- 
 ion which I expressed a year ago, that it would be impossible 
 to exaggerate the magnitude of the transformation that is tak- 
 ing place in China and the pressing importance of providing 
 Christian leadership for it. The lines along which special as- 
 sistance is most imperative are educational. The Boards have 
 urgent need of a large increase in their resources if they, to- 
 gether with the growing Chinese Churches, are properly to 
 care for the evangelistic work and for the primary schools 
 which must be multiplied. But if they are given this increase, 
 they can measurably provide for these phases of the work. 
 But the Boards and the Chinese Churches, without special 
 emergency assistance, cannot adequately finance the institu- 
 tions of higher learning that are required to supply the Chris- 
 tian preachers, teachers and physicians that are imperatively 
 needed. A statesmanlike policy will extend every possible aid 
 to the effort to produce them. The Chinese can never be per- 
 manently led from the outside. They must be led by their own 
 
194 
 
 people. Our province is to see that these men combine sound 
 training and Christian character. 
 
 The higher institutions should, as far as practicable, be union 
 institutions. It would be wasteful to multiply denominational 
 colleges. The Boards, acting separately, could not properly 
 equip the necessary institutions, and the inevitable result of the 
 effort to do so would be a lot of small and struggling institu- 
 tions, which would duplicate one another’s work, overlap one 
 another’s territory, perpetuate sectarian rivalries, and fail to 
 command the respect of either Chinese or Americans. The 
 day for that sort of denominationalism has passed. Union in 
 theological training presents greater difficulties ; but the suc- 
 cessful union of American Presbyterians and American and 
 English Congregationalists in the Theological Seminary in Pe- 
 king, and of American Presbyterians and English Baptists in 
 Tsing-chou-fu show that united effort even in this field is en- 
 tirely practicable. 
 
 I believe that the colleges which will be most influential 
 should give thorough instruction in the Chinese language, with 
 classes in modern languages, particularly English ; that the 
 foreign professors should represent the highest type of ability, 
 culture and Christian character ; that they should learn the 
 Chinese language ; and endeavor tactfulE to adapt themselves 
 to the Chinese mind and character. 
 
 That the institutions should be vitally Christian is evident. 
 China needs financial help in the direction of a purely secular 
 education less than any other nation in the world. The Chi- 
 nese have exalted scholarship for more than 2,000 years. They 
 are ready to make any sacrifices for the sake of learning. I 
 have already referred to the Imperial decrees on this subject. 
 The Government has undertaken on a vast scale the recon- 
 struction of China’s historic educational system. The plan 
 contemplates a university at every provincial capital, numbers 
 of normal and other technical and professional schools 
 and countless auxiliary common schools. An Imperial Edict 
 of 1908 reads : “All boys over eight years of age must go to 
 school, or their parents or relatives will be punished. If they 
 have no relatives, the officials will be held responsible for their 
 education.” An Imperial Board of Education was established 
 in 1905 and the Vice-President, a fine type of a Chinese gentle- 
 man, told me that there are now 30,000 schools of various 
 grades under the care of the Board. Engineering courses are 
 given at the following institutions : Imperial Polytechnic Insti- 
 tute at Shanghai ; Imperial University of Shan-si at Tai-yuan- 
 fu; Engineering and Mining College at Tang-shan; and Impe- 
 rial Pei-yang University at Tien-tsin. 
 
195 
 
 I visited a number of the new institutions and can testify to 
 the elaborateness of their equipment. Grounds are spacious, 
 buildings are numerous and expensive, and apparatus is 
 abundant. 
 
 The chief difficulty at present is that, with comparatively few 
 exceptions, the teachers are not educators but office-holders. 
 Many of them know little and care less about school work. 
 Positions are to them simply the first rounds on the ladder of 
 official preferment. I heard of several principals and presi- 
 dents who seldom visit the schools of which they are supposed 
 to be the executive heads. Expensive apparatus frequently lies 
 scattered and neglected. I take from my note books the fol- 
 lowing (lata, which I obtained at one prominent provincial uni- 
 versity and which will illustrate both the scale and the methods 
 of these institutions: Courses and students: literary. 107 stu- 
 dents; scientific 69; preparatory 92; total 268. Faculty, three 
 foreign and ten Chinese professors. Salaries of Chinese pro- 
 fessors range from 128 taels a month to 300, in addition to 
 free quarters, fuel and light. Several of the Chinese profes- 
 sors hold other salaried Government positions at the same 
 time. Each student receives free tuition, food, uniform and 
 one tael a month for pocket money. Buildings are numerous 
 and excellent, including administration hall, recitation build- 
 ings, Confucian Temple, Chinese library, English library, drill 
 shed, two armories, museum, chemical and physical laboratory, 
 observatory, waterworks, electric light plant, professors’ resi- 
 dences, and 14 rows of dormitories, each having 14 rooms de- 
 signed for two students each. Three servants care for each 
 row. Military drill compulsory ; Mauser rifles furnished. 
 Languages : Chinese, English and German ; German about to 
 be discontinued ; all science and mathematics hereafter to be 
 taught in English. Foreign text-books: Wentworth’s Series of 
 Mathematics, Steele’s Series in Chemistry and Physics. My- 
 ers’ and Renouf’s General Histories, Tenney’s and Nesfield’s 
 Grammars, Longman’s Geography. Harper’s, Cyr’s and Samp- 
 son’s Readers, Lucht’s Series in German. Faculty meetings 
 none, except one at the beginning of a term to arrange studies. 
 Xo attempt at mutual advice or co-operation. Water pumped 
 by electric motor from well over south wall into water tank 
 under observatory building; carried in pipes to all buildings 
 and could be taken to foreign professors’ houses were the 
 pipes not out of order and never repaired. Two posts for arc 
 lamps in front of pavilion and ponds; four of these lamps 
 lying in dust, ready for destruction. No water goes into ponds 
 because pipes out of order. Whole building suffering from 
 want of repair ; “no funds,’’ says Director. Large stock of elec- 
 
 N 
 
196 
 
 trical apparatus ; parts missing ; telescopes costing $900 gold : 
 most of valuable lenses missing. Half a dozen battery motor 
 fans, complete outfit for surveying (theodolites, sextants, etc.), 
 drill apparatus (single-sticks, dumb bells, hocke y sticks and 
 balls), tennis apparatus, etc., all more or less unused and going 
 to waste. Dynamo and water-works, etc., all second-hand ; put 
 in by German firm. “Squeeze.” said to have been paid down in 
 hard cash before beginning, taels 2.000. 
 
 All Government institutions are not conducted as loosely as 
 this one. A generation ago the cry of “too much politics” wa:> 
 frequently heard in connection with the public school system in 
 the United States. China needs teachers, not office holders, in 
 her educational institutions. She will get them in time. Here 
 is a point at which we can help through our mission colleges. 
 The superior men whom we train are in demand. The Gov- 
 ernment is beginning to recognize the defects of its sy.stem. 
 Picked men are sent from time to time to study in the Uni- 
 versities of Japan. Europe and America. The portion of the 
 indemnity for the P>oxer Uprising, which was remitted by the 
 United States Government, is being used by the Chinese Gov- 
 ernment to send one hundred students to the United States 
 each year for four years and after that fifty students a year. 
 A Director in \^'ashington is charged with the oversight of 
 these men. The latest move is toward the establishment near 
 Peking of a Government School for 500 young men drawn 
 from all parts of the Empire. Instruction will be in English, 
 and students who are to be sent to England and America will 
 be chosen from this school. 
 
 The German Government at Tsing-tau has established a Col- 
 lege in co-operation with the Chinese Government. It has do- 
 nated a noble tract of land overlooking the bay ; the donation 
 including two large and expensive buildings which were con- 
 structed for marine barracks. The German Government has 
 made a grant of $150,000 gold for equipment and has voted 
 $37,500 gold annually for maintenance. The Chinese Gov- 
 ernment has also made a grant. The College was formally 
 opened November ist. 1909. The number of students is nat- 
 urally small, as the College has been open only a short time ; 
 but the liberal financial support and the prestige of recognition 
 by both the Chinese and German Governments will no doubt 
 attract many young men. An imposing new building has al- 
 ready been begun, and it is evident that the institution is to be 
 equipped on a lavish scale. The College may make our mis- 
 sion educational work in this part of the Province more diffi- 
 cult. The Chinese, however, do not like the Germans, and may 
 
197 
 
 prefer an institution which is managed by Americans, even 
 though its equipment is not so elaborate. 
 
 We must do good work to meet this competition. Fortun- 
 ately. our Shantung Christian University is doing as high 
 a grade of scholarly work as any institution in all Asia, and it 
 need not fear comparison with the new German-Chinese Col- 
 lege. Any number of purely secular colleges cannot remove 
 our responsibility for maintaining Christian colleges. They 
 can only increase our responsibility for giving them adequate 
 equipment. Government universities cannot accommodate a 
 tithe of the young men who are seeking an education. They 
 seldom have accommodations for more than 500 students, very 
 few for 1,000. Admission, too, is usually on the recommen- 
 dation of local magistrates in the various hsiens (counties) of 
 the Province in which the university is located, and the month- 
 ly worship of the tablet of Confucius is obligatory. Whether 
 this is really worship in an idolatrous sense is di.sputed only 
 by those who do not know what it is. The result is that stu- 
 dents of the provincial universities are chiefly sons of officials 
 and “gentry." that a Christian youth has slender chance to 
 get in, and that if he does succeed in gaining admittance, he 
 must worship the tablet of Confucius or leave. 
 
 It appears clear China will finance her own Government 
 educational system. Dr. Timothy Richard, of Shanghai, says 
 that “the various \’icefoys and the Peking P>oard of Education, 
 amid many difficulties and in spite of many obstructionists, are 
 making fair progress with the work of introducing the new 
 learning. Some of the old Examination Halls, covering acres 
 in extent, have been pulled down to give place to large Nor- 
 mal Schools, and the rest are now disused and will follow in 
 due time." Well-equipped educational institutions are not de- 
 veloped in a decade anywhere, and China will probably move 
 more rapidly than England and America did at the corres 
 ponding period of their development. 
 
 Now for Great Britain and the United States to send over 
 money to aid in equipping these colleges, which are as a rule 
 anti-Christian or at best non-Christian, or for them to found 
 universities whose professors are indifferent or silent on morai 
 issues, would not be helping China where she most needs help. 
 \\ hat China needs is a Christian education, and any assistance 
 from Europe and America should be given with the distinct 
 understanding that the institutions are to be openly and strong- 
 ly religious. 
 
 All friends of China are agreed that the situation calls for 
 the be.st education pervaded by the Christian spirit. Some, 
 however, hold that the question should be dealt with as one of 
 
198 
 
 education and not of missions, that education should not be re- 
 garded as an adjunct of religion, but that religion should be 
 deemed an adjunct of education. This is a confusion of ideas 
 or a misunderstanding of tliQ missionary enterprise. Missonary 
 work, as conducted today, includes the best education. It is not 
 solely evangelism and it never has been. From the beginning, 
 it has built both churches and schools. Missionaries have been 
 not only preachers but teachers, writers and physicians. The 
 highest education in China is missionarv education, and the 
 Shantung Christian University is sending out men who are as 
 well ccjuipped educationally as the graduates of the best uni- 
 versities in America. An effort to divorce education from mis- 
 ^ions in Asia would be an effort to divorce it from Christ, for 
 missions is simply the effort to make Christ known and to cre- 
 ate that intelligence and character which Christ develops. Intel- 
 lectual culture, when sought as an end in itself apart from 
 Christ, has never produced the type of character which the 
 world needs, and it would not do so in China. A college in 
 Europe or America may make Christianity incidental and still 
 turn out men of Christian character, for many of its students 
 are Christians when the)’ come to it. and it is surrounded by 
 churches and Christian homes which can supply in large meas- 
 ure the influences needed. In China, however, a college is in 
 the midst of non-Christian people. Churches and Christian 
 people are comparatively few. Lines are sharply drawn, and 
 every foreign institution is for or against Christ. A college 
 in such an environment cannot maintain a neutral attitude. Xor 
 will it serve to leave Christianity out of the University with the 
 idea that it be adequately presented in the auxiliary colleges 
 which are under denominational control. This is tenable ground 
 onlv on the assumption that Christian teaching cannot be civen 
 without denominational friction. The successful union of half 
 a dozen denominations in educational work in China today 
 proves the fallacy of the supposition. Moreover the university 
 spirit will inevitably dominate the auxiliary colleges, and if 
 Christ is ignored in the greater. He will be in the less. 
 
 I would not take a narrow view of human progress. 
 I heartilv recognize that all truth is God s and that all 
 inculcation of truth of whatever kind ministers to the growth 
 of His Kingdom. I am convinced, nevertheless, that the edu- 
 cation which is to accomplish the largest and most enduring 
 results must rest upon Christian principle and issue in Chris- 
 tian character. This position undoubtedly represents the opin- 
 ion of the 4.000 Protestant missionaries in China. They are 
 anxious that China should make the truest national progress, 
 and believe that the springs of such progress can only be found 
 
199 
 
 in the Christian religion and an education which is pervaded 
 by it. Prompt action in enlarging the facilities of mission in- 
 stitutions will enable us to give China in this critical period of 
 transition a body of trained Christian leaders who may mould 
 the characters of hundreds of thousands of Chinese young men. 
 
 The desired ends can best be secured by doing (he work, for 
 the present at least, through the Boards and Universities’ Mis- 
 sions of Europe and xA.merica and the missionaries whom they 
 are sending. These agencies have been constituted expressly 
 for the administration of funds and the supervision of work 
 on the foreign field. They have special facilities for this task 
 in their organization, their experience, and their expert knowl- 
 edge of the situation. Their missionaries and teachers are the 
 main dependence for carrying out any educational plan in 
 China, since they are, with few exceptions, practically the only 
 body of foreigners in the Empire who possess the requisite 
 training and knowledge of Chinese language and customs. 
 Union enterprises can be and are being conducted through the 
 Boards of the Christian Churches. Indeed, the Boards and 
 their missionaries have taken more advanced ground and have 
 done more to show the practicability of real unity and co-oper- 
 ation than any other agencies. They have shown an eager de- 
 sire to co-operate with one another and to promote joint effort 
 wherever practicable. Union institutions are actually in opera- 
 tion in China, founded and maintained by Mission Boards and 
 conducted by their missionaries. 
 
 From the viewpoint of this discussion, such institutions as 
 the Canton Christian College and the educational missions of 
 Yale and other Universities are in accord with the objects of 
 the Boards They are conducted by Christian men who are 
 actuated by Christian motives. They are necessarily undenom- 
 inational, because they appeal to a distinct constituency which 
 includes members of various churches. ^Missionaries are in cor- 
 dial sympathy with this extension of university work and hail 
 it as powerful reinforcement. 
 
 There is now in China a considerable number of institutions 
 of higher education. Dr. James S. Dennis, in his Centennial 
 Survey of Foreign ^Missions published in 1900, listed 13 univer- 
 sities and colleges, 32 medical schools and schools for nurses, 
 and 68 theological and training schools. Some of these are 
 classes rather than institutions ; but the number that may rea- 
 sonably be classed as institutions is not small and it is larger 
 now than it was in 1900. Dr. Hawks Pott says that today 700 
 missionaries give all or the larger part of their time to teach- 
 ing; that there are 1,500 primary schools with 30,000 pupils; 
 that boarding schools for boys and girls are teaching 12,000 
 
students ; and that at least 20 institutions have attained college 
 rank, a few of them having taken the name of universities. 
 These institutions are located at strategic points and are under 
 the guidance of able and experienced men who understand 
 China and her language and people. The equipment is far 
 from satisfactory. Some of them have a fair plant and staff, 
 as compared with the average missionary college ; but as com- 
 pared with institutions at home, the best endowed colleges in 
 China are extremely piodest, while the majority are poorly 
 equipped. A sound policy would give these institutions a more 
 adequate equipment and teaching staff. While it will undoubt- 
 edly be necessary in the future to establish some new institu- 
 tions, the wise course, for the present at least, would be to 
 co-operate with the institutions which are now at work. Any 
 new institutions should either be an extension or grouping of 
 present colleges, or be fouu-.led in consultation with them. 
 
 There has been much di.scussion whether there should be one 
 great central university for the whole of China, or several uni- 
 versities distributed over the country. This question was de- 
 bated at length at the Shanghai Conference of 1907, and mis- 
 sionaries are still divided about it. As far as I could learn, a 
 large majority favor the second plan. 1 certainly do. China 
 is so large geographically, its population is so enormous, the 
 means of communication are so inadequate, the spoken dialects 
 are so different, and the lack of national unity is so manifest, 
 that one might as well talk of one university for all Europe, as 
 one university for all China. It seems to me that a wise policy 
 would recognize the strategic value of the following centers 
 where intsitutions are already established : 
 
 1. Province of Chih-li (population 20,937,000), where 
 there are now the Peking Cniversity of the Methodist Board, 
 and the .\orth China Union Colleges, the latter representing a 
 union of our Board, the .American Board and the London Mis- 
 sionary Society. 
 
 2. Province of Shantung ( 38,247,000) , where we have the 
 Shantung Christian University ( Presbyterian and English 
 Baptist ) with its large .Arts College at \Vei-hsien, Theological 
 Seminary and Normal School at Tsing-chou-fu and Aledical 
 College at Tsinan-fu. 
 
 3. Province of Shan-si ( 12,200,456), where Oberlin College 
 has started an academy at Tai-yuen which is expected to devel- 
 op into a college. 
 
 4. Provinces of Kiang-su (13,980,235), and Ngan-kwei 
 (23,670,314). St. John’s College (.American FTotestant Epis- 
 copal) and the Baptist College at Shanghai, Nanking Christian 
 University (^in which we unite with the Alethodists, Disciples 
 
201 
 
 and Friends'), and the Southern ^fethodist College at Soo-chon, 
 are all in the former Province. 
 
 5. Province of Che-kiang (11,580,692), where we have our 
 Hang-chou College. 
 
 6. Provinces of Hupeh (35,280,685) and Kiang-si (26,532,- 
 125), where the Oxford-Cambridge Committee has selected 
 Hankow as the site for its new University; Boone University 
 ( American Protestant Episcopal ) at Wu-chang, already well 
 established, and Criffith John College (English Congregation- 
 al ) at Hankow are to be co-ordinated with the Oxford-Cam- 
 bridge University. 
 
 7. Province of Hunan (22,169,673), where Yale Univer- 
 sity has established an institution at Chang-sha. 
 
 8. Province of Szchuan (68,724,890) where there is a 
 union College at Cheng-tu, representing 2^orthern Methodists, 
 -American Baptists, Canadian Methodists and English Friends. 
 The Church Alission Society of England and the China Inland 
 Alission are co-operating. 
 
 9. Province of Kwang-tung (31,865,251), where the unde- 
 nominational Canton Christian College is well started under 
 the management of an .American board of trustees. 
 
 10. Province of Fuh-kien (22,876,540;, where the Ameri- 
 can Congregational and Northern Alethodist Boards have in- 
 stitutions at Foochow, and the Reformed Church of America 
 has one at Amoy. 
 
 This enumeration of independent centers simply includes 
 those in which colleges have already been established. It 
 leaves to future institutions several of the great interior Pro- 
 vinces : Shen-si (population 8,450,182), Kan-su ( 10,385,37^), 
 Honan (35,316,800), Kwang-si (5,142,330), Kwei-chou (7,- 
 650,282), and Yunnan (12,324,574). 
 
 It will be noted that most of these institutions now have a 
 clear field with a large auxiliary population. There are, how- 
 ever, two institutions in Chih-li, three in Fuh-kien, and four in 
 Kiang-su. Hang-chou really makes a fifth in this region, for 
 while it is in the adjoining province in Che-kiang, it is not far 
 away. It would be well if each of these three groups of col- 
 leges could be co-ordinated in some way. It is true that the 
 populations which they serve are great as compared with Eu- 
 ropean and American constituencies ; but we should not at- 
 tempt to reproduce Western conditions in China. Wisdom 
 suggests that where two or more institutions are within a lim- 
 ited geographical area, there should be some agreement that 
 one of them is to do post-graduate work for all), the others 
 confining themselves to college work proper. I do not be- 
 lieve, however, that it is either necessary or desirable that each 
 
202 
 
 province should have a university in the full meaning of the 
 term. At any rate, it is not practicable to equip so many at 
 present. Some institutions should be content with college 
 work. Four or five real universities, able to do the highest 
 grade of post-graduate work and so distributed that they could 
 serve the northern, middle eastern, middle western, and south- 
 ern sections of the Empire, would form a program ambitious 
 enough for the present. 
 
 As conditions now are, I believe that our higher educational 
 responsibilities as Presbyterians should be understood as lim- 
 ited to the four institutions with which we are organically con- 
 nected : the North China Union Colleges in the Province of 
 Chih-li : Shantung Christian University in the Province of 
 Shantung; Nanking Christian University in the Province of 
 Kiang-su ; and Hang-chou College in the Province of Che- 
 kiang. Elsewhere, we should recognize the existence of in- 
 stitutions conducted by sister evangelical agencies and not feel 
 that it is our duty to found competitive colleges. Each of the 
 institutions named has an immense field and population. Each 
 should be regarded by us as having clear scope in the territory 
 which it is expected to command, and each should have, as 
 soon as possible, a larger equipment and endowment. Happily, 
 three of these institutions are union enterprises, and we should 
 cordially welcome co-operative arrangements with any other 
 Boards which may be willing to join with us in developing well- 
 equipped universities at each of these strategic centers. Our 
 Board should not consider for a moment the founding of any 
 more colleges in China, but should concentrate eflforts upon the 
 proper equipment of those that we already have. Shantung 
 Christian University now has our best plant, the largest field 
 and freedom from all competition. It should not be our fault 
 if arrangements are not made with other institutions in the re- * 
 gion of Peking. Nanking and Hang-chou, so that these institu- 
 tions also shall have no rivals in their respective fields. As they 
 now are, they have splendid locations and each has a field 
 which, in the United States, would be deemed not over-crowd- 
 ed by half a dozen colleges. 
 
 W’e should have an adequate number of auxiliary academies 
 at each of our central stations ; otherwise our colleges will have 
 no students fitted for entrance. The curricula of these acade- 
 mies should be co-ordinated with the curriculum of the col- 
 lege to which they are geographically tributary. There has 
 been too much diversitv in this respect. Not infrequently, sta- 
 tions have been left to develop their own boarding schools, and 
 the curriculum has been left to the missionary in charge. IMost 
 of the Missions now have committees which are organizing 
 
203 
 
 their whole educational work into a related system. West 
 Shantung especially is doing efifective work in this direction. 
 One of the first things the new China Council ought to under- 
 take is this question of a consistent educational policy, the 
 establishment and strengthening of the requisite number of 
 auxiliary academies, and the proper equipment of the colleges. 
 
 This policy should, of course, include the related profes- 
 sional schools which are necessary. Referring now only to 
 those with which we are connected, we have four theological 
 seminaries : Peking, in which we unite with American and 
 English Congregationalists ; Tsing-chou-fu, in which we unite 
 with English Baptists; Nanking, in which we unite with South- 
 ern Pre.sbyterians ; and Canton, in which we unite with Can- 
 adian and New Zealand Presbyterians. This is an ideal distri- 
 bution at strategic centers, though other Missions might well 
 be received into these unions. 
 
 Mr. Morris K. Jesup was the donor who gave our Peking 
 Seminary its handsome main building and chapel ; and since 
 his lamented death, Mrs. Jesup has given an endowment of 
 $25,000; while Mr. John S. Kennedy and Mr. John H. Con- 
 verse, both of whom have now been taken from earth, gave 
 residences for professors. The English Baptists have provid- 
 ed excellent buildings for the union Seminary at Tsing-chou-fu. 
 Two good buildings and residences form the convenient plant 
 at Nanking. Canton has one good building and needs another. 
 
 Of medical colleges, we are uniting with American and Eng- 
 lish Congregationalists and Northern Methodists at Peking, 
 and with English Baptists at Tsinan-fu. The.se institutions 
 have excellent equipment, the best of any medical colleges in 
 China. The Christian Association of the University of Penn- 
 sylvania and the Canton [Missionary Society (a local organi- 
 zation ) have medical colleges at Canton, which ought to be 
 united. The new Medical College of Harvard University is to 
 be located at Shanghai, and the English Baptists have a Med- 
 ical College at Hankow. 
 
 Normal schools, training schools for evangelists and board- 
 ing schools ancf colleges for women are an indispensable part 
 of an adequate educational scheme. Dozens of normal schools 
 are needed to train the teachers who are required for acade- 
 mies, colleges and the thousands of primary schools. Hun- 
 dreds of earnest and devout men, who are too old for a full 
 collegiate and theological course, can be fitted for effective 
 pioneer evangelistic work in such institutions as the Protestant 
 Episcopal Training School at Hankow and our own Bible 
 Training School at Chef 00. The educational policy for girls, 
 like that for boys, should include primary schools at out-sta- 
 
204 
 
 tions, 'boarding schools at stations, and a few arts colleges, 
 medical colleges and nurses training schools distributed at the 
 most strategic centers. There are already a great many pri- 
 mary and boarding schools for girls, and we are specially re- 
 lated to the Woman’s College in Peking (one of the institutions 
 of the North China Union Colleges) and the Woman’s Medical 
 College in Canton, founded by Dr. Mary Fulton. 
 
 The missionary body in Qiina is thoroughly alive to the edu- 
 cational crisis in the Empire.' Consideration of the subject at 
 the Shanghai Conference of i8go resulted in the formation of 
 "The Educational Association of China." The reports of its 
 “Triennial Meetings," and its "Monthly Bulletins," beginning 
 as separate publications in Alay, 1907, and in January, 1909, 
 merged into “The Educational Review," are rich stores of in- 
 formation. The China Centenary Conference of 1907, at 
 Shanghai, gave large attention to education and provided for 
 "A General Board of Education.” * 
 
 At the home end, plans for co-operative effort have been 
 made. “The China Emergency Appeal Fund Committee” has 
 been founded in England, and a Committee of Oxford and 
 Cambridge University men, under the leadership of the Rev. 
 Lord William Gascoyne-Cecil, proposes to establish a well- 
 equipped modern University at Hankow, grouping present and 
 prospective colleges in that region on the Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge model, in America, the Committee on Reference and 
 Counsel proposed to the Conference of Eoreign Missions, 
 Boards of the United States and Canada in January, 1909, the 
 advisability of constituting an inter-denominational Commis- 
 sion to co-operate with the General Board of Education ap- 
 pointed by the Shanghai Conference and with the Educational 
 Association of China in bringing the educational needs of 
 China before the people of the United States and Canada, and 
 to aid in securing funds. The Conference, after careful con- 
 sideration, took the following action : 
 
 “Resolved, That the proposal for the appointment of a Committee on 
 tlie present educational needs and opportunities in China be approved, 
 and that this Committee consist of the Committee "on Reference and 
 Counsel with the addition of twelve laymen, not more tlran half of 
 whom shall be members of Mission Boards, these laymen to be chosen 
 by the Committee on Reference and Counsel, and this new Committee 
 to appoint its own officers. 
 
 “Resolved, That the function of this Committee shall be to promote 
 a larger interest in Christian education in China ; but it shall not itself 
 receive or administer funds therefor without further action of this 
 Conference.” 
 
 * Cf. Resolutions and Discussions in "Records China Centenary Missionary 
 Conference,*' pp. 47S sq. 
 
205 
 
 The Committee on Reference and Counsel was fortunate in 
 securing the co-operation of several of the most distinguished 
 laymen of America and the full membership of the Commis- 
 sion is as follows : 
 
 President, Edgar A. Alderman, LL.D., University of Virginia, Char- 
 lottesville, Va. 
 
 The Rev. James L. Barton, D.D., 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. 
 
 The Rev. Thos. S. Barbour, D.D., Ford Building, Boston, Mass. 
 
 The Rev. Arthur J. Brown, U.D., 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
 The Rev. Henry X. Cobb, D.U., 25 Fast 2Jd Street, New York. (Since 
 deceased.) 
 
 The Hon. John W. Foster, LL.D., 1323 i8th Street, Washington, D. C. 
 Mr. W. Henry Grant, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
 President Arthur T. Hadley, LL.D., New Haven, Conn. 
 
 The Hon. Charles E. Hughes, L.L.D., Executive Mansion, .Albany, 
 New York. 
 
 The Rev. Walter R. Lambuth, M.D., D.D., 346 Public Square, Nash 
 ville, Tenn. 
 
 The Hon. Seth Low, LL.D., 30 East 64th Street, New York. 
 
 Mr. John R. Mott, M.A., 124 East 28th Street, New York. 
 
 Mr. George Wharton Pepper, 1730 Pine Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Mr. N. W. Rowell, 46 King Street West, Toronto. 
 
 ^^r. Robert E. Speer, M.A., 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
 The Rev. Homer C. Stuntz, D.D., 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
 The Rev. Alex. Sutherland, D.D., 33 Richmond Street W'est, Toronto. 
 The Rev. Charles R. Watson, D.D., 200 N. 15th St., Philadelphia. 
 President Woodrow Wilson, LL.D., Princeton, N. J., 
 
 The Commission has organized by electing the lion. Seth 
 Low, LL.D., Honorary Chairman; Mr. Wm. Henry Grant, Re- 
 cording Secretary ; and an Executive Committee consisting of 
 Mr. John R. Mott, Chairman, the Rev. Dr. James L. Barton, 
 Mr. Robert E. Speer, the Hon Seth Low, ex-offi- 
 cio as Chairman of the Commission, and the Rev. Dr. Arthur J. 
 Brown, ex-officio as Chairman of the Committee on Reference 
 and Counsel. Lord Wdlliam Cecil recently visited America to 
 confer with the Commission regarding co-operation with the 
 Oxford-Cambridge Committee. The Commission met him 
 and Prof. A. Lionel Smith of Oxford Cniversity in mutually 
 pleasant conference April 19th, and after full discussion, the 
 following minute was adopted as the opinion of the Com- 
 mission : 
 
 "The China Educational Commission of the United States and Canada 
 has heard with great interest and satisfaction the plans for a University 
 at or near Hankow, China, as presented by the Rev. Lord William Gas- 
 coyne-Cecil and Prof. A. Lionel Smith, of Baliol College, Oxford. 
 These plans contemplate a University to be equipped and conducted by 
 Oxford and Cambridge Universities in Great Britain, Toronto and 
 McGill Universities in Canada, and two Universities in the United 
 States; embracing various affiliating colleges or hostels to be equipped 
 and conducted by the Boards and Societies of Foreign Missions which 
 may elect to co-operate with the University, each Society to control in 
 its own way the hostel or college which it provides. 
 
2o6 
 
 “It is understood that the proposed University is not intended to serve 
 all China, but primarily for that part of it in the Upper Yang-tse Valley 
 which is naturally tributary to Hankow, and that the way remains en- 
 tirely clear for the development elsewhere in China of other institutions 
 on the same or other plans as may be deemed expedient by those directly 
 interested. 
 
 “It is understood that responsibility for obtaining and expending all 
 funds, for purchasing, holding and maintaining all properties, and for 
 current expenses of every kind shall reside in the co-operating bodies, 
 and that appeals for funds shall aim at avoiding interference with the 
 regular income of the Societies. 
 
 “It is also understood that the University shall be conducted in sym- 
 pathetic co-operation with Missions of the co-operating Societies, that 
 the President and all Professors shall be Christian men in sympathy 
 with Christian ideals, and that the University as well as the affiliating 
 colleges shall be pronouncedly Cbristian. 
 
 “On this basis, the Commission cordially approves the proposed Uni- 
 versity for the Upper Yang-tse Valley and commends it to the considera- 
 tion of the Universities which have been indicated and the Boards and 
 Societies which have Missions in the territory geographically tributary 
 to Hankow." 
 
 The limits of this report do not permit me to di.scuss this in- 
 teresting subject further at this time. The intellectual awak- 
 ening of the 500,000,000 people in the Far East is an event of 
 unparalleled magnitude and significance, and true statesman- 
 ship will make immediate and constructive effort to provide 
 Christian leadership for it. 
 
 I cannot close this reference to China without expressing the 
 conviction that the individual Chinese is one of the most virile, 
 industrious and self-reliant men in the world. Unaided, he 
 overcomes obstacles and makes his way where many other men 
 fail. He has lacked, however, national spirit. He has not been 
 willing to make sacrifices for the common good. China, there- 
 fore, has been weak and helpless in international affairs, as 
 compared with the compact and united Japanese and with west- 
 ern Governments which are also able to mass their national re- 
 sources for aggressive purposes. But if this individual Chinese 
 were to be inspired with a national .spirit, if he were to come to 
 realize that in union is strength, then the Chinese, with the wea- 
 pons of modern warfare in their hands, and moving, not as individ- 
 uals, but as a united country of 446,000,000 people, would be- 
 come the mightiest power that the world has .seen. This inspir- 
 ation with a national .spirit, this fusing of individualism into the 
 unity of a majestic nation, is now taking place before our eyes. 
 Railways and telegraphs are bringing the widely separated 
 parts of the Empire together. Aggressions of outside nations 
 are awakening irritation and begetting knowledge that union is 
 necessary to preservation. Modern education is kindling new 
 ambitions. Contact with other peoples is widening horizons. 
 Newspapers are proclaiming reform. The Gospel of Christ is 
 
207 
 
 exalting ideals, creating Christian character and strengthening 
 moral purposes. Chinese individuals are 'being welded in the 
 fires of modern life into a Chinese nation. The stupendous 
 magnitude of this transformation dwarfs every other move- 
 ment. Our duty is not to resist it. not to drill armies and build 
 navies for an era of conflict, hut to treat the new China justly 
 and to aid in inspiring it with noble resolve. The Chinese are 
 a peace-loving peo])le : they will not be a "Yellow Peril" unless 
 they are forced to become one by “A White Peril." The oppor- 
 tunity to help China in this period of transition is the no’blest 
 ever presented to the followers of Christ. It calls for men of 
 statesmanlike vision, men of moral leadership, 'men of splendid 
 faith. .And who knoweth whether the Christian men of the 
 West have not come to the kiimdom for such a time as this. 
 
 Our study of Christian opportunites in Asia should not ig- 
 nore the thousands of 
 
 STUDENTS IN GOVERNMENT COLLEGES. 
 
 I visited several of these institutions in Japan, Korea and 
 China, and was deeply impressed by the opportunities for 
 Christian work which they afiford. The number of 
 young men in government institutions in Asia is already 
 very large. Some cities are among the great student centers of 
 the world. Young men in these institutions far outnumber 
 the pupils of mission schools and they are destined to be very 
 influential men. Our plans should not ignore them if we wish 
 to win the leaders of Asia for the service of Christ. 
 
 Comparatively little work of this kind is now being done. 
 Here and there an individual missionary, who has special apti- 
 tude for reaching young men, has interested himself in the 
 government schools near which he happens to be stationed. We 
 know of some special cases of this kind which are very success- 
 ful. Air. Gorbold is making an admirably intelligent effort to 
 reach the numerous student body connected with the Govern- 
 ment University and its allied schools at Kyoto, Japan : and 
 the English Baptist missionaries are conducting a notable work 
 at Tsinan-fu, China, where the genius of Air. Whitewright has 
 built up an institution which surprises and delights the visitor 
 as well as the thousands of Chinese who inspect it. But so 
 far as I am aware, no Board has taken up the matter systemati- 
 cally with a view to formulating policies and methods for con- 
 ducting the work on an adequate scale. The nearest approach 
 has been made by the International Committee of the Young 
 Alen's Christian Association. This Committee and some of 
 
2o8 
 
 its Secretaries have carefully tested the matter in several 
 places and have acquired some valuable experience. They have 
 done enough to show not only the greatness of the opportunity, 
 but the entire practicability of meeting it, if it is undertaken 
 along right lines. The Y. M. C. A. men with whom I talked 
 feel strongly on the subject. Mr. F. S. Brockman, General Sec- 
 retary at Shanghai, who is deeply interested in this subject, 
 writes: “Every day's furtheg thought on the Government stu- 
 dent field and the developments since you were here have tend- 
 e 1 to <leepen my conviction that we cannot neglect this field 
 any longer. A propaganda is now being actively carried on by 
 the Government school students to take some radical action 
 against foreigners. The papers are full of disquieting rumors, 
 all emanating from the Government school students. Circulars 
 are being distributed from Government school students de- 
 nouncing the aggression of foreign Powers, all of which is 
 fraught with possibilities of greatest evil. Notwithstanding the 
 fiery and unruly character of these students, every student ex- 
 periment which we have made on any adequate scale to reach 
 them, shows how open they are to tactful influences.” 
 
 The number of non-missionary schools for young women is 
 not nearly as large as the number of institutions for young 
 men. It is not so easy to reach them, as native custom guards 
 them more carefully and regards with suspicion any effort of 
 outsiders to get into touch with girls. Tactful Christian wo- 
 men, however, can gain access to these institutions. The ma- 
 jority of the missionaries whom I consulted appeared to feel 
 that hostels for young women students are not yet a pressing 
 (piestion in China: but Miss A. Estella Paddock, National Sec- 
 retary of the Young Women’s Christian Associations of China, 
 believes that such hostels are already needed in Peking and 
 Tien-tsin and that the time is rapidly approaching when they 
 should be opened in several other cities. 
 
 There is no (juestion about the accessibility of young men, 
 an 1 the already large and rapidly increasing numbers of stu- 
 dents in Government institutions form a splendid field for a 
 Christian work which ought to be mightily influential. Ordin- 
 ary mission methods are not likely to be successful in reaching 
 this particular class. We shall probably require specially se- 
 lected men and methods and equipments adapted to the peculi- 
 arities of the class to be approached. 
 
 This subject is also one that cannot be wisely handled by 
 any one Board without consultation with other Boards. It is 
 not denominational in its character, and it would be extremely 
 unfortunate if several different Boards were to undertake to 
 meet it by independent action. There would inevitably be du- 
 
209 
 
 plication of agencies and expenditures. Some institutions 
 would probably receive disproportionate attention and others 
 would be wholly neglected. The problem should be studied in 
 a large wav and should be dealt with by united efYorts so that 
 the situation can be economically, intelligently and efifectively 
 handled. 
 
 I do not. therefore, recommend any present action on this 
 subject by our Board, but I have brought the matter to the at- 
 tention of the Conference of representatives of Foreign Mis- 
 sions' Boards of the Ignited States and Canada in connection 
 with my report as Chairman of the Committee on Reference 
 and Counsel. The Conference expressed deep interest and 
 took the following action : 
 
 “Resolved, That the Conference recognizes the importance of making 
 some provision for bringing Christian influence to bear upon the in- 
 creasing number of students in government schools and colleges of 
 .\sia : that the Committee on Reference and Counsel be instructed to 
 make further investigation of the subject in relation to both men and 
 women students, conferring with the Educational .'Kssociation of China, 
 the International Committees of the Young Men's and Young Women's 
 Christian Associations, and missionaries on the field, and reporting find- 
 ings and recommendations to the next annual Conference.” 
 
 The Committee on Reference and Counsel will therefore 
 make a special study of this question and report its conclu- 
 sions and recommendations in due time. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 This report has already attained wearisome length and I 
 must bring it to a close; althongh considerable material in my 
 note books is still untouched. I particularly regret that I must 
 defer a discussion of the problems which southern Manchuria 
 now presents, especially as Presbyterians have come into spe- 
 cial relation with them through the opening of mission sta- 
 tions at Dairen and Port Arthur. i\]r. and Mrs. Thomas C. 
 \\'inn at the former place, and Mr. ami iMrs. Arthur M Bryan 
 at the latter, have begnn a very interesting work among the 
 new and rapidly increasing Japanese population. 
 
 i\Irs. Brown, who accompanied me on the entire jonrney as 
 she also did on the first journey in 1901-1902, joins me in 
 grateful memories of the hospitality which we everywhere re- 
 ceived. Our visits to the missionaries brought us far richer 
 benefit than we could possibly have brought to them. The ties 
 of affectionate personal friendship with the devoted workers 
 in Asia, already strong, were made still stronger by the experi- 
 ences of this tour. The missionary body averages very high 
 in those (jualities which fit men and women to represent the 
 best type of Christian character and ability in the Far East. 
 
210 
 
 They are not perfect, neither are we ; but they come much 
 nearer perfection than any equal body of people that I know 
 at home. They deserve, not pity — they do not want that — but 
 all the sympathy and support that we can possibly give them. 
 Their work is growing so rapidly and their opportunities are 
 expanding so enormously that they ought to have immediately 
 at least double the resources which they are now receiving. 
 The}- are toiling with fidelity superb, with consecration abso- 
 lute and with a love for Christ and their fellowmen which 
 knows no turning back. Loneliness and isolation, illness and 
 bereavement, uncongenial surroundings and inadequate equip- 
 ment dismay them not. Like Livingstone, they encourage 
 themselves in the Lord their God and go forward. They stead- 
 fastly look unto Him and are radiant, and the radiance of their 
 faith has lightened my ])ath when 1 should have lightened theirs. 
 Our thoughts of them should be those of the Apostle Paul for 
 his beloved Philippians, when he assured them of his loving in- 
 terest. his frequent prayers, his unwavering confidence, and his 
 assurance that God had larger blessings in store for them. We 
 who represent them at home should join them in fuller conse- 
 cration to the majestic work to which they are giving their 
 lives. It is of God, and we are co-workers with Him. 
 

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