RELIGIOUS AGENCIES 339 



In North America there are 1815 of these Associations, only 1500 

 of which report their membership, aggregating 373,502; of these 

 475 have buildings of their own, valued at $26,260,870; other 

 property, mostly land held for athletic purposes, is estimated at 

 $2,598,645. The'se figures are an impressive testimony to the confi- 

 dence which the young men of the Associations have inspired in the 

 business men of the communities. The work of these Associations 

 among railway men and college men has also been taking on new 

 strength in recent years; and it is evident that we have in the Young 

 Men's Christian Associations religious agencies of great breadth 

 and efficiency. 



The Young Women's Associations, though far less numerous, are 

 of kindred aims, and their labors on behalf of the young women of 

 the colleges and the cities are worthy of all honor. 



A somewhat similar organization is that of the King's Daughters 

 and Sons, who are gathered in small groups for practical Christian 

 work, and who claim a membership of half a million. 



Last and by no means least is the great military organization of 

 the Salvation Army, with 735 corps, and 2700 officers in the United 

 States; with its daily street services, and its widely scattered litera- 

 ture; with its cavalry brigades, outriders' circuits, maternity homes, 

 labor bureaus, women's shelters, and an inquiry department which 

 looks up missing friends and relatives. Down among the submerged 

 tenth these Good Samaritans are always working, and their service 

 could ill be spared. With them must also be linked the Volunteers 

 of America, whose work of rescue and relief incarnates and manifests 

 the life of the Nazarene. 



Thus rapidly and dryly have I summarized the organized activi- 

 ties of religion in the United States of America. I have confined 

 my view to my own country because I have not sufficient knowledge 

 of the religious agencies of other countries to speak of them intelli- 

 gently. If I had possessed the knowledge, the limitation of my time 

 would not have admitted of any such extension of the study. 



These religious agencies at which we have been glancing are all 

 in the strictest sense voluntary; none of them is supported or sub- 

 sidized from any public fund; they are maintained by the free-will 

 offerings of their adherents. It will not be denied that voluntaryism 

 has been able to provide, in the amplest manner, for the religious 

 wants of the community. There are few people living in the United 

 States of America who are not within easy reach of some place of 

 worship, and the poorest cannot complain that the offices of religion 

 are too costly for their enjoyment. There are congregations in the 

 cities from which the indigent people might feel themselves excluded, 

 but there are always others, not far away, in which they may know 

 that they are welcome. 



