COPYRIGHT 1913, BY HANFORD CRAWFORD To the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Brethren: In making this report on my recent trip to the mission fields in response to your very kind request by resolu¬ tion, in September, 1912, I feel impelled to call attention to what might otherwise be considered important omis¬ sions. First, there will be no attempt at chronological order; to do this would necessitate much repetition of things perfectly familiar; second, my desire will be to discuss only questions which are as yet unsettled or to express opinions which perhaps have hardly as yet come to free discussion. In prosecuting my inquiries, as we traveled from place to place, it was an embarrassment not to have a more per¬ fect catalogue, calendar or list, of the names of mission¬ aries of the Methodist Episcopal Church representing the Board of Foreign Missions and the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. Some of the other Boards issue pamphlets in which the names of all missionaries are classified, both alphabetically and according to their sta¬ tions. In this way, it is easy to find the location of a mis¬ sionary for whom one may be looking. On the other hand, when looking for the name of a city or station, it is a great help to see the complete list of missionaries. Concert of action between the Board of Foreign Mis¬ sions and the Executive of the Woman’s Foreign Mis¬ sionary Society surely could produce lists of this kind, which would be as helpful as are the Calendars of the Presbyterian and of the American Boards. It is needless to say that every step of the way brought me face to face with things that were new to me, but which, on reflection and enquiry, I find are by no means new either to the Secretaries or to the transactions of your Board. It is, however, only right for me to con¬ firm and emphasize what, doubtless, other independent observers have said; that the position of the Christian — 3 -— /BMsstonatE Calendar Cburcb influence Church on the foreign mission field, whether judged by its relations to government or to society, by its actual number of members and adherents, or by its general in- fluence, is very much more important, more real, more noticeable, and more permanent than is generally believed in this country. The numerical membership of the en¬ tire Christian Church in foreign countries represents only a small part of its position and its power. The problems met on the foreign field are not unlike 3ficlD6 those we know here at home; in fact one parallels the ?Uike other more often than we think. Language, Custom, Costume and Climate differ and sometimes confuse; but the essential problems of preach¬ ing, teaching, housing and shepherding—all the work of redemption—-these have hardly an essential feature abroad that can not be paralleled at home. It is this fact that emphasizes the importance of closest co-operation and harmony in thought and action between the forces on the field and the managing agencies at home. Neither is infallible. Mr. Fred B. Smith, Mr. Raymond Robins, both assert emphatically, that, in their recent world-circling tour for Men and Religion, they found men everywhere thinking of the same problems that engage us here; so it is after all one great uniform problem in applying the Gospel to darkened minds and souls in every clime. Prof. A. C. Boggess, of Lucknow, in his recent book, says that Americans who have lived many years in India, affirm that “no one is so well able to appreciate the features of Indian daily life that will be of interest to those in other lands as the new arrivaL ,, HpolOQ^ May this be at least one apology for my report. Its observations may not be profound; and may sometimes be inaccurate; but they are recent, genuine and my own. JBaeis ot Counting myself, by ancestry and personal history. IReport a loyal Methodist, it was of interest to note, comparative¬ ly, the missions of other churches, their workers and 4 their results; and this report, whatever its shortcomings or defects, or however crude its expressions may be, is the result of actual conferences regarding the mission¬ ary cause with more than four hundred individual mis¬ sionaries ; naturally these were mainly of our own church, but upon careful calculation I find they represent the missions of twenty-seven different boards or societies. These societies are: United Presbyterian, American Congregational, English Baptist, Reformed, Orient, Free Church of Scotland, Methodist Episcopal Church. Wesleyan Church, British & Foreign Bible Society, Presbyterian North, English Congregational, Church Missionary Society, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Lutheran, German Pioneer Mission, Woman’s Union Mission of N. Y., Methodist Episcopal Church South, Y. M. C. A. Y. W. C. A. American Bible Society, Presbyterian South, American Baptist, Protestant Episcopal, Basel, Friends’ Society, Salvation Army, Methodist Church of Canada. Out of the comparison of these agencies at work might come many minor criticisms anl many sugges¬ tions of minor importance. These I shall not attempt to enumerate. It is, however, worth one’s while to stop and consider what is unquestionably a fact and ask: Gwo Queries Why does the Young Men’s Christian Association on the field have an influence or reputation or predominant voice of leadership, entirely out of proportion to the money that is spent by this Association ($300,000 per year) or to the numbers of its paid American or English representatives? Their men receive no larger salary and allowances than do our average married missionaries. Is it the character of the men it sends out or the fact that it is the only representation of thoroughly federated work among the churches; or is it because it works to redeem the whole man socially, physically, mentally and spiritually? It is conceded by everybody, and by none more read¬ ily than by themselves, that the work of the Young Men’s Christian Association is based upon a half cen¬ tury of advance work already done by the Christian Church. But the results of their work, even granting everything that is claimed against them, justify serious attention to their men, their methods and their purposes. The Salvation Army is another branch of the service in regard to which there is much diversity of opinion here at home; probably not less than in the foreign field. But I have only to mention Harold Begbie’s two books on the Salvation Army in England and in India, to show that thinking men dare not disregard so tremendous a movement. An illustration from our own field is per¬ tinent. While I was in Java, endeavoring to make up my mind how we could hope to fulfill our duty, as the only Protestant Missionary Association at work among so many millions of people, I noticed the activity of the Salvation Army and heard many expressions of approval from government officials and Netherlander engaged in business. While I was there it happened that the Dutch Gov¬ ernment appropriated twenty-four thousand guilders (about $10,000 gold) to build and equip a hospital at Samarang; and turned the money over to the Salvation Army officers to invest and manage. Is it possible that — 6 — the great Methodist Episcopal Church could not have handled this money quite as efficiently? And, ought we not to have been on such terms with the government that our church would have been considered the natural chan¬ nel through which this philanthropy could be adminis¬ tered? It is my impression that there is not much differ¬ ence in the length of time that the two organizations have been at work in this field; but our church surely has a century the advantage in history, membership, stability and responsibility. From what I have seen within the last two years, visiting Mohammedan work in North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, India, the Malay States, Java and China I am impressed that the Methodist Episcopal Church has hardly made a beginning in preparation for the contest with Islam. In the Eucknow Conference, of all denominations, on the Mohammedan question, in 1911, our church approved the union school to be established at Cairo, Egypt, for the preparation of missionaries to Mohammedan countries. If we have taken any great part as a church in helping to start that school, I do not know of it. If we have any great Mohammedan missionaries, regarded by the general church as experts in this line, their names do not occur to me. There are indications in India and China that access may soon be had to Mohammedan circles; but it is other religious associations and allied movements that have secured this, fully as much as our own or any other church mission. I believe that our new school at Jerusalem should be in some way related to the school headed by the disting¬ uished Dr. Zwemer, at Cairo; thus giving that school the support which we owe it and to which it is entitled, and we in turn receiving from it the benefit of the experi¬ ence of its strong band of teachers. We have in our church no men to compare with them so far as I know; and it will take many years to develop such a staff; and this staff, already provided, is adequate for our joint needs. Ifelam — 7 — finance It is said by some of our missionaries on the field that they spend so much time in trying to supplement by special gifts the amounts which they receive from home, that they frequently have not time to properly attend to their own work. It is clearly proven that the exaggerated attention paid to special gifts has resulted to the detri¬ ment of regular forms of work and of the sums received in our general collection. It was brought to my attention on the field in more than one place, that the missionary who, while at home on furlough or in correspondence from the field, could secure the largest amount of money in special donations was most popular with and likely to be voted for by the pastors or teachers whose salaries or other demands were provided from these privately collected funds. Just how this is to be corrected is difficult to say; but it is one of the great problems of the new Commission on Finance. The Methodist Episcopal Church South does not al¬ low its missionaries to solicit from the field. They must report any such desire or intention to the home office for its attention; yet their work, buildings, their men and their women are among the best cared for and best equipped and housed on the entire field. The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of our Church does not allow its representatives to personally solicit from the field; and their bills are paid with model promptness. Debts Whatever the rules of our Board of Foreign Missions may be regarding the accumulation of debt, it has been in the past true that debts were contracted without permission, approval or knowledge of the Board. The rules of other boards in this respect are either more rigid, better understood or better enforced. I believe the incurring of a debt on the foreign field without the explicit permission of the Board of Foreign Missions should be impossible. If the Board fails to keep its promises there may arise a current deficiency, but that should not be possible be¬ yond the termination of any fiscal year. — 8 — What we call redistribution on the field is in some other boards attended to at the home office; and in my judgment our Board might well do the same. Except the limited amount which is contingent for re¬ pairs or for new work, actual division of the money should be definitely determined as far as possible in the United States and not left to the discretion of the missionaries on the field. The forces on the field would welcome such a decision; as it would save them much perplexity and very much responsibility. It would also result in clarifying and simplifying the work of the General .Missionary Committee at its annual meet¬ ing. The Board of Managers should make a statement of the names of the regular missionaries and their salaries, the regular charges for interest, rent and maintenance of our mission properties and further set down each in¬ dividual sum for which we are absolutely pledged on the foreign field. It will then be found that there really is but a relatively small sum of money left in regard to which the General Missionary Committee has any other than the most formal function or authority. Of the $1,500,000 of all kinds appropriated by the Gen¬ eral Committee in any recent year, the great bulk is a positive charge, which cannot vary, unless we are to default on our obligations, as we do every time we make a cut in a missionary’s salary. If the Church at large knew that the General Missionary Committee when it came together, after all really had but a few hundred thousand dollars to pass upon as to how it should be expended, would not the real poverty of our efforts for new work be more strikingly apparent? When active missionaries and institutions have been on the field for several years and are doing acceptable work, it is really no longer a question of appropriation; they are a fixed charge and the approval of them by the Committee after presentation by the Board of Managers should be a matter of form, hardly open for discussion. i — 9 — General Committee Self Support JSconom^ or Xsffictencg; mamcb? If the spirit of this suggestion could be adopted, the General Committee would have far more time to consider principles and plans; and there would be no accident by which the total amount sent to a Foreign Conference, through error in bulk calculations turned out to be less than was needed for the mere salaries of the regular settled missionaries. Salaries, interest, and rent are in all commercial transactions considered a prior and irre¬ ducible lien. Should the Church be less sensitive to ob¬ ligation? On the other hand, the question of self-support should be very carefully studied anew and supreme effort be made to push it to the maximum result. Opinions of missionaries on the field differ in regard to this question. I he Board at home, after conference in the most thor¬ ough manner, should adopt a policy for each field and firmly insist that all missionaries treat the question ac¬ cording to the standard set for the district in which they work. In a geenral way our Board is spending each year $1,500,000 and the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society $800,000. At 5 per cent, this would be the income of an invested fund of $46,000,000. Truly an enormous trust placed in our care. What administration of this fund should we strive for? A cheap administration or an efficient administration? fhere can be no question but that a truly efficient ad¬ ministration of the money, with all possible regard for economy, should be the aim of the church. Great effort is being made by the present Secretaries and the Board to increase the efficiency in the expenditure of money; and I wish to emphasize the necessity of some of the expenditures for this purpose that they have felt forced to make. We should know where every penny of our money goes on the foreign field and we should know that it reaches the place for which it is intended. It is equally important we should know what the money does, after it reaches the field. If we pay a salary do we get its equi- -10 — valent in resultful efficiency? If we pay rent for a building, do we get an equivalent result from the build¬ ing? If we pay interest on a loan, can we see that the money received from the loan justifies the interest ex¬ penditure? Would any commercial enterprise spending this amount of money, exist today without having some com¬ petent examination into the accounts of its missions, schools, publishing houses, that would determine whether the books were kept uniformly and correctly; ought not those who have charge of the finances on the field to have periodical assistance from the Home Office by a duly qualified accountant? Ought not every mission or group of missions to have its own Treasurer, who has nothing to do but attend to the material affairs of our work in that section? Good practice would seem to indicate it and the fact that the most carefully ordered mission boards adopt this plan, would seem to prove its wisdom. We are trying this plan in some places; but apparently it has not been adopted as a settled principle; and those mission treasurers who have been appointed are not working on a uniform or well developed plan. I found upon the field a conviction, that the length of term should be shortened below seven years; and that furloughs should be insisted upon and allowed, even if work had to be temporarily abandoned; rather than to allow or request missionaries to over-stay their time. The wear and tear on a missionary’s life is the most expensive luxury in which we can indulge. The question of pensions and of increased salaries, or of salaries graded according to th£ length oi service. °eing already under discussion, I only give my general approval to the necessity of some increase. This is particularly true in the case of native preachers and teachers, who have either been educated in this country or who have received the best education which they could get in their native lands. We must not let the best men be taken away from us all the time by government schools and other institutions. STernt Ifurloucjb pension -11 — JSufldtngs On the whole, the Board of Foreign Missions may well be proud of the immense investment which it has in build¬ ings, as they are scattered all over the mission field. The plan and preparation for a developing work are most statesmanlike. Criticism of details after the work is done is only useful as a guide in the future. Architect Has not the time come to relieve ministers, physicians, teachers and other missionaries from the responsibility of planning and erecting buildings, a work for which they were never trained. If we ask for it, are we not as likely to find a qualified architect volunteering for the missionary cause, as a physician? We once advertised for a man to teach engineering in the Foochow School and found that we already had a volunteer application from a man who proved to be very competent. I believe we should try the experiment with an architect and see what the result would be in better building, architecture and detailed planning. The missionary in charge of one of our largest school buildings told me with great glee that he had saved a salary of a missionary by being his own architect. The only comment that I could pos¬ sibly make to him was that the building showed it. He had done the best he could, but there were blemishes in the building and its planning which stand to vex anybody who looks at it or has to use it, for all time. Supennss That the missionaries themselves feel a necessity for tenDent this is shown by the comparatively recent appointment of Mr. Trimble to superintend the building of the Hos¬ pital and the new Woman’s College at Foochow. Mr. Trimble is doing as well as any man can who had no previous preparation, and a man who went out on the mission field to do regular missionary work. He con¬ sulted me as to whether he should not apply to the Board for permission to return to this country to take a tAvo years’ course fitting him for this work to which he had been assigned. This shows his conception of the responsibility and possibility of such a position. Either of these, architect or superintendent, could cover a considerable territory; and, if the right man were — 12 — found, need not necessarily be restricted to one country ; though it is certain that there would be in such a country as China abundant occupation for more than one man even in our own missions. This is a field in which Union effort might perhaps be worked to advantage. The fact that one or two experi¬ ments in taking out American contractors have proved unfortunate, should not militate against the general principle of having men to spend the money of our Board who have some special qualifications for the work in hand. The Yale College Mission at Chang Hsa took an archi¬ tect from the United States this Spring all the way to China for the purpose of studying the plans for their new hospital building. He returned home to complete them. The money was contributed with this as a special condition. The time has come, I believe, to make this im¬ provement over having plans drawn in this country by people who have never seen the location, and having modifications made upon the ground by someone not competent to do it. I am stating what I believe to be a fact when I sav that the buildings erected and maintained by the Wo¬ man’s Foreign Missionary Society are, in a general way, better built, better constructed and better cared for, than the buildings erected by the Board of Foreign Mis¬ sions. Is this because women are more careful, more intelligent in spending money than men? If so, let us have women superintendents of buildings. Surely, a cursory inspection will show that some of the schools, hospitals and residences of the Board of Foreign Missions are not cared for as they might be; and this is entirely independent of the condi¬ tions which come from insufficient money for re¬ pairs. It is a lack of appreciation or grasp, of the method necessary to obtain a good result on the part of the representatives of the Board of Foreign Missions. — 13 — mic /HMssion m. jf. s. poor ibousekeeptnc? Inasmuch as one of the most potent influences for good in missionary lands is the example of the Christian • American home and the community life in our schools* and the social surroundings of our churches, more pres¬ sure should be brought to bear in the preparation of our representatives so that they may produce other re¬ sults than we are getting at present. Equipment It is much easier to get money for buildings than for men and women, though the latter are more important. It is also easier to get money for buildings than for equipment; and yet a laboratory, a scientific outfit, proper dormitory conditions, model sanitary arrangements are far more important than handsome brick or stone walls. Adjoining the beautiful buildings of the Kwansei Gakuin of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Church of Canada in Kobe, Japan, is the plain frame building, in which the Japanese government has housed its Higher Commercial School. Plain building, plain seats and desks, plain walls and surroundings; but in this one school are twenty-three foreign teachers; and the equipment to produce highly trained commercial students is the equal of anything in the world. The time is coming when the Church, in its missions, will have to fit up Social Headquarters and Physical Culture departments and the whole round of recreative agencies which are being introduced here at home and which have already been introduced on the foreign field by some agencies if it is not to suffer the same diversion of interest as has taken place here at home. When that time comes, it should be remembered that the equipment is of even more importance than the building. — 14 — In connection with our educational work, I should like to urge the extension of what is known as the system of contract teachers. It seemed to me to work well in the Malay States where we have most of it; it works ex¬ ceedingly well in the missions of other Boards where it is far more widely developed than with us and it would surely provide us with persons who felt that they had a gift of teaching and had more or less specialized in that work. At the same time it would afford an opportunity to ascertain whether the teacher was fitted for continu¬ ance in actual missionary work. * The number of missionaries on the field who are teach¬ ing and who do not like that work and did not volunteer for a pedagogical position, is altogether too great for best results in our schools. The movement which is being inaugurated by Dr. Gamewell to standardize, harmonize and co-ordinate the educational work in our own and in other denominations is one of great importance and urgency. It should be extended to India, Japan and other mission fields. As it is, we have nothing but the claims of the missionaries in charge, at each station, by which to de¬ termine whether any given institution is or is not of proper grade; and as yet the question of the grade is only imperfectly understood by the different school au¬ thorities. In this country, the General Education Board now has better information regarding the educational institutions of the United States than most of the institutions have themselves in their own records. Some method should be devised by which the Board of Foreign Missions, at home, should have thoroughly intelligent, itemized, ap¬ proved record of the general condition and standing of each of its schools. In no other way can we be sure of the return that we are getting for the money and labor invested in this branch of the service. There seems to be no uniform principle governing the question, as to whether a boarding school shall take day pupils, if it have room for them, and if the fees received from them would help in paying the expenses. BCmcaticn Contract fteacbers 5)r. 0ame\vell Dap pupils 15 — After listening to the arguments advanced on both sides, I feel sure that, as soon as possible, it should be under¬ stood to be the rule of the Board, that the building facili¬ ties and the teaching facilities of all our schools should be extended to the largest number of pupils possible at all times, irrespective of whether they be day pupils or boarding pupils. The personal wishes or views of individual teachers should hardly be allowed to interfere with getting the largest amount of efficiency and production out of the staff whose salaries we have contracted to pay and out of the buildings which we have to maintain. The conduct of orphanages or homes, especially where they were started in times of famine, would seem to re¬ quire some greater development of vocational instruction or industrial education. It is quite as important for us to develop Christian mechanics, clerks, government em¬ ployes and business men, as it is to develop Christian preachers. StuDent In some of our missions a beginning has been made Ifaealtb in giving close attention to the health of the students. Recent discoveries as to the relation between eyesight, hearing, the care of the teeth, etc., to the results of the work of individual students, should be borne in mind by our Board in the reorganization of its educational work. The relation of physical condition to intellectual efficiency seems to be undisputed, and the best system of super¬ vision that can be organized on the field should be in¬ troduced at the earliest possible date in the interest of economical administration of our finances. ♦ I am of the opinion that our medical missionary work should also include professional dentistry. The Severance Union Medical School at Seoul, Korea, has put into its new building a full equipment for instruc¬ tion in dentistry, recognizing its relation to the mission¬ ary program of the immediate future. But the great need in our schools is, as it always has been, better teachers and more of them, and more scientific care in the selection of students whom we ad¬ vance to the higher grades. o o — 16 GaniMfcates In the Epworth Herald, August 23, 1913, we are told of the very large numbers of men and women who are offering themselves for all kinds of Christian work abroad and at home; numbers greatly in excess of any other period. During the past few years of financial stringency, over and over again, from the platform, the Church has been told that there are many young men and women waiting to be sent to the foreign field, if only the money could be obtained. If these conditions prevail, it certainly should be easy to put into practice the best approved methods for the selection of candidates, so as to insure, as far as possible, success after they once get on the field and to prevent sending out those who are physically, intellectually, mor¬ ally and temperamentally unsuited for the work. I know that physical examination has been required for a long time; and that much care has been exercised to secure proper references as to mental, moral and other qualifications. I also know that with the very best pos¬ sible methods some mistakes will be made, some improper candidates will be selected and some will turn out un¬ fortunately on the field. There should be the most careful conference between physicians on the field, who know the work and medical missionaries on furlough, and the staff of physicians at home, selected b}^ the Board to make the examination. If it has not been done already, the physical examination blanks of our Board should be compared with those of other Boards, with that of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and with those of Life Insurance Companies and these should be constantly corrected by experience derived from conference with physicians who are or have been at work on the field. IRtCfiS Zests — 17 — Consult ZlMsstonarles m. c. h. In response to inquiries in many places on the field, I was told that the missionaries on the field had seldom been consulted as to the list of requirements which should be possessed by candidates applying for appoint¬ ment. More attention should be given to vocational prepara¬ tion of missionaries. We no longer send out a medical missionary without as a pre-requisite, more or less thor¬ ough medical training. This preparation should constant¬ ly be kept at the highest possible point; but are we as careful that those who are sent out to evangelistic work have had training in that line and are specially fitted for that work? Have we been careful in selecting for teach¬ ers those who have predilection and special preparation for that work? There is a certain amount of literary work to be done on the field. Have we been careful to send out missionaries with special preparation for this? Have we not more than once sent out a trained civil engineer to take care of an industrial carpentershop or machineshop? These things would not be done at home and should not be done for the foreign field. The Young Men’s Christian Association has achieved a most enviable record in the ability and efficiency of the men whom they have sent to foreign fields. To be sure, the number does not get up into the hundreds very far, but it is quite as great as the total number of missionaries from some of the smaller bodies. The fact that no man is sent by the Young Men’s Christian Association to the foreign field until he has made good at home has some¬ thing to do with the remarkable progress and success of the special class of work to which these workers are called. Modern industrial enterprises today are employing highly educated and trained experts, before whom all ap¬ plications come and are tested by a scientific efficiency examination. The success in this direction already achieved would indicate that it is now or soon will be, possible, by a practically simple examination to determine with startling accuracy questions of mental, moral, phys- — 18 — ical and temperamental ability and quality that are even unknown to the candidate personally, but which stand re¬ vealed unconsciously during* the examination. Inasmuch as the time has passed when piety was con¬ sidered the sole requisite for missionary work and when the awakening' nations, where missionaries work, demand an ever increasing ability in all directions, ought not our Board to at once harness to itself the most effective and scientific method known to determine in advance all that can be known of the perfections and imperfections of those who present themselves for candidates. Has the Board any longer a moral right to spend such an immense sum of money in salaries, without spending the small amount that would be necessary in order to get this necessary knowledge in advance. Upon all the mission fields there are cases not a few of what may be called square pegs in round holes and vice versa, or of men who are too large for small work and too small for large work. Recent discoveries if prop¬ erly applied will go far to obviate these cases or reduce their number in the future. I should say that whatever preparation can be obtained by candidates before they leave the United States would be a great advantage. For that reason the study of Phonetics as now understood should be insisted upon as a pre-requisite to appointment for the Orient. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, requires of every woman that is sent out that she take a two years’ course or the equivalent in their missionary training school. We have the schools, but I do not know that we always require the preparation. Some method should be devised for making it sure that all missionaries, no matter for which arm of the service they are sent out, whether for permanent service or for contract service—should all have preparation up to a cer¬ tain standard, in the English Bible and its use, in Church doctrine and in methods of presenting religious truth to inquirers. It will no longer do to pre-suppose ability in J6tTicienc\] Expert JSible Gramma 19 — this direction, because of any other attainment in educa¬ tion or character. Definite examinations in this direction should be insisted upon. Xanguage StufcE Wew 36looD It should also be borne in mind that fluency in the use of a foreign language itself does not necessarily mean pro¬ ficiency. There are very fluent speakers of Oriental lan¬ guages who still speak most incorrectly. It cannot be a good thing for our mission work to have that number increased. The representatives of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the foreign field have not the reputation of being among the best linguists. The time has come to reassert the right of every missionary sent out to at least one year with nothing to do but to study the language, except for such voluntary service as he may see fit to render. The Oriental nations with their aptitude for language and their awakening comprehension of modern knowledge, are becoming more and more intolerant of, and less sus¬ ceptible to influence from, those who only imperfectly understand their language. Even in cases where the contract rule for teachers would not apply, it has been suggested that missionaries should be sent out on trial for three years. I am not sure if this idea would worjc; but there is much to be said in favor of fixing some short term, at the close of which the authorities at home or on the field could recall or retire without prejudice those who have proved themselves not fitted for the work. As many of you probably know the question is being discussed, if we can not strengthen our missionary forces and get a line on good available, new material for the permanent staff by encouraging volunteers for one year in mission work where only English is required, choices to be made from our brightest young graduates or from among experienced Professors who are planning a year abroad. Either of these would give us, for a school year, — 20 — the newest ideas and methods, with minimum salaries and in many cases no traveling expenses. .Many have done excellent missionary work, but could not stay for life; why not try using some who are not yet ready to promise to stay for life? It is not a proper use of trust funds to continue any one in the service that cannot or does not render service according to accepted standards. Economy is one great watchword; but efficiency is a greater. Finally, I believe we should not wait for men and women to volunteer for the mission field; and that Secre¬ taries, Bishops, Managers and members of the General Committee, should be urged to be on the lookout for suitable material. In the days of our Fathers we did not, and to some extent still today, we do not hesitate to tell young men that we believe they are called to the minis¬ try. We do not hesitate to urge young women to select certain lines of work at home. Why should we not be even more definite and explicit in searching for material for the foreign field among those who have already made good and proved their worth in kindred enterprises at home ? The secret of the high average attained by the Young Men’s Christian Association in the selection of their rep¬ resentatives before mentioned, is said to be that every one of their important men at home is constantly on the alert to find desirable young men who are achieving suc¬ cess and then to endeavor to see if there is not a call from Above to coincide with the call from the office here below. Call /Hben — 21 — /ifoeDical ‘IXHotfc Best /Nobels ®ur Hospitals Medical missionaries’ work is not new; and for man}^ years, a plea for hospitals in foreign lands has been one of the most popular and successful appeals that could be made to the generously inclined. There are dotted over the world quite a number of missionary hospitals which are considered models of their kind; but I believe it strictly true that the Methodist Episcopal Church has never been a real leader in this branch of missionary endeavor. Bishop Bashford in a letter to me, dated July 21st, says that we have twenty-three hospitals in China and the Presbyterian Church has twenty-eight; and that we treated nearly eight thousand patients in our hospitals in China in 1912 and had one hundred and thirteen thou¬ sand other patients coming to our dispensaries. It is also true that there is in India one hospital of the W. F. M. S., that had nearly thirty thousand cases of all kinds in one }^ear. But, notwithstanding these figures, and notwithstand¬ ing the enormous work which we have done, our build¬ ings, equipment and staff are not what they should be, nor comparable even in the best instances to those of some of the other Boards. With a desire to be perfectly frank, I believe that as a result of two trips around the world since 1910, I shall have to give as my opinion that the United Presbyterian Hospital at Assiut, Egypt, the Congregational Hospital at Madura, India, the Presby¬ terian Hospital at Seoul, Korea, the Scotch Hospital at Damascus, Syria, or the Scotch Hospital at Mukden, Manchuria, is superior to any that I have seen under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The situation in which we, as a Church, are leaving doctors, men and women, on the field with inadequate equipment, without proper assistance, is of more vital importance even than the defective equipment of some of our schools and churches. The properly equipped doctor — 22 — in a community on the mission fields has certainly as lasting an influence as a teacher or minister. The sal¬ vation of these races requires that physicians shall be men of Christian character; and the question of educating na¬ tive physicians is even more important than supplying foreign physicians to treat patients. Efficient medical schools cannot exist without good hospitals and proper staff ; and it is the problem of the medical school, as well as the hospital, that now demands attention. As the result of the Mott Conference in different coun¬ tries, it is one of the findings, that every prop¬ erly equipped hospital should have two foreign phy¬ sicians and one foreign nurse. Further, that, in the judgment of the Commission and the missionaries on the field, at the earliest possible moment, self-support in the missionary hospital should be insisted upon. We appear to have no well defined policy as to either of these mat¬ ters. I have tried to study very carefully the question of separate hospitals for men and for women with a separate staff for each. In view of the fact that in many of our women's hos¬ pitals they reply on men surgeons to do much of the operating; in view of the fact that in the Severance Pres¬ byterian Hospital at Seoul, Korea, and elsewhere men and women patients are served in the one hospital; in view of the fact that at several women’s hospitals, the opinion was expressed to me that there should be closer affiliation between the hospitals of the Board of Foreign Missions and those of the W. F. M. S.; in view of the fact that at Taianfu, China, owing to the furlough of the woman physician in charge of the W. F. M. S. Hospital, their very good building was closed and the medical work of the mission was handed over to the doctor of the Board of Foreign Missions, who had most unsuitable buildings; and if the relations between the two boards were close enough the surgeon of the Board of Foreign Missions might have used the building of the W. F. M. S. ~ 23 — in the interim—In view of all these things, and of what seems the opening of a new era, I recommend strongly the consideration by some competent Medical Board of the whole question of the readjustment of our medical work on the foreign field. This readjustment should relate not only to the con¬ duct of Hospitals and Medical Schools, but should in¬ clude some suggestions as to the way in which physicians are appointed to and transferred on the field. There is no doubt that for purposes of Mission discipline, minis¬ ters, teachers, physicians, men and women, must all be subordinate to the Mission or to the Conference, and, therefore, under the direction of the General Superin¬ tendent. But, just as the tendency at home is to have the instructors of the higher grades selected by the trus¬ tees of the institutions, subject only to approval; so I be¬ lieve that some hospital board or physicians on the field, or both, should have a large voice in the assignment of a physician to his or her specific appointment. A physician should not be changed on the mission field any more than at home, if it can be avoided. It would also seem that the physicians sent out by the two boards should be available for making study of the health of the mission workers and students and of the relations between health and effective progress on the part of the pupils. Matters have progressed so far in New York City that a student cannot stay in the College of the City of New York, unless he takes proper care of his teeth. The space he occupies and the mone) r that he costs are too import¬ ant to be wasted in inefficient effort. While matters have not reached any such point in for¬ eign countries, we have a right, as a Board, to make selections according to most scientific methods, for all those for whom we provide advanced education. And the physicians whom we send out should be competent to, and should be expected to, assist in making these discrim¬ inations. — 24 Time would fail me to even enumerate the physicians, men and women who I met, that were burdened beyond description with their tasks or to write adequately of the heroic services they w r ere rendering. My plea is for more intelligent support at the stations where we now have hospitals and dispensaries, and that no more be established except they are properly manned and properly equipped. My plea is also for unusual in¬ terest in the subject of medical education of native phy¬ sicians ; for in this way alone can the demand be supplied and the danger averted of having these places filled by physicians of non-Christian education. Today in Shan¬ ghai, China, the two best medical schools for native training are a Japanese and a German school, neither of which is conducted with any regard whatever to religion or ethics. Publishing and circulating religious literature is un¬ questionably the duty of the Board of Foreign Missions. Engaging in the printing, binding and bookselling busi¬ ness may have been or may be a temporary necessary expedient; but the condition of most of our publishing houses at the present time, and their history indicate, that even this expedient is at least doubtful. Personally, I have no doubt that the majority of the printing houses and stores of the Board of Foreign Missions should be closed out and that we should cease to be in commercial business, except as we publish and authoritatively issue the necessary books and other litera¬ ture required to develop the work of our society. Economic conditions militate against our being able to compete with native work. The supervision necessary to carry on these competing business enterprises has been a draft on the time, strength, ability and character of our missionary force, in each of several cities, for which there has been no ade¬ quate compensation. iberoes Christian IRative physicians publishing — 25 — 3Sook Our publishing history in Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Stores Shanghai and Tokio is one of gradual and developing dis¬ aster. At Lucknow we seem to have reached high water mark with indications of approaching decline. At Singa¬ pore we are enjoying a wave of prosperity which has been characteristic of most of the older institutions. Too great credit cannot be given to the admirable manage¬ ment at Lucknow and Singapore; but the question should seriously be considered of realizing on the present ac¬ cumulation of capital, before the decline ensues which has been the history in practically all other places. The belief prevalent in the foreign field that our church should be able to establish profitable book houses there, as in the home field, is an error. /l&etbobtet The Methodist Book Concern in the United States en- JSook joys the practical monopoly of a very large clientele for Concern several lines of production. This trade control ensures a positive profit even at competing prices; and necessitates such a large plant that in recent years a profitable job printing and binding business has also been done. The Book Stores of our Book Concern have not been commercially successful. Although the Methodist Book Concern has been so profitable, there are many of the opinion that they could have made still more money, had their work been done by contract rather than by a church plant. If there be one department of missionary endeavor in which the union principle should be applied, it is in the publishing houses. The movement to unite our publish¬ ing house in Shanghai with that of the Presbyterian Board; in Foochow with that of the American Board, and in Tokio with as many other denominations as is feasible, should be fostered and brought about. From what I have seen on the foreign field and from our experiences in the United States, I believe the Church should keep out of commercial business as much as pos¬ sible. The chances of success are too slight; and the tendency to divert the attention of missionaries from the regular work of superintendence required of them on the field is likely to be disastrous. 26 — The argument for encouraging union efforts of dif¬ ferent denominations on the foreign field is that efficiency should count for more than denominationalism or mere economy. Whenever the forces at the command of one denomina- tion are not sufficient to prosecute any kind of work to thoroughly efficient results, there is a place to consider the application of the union principle. The findings of the Mott Conferences in various coun¬ tries have confirmed opinions held prior to these confer¬ ences in many places, viz: that union effort in medical education, theological education and higher education generally are indicated as being now practically indis¬ pensable, if these lines of work are to be carried to proper successful conclusions. As an illustration I have in mind the Union Theologi¬ cal School in connection with Nanking University. When I was there in April last a course was arranged to give to the students of each denomination the peculiarities of its own form of creed and church government; the stu¬ dents of the various denominations insisted upon each hearing all of the lectures. Such an opportunity for union study must make more widely informed students than could be done in any school belonging to a single de¬ nomination. There were recently in China and India sections where there are eight or ten different small de¬ nominational groups of young men, each endeav¬ oring to study college grade work. Each group, however, being not more than fifty in number, it is im¬ possible to employ enough teachers to properly instruct them in the branches necessary and at the same time to occupy the time of the instructors. In a general way, we have decided in this country that from three hundred to five hundred is the proper number for a fully equipped small college. If we can combine on the mission field into one union college three to five hundred students, it will be possible to give the students a proper education by securing instructors of suitable ability who will feel that the task is really worth while. ■Union .Efforts Wanking College 27 <§nit fMeOaes Detacher Stations Our Church is already party to several union move¬ ments on the mission field; but on account of our finan¬ cial problems, in late years, we do not appear to be carry¬ ing out our end of the work quite as it should be done by the largest denomination at work on the mission field. 4 To speak of no others, it is our duty to build the next building needed for the theological school at Nanking. It is our duty to provide $5,000 for the medical school at Nanking. At the Severance Hospital in Seoul, I was told they were waiting with great interest the appointment of our physician for the staff and our provision for the support of this department. It is to be hoped that ful¬ filling these obligations will not be too long delayed. They are quite as important as many another apparently more emergent question. Another chance for union effort is in what is known as the native Christian Church, of which there are a few examples, notably the one in Tientsin. In the letter just received from Bishop Bashford he speaks of the decision among the missionaries on the field to adopt the name, the Christian Church in China, as one of the most important movements of the last twelve months. The usefulness of foreigners on the mission field is coming to be more and more educational, advisory and supervisory. These union movements fit in perfectly with such a program. In my judgment we may as well face this question now and make our arrangements accordingly. It is merely a matter of bookkeeping to preserve our denominational statistics; but the advantages of co-operative manage¬ ment on the field cannot be overestimated. At the present time we are maintaining, as a church, some isolated mission stations in the far West of China. — 28 — It takes a General Superintendent months of time and no end of inconvenience to visit and supervise these stations. During his absence he is practically unavailable for the balance of his work. The Methodist Church of Canada is specializing in this particular field. If the union effort were a little further developed, it would not seem such a difficult thing to hand over these isolated stations to our brethren of the Methodist Church of Canada, who are equally energetic with ourselves, equally evangelistic and equally high- minded in their work. Some of our best missionaries in China believe it will be a decided encouragement to our workers in the field and will indicate the genuineness of a new policy of con¬ centration, if we arrange, as soon as possible, for these stations to be surrendered to the Methodist Church of Canada. Some of the missionaries would undoubtedly be transferred by preference to the other Church. The membership could be readily cared for. We could still use in other fields any of the missionaries who wished to remain with us; and the same effort and the same monev would certainly in a very short time more than repay us in membership and in the feeling that would be developed of our intention to cultivate our fields intensively rather than extensively. The development of the work of the W. F. M. S. along ^ ^ with and compared with, that of the Board of Foreign Missions seems little short of a miracle; for administra¬ tion purposes on the field there is a very large degree of unity of purpose and harmony of action. Many of the representatives of the W. F. M. S. on the field, and not a few of the representatives of the Board of Foreign Missions, have said to me that if the same degree of unity of purpose could be brought about in the United States between the two missionary boards of our church, so that the financial methods, the plans of work, could be thoroughly harmonized and brought closer together, the results arising therefrom would be still more marvelous. He would be a bold man — 29 — Bngltsb Speaking mork £wo TUnfcm Cburcbes that would venture to suggest what was best to be done without very serious conference between those in au¬ thority on both sides. But, if any improvement can be made," it certainly would be helpful to the bringing in of the Kingdom. The English speaking services that so thickly dot the mission field are a magnificent opportunity for union ef¬ fort. It may seem to some of you of no great importance and not a prominent part of the work of the Board of Foreign Missions to look after these services; but the ap¬ pointment of a committee by the Foreign Missions Con¬ ference of North America a long time ago, with Mr. Rob¬ ert E. Speer as Chairman, proves that others have differ¬ ently estimated this work. Even where the only peo¬ ple to be reached are missionaries and their families, and the limited number of natives or others who speak Eng¬ lish, it is of the greatest importance that such assistance be given, as will act as an inspiration. The Methodist Episcopal Church is the largest Protest¬ ant body in the United States and the largest Protestant force on the mission field. It, therefore, has the largest number of missionaries at work and probably has as many adherents who travel, as any other church. The missionaries and adherents of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, may properly be added to this particular calculation. Will any one dispute the statement that we have given, as a Church, very little consideration to the maintenance of public worship among people of our own kind in foreign countries? It is true that in India and in other places we have had English speaking Churches with large possibilities; but in how many cases we have sent to these churches mere boys in the ministry, or men in their first year or two of missionary life, merely to change them as soon as they made some little progress in the acquisition of the foreign language. The Union Church at Yokahama where Dr. Good was so long a minister; the Union Church at Kobe, where Dr. Gutelius now is, are both examples of churches whose number might be multiplied, if a great denomination like our own seriously set itself to fulfill its duty to those speaking our own language, who, for one purpose or another, find residence in foreign cities. 30 — Every facility was afforded me to see and to learn everything possible in the limited time and the greatest brotherliness, courtesy and hospitality were manifested. Many visits were announced beforehand; but in a major¬ ity of cases no opportunity was afforded to fix things up for inspection. It so happens that on this entire trip I did not see a single Conference in session; but visited and saw the mis¬ sionaries in their stations, at work, with their regular daily tasks. The occasional visit of the General Superintendent un¬ doubtedly has advantages in many ways; but he has no time to make a thorough investigation of means, needs and results, if he holds the necessary Conferences, attends to his administrative duties and fills the public engage¬ ments expected of his position. A far more satisfactory way to secure the detailed in¬ formation needed for the guidance of your Board, would be the appointment of a suitable small commission, mod¬ eled after the Mott Conferences that have recently been concluded and have issued their remarkable findings. These Mott reports for the entire field of missions, will be the basis of federated plans and policies for years to come. It is three-quarters of a century since our mission work was started; no such study has ever been made by us even in a single field. The work of a competent com¬ mission looking into the special results, plans, policies, merits and demerits of our Methodist Episcopal Mission work, could not fail to greatly forward the task of your Board. Respectfully submitted, HANFORD CRAWFORD. St. Louis, Mo., September 10th, 1913. /ibetbobist Commission — 31 — McAdoo Printing Co, ST. LOUIS MO.