Q Faji* Far East Leonar d^ A» B, Sourvey of Africaj Italy Japan, Korea, and Southern Asia SURVEY OF AFRICA, ITALY, JAPAN, KOREA, AND SOUTHERN ASIA V.Tsr t. By A. B. LEONARD Corresponding Secretary Presented to the General Committee of F'oreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Albany, N. Y., November lo, 1909 BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 150 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Survey of Africa, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Southern Asia By Corresponding Secretary A. B. Leonard The following survey has been prepared from the standpoint of the workers on the several fields, that the General Committee may have a view of the whole situation as it is seen by those who are most inti- mately related to it. AFRICA Liberia Additional funds are needed for carrying forward the work in Liberia. Several buildings, churches and mission houses, are needed and additional missionaries and native workers are an absolute neces- sity. The heavy native population in the region known as Grand Cess needs very special attention. A native worker gathered 500 members, but they are sadly in need of proper training. A missionary has recently been stationed at that point and a most excellent advance is being made. He has had during the present year about 200 conversions. The early morning prayer meetings are attended by about 200 people and his congregations for preaching services sometimes number 700 persons. The mission buildings are wholly inadequate. A church building is greatly needed. It is believed that if $2,000 could be applied to this work by the close of another year, our membership would number more than a thousand. At another place, known as Plantation, there have been 28 con- versions; at Trembo, where a small chapel is needed, there have been 15 conversions. A chapel could be provided for about $250. A new mission has been opened at a point on the Since River ten miles below our Since Industrial Mission, and here also a mission house is greatly needed. At Beabo, on the Cavally River, eighty miles in the interior, work was opened three years ago, and a native house built, but a more substantial building must be supplied. Here a con- siderable membership is being gathered and a day school has been established. The native African’s sorest need, next to the Christian religion, is to learn to do manual labor intelligently. He has the will and the physical strength to do it, but lacks knowledge. To lead the native African to Christianity increases his wants, which, without increasing his ability, leaves him helpless. The native African is the motive power of the continent. There is plenty of work to be done and no 2 Survey of the Fields 3 one else to do it. We have the land and a partial equipment for an industrial school, but we have no one to take charge of it. A man is now available and the school should be opened. About $1,500 is needed for the salary of the superintendent and the necessary equipment. What is known as the De Coursey property, purchased several years ago, carried a debt of $2,500, which has been reduced to $1,100; this needs to be provided for. Mr. De Coursey died recently, and his heirs insist upon a settlement of the estate. To avoid annoyance at least $500 should be paid on the balance still due this year. There is also a balance of $300 against the mission building at Green- ville, Sinoe County. These obligations would have been cleared off had the Board kept up the property appropriations. There are now in course of erection new churches at four or five different places. There are two or three other places where the corrugated iron for buildings has been ordered. Bishop Scott asks for $5,000 in addition to the appropriation for 1909, which was $15,376. West Central Africa Madeira Islands : Our work here is principally among Portuguese Roman Catholics. The growth of liberal sentiment continues, and it looks as if it would be but a few years until there will be full religious liberty. The battle is not altogether won in Portugal and her colonies, but there is a steady advance. Our work is in four centers, the chief one being Funchal, a city of thirty thousand people. The purchase of a splendid $20,000 property, in the center of the city, has greatly strengthened our work. The work among 'the sailors continues to prosper. The new paper which we are publishing, known as the Voice of Madeira, is having a good circulation. The Sunday school lessons are being published in the Portuguese language, and are being used not only in our own schools in Madeira but in some of the other centers where we have work among the Portuguese in Africa and also in South America. There is great need for a training school for boys and one for our girls. There are earnest calls for the extension of our work in two great island groups — the Azores and the Cape Verde. A missionary stationed in each of these could at once organize a prosperous work. Angola : Our work in Angola during the past year has been characterized by a great spiritual quickening among the missionaries and by conversions among the natives at nearly all of the stations. The work in Angola has never seemed more hopeful. We must go forward with Cary’s motto, “Expect great things from God ; attempt great things for God.’’ At Loanda the Sunday school has doubled during the past year, 203 being in attendance at a recent session. The class room is packed full every Sunday morning at eight o’clock. 4 Survey of the Fields Self-support has been especially emphasized during the past year. The native church at Loanda has been giving $17 a month, out of the scanty earnings of the members, for the support of a church in the interior. At six stations in Angola there have been public burnings of idols, at which people have collected their fetishes and other barbaric emblems of heathen worship, have burned them, and have then fallen upon their faces, asking the missionaries to lead them to God. The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society has commenced at Loanda a building to cost $7,500. It is being constructed of stone, and will be a permanent and good addition to our equipment there. We are hoping to begin new work in the Lubollo country, where ever since Bishop Taylor’s time the way has been open to us. This is but one of the many calls, loud and persistent, where the Kimbundi chiefs and their associates will give hearty welcome and will aid largely in erecting whatever buildings are needed. Requests are coming from the far interior for us to take not only native boys and girls but the children of the Portuguese as well. In a very few years there could be two large training schools, one for boys and one for girls, and if tbe initial expense were met, these could be largely, if not entirely, self-supporting. Amount asked for 1910, $18,100; appropriated for current year, $14,201; increase a.sked, $3,899. East Central Africa The growth in membership and in native stations and native workers during the past year has been phenomenal in spite of the small number of workers, some serious governmental complications, and the usual difficulties in the development of a complex work in new and distant fields. Inhambane District : In the Inhambane District, in Portuguese East Africa, there has been a great year’s work accomplished. The Mission Press at Inhambane has had a prosperous year. Nearly half a million pages have been piiblisbed. Printing is done in six dif- ferent languages. Papers are published in English for distribution in America, in Portuguese and in three native languages for use on the field, and occasionally in Swedish for use in representing the work in the Sweden Conference, which is supporting two missionaries. Through the arrangement made by Bishop Hartzell with the Portu- guese government, we are to print the Sunday school lessons, primary text-books and other literature in the Portuguese language for the use of the mission. There is an immediate need for $1,500 to add another press and other printing equipment to meet the growing de- mands for printed matter. The complications with the Portuguese government were adjusted by Bishop Hartzell last summer, so that our 71 mission stations in that district have been published in the official bulletin of the province as Survey of the Fields 5 centers for religious instruction, “in accordance with the rules and regulations and dogmas of the Methodist Episcopal Church.” This is probably the first time that such an agreement has been officially approved under the Roman Catholic Portuguese flag. We have secured a Portuguese gentleman, a classical graduate from a Portuguese university, as one of our workers. He has been soundly converted, has had experience in religious work, and will be a great help in assisting our missionaries in the mastery of the Portuguese language. He is a member of a wealthy and prominent Portuguese family. The growth in membership during the year has been large. Native men come to Inhambane, four and five days’ journey, bringing re- quests from native kings that missionaries be sent to their people. We ought to have three more missionaries and their wives at once, and with these reenforcements, we could easily take under our care and instruction ten thousand people and bring them to Christ during the next four or five years. Rhodesia : The work among the English-speaking people in this colony has made steady advance during the year. The last Conference session was held in our English church at Umtali. Saturday afternoon the citizens of the town gave the bishop and the Conference a reception in the public park, which was a social event of large significance as indicating the appreciation of our work that is felt among all classes. This work among the European English-speaking people is a strong factor in our influence with the government and with the business and social in- terests of the country. The growth of the work among native Africans continues to be encouraging. The cooperation of the government is cordial and effect- ive. Grants of money are given to all the schools, wherever the proper grades are maintained. Government inspectors visit all our mission schools and report upon them, and the reports thus far have invariably been to our credit. We are securing grants of land, and up to date have over thirty thousand acres, located in several strategic centers extending as far as one hundred and fifty miles from our chief center at Umtali. As a rule, these lands are donated. In coming years they will be valuable, and each will be a center of a large mis- sionary work. At Old Umtali, our chief center of native work, we had at the last report 120 boys and young men, and there were 75 girls in the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society school. The boys work half of the day on the farm. During the past year the entire expense of maintaining the boys was covered by the income from farm products. The Industrial Mission School received several premiums for the finest agricultural exhibits at the recent agricultural fair. At another industrial center a special silver medal was given for raising the first broom corn in 6 Survey of the Fields that section of the continent and for manufacturing brooms. The governor of Rhodesia sent a special prize to the judges to be given to the exhibitor who had the best general exhibit at the fair, and our mission received this prize also. The school at Old Umtali is thoroughly graded, and there are depart- ments for the training of teachers and Christian workers. The regular instruction is in harmony with the government regulations, while for the preparation of our religious workers we have special courses in training for Christian teaching and preaching. In the girls’ school there is also training in industrial and Christian work. We are making one hundred thousand bricks for a new building for the boys’ training school. The work at the out-stations, some of them more than a hundred miles distant from Umtali, is growing in strength of organization and efficiency. Recent reports from the government officials who have visited the schools are favorable. In Rhodesia we have the same experience as in the other colonies ; native chiefs are sending to us from long distances and asking us to establish work in the midst of kingdoms of thirty and forty thousand people where the gospel has never been preached. The native population as a whole in this section of Africa is not as large as that for example in Zululand, further south. But with good government and better conditions there is being repeated what has occurred in sections to the south : the native population is rapidly increasing. From every standpoint the work in this part of Africa is exceedingly hopeful, and with an increased number of workers and better facilities multitudes can be gathered into the fold of Christ. The last session of the East Central Africa Mission Conference was the best since the opening of the work in Rhodesia. Ten years ago this part of the continent had one Methodist Episcopal missionary, a few native members, and no property. The last report showed 22 missionaries, 137 native workers, 3,956 full members and probationers, 77 Sunday schools and 5,113 scholars, 67 churches with a valuation of $46,045; 93 day schools with 3,156 pupils enrolled, and a total property valuation of $176,380. The increase in membership and in enrollment at day and Sunday schools during the past fourteen months has been fifty per cent. The growth, while phenomenal for a new field, is healthy and there has been everywhere a conservative estimate in the recognition of members. Amount asked for 1910, $20,065; appro- priated for current year, $16,065 ; increase asked, $4,000. American Mission in North Africa The developments of the work in North Africa show that God is still providentially leading. The chief event during the last year was the appointing of the Rev. Edwin F. Frease, D.D., for twenty years an efficient missionary in India, as the superintendent of our mission work in North Africa. He has entered with enthusiasm upon his work. Survey of the Fields 7 in Algiers we have over 250 girls and women, mostly Mohammedans, under our instruction and care. Evangelistic work has also been commenced in the city. The immediate need in Algiers is for mis- sionaries to organize a French church. We have in view a man and wife, masters of the French and of one or two other languages, who are ready to take up this work when the money is available. Outside Algiers the people in Algeria, among whom are the greatest openings for immediate and future successes, are the Kabyles, who number eight or nine millions. In one section of the mountainous region, where some independent missionaries from England have developed a good work but are not organizing churches, these mission- aries have offered to us several converted and trained Kabyle workers. Doctor Roesch is in that field and is already preaching in the Kabyle. With Doctor Roesch and these native workers the missionary activity among these Kabyles ought to develop with larger rapidity than in most Mohammedan work. It is our plan to select the most strategic center in that field and enter upon the work which will, without much doubt, prove one of great significance and success. It looks as if it is through these Kabyles, descendants from an early Christian population, people who are at present Mohammedans, that our greatest work in North Africa is to be done. In Tunis, the work is well established. We have a Bible depot, regular services, and careful visitation among nearly one hundred families to whom we have access. There should be at once at least two new missionaries to occupy strategic centers which have already been investigated and to which we are called. This brief statement gives an inadequate conception of the signifi- cance of this movement of Methodism to do her share in winning to Jesus North Africa with its ninety-one per cent Mohammedan popu- lation. Careful investigation leads Bishop Hartzell and Dr. Frease to conclude that in the movement to win the Kabyles in North Africa the Methodist Episcopal Church is attacking the most vulnerable and strategic place in the Mohammedan North Africa stronghold. The Board has made no appropriations for this work. Bishop Hart- zell was authorized to open it two years ago, and it has been main- tained through special gifts secured by him. He asks the General Mis- sionary Committee for an appropriation of at least $5,000. ITALY The most pressing need of our work in Italy is our property debt, especially the debt on the Rome building. A strong, determined effort to remove this obligation should be made at the earliest possible mo- ment. It would be a real boon if the General Committee could decide to appropriate a fixed amount toward this debt annually for a series of years, or until it is entirely extinguished. Another urgent need is our theological school at Rome. Our mis- sion is suffering at the present time because of the practical suspen- 8 Survey of the Fields sion of this scliool during recent years. It was reopened last autumn and an unusually promising class of young men entered at the begin- ning of the fall term. The number of students is restricted. Only those giving highest promise of service are accepted. More funds are needed for salaries of teachers and support of students. The work in Italy has been greatly affected by the earthquake at Messina. This disaster caused great suffering and distress to many thousands of people and aroused the deepest sympathy of our congre- gations. Hence the chief activity has been charity among their own people. Three thousand orphans were left destitute and many of them have come from Protestant families. Quite a number of these have been taken into our different schools. Notwithstanding these distrac- tions from the ordinary course, the work has gone on and there have been a number of conversions. At the Annual Conference it was re- ported that there were 765 persons now on probation, which by no means represents the total number of conversions. The increase in full membership was 185 ; 70 deaths occurred during the year, an unu- sually large number. More than ever before members of our congre- gations both north and south are emigrating to America, so that the church in Italy is constantly contributing to the strength of the church in America. There are 2,142 scholars in our Sunday schools, an in- crease of 160. The Conference has appointed a special secretary for Sunday school work, and particular attention is being paid to the development of this branch of the work. The total amount contributed by Italians for the support of the work in Italy this year is $4,144, and the benevolent collections amount to $3,280, making a grand total of $7,387.60, or an average of $2.45 per member. A committee was appointed at the last Conference to study the problem of self-support, and, every effort will be made during the year to develop more rapidly than heretofore the resources of our congregations. A profound sensation was produced last December by the conversion of Professor S. F. Sforzini, a Catholic priest, canon of the cathedral at Macerata, editor in chief of the Review of Reviews of the Catholic clergy. On the evening when he gave his first address in our church in Rome, announcing the reasons for his conversion, the building was crowded with an audience of a thousand people. Copious extracts of his address were published in the principal papers of Rome. Professor Sforzini impressed all who have met him as a man of unusual power and ability. He is now in the theological school as a student, and is preparing himself to take an active part in our work in Italy. Signor Dardi, superintendent of the Adriatic District, has been devot- ing himself especially to temperance work. In the course of three months more than 350 women came to him for advice concerning members of their families. The pledge was signed by 77 men, 26 women, and 17 boys over ten years of age. The educational work goes well. Upon the whole the outlook for the work in Italy is hopeful. Survey of the Fields 9 Amount asked for 1910, $75,070; appropriated for 1909, $55>3i2; increase asked, $19,758. JAPAN The attitude of the Japanese people toward the gospel is very favor- able. There is no opposition by Buddhist or Shintoist, but a marked imitation of Christian methods of activity and assimilation of Chris- tian ideas. The Bible and Christian books have a wide circulation. The Anglo-Japanese alliance and new treaties, and the good under- standing with America, directly and powerfully influence the whole nation toward Christianity. The Japan Methodist Church is now two years old. The two Annual Conferences have each met twice. Bishop Honda has demonstrated his ability as a leader, preacher, evangelist, and educator. In these two years 3,313 have been baptized and some churches have become self-supporting. The increase of contribu- tions is very encouraging. The evangelistic spirit is also active. The native churches, including the Methodist, are asking the mother churches for additional missionaries. The development of the work not only taxes all the native workers but overburdens the missionaries. The new understanding as to evangelists and their relation to the native church, whereby they can develop new work and look after weak charges, is working admirably. The American Board Mission asks for twenty families ; the Canada Methodist Mission has requested six- teen families. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has done like- wise, and our West Japan Conference asks for reenforcements in the same proportion. It is claimed that the mission of the mother churches in Japan is to help the new church fulfill its duty in the evangelization of the nation. At the end of the first half century the Methodist Church of Japan can claim one fourth of the Protestant Christians and two fifths of the schools arid pupils in Japan, and a first place in educa- tional affairs. The total number of Methodists in Japan is 16,301. Bishop Harris says : “At this time special consideration should be given to the conditions of South Japan. Kagoshima is vacant, and there is not one missionary in South Kiushiu. In Loochoo Dr. Schwartz is alone. Ten new families are needed for Kiushiu and Loochoo. In Korea one family is needed for the Japanese Mission. There are now about 150,000 Japanese in Korea.” The schools are flourishing and approximately providing two thirds of their own support, foreign teachers not counted. But these schools greatly need further aid. A school with five hundred students requires a larger missionary force to do the foreigner’s work and to hold the school steady to Christian ideals than did the same school when it had two hundred students. The schools of no other mission in the land attract greater attention or can have higher grade results than ours. But we are falling behind the government schools in equipment. Our Publishing House in Tokyo is the only institution of the kind and grade supported as a mission enterprise in the country, and com- mands to some extent the patronage of all other missions of this field. lO Survey of the Fields reaching into Korea and Formosa. It is approved and rejoiced over because it is a Christian institution, doing $50,000 worth of business yearly. But it has many non-Christian competitors backed with large capital. The institution greatly needs financial assistance from. the home church. If provision is not made, its life will be sapped and it will be either killed or driven into merely commercial lines of work. The taxes, insurance, and repairs of the mission property throughout Japan must be kept up or great loss will be sustained. Last year the press had only $200, and this year it could have nothing. Relief must come from some source. It is hoped that this General Committee will be able to furnish the needed assistance. East Japan. Amount asked for 1910, $52,619; amount received for 1909, $39,896; increase asked, $12,723. IVcst Japan. Amount asked for 1910, $48,415; amount received for 1909, $22,604; increase asked, $25,811. KOREA The question of division of territory between the Presbyterians and our mission has finally been determined to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned. The new arrangement will end all reduplication and overlapping and stop waste, and hasten the evangelization of the country. Our mission must now occupy adequately its territory and vie with our Presbyterian brethren in taring for our respective fields. We have one missionary to 32,063 population; they have one to 30,172. Their total force is 116 missionaries, while ours is 63. They have 3,500,000 people to care for and we have 2,000,000. The Catholics and Anglicans are not parties to this arrangement. The only fear is that our church may not be able to maintain a force large enough to care for this large population. The spirit of unity and mutual helpfulness is regarded as almost ideal. The union college and academy at Pyeng- yang closed its best year last June. Under the new constitution there have been harmony and most satisfactory results. This institution enrolls about four hundred pupils, all of whom are Christians and most of them workers. The theological class conducted formerly by the two Methodist Episcopal Missions has been largely attended. This coming year the class will be given four solid months of training. The whole number under instruction is 160. Our day schools number 194, with 5,728 pupils. There is a universal demand for Christian education. The school buildings have for the most part been built by native Christians. There are 597 churches organized, and only 323 buildings for wor- ship, leaving 274 congregations unhoused. The past year has been notable for ingatherings. The total number of baptisms was 4,788, while more than 20,000 are being prepared for baptism. The total number of enrolled members, probationers, and inquirers is 43,814. The prompt action of the Board authorizing the outgoing of mission- aries and the increase of the appropriations last year by $10,000 by the Survey of the Fields II General Committee met a crisis and saved our mission from disaster. For 1910, Korea calls for at least ten additional families, and after that gradual reenforcements. The relation of the authorities to our work is most cordial and helpful. During the year all mission schools have been carried on under the rules of the educational department of the government, and have been granted entire freedom to read the Bible and Christian books. Bishop Harris says : “The conditions are now entirely favorable. Law and order are enforced. The people move nearer the kingdom yearly. Confucianism is dead. Buddhism is dead. Only their worship of spirits lives. But, thank God, the people are poor in spirit and ready to possess the kingdom of heaven. The contributions last year amounted to 65,000 yen, or $32,500.” SOUTHERN ASIA North India The North India Conference takes in that part of India lying north of the Ganges River, which extends through the mountains to Tibet. It includes the great pilgrim roads to the many mountain shrines to which the people from all over India go to worship. An important part of the work of the North India Conference is to reach these people as they go and come, and thus there is opportunity to spread the gospel far and wide. The work extends along the borders of Tibet, where there is a community of Christians. They work among the pilgrims and traders. The traders are largely from Tibet; they camp on their journeys to the plains with their merchandise, and our workers teach them Christianity and distribute among them Christian literature in the Tibetan language. Thus they are sending the gospel into all parts of what is sometimes called the closed land, and a number of Tibetans have been baptized. All the great centers where our missionary work originally began are within the bounds of this Conference, such as Bareilly, Budaun, Moradabad, Shahjahanpur, Lucknow, and Sitapur. In this Conference there are 11,256 Christian children of school age, of whom 5,652 are in school. For 1909 the amount sp'ent on day schools was $5,173, and on boarding schools $5,727, and both of these sums need to be materially increased. They ask for building purposes as follows: Bishop Parker Memorial High School, Moradabad, $5,000; Bareilly Theological Seminary, $5,000. For two years the trustees have been urging the necessity of new dormitories for the Bareilly Theological Seminary, both on account of health considerations and the urgent need of increased accommodations. Bishop Warne during his recent visit to America was able to secure pledges for a large part of the sum needed for the erection of a hostel for unmarried students. They also ask for $5,000, with which the erect a church at Shahja- hanpur. This was estimated for last year but could not be appropri- ated. The need for a church in this place is very great. 12 Survey of the Fields There are very encouraging openings among the people known as the Chamars and the Sainsiyas in Oudh, the latter a strong and rugged people who, because of their propensity toward brigandage, have been kept under strict surveillance by the government. They make splendid Christians when converted. The growth elsewhere has been more than normal. The workers are limited only by their resources. This Conference contains most of the institutions of our church in North India, and thus, although their roll of missionaries seems large, a considerable proportion are doing work which benefits other Conferences as much as their own; yet the expense falls on this Conference, and to that extent uses up funds which could otherwise be used in evangelistic work, to which only ten of the missionary force can devote their time exclusively. A special plea is made for an appropriation of $S,ooo to supply the needs of the Bishop Parker Memorial High School. The most im- mediate and pressing need of the school just now is in connection with the boarding department, that is, dormitories for Christian boys. The present boarding house is very small and can accommodate only about 120 boys, although they have crowded into it 150, and even as high as 160, and they have turned away from 100 to 160 boys every year for the last three or four years. Besides, the present boarding house is in the native city, and is located in such a wa'^ ‘i-’at there is no room for expansion, and the boys are exposed to the influences of the bazaar, which are very bad. The buildings now occupied are poor and not fit for human habitation. They were built years ago and have been crumbling here and there, so that repairs are very difficult. It is proposed to erect a building three hundred feet long the city where it will be impossible for bazaar influences to reach the boys. The cost of this building will be $25,000. They desire to build not merely for the present but for the future. It is important that the building shall be far enough along to be occupied by next July. They cannot depend upon the government for anything. The importance of the school is not likely to be overestimated. A community of 30,000 Chris- tians look to the school for the education of their boys, and the parents are beginning to realize more than ever before the real value of education. Amount asked for 1910, $88, coo; received for the current year, $62,200; increase asked $25,800. Northwest India The Northwest India Conference, in addition to having a large share of the United Provinces, includes the great states of Rajputana and the Punjab, with many important centers. The Punjab has a population of about 25,000,000, or five times the population of the Dominion of Canada. This is regarded as one of the ripest fields for missionary work to be found anywhere, and yet in it we have but one district. Last year there were 2,682 baptisms, and this after most care- ful selection of candidates. At the end of 1908 there were 14,100 Survey of the Fields 13 Christians in the Punjab, most of whom have been gathered into our church during the past five years. In all sections of the country people are coming to us for teachers. A native preacher declared to his superintendent that he could bring a thousand converts before the ensuing District Conference would meet. There is a vast mass move- ment among the people known as the Chamars, in the neighborhood of Delhi. There are at present over 3,000 under instruction, 2,000 of whom could be baptized at once if we could promise them schools for their children. We cannot finance even the primary schools, that would for the present suffice. In the part of the Punjab where our work lies there are 648,200 Chamars and a population of 1,026,300 Churhas (sweepers), all of whom are not only accessible but moving toward Christianity. The same can be said of Meerut, Roorkee, and Muzaffarpur Districts, where there are Chamars numbering 10,000,000. To give an idea of the kind of Christians these people make, the district superintendent reports that at one point where a number of people were seeking baptism, having promised never again to worship idols, drink spiritu- ous liquors, or give their children in marriage to non-Christians, they were asked if they were aware of the persecutions that awaited them, and were reminded of instances where persons had been beaten to death, and were informed that a like fate might be in store for them^ they were asked whether they could endure it all, and they answered, yes, saying they knew all about it and they would not forsake their faith no matter what persecutions might befall them. In another place where murrain had broken out among the cattle, which was attributed to the wrath of the village idol because these villages refused to pay it the usual homage, about fifty of the Inquirers were seized and tied and mercilessly flogged, they rejoicing that they were worthy to know the fellowship of His sufferings. In another neighborhood there are eighteen villages in which Christian inquirers are living, at least 200 of whom were ready for baptism. Pointing to a picture of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, the native pastor said: “That is what we are doing.” When asked to explain he said: “You see, sir, many Brahmans and other high-caste people visit me, and when they see this picture they taunt me with the word, ‘You never do such lowly work.’ My reply is, that is exactly our work. You claim that the Brahmans spring from the mouth of Brahma, the Chaltris from the arms, the Bishias from his thighs, and the Sudras from his feet. Well, we are making India’s feet clean.” Amount asked for 1910, $57,339 ; amount received for the current year, $31,625; increase asked, $25,714. Bombay In this Conference, with its vast opportunities and unbounded scope for evangelization among more than 30,000,000 people, there were over 1,300 baptisrns last year. Twenty years ago an accession of such 4 14 Survey of the Fields number to the Christian community would have been a startling feature of its statistics, but the number is smaller than usual, considerably below that of some previous years, owing to a depleted missionary force and insufficient support for the work. The work in the Bombay Conference, which spread so rapidly in the 90’s and during the opening years of the present century, has reached a stage in its development in which it is taxing the faith, patience, and wisdom of the missionaries to the very utmost. The widespread mass movement in the northern section of the Conference some years ago struck the comparatively new mission before it had become equipped with sufficient strength and resources to provide adequately for such a movement. It was weak in comparison with northern India by reason of its lack of experienced ministers and trained Indian workers. And at the time the movement began there was in exist- ence no proper provision for developing it on sound, healthy lines. The missionaries, few in number, nobly rose to the occasion. They took hold of raw material and worked it into a fairly efficient evangel- istic force. The area of rapid expansion was affected more or less injuriously by successive periods of famine and plague. In a single recent year the plague carried off some 1,400 Christians in one district, but the work of thoroughly Christianizing a mass of 18,000 or 19,000 people just out of the horrible pit of gross heathenism went on. From the time of the organization of the Bombay Conference in 1892 its appropriations, by some misunderstanding, fell below the proportion- ate amount to which as a Conference it was entitled. So from the be- ginning it was handicapped financially. Then came the readjustment of the finances of the Indian empire, by which the purchasing power of one dollar was reduced by nearly twenty-five per cent. Add to this the successive blows inflicted by famine and plague, and the fact that no appropriations for building were available, and it is easy to see that the missionaries were sorely embarrassed. Appropriations insuffi- cient for the ordinary work of the Conference before the mass move- ment became lamentably inadequate to provide for the great ingather- ing. Every dollar of the appropriations that could possibly be spared was devoted to the care of the thousands of new disciples, the support of evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc. In administering the Conference finances it became an increasing battle with chronic insufficiency. The missionaries believed that times would improve. They felt sure that help would come. They consid- ered that they owed it to the church whose servants they were to care sufficiently for the work which had so wonderfully developed on their hands. As no appropriations for erection of schools, churches, chapels, preachers’ houses, and other needed buildings were available, they felt justified in organizing a special board to secure land, to erect needed buildings, and place the work on something of a satisfactory basis. Hence the Conference has been obliged to incur considerable indebted- ness. Unfortunately, the hopes of the missionaries have not been Survey of the Fieujs 15 realized. Special gifts for support of workers and orphans have been withdrawn; appropriations have not materially increased. No grants for property have been available. The missionary force has been decreased. Special gifts have fallen off and workers and orphans have been left without support. Institutions are being closed, property is being sold, and work as successful and as promising as any under the direction of the Board of Foreign Missions in any part of the world is steadily crippled for lack of financial help. In view of all these untoward circumstances it is scarcely necessary to say that the Bombay Conference stands badly in need of a substan- tial increase in its appropriation. In the great city of Bombay with its million inhabitants our church has but a solitary missionary engaged in vernacular work. The Board does not own a single building of any kind in Bombay. Pending the arrival of increased appropriations, the missionaries have struggled hard to help themselves; but they have come to the end of their ability. As already stated, the Conference from the date of its organization has suffered special disadvantages. It needs every dollar that is asked. A single institution, the Nadiad Technical and Engineering Institute, probably the very best of its kind in all India, ought to have about half of the whole appropriation to care for its valuable work. Professor Beach, of Yale, who recently visited that institution, declares it is the best of its kind that he has seen in any mission field. It is being starved to death, and its indebted- ness will crush it unless help is forthcoming. The possibilities in the Bombay Conference are without limit. Our church has gotten a good grip on the whole territory. With reenforcements and a suitable increase in appropriations they could secure an unrivaled position in western India. The debts of this Conference give the missionaries very serious concern. One difficulty is that valuable mission property, most useful for our purposes, is often valueless to the public, and would not realize, if sold, anything like the amount expended originally. This does not apply to the large cities but is largely true of buildings owned in the smaller stations in the country. Omitting the Thoburn House in Bombay, which is on a different basis from our mission property in general, the last audited balance sheet shows the following interesting figures; Total value of real estate owned by the mission exclusive of church property held by English Church trustees 573,815 rupees ($191,272). Total liability against same, for which the mission is re- sponsible to banks and private parties, 330,954 rupees ($110,318). Ex- cess value of assets over liabilities, 242,861 rupees ($80,954). Their total loans payable amount to 331,530 rupees ($110,510). About one third of these loans have been obtained from banks, the remaining two thirds from private parties. Two of our mission properties in Bombay would probably realize enough if sold to pay the loans from the bank. There is, however, no probability of being pressed for payment unless a panic were to set in, when the position of the Finance Committee would be i6 Survey of the Fields serious indeed. The estimated value of the Thoburn house is 250,000 rupees ($83,333), with an indebtedness of 187,000 rupees ($62,333). It is more than paying its way, even though they pay 10,000 rupees ($3>333) per annum for interest, and the debt is being slowly reduced and gives no concern. What gives real concern is the large loans that have been made to erect mission houses, schools, churches, etc., with the hope that the home church would help repay these loans in the near future. It is because the fondly cherished hope of financial relief is not realized that there is serious alarm. They are compelled to go on paying heavy interest. As long as the appropriations cannot spare a penny from the support of the current work the only thing they can do is to keep on adding interest to principal, thus constantly increasing the indebtedness, while the prospect of relief from the church at home grows no brighter. The missionary force is inadequate to the work and the present force is being depleted. They do not dare to ask for reenforcements. The development of the work is being sadly affected. Amount asked for 1910, $96,134; amount received for the current year, $22,775; increase asked, $73,359. Souths India South India embraces the Madras Presidency, with its tributary states of Hyderabad and Mysore, and the Belgaum District of the Bombay Presidency. The area is 265,000 square miles, and the popula- tion over 60,000,000. The promising work of this great Conference is carried on in four different vernaculars: Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, Hindustani. The last is exotic in Southern Asia, but the ruler of the Hyderabad State and most of the officials are Mohammedans, whose language is Hindustani. It is among the Telugus and the Kanarese that the great advance in recent years has been made. On the Raichur and Belgaum Districts large numbers of Kanarese people have come over to Christianity, and are still coming. The paucity of yvorkers and the lack of funds compel the missionaries to go slowly, otherwise it would be possible to baptize thousands of these simple-hearted, earnest Kanarese villagers, where hundreds now receive the ordinance. Truly in sections of this Con- ference the harvest is ripe as well as great. But, alas ! the laborers are few. In the Hyderabad District alone, where the work at first moved slowly but where God is blessing abundantly at the present time, in three years the Christian community has more than trebled, increas- ing from 1,402 in 1906, to 5,240 in September, 1909. The increase in the last year was about seventy per cent. Baptisms in 1906 numbered 268, and in nine months of the present year 2,086. Pupils in day schools rose from 455 to 850. The total contributions for all purposes advanced from 5,916 rupees to 8,680 rupees and the value of all property exclusive of indebtedness from 155,550 to 232,318 rupees. An encouraging feature of the work in South India is the willing- Survey of the Fields 17 ness of the people to hear the gospel message. Christian tracts and gospel portions are widely distributed and eagerly received. Acces- sions are mostly from the lowest caste; in some places there is every reason to believe that each succeeding year will witness a breaking down of barriers, so that circuits which have up to the present yielded comparatively meager fruits are certain to witness great ingatherings. The immediate needs of this Conference are occasion for very serious embarrassment. The lack of missionary residences in stations such as Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Bangalore, and Madras, is a serious handicap. It means that heavy rents must be paid which might be used to send out evangelists among the people, and provide for orphans and students in our institutions. Persistent effort for self-develop- ment and help on the field are not wanting, and the Conference as a whole is giving increased attention to this important matter. One of the most notable successes of the past year has been that of the Madras Publishing House. Besides meeting all of its current expenses it has paid a large amount of interest, and has substantially reduced its debt. The local Publishing Committee has recommended that an effort be made to raise some $50,000 to erect a new block of buildings on the valuable site owned by the press, which would be a source of income through all the future. Mention should be made of the Baldwin Boys’ High School at Bangalore, generally regarded as one of the very best of its class in all India. A splendid addition to this fine plant has been made during the year in the shape of a large three-story building known as Oldham Hall, which greatly increases the facilities for caring for the large number of boarders who patronize the institution. If the remaining debt on this .fine property could be wiped off and a modest endowment provided, the school could go forward to still larger success. Amount asked for 1910, $48,547; amount received for 1909, $23,775; increase asked $24,772. Central Provinces This Conference with its practically unlimited possibilities is just beginning to find itself. Comprising many millions of unevangelized people within its own territory, it lies strategically favorable for large conquests because of its central position. Through its territory run the great trunk railroads to the Punjab, the United Provinces, and Bengal. The Methodist Episcopal Mission is suitably located for wide- spread advance in the near future. Jubbulpore on the north, Khandwa, Barhanpur, and Sironcha on the south and west, and Nagpur, Raipur, and Jagdalpur on the east are centers from which ripe harvest fields and fruitful territories may be reached with ease. But its little force of less than a dozen missionaries face a work opening before them far too vast for their efforts and resources. During the past year there were some 700 baptisms, and the number of Christians passes the 5,000 mark, having doubled itself in five years. More than 2,400 youths are being educated in our boarding and day schools, and over 6,500 are i8 Survey of the Fields instructed in Sunday school. The value of property has risen from 503,318 rupees to 518,854 rupees, on which there is an indebtedness of 22,620 rupees. The total raised for self-support and all benevolences advaiiced from 13,203 rupees to 14,008 rupees. Among the happenings of the year was the retirement of Dr. T. S. Johnson after an unbroken missionary service of forty-six years. As a careful financier and successful administrator he has had few equals in our entire missionary force. His retirement has left a vacancy not easy to fill. During the past few years he has done double work, superintending two districts, and for a time acting as mission treasurer. Dr. Johnson has the distinction of being named the “property getter.” The death of the Rev. C. B. Ward left an extensive mission work unprovided for, which occasions considerable embarrassment. As an independent missionary, Brother Ward held a somewhat anomalous relation to the mission. He was, however, a loyal Methodist and a member of the Conference, and although he went to the field as one of the Bishop William Taylor self-supporting missionaries he became a recognized missionary under the Board of Foreign Missions. He rendered signal service as a pioneer, and as his work was supported mainly from outside the Methodist Episcopal Church his death led to the withdrawal of support and considerable financial confusion. The property left is reported to have cost 150,000 rupees. There is a debt of about 66,000 rupees. The several properties were held by Brother Ward in the name of the Transit and Building Fund Society. Last year the Board offered to take over the indebtedness, provided the Finance Committee would consent to charge the annual interest to the appropriations of the Central Provinces Conference. But the Finance Committee could not see its way clear to adopt the plan, as their appropriations are not large enough to carry forward the regular work. Something ought to be done to save this property, as it is very valuable. If the General Committee should advise the Board to advance the sum needed, allowing it to run three years with- out interest, it is probable that the debt might be provided for. The needs of this vigorous Conference are many and urgent. Several additional missionaries ought to be speedily provided to fill vacancies and relieve overworked men. The doors stand wide open, but funds and workers are lacking. The sum of $5,000 for the new high school building at Narsinghpur should be provided at once to meet the most inviting opportunity, an opportunity that will slip away unless we avail ourselves of it speedily. The East Ohio Conference has pledged $10,000 to establish a Biblical Institute for the training of native preachers, as a memorial to Bishop Thoburn. A number of students are already enrolled and systematic instruction began some months ago. No feature of the work is more important than the training of workers so that they may be wise winners of souls and builders of the church. Any one of the four districts of this Conference could easily distribute the whole appro- Survey of the Fields 19 priation within its bounds. On every hand buildings are needed to carry on the institutional work that gives permanency and strength to the operations of the mission. Amount asked for 1910, $38,332; amount received for 1909, $17,131; increase asked, $21,201. Bengal The extent of territory embraced in the Bengal Conference has not been affected by the recent political division of this great province into two — Bengal, and Eastern Bengal and Assam. The population of this great and needy mission field in northeastern India is about equal to that of the United States, 85,000,000. Of this vast host not less than 15,000,000 depend for their evangelization upon the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is worthy of note that within the bounds of this single Conference there is a Mohammedan population of over 23,000,000 of fairly accessible people were our church prepared to take up the work among them in real earnest. Some districts of the Conference are the most densely populated on the face of the globe, ranging from 900 to 970 to the square mile. Through the fertile plans of Bengal the mighty Ganges winds its ever-widening way to the sea, and from our northerly mission outpost, Darjeeling, magnificent views of the loftiest mountains in the world are obtainable. Three of the greatest industries of India find largest development in Bengal — coal, jute, and tea. Calcutta, the stately capital, rapidly becoming one of the most beautiful cities in the Eastern world, is the seat of the imperial government and also of the government of Bengal. Its million of inhabitants are among the most intellectual and highly educated people of the empire. Several changes in the personnel of the missionary force of the Con- ference have occurred during the year through furlough and transfer. Important readjustments have been made in the management and work of the Methodist Publishing House, and measures are now under consideration for broadening the scope and improving the financial basis of the educational work in Calcutta and Darjeeling, which it is hoped will largely increase its efficiency. Our official paper, the Indian Witness, has recently taken on new strength and retains its position as the leading missionary organ of the empire. The extensive build- ings erected in the metropolis in connection with the work of the Rev. D. H. and Mrs. Ada Lee add greatly to the facilities for the effective training of workers. Thoburn Church, home of the English- speaking congregation, is bravely endeavoring to measure up to its great opportunities. Wholly self-supporting, it reaches out a helping hand in numerous directions. Collins Institute, with which the Theo- logical Training School is closely connected, has had a year of con- tinued prosperity. When all the plans for its equipment are realized Collins Institute will be a tower of strength to the work of our Mis- sion in Bengal. Gratitude is due to Mr. Robert Laidlaw, M.P., for his munificent contributions to the educational work among Anglo- 20 Survey of the Fields Indians and Eurasians, a needy community all too largely neglected. Measures have been taken to place this work on an altogether better footing. It is hoped that the government and the British public will support the movement for improvement. The transfer of the Union Church at Darjeeling to the care of the Methodist Episcopal Church carries with it sundry important advantages. So far as widespread, aggressive, successful evangelistic effort among the masses of the people is concerned, the Tirhoot District has yielded the most encouragement during the year. In this thickly populated region large communities have been touched, and hundreds have been gathered into the Christian fold, many of them coming up out of great tribulation and proving their sincerity by the fierce per- secutions endured. Accessible castes in this district, numbering many thousands of souls, are certain to become Christians in the near future if we take hold of them in time. But here, as in many other places, the funds to support evangelists and teachers to instruct these waiting peoples are not forthcoming. As is well known, Bengal has been the fans et origo of the serious political agitation of the past three or four years. Here have been hatched the anarchist plots and here have been manufactured the deadly bombs. But with the exception of a few sporadic cases of local trouble between Hindus and Christians, destitute of any real significance, no deliberate hostility to Christianity has been manifested. The time is particularly opportune for aggressive advance in Bengal. Would that it were possible to enable the loyal band of Methodist missionaries in that fair province to do all that is in their hearts ! The estimate for 1910 is properly considerably in advance of what they receive this year. Amount asked for 1910, $27,025; appropriated for 1909, $17,025; increase asked, $10,000. Burma There are at present but four missionaries in Burma supported by the appropriations made by this General Committee. Two missionaries are supported almost entirely by their own work. For several years the Finance Committee has been asking for an increase in the staff of missionaries, but the request has not been granted. By the end of 1910 some of the missionaries will be entitled to furlough, which will leave the work badly crippled unless new missionaries are sent out so that they may have an opportunity to get acquainted with the situa- tion before the experienced missionaries leave the field. The educational work of the mission is better cared for than the . evangelistic. They now have 1,260 pupils, involving an expenditure of nearly $10,000, of which only $250 is from the appropriations. These schools furnish a fruitful field for evangelism. Most of them are self-supporting so far as running expenses are concerned, and some are badly in need of funds for building and equipment. A site and $700 have been granted by the government for the school at Syriam, Survey of the Fields 21 and probably $500 can be raised locally, but these sums will lapse unless they can be supplemented with an additional $2,000 from the appropriations. The evangelistic department of the work is regarded as being the most important. Their greatest problem is the develop- ment of a native ministry, not an easy task at best, but exceedingly difficult of accomplishment without the resources for a training school. They very greatly need an additional missionary residence, for which they ask the sum of $3,000. The religion of the Burmese is of a higher grade than that of most non-Christian people, and they are also more intelligent, which fact seems to make it more difficult to displace their present faith and bring them to acknowledge their need of the atone- ment of Jesus Christ. Amount asked for 1910, $31,423; amount received for 1909, $10,025; increase asked for 1910, $21,398. MALAYSIA The Malaysia Conference spreads over the entire Malay peninsula, with a population of 2,000,000, the island of Sumatra with a population of 4,000,000, Java with a population of 32,000,000, and Borneo with a population of 4,000,000. Of this territory the Malay peninsula, with the islands of Singapore and Penang, is fairly well equipped and mission stations are found at regular intervals. In Sumatra there is but one mission station, at Palembang, a town twelve miles long located on both sides of a river. The population is very mixed — Chinese, Malays, Arabs, Tamils, and a few Dutch. A school operated in all these languages is carried on and the prospect of success is encouraging. Negotiations are in progress with the Dutch government for a recognition of our school work. In Java we occupy a territory containing about 2,000,000 people, with a single mission station outside of that territory, the nucleus of 3,000,000 more. The mission stations extend from Batavia, the capital, to Surabaya, the chief commercial port. In Borneo our missions are in Sarawak, a country governed by an Englishman. There are four districts — Penang, the Federated Malay States, Singapore, and Netherlands Indies. In the first three districts there is a chain of Anglo-Chinese schools holding about four thousand boys and young men. These schools are entirely self-supporting, not a cent of missionary money being invested either in the plant or salaries, and from these schools is going a continuous stream of comparatively well-educated youths, all of whom are filled with Christian ideas, and many of whom are being baptized. These schools hold a position among the Chinese outside the Chinese empire equal to that held by any school among the Chinese within the empire. A profound impres- sion is being made upon the Chinese people through this agency. Several of these youths are now in China holding important positions. Another feature of this work is the Chinese colonies, consisting of Christians imported from the poorest part of Southern China to the 22 Survey of the Fields comparatively rich lands of Malaysia. These colonies are prospering, and the high teaching of civilization is being illustrated in their conduct. The opening of great rubber estates is bringing a very large popula- tion from India, and while we are doing what we can among these the situation calls for an increase of agencies. There is an urgent call for missionaries ; our numbers should be added to by at least two married couples. The Netherlands Indies District is new work, but is, perhaps, the most promising evangelistic field in the Conference. In Borneo there is as fine a specimen of agricultural missions as may be found in Methodism. One thousand Chinese, whose numbers will rapidly double, to be followed by an ever-increasing stream, are finding comfort and prosperity in the rich alluvial lands of Borneo, and here at least is an area in which no Chinaman smokes opium or drinks spirits, but where every family is at least nominally Christian and Methodist. Another missionary skilled in industrial work, to plant a similar industrial school as well as to help in religious teaching, is needed. “In five years,” Bishop Oldham says, “this mission will carry itself.” In Java ninety-six per cent of the people are Mohammedan, and so Methodism meets Islam with the direct claims of the gospel. We have already baptized more Moslems in Java than in any purely Moslem field of similar type of Moslems on earth. Recently Bishop Oldham visited the mission and preached in Malay to a large company, among whom were Mohammedans, and had the privilege of baptizing several of these on an intelligent profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Java needs a medical missionary, with a small hospital, and provision for giving practical training to all whom we prepare as preachers and deaconesses. There is promise of an early movement such as has not yet been witnessed in any purely Mohammedan land. In West Borneo there has been a remarkable movement. Here is a colony of cocoanut growers, and among these over 400 have been enroll^ in the membership of the church. The Dyak and some savage Bugis arc being taught by these colonists, and the promise in western Borneo is large. It would be difficult to find any mission area with more fasci- nating problems, economic, social, and religious, than Malaysia. The Methodist Episcopal Church is writing in actual history such a volume of high Christian endeavor among these mixed races as will make a permanent contribution to the world’s history. Amount asked for 1910, $32,818; amount received for the current year, $21,380; increase asked for 1910, $11,438. The Philippines The Methodist section of the Philippines is the greater part of the northern end of the island of Luzon, from Manila to Aparri, which lies at the mouth of the Cagayan valley, the great tobacco-growing district of the island. Survey of the Fields 23 There are three districts — Manila, Central, and Northern. These hold a population of 2,000,000. The success of our mission has been very great. The statistics show a membership, including probationers, of 29,910. Nor does the movement abate. Contrary to our forecast, the people seem as willing to hear as ever, and larger numbers are to be found at the services than in the earlier days. Mere curiosity has passed away, and the abiding hunger for the truths of the gospel seems to deepen. In Manila there are three large churches and a number of small chapels. Recently on a Sunday evening 3,500 people were to be found in these places of worship, and at the big church at Cervantes, and in the next largest one at Tondo, 150 were bowed at the altar seeking pardon for their sins. The year has been marred by the Zamora defection, which took with it two of our Conference men and several local preachers, with, perhaps, one thousand members. It is gratifying to know that the membership is about as large now as it was before the defection. At latest report a successful revival meeting was in progress and the people were coming to Christ by scores every week. In the Manila District a serious attempt for the evangelization of the Zambales Prov- ince has been entered upon through the generosity of Dr. Dick and Mr. Bohrnstedt of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Manila is located the Florence B. Nicholson Bible Seminary, where the Methodists, United Brethren, and Presbyterians unite in training native preachers. The experiment has so far been a great success. There is now a student body of 51, two thirds of whom are Methodists. The Seminary will presently seek regular official sanction as a joint seminary for all evangelical missions in Luzon and as a possible beginning of a university movement which will also seek to include all the Protestant bodies. The Woman’s Foreign Mis- sionary Society has two prominent institutions — the Harris Memorial Deaconess Training School and the Mary Johnston Memorial Hospital. The Central District, with 1,000,000 people, of whom 15,000 are Methodists, is in some regards the most promising field in all our work. If its missionary force could be doubled, this district alone would produce an added membership of from 5,000 to 10,000 a year. There are now three missionaries and a district superintendent — four men for over one million people. The Northern District, comprising the provinces of Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and the great Cagayan valley, is one of the most inviting territories in all the foreign mission work. The Ilocano is perhaps the best man in the Philippine Islands, while the Pangasinan is found in such numbers, and is so comparatively free from Roman ascendency, that it is absolutely true that our progress is only conditioned by the number of our workers. Here we have four missionaries, one of whom is also the district superintendent, and is in poor health. The district is hard to travel and these men are overburdened. No word of com- plaint is heard from their lips, but their worn and spent condition cries 24 Survey of the Fields out for help in that part of Asia where alone the stars and stripes are afloat. These two millions of people have been given to us to evan- gelize. What we fail to do no other nation can attempt. The needs in the Philippines are first, more men, three more at least. A mission house is needed in the Cagayan valley, one in Vigan, one in Malolos, and one in Zambales. A hospital is needed in Dagupan Province, hostels for high schools, an industrial school for hoys at five provincial centers and $S,000 a year for the printing of free liter- ature. Bishop Oldham says: “If we are to attack our job here in earnest and keep faith with God who has given us these people as he has given us no other people in foreign lands, we must at least double our work.” Special mention should be made of our press in Manila, which was founded in 1901. From a few hundred pounds of type and necessary tools it has grown to six presses under an American manager, with forty Filipino workmen employed. It now has a business house, sales- room, book-binding department, photo-engraving department, compos- ing room, a press room, with a business approximating $1,000 monthly. In eight years it has become one of the best publishing houses of Methodism in the foreign field. It is now sending out tracts and book- lets printed in six languages and amounting to millions of pages annually. It is printing and distributing the Philippine Christian Advocate in five languages, issuing 60,000 copies with 5,000 pages annually. It is printing and circulating the monthly Sunday school lessons in four languages, and is also printing literature for the Pres- byterian Mission, the United Brethren Mission, the Christian Mission, the Episcopal Mission, the American Bible Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the Bible House in Los Angeles. For the latter was issued recently an edition of 50,000 64-page booklets, illustrated Bible stories, being verbatim selections from the Scriptures. This edition alone contained 3,200,000 pages. The psospects are bright for the future. The house is numbered among the substantial business concerns of Manila, and is located in the heart of the business district in a building valued at $18,000. Millions of people speaking many languages are eager to receive all the literature that can be sent out. The building needs to be paid for. They also need money for new machinery consisting of a medium-size cylinder press, a power perfor- ator, a new punching machine, and a ruling machine. They greatly need five thousand pounds of body type and two thousand five hundred pounds of job type. They are in great need of funds to assist in paying the expenses of the Philippine Christian Advocate, issued in four dialects. The profits from job work are all needed to pay expenses. Recently the Publishing Committee was compelled to cut down ex- penses on the Advocates. Amount asked for 1910, $53,655; amount received in 1909, $25,900; increase asked, $27,755.