JRepott of-tbe 
 deputation to the 
 jfar East, X907 
 
 n)6. Tsioi..' 
 
 Bmetican ^Baptist /flbidefonats xnnion 
 ^orO JSutlOtng, JBoston, il&aeaacbusette 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 I N company with Corresponding Secretary Henry C. 
 
 Mabie, D. D., and Rev. M. D. Eubank, M. D., of the 
 East China Mission, fourteen ministers and laymen from 
 different parts of the country visited China and Japan 
 last spring, for the purpose of viewing for themselves the 
 work done by our missionaries, as well as the opportunities 
 presented for larger service in the lands where they are 
 working. The visit originated in the wide interest awak- 
 ened among individuals and churches in present condi- 
 tions in the East, and the special occasion of their jour- 
 ney was the Morrison Centenary Conference at Shanghai, 
 China, commemorating the one hundredth anniversary 
 of the beginning of Protestant missionary effort in the 
 Chinese Empire by Robert Morrison. The laymen, be- 
 sides representing the Missionary Union, were also mem- 
 bers of the Centennial Commission of the Laymen’s Mis- 
 sionary Movement. Several wives and other women 
 accompanied the party, making our Baptist delegation 
 the largest of any in attendance at the conference. The 
 members of the deputation visited our missions in East 
 and Central China and Japan. They also met some of the 
 missionaries from South China and the Philippines. 
 
 Twelve of the fourteen ministers and laymen traveled 
 together most of the time, and by request of the Execu- 
 tive Committee they have submitted the subjoined report. 
 This, with the recommendations which it includes, has 
 been carefully considered by the Committee and will be 
 submitted to the Board of Managers. It does not exag- 
 gerate the powerful appeal which the new conditions in 
 the lands visited, as well as conditions in other great 
 fields in which the work of the Union is conducted, present 
 to those upon whom its work is dependent. 
 
REPORT OF THE DEPUTATION 
 TO THE FAR EAST 1907 
 
 The Executive Committee of the American Baptist 
 
 Missionary Union, Boston, Mass. 
 
 Gentlemen : — In accordance with the request 
 made in your letter of March i, and addressed to 
 us as representatives of the Missionary Union, and 
 also in fulfilment of our commission as clergymen 
 and laymen representing directly and by appoint- 
 ment certain Baptist churches and Baptist organiza- 
 tions of the United States, we submit to you an 
 account of the impressions received and the convic- 
 tions formed by us, based upon our personal obser- 
 vations during our visit to oriental lands, together 
 with such recommendations as our inquiries and 
 investigations have convinced us are important and 
 necessary to be made. 
 
 Our visit to the mission fields in China and Japan 
 has been brief but comprehensive. During the pas- 
 sage across the Pacific we were favored by the pres- 
 ence on the steamer of a large number of mission- 
 aries and missionary secretaries. Through the media 
 of public lectures twice each day, and by many con- 
 versations and consultations with individuals and 
 with groups of men who are thoroughly conversant 
 with conditions and needs on the foreign fields, as 
 well as by frequent discussions among ourselves, 
 we were prepared for an intelligent consideration of 
 the problems of work in the general field. 
 
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We have visited Japan and China; w^e have met 
 and held personal interviews with hundreds of mis- 
 sionaries ; we have inspected hospitals, schools and 
 chapels ; we have seen our own Baptist missionaries 
 at work upon their fields ; we have talked with them 
 and with native preachers and teachers ; we have 
 studied the mission work of other denominations in 
 various localities ; we have held prolonged confer- 
 ences with the representatives of the Missionary- 
 Union laboring in Japan, East China, Central China, 
 South China and the Philippines ; and we have at- 
 tended the gatherings of the Centenary Conference 
 in Shanghai. 
 
 We are profoundly impressed with the loyalty 
 and genuine consecration of our missionaries. They 
 are laboring today in heroic and self-denying activ- 
 ity in the service of the Master. Though they live 
 their lives in the midst of the strongholds of sin 
 and superstition ; though surrounded by difficul- 
 ties and perplexities of the most trying character ; 
 though constantly encountering problems which tax 
 both brain and heart, these servants of the King are 
 animated by the spirit of faith and true courage. 
 They are proving themselves worthy in the highest 
 degree of the confidence of all Christians, and are 
 exemplifying in their service the spirit of our glo- 
 rious Lord. 
 
 We wish also to record our appreciation of the 
 faithful work of the Missionary Union in the face of 
 such conditions as have seldom, if ever, been hith- 
 
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erto encountered by missionary boards on foreign 
 fields. This is especially true of the work in the 
 Chinese Empire, where the uncertain and vacillating 
 methods of the government, as well as the conserva- 
 tive attitude and unresponsive character of the peo- 
 ple, have presented at times, in this epoch of early 
 development in missionary endeavor, situations of 
 unprecedented seriousness and intricacy. We real- 
 ize that continued patience, prudence and devotion 
 have distinguished the Executive Committee and 
 the officers in charge of the administration of our 
 missionary enterprise. 
 
 THE FIELD AND ITS OPPORTUNITIES 
 
 Day by day in our travels and investigations we 
 have realized profoundly the fact of the beginning of 
 a great awakening in China. Never in the history of 
 this empire, from the days of Morrison until now, 
 has there been manifest such genuine interest in 
 Christian missions by the official and influential 
 classes, as well as by the masses of the people. The 
 door is open. The mind of the Orient is alert. The 
 heart of the East is filling with a new affection. 
 The gospel has really gained a strong foothold in 
 all parts of China. Until recently it was difficult to 
 give away copies of the Scriptures. Now the Old 
 and New Testaments are largely purchased and read 
 by thousands of men and women of China. The 
 missionary has been the pioneer, and is today the 
 leader in the introduction of all that is best in 
 
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Western civilization to the nations of the Orient. 
 The Boxer Movement accomplished more than any 
 other single event has done to open the Chinese 
 mind to the claims of Christianity. The object les- 
 son afforded by the martyrdom of thousands of na- 
 tive Christians, who suffered death in consequence 
 of their refusal to recant or abjure the principles of 
 our most holy religion, has made an ineradicable 
 impression upon all thoughtful Chinese people. 
 
 In Japan the men of vision are coming to under- 
 stand that religion alone, that only the one true 
 true religion, can bulwark their nation in effective 
 and abiding strength. On every hand one meets 
 expectancy and hope. It is a time of vast changes 
 and swift promise. We are convinced that never 
 before in the history of the nations of the earth has 
 the Christian Church faced such difficulties and such 
 opportunities. It behooves the forces of Jesus Christ 
 to be up and doing. One hundred years of seed 
 sowing, of prayers and tears, of gifts of both men 
 and money, have whitened into a harvest for God 
 and truth. 
 
 THE GENERAL NEEDS 
 
 I. In view of these facts, and as a result of our 
 study of conditions, we are firmly convinced that 
 our entire missionary enterprise in the East must be 
 established upon a larger and more progressive 
 basis. Our equipment and our working force must 
 be immediately increased in order that we may meet 
 the pressing demands which confront us. Inten- 
 
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sively and extensively a more aggressive policy 
 should be inaugurated. In our educational and med- 
 ical work we are occupying a position lamentably 
 inferior to that of other great church organizations. 
 
 2. There is heed also of more complete coopera- 
 tion among the missionaries on the respective fields. 
 Under existing conditions any policy of isolated and 
 independent effort in individual fields is sure to 
 result in inefficiency and failure. The way of 
 strength lies in combination and coordination. 
 
 3. In connection with this inauguration of a 
 broader policy at home and a more effective coop- 
 eration abroad, we desire to emphasize the necessity 
 for a close supervision of the entire field. We there- 
 fore most strongly recommend the appointment by 
 the Missionary Union of at least one superintendent 
 of missions for China, Japan and the Philippines. 
 There are administrative problems of the most deli- 
 cate and severe character in connection with our 
 work in these countries at the present time. Our 
 able and efficient Secretaries are untiring in their 
 zeal and effort ; but the simple fact which we must 
 consider is the utter impossibility, under existing 
 conditions, of managing the work of these many and 
 important missions from a base of operations 8,000 
 miles away. Intimate personal contact with the mis- 
 sionaries and their fields on the part of the Execu- 
 tive Committee through a chosen representative is 
 vitally necessary. 
 
 It is essential, in our view, that a strong man, 
 
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gifted with the finest executive powers, should be 
 placed in this field. Even to delay this matter for 
 a year or so would mean peril. The superintendent 
 should spend at least nine months of each year in 
 the territory under his care. He should know thor- 
 oughly the peculiar needs of each section. He should 
 counsel with individual missionaries at their respec- 
 tive stations. He should meet in conference groups 
 of men representing the various fields. He should 
 confer with the reference committees and other local 
 organizations. He should be constantly alert and 
 anxious to receive such information and instruction 
 as the experience of the missionaries will supply, 
 and use it wisely in the prosecution of his tasks. He 
 should suggest plans of enlargement, outline meth- 
 ods of work, and secure more hearty and complete 
 cooperation among missionaries whose spheres of 
 labor are contiguous. He should encourage and in- 
 spire workers in isolated and remote districts. 
 
 4. In every department of the field from which we 
 have heard reports there is manifest a crying need 
 for educational advance. In order that the mission- 
 aries, through the presence and employment of a 
 larger force of trained natives, may themselves have 
 more time for reading and study on the one hand, 
 and for broad and constructive executive work on 
 the other; in order that the number of native 
 preachers may be greatly increased ; in order that 
 the native churches may be guided towards self- 
 support ; in order that, through the growth of the 
 
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stronger churches toward a condition of self-sup- 
 port and their increasing independence, the weaker 
 churches and new interests may be developed ; in 
 order that a more virile and intelligent type of Chris- 
 tian character may be everywhere secured, and for 
 many other reasons, it is necessary that the elemen- 
 tary schools, the boarding schools, the academies 
 and the training schools should be reenforced, and 
 that first class colleges should be established and 
 vigorously manned in the near future. 
 
 5. In view of the fact that the cost of living in 
 Eastern countries has greatly increased within the 
 past few years, and in view, also, of the fluctuation 
 in the rates of exchange, we believe that the salaries 
 of the missionaries in active service should be sub- 
 stantially increased. We suggest also that the whole 
 question of salaries of missionaries, both on the field 
 and on furlough, be considered anew by the Execu- 
 tive Committee. We believe it to be important that 
 the policy of graded salaries be carried much further 
 than at present, and that the size of the missionary’s 
 family, the extent of his preparation for his work 
 and the character of his service be some of the 
 determining factors in the fixing of salaries. 
 
 SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 In addition to the general needs which apply more 
 or less fully to the entire territory under considera- 
 tion, we beg leave to submit the following specific 
 recommendations : 
 
 e 
 
1. We recommend that the reports from our fields 
 in East China, South China and Central China, here- 
 with submitted, and containing detailed estimates 
 of the amounts necessary to establish these missions 
 upon a stronger and more effective basis, receive 
 your very thoughtful consideration. 
 
 2. We recommend that the territory called the 
 Szyap country, between Hongkong and Canton, 
 whose needs will we understand be brought to your 
 notice by the Foreign Mission Board of the South- 
 ern Baptist Convention, be occupied as soon as pos- 
 sible by the Missionary Union, such a strategic 
 movement being essential to the proper expansion 
 of our influence in South China. 
 
 3. We recommend that the proposition of the 
 China Baptist Publication Society in Canton, carry- 
 ing with it a plan of union with the southern Bap- 
 tists in publication work, be approved, and that the 
 necessary appropriations be made by the Executive 
 Committee. 
 
 4. We recommend that the missionaries in Japan 
 be requested to submit to the Executive Committee 
 a unified and carefully coordinated plan of activity, 
 and an estimate of the amount required to place our 
 entire work in that country on a broader and more 
 satisfactory basis. We further recommend that the 
 special attention of the Executive Committee be 
 given to this field. 
 
 5. We recommend that the work of medical mis- 
 sions be enlarged. We are convinced that in order 
 
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to attain due effectiveness we must provide more 
 liberally for this phase of missionary endeavor. Our 
 need is not so much a question of big hospitals as of 
 hospitals well equipped. Medical missions under 
 wise management are proving to be a most import- 
 ant means of helping and interesting the people. We 
 believe that any plan which contemplates the giving 
 of medical education to the Chinese should be con- 
 ducted as a union movement. 
 
 APPEAL FOR A CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN 
 
 In order that it may be possible to meet the needs 
 to which we have called attention, and carry out in 
 full the recommendations submitted by us, we ask 
 that a campaign be immediately undertaken in the 
 entire field of our Baptist constituency in the north- 
 ern states, and that by every possible means the 
 claims of the Orient be made known to our people. 
 In view of the recent Centenary Conference we urge 
 that, in addition to any other campaign for funds 
 that may now be under consideration, plans be laid 
 and most vigorous efforts be put forth for securing 
 a fund of half a million dollars to be known as the 
 Centennial Fund, for the adequate equipment of our 
 missionary enterprise in China, Japan and the Phil- 
 ippine Islands. We also recommend that by means 
 of personal interviews ; parlor conferences ; public 
 meetings ; special sessions at ministerial conferences, 
 associational gatherings and state conventions ; ser- 
 vices of prayer and missionary rallies in churches 
 
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and elsewhere, as well as by such other means as 
 may suggest themselves, the crucial importance of 
 this undertaking be set forth vividly and powerfully. 
 We recommend also that by hearty cooperation with 
 the Laymen’s Missionary Movement the sympathy 
 and the interest of the business and professional men 
 of our denomination be definitely enlisted in behalf 
 of the Christianization of the Orient. 
 
 In view of this visit to the East, we stand ready 
 as individuals to cooperate most heartily with the 
 Executive Committee. In this prosecution of any 
 plans which may be adopted, having for their aim 
 the conduct of the campaign such as has been rec- 
 ommended, we will gladly assist to the extent of 
 our ability. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 AUSTEN K. DE BLOIS, Chicago, 111. 
 
 EDWARD H. HASKELL, Boston, Mass. 
 
 WILLIAM H. WAITE, Providence, R. I. 
 
 EDWIN S. OSGOOD, Chicago, 111. 
 
 J. HENRY HASLAM, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 FRANK A. SMITH, Haddonfield, N. J. 
 
 JOHN W. LYELL, Camden, N. J. 
 
 DAVID P. LEAS, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 MAURICE PENFIELD FIKES, Franklin, Pa. 
 
 LLEWELLYN L. HENSON, Providence, R. I. 
 
 C. H. WATSON, Arlington, Mass. 
 
 S. W. WOODWARD, Washington, D. C. 
 
 The Astor House, Shanghai, China, May 3 , 1907 . 
 
 675-1 Ed.-3m-November 1907 
 
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