REFORMED CHURCHES. 



651 



others reside here temporarily for the transaction of 

 business with the Government. 



It should not be forgotten that the land acquired 

 will probably be worth the cost of reclaiming it, and 

 that the navigation of the river will be greatly im- 

 proved. I therefore again invite the attention ot Con- 

 gress to the importance of prompt provision for this 

 much-needed and too-long-delayed improvement. 



The water supply of the city is inadequate. In ad- 

 dition to the ordinary use throughout the city, the 

 consumption by Government is necessarily very great 

 in the navy-yard, arsenal, and the various depart- 

 ments, and a large quantity is required for the proper 

 preservation of the numerous parks and the cleansing 

 of sewers. 1 recommend that this subject receive the 

 early attention of Congress, and that, in making pro- 



vision for an increased supply, such mean* bo adopted 

 as will have in view the future growth of the city. 

 Temporary expedients for such a purpose can not but 

 be wasteful of money, and therefore umvi.M-. A in'>n: 

 ample reservoir, with correspond! ML: fui'ilit'u-.- : 

 ing it filled, should, in my .judgment, l>r i on>trucU-u. 

 I commend again to the attention of Con^rc-ss tlie >ub- 

 ject of the removal from tlu-ir piv^-nt l<..-;iti<m of tin: 

 depots of the several railroads entering the city ; and 

 1 renew the recommendations of my former i 

 in behalf of the erection of a building for the < 'n^r> -.->- 

 sional Library, the completion of the Washington 

 Monument, and of liberal appropriations in Mipjort 

 of the benevolent, reformatory, and penal institutions 

 of the District. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 6, 1880. 



R 



REFORMED CHURCHES. I. REFORMED 

 CHURCH IN AMERICA. The following is a sum- 

 mary of the statistics of this Church, as re- 

 ported to the General Synod in June, 1880 : 



Number of families connected with the 

 Church, 43,289 ; number of Sunday-schools, 

 645, with 80,445 scholars ; amount of contri- 

 butions for religious and benevolent purposes, 

 $171,614; for congregational purposes, $852,- 

 286. 



Reports were made to the General Synod of 

 the condition of the funds and benevolent en- 

 terprises of the Church, as follows : 



Widows' Fund: Present amount, $52,703; 

 income for the year, $3,074; annuities had 

 been paid to the amount of $2,319. Ten wid- 

 ows, four ministers, and two orphans had been 

 aided during the year. 



Disabled Ministers'' Fund: Amount of in- 

 vested funds, $19,614; total increase for the 



year, $5,806, of which amount $3,778 had 

 been paid out to disabled ministers. Twenty- 

 live persons had been relieved by this fund dur- 

 ing the year. 



Board of Education : Contributions of the 

 churches during the year, $9,479; indebted- 

 ness of the board, $10,820. Seventy-two stu- 

 dents had been under the care of the board. 



Board of Publication: Net profits of the 

 year, $708; surplus of assets over liabilities, 

 $7,300 ; funded debt, $5,200. 



The Board of Domestic Missions reported 

 that its own receipts for the year had been 

 $34,527, and the receipts on account of the 

 church-building fund, $7,139. The latter fund 

 was in debt to the amount of $4,616. 



The receipts of the Board of Foreign Mis- 

 sions had been $63,185, or $4,742 more than 

 the receipts of the previous year. Two mis- 

 sionaries had been sent to Japan during the 

 year. The missions at Amoy, China, Arcot, 

 India, and in Japan returned 14 stations, 101 

 out-stations, 16 missionaries, 21 assistant mis- 

 sionaries, 11 native ministers, 38 catechists or 

 preachers, 14 assistant catechists, 32 readers, 

 40 schoolmasters and teachers, 9 schoolmis- 

 tresses, 35 churches with 2,341 communicants, 

 3 academies (in India and Japan) with 96 schol- 

 ars, 49 day-schools (in China and India), with 

 1,719 scholars, 12 theological students (in Chi- 

 na and Japan), 1 dispensary (in India), in which 

 12,001 patients were treated, and contributions 

 from the native churches amounting to $2,250. 

 The growth of the missions, during fifteen years, 

 is shown in an increase of 24 churches, 85 out- 

 stations, 1,626 communicants, 5,500 adherents, 

 and 1,541 scholars from December, 1864, to 

 December, 1879. 



The receipts of the Woman's Board for the 

 year had been $8,879, or nearly $500 more 

 than those of the previous year. This society 

 was about to assume all the work among wom- 

 en and girls connected with the missions. 



The General Synod of the Reformed Church 

 in America met in Brooklyn, New York, June 

 2d. The Rev. John A. De Baun, D. D., was 

 chosen President. Four classes had sent me- 

 morials to the Synod on the subject of Freema- 

 sonry and secret societies, which they consid- 



