BAPTISTS. 



75 



courses to the literature lying outside of their lines 

 of popular reading. The examinations held in May 

 had brought in 4,950 examination papers in the sen- 

 ior, and 6.495 in the junior department. For the 

 first tinio examination papers had been received 

 from missionary lands. The total receipts of the 

 treasurer for the year had been $62.611: that sum 

 included $2.s<)2 for the Founding fund ami $45.- 

 7i i2 f,,rthe" Baptist Union." a weekly journal which 

 had been bought by the Union. The expenditures 

 had equaled the receipts. Tl segregated 



s:;:',. !!.">:!. and were regarded as exactly equaling the 

 liabilities. The proceedings of the meetings con- 

 sisted mainly of conferences and addresses. The 

 conferences included workers' conferences on Tem- 

 perance, on State and Provincial Unions, on Social 

 Work, on Tracts and Publications, on Junior Work, 

 on Instruction, and on Missions. 



The educational plans of the Union contemplate 

 eight years of training in three lines known as the 

 Christian Culture Course, four years in the junior 

 and four years in the senior departments. The 

 courses are known as the Bible Readers' Course, the 

 Conquest Missionary Course, and the Sacred Liter- 

 ature Course. The object of these courses is train- 

 ing for Christian service. It is contemplated that 

 twenty minutes a day devoted to them will compass 

 their requirements, which are a chapter a day in 

 the Bible and the reading of about 1,200 words per 

 week in missionary, and the same amount in sacred 

 literature. Accessory readings in general literature 

 are suggested, but not required. Examinations are 

 held every year, open to all. and certificates are 

 given to the successful candidates. 



Southern Baptist Convention. The fifty-first 

 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention was 

 held in Chattanooga. Tenn., beginning May 8. The 

 Hon. Jonathan Ilaralson. of Alabama, was re-elect- 

 ed president. The Foreign Mission Board reported 

 that its receipts for the year had been $102.056 and 

 its expenditures $100.118. Notwithstanding the 

 expenditures had been reduced by $5,000, the in- 

 debtedness amounted to $26,093. " The board for 

 several years had given no money for buildings in 

 foreign lands except what had been contributed for 

 that purpose. Reports were made from missions 

 in Italy, where, with 3 missionaries, there were 14 

 ordained Italian preachers. 21 churches, 56 out 

 stations, and 79 baptisms during the year ; Brazil, 

 5 missionaries and their wives. 6 ordained native 

 preachers, and 273 baptisms during the year: Mex- 

 ico. 19 missionaries, 6 ordained Mexican preachers, 

 and schools for boys and for girls : Africa. 7 mission- 

 aries and their wives, some native assistants, and 51 

 baptisms: China (3 missions), 15 missionaries. 12 

 native ministers; and Japan. 3 missionaries and 

 their wives, and 1 church with 40 member-. 



The Home Mission Board returned its year's re- 

 ceipts as $75.'.i27. as against $76.771 in 1*94. The 

 debt of $1,100 with which it began the year had 

 been increased to $7.950. The present estimated 

 value of the board's property was $104.5so. it hav- 

 ing increased $5.150 during the year. Four hun- 

 dred and eleven missionaries had been employed, 

 serving 1.626 churches and stations. 5.G17 persons 

 had been baptized. 207 churches constituted. 92 

 houses of worship built, and 372 Sunday schools 

 organized, with 12.635 teachers and pupils. The 

 sum of $86.209 had been expended on houses of 

 worship. The Women's Mission societies had con- 

 tributed $33.542 to the funds of the board. The 

 mission in Cuba had suffered in consequence of the 

 disturbances on that island, and all the male mis- 

 sionaries had come away. The principal of the 

 school. Rev. Dr. Diaz, had been arrested and im- 

 prisoned, but was afterward released and sent out 

 of the country. The Sunday-school Board returned 



as the result of its fifth year's work contributions 

 to Sunday-school missions of $1.715 in Bibles and 

 literature" and $3.887 in cash. This made its gifts 

 in four years to that object $5,498 in Bibles and 

 literature and $14.297 in cash. This expenditure 

 had touched every State within the constituency of 

 the convention. During four years since the board 

 first had an income it had received and applied for 

 purposes of its work $44,925. The efficient aid 



fiven it by the Woman's Missionary Union was ac- 

 nowledged in the report. Reports were made con- 

 cerning foreign populations in the United States, 

 work among the Indians, work among the native 

 whites of the South, and the mission in Cuba. A 

 committee appointed to inquire into the relations 

 existing between the Southern Baptist Theological 

 Seminary and the convention reported that the 

 convention had the power of making not less than 

 3 nominations for each professorship to be filled, 

 from which the Board of Trustees should choose the 

 professor; and, if it failed to act. at the next ses- 

 sion after a vacancy took place the board could 

 proceed to election without such nominations ; in 

 other respects the two bodies were independent of 

 each other: and that the convention had no legal 

 power to remove, for any cause, any trustee or pro- 

 fessor of the seminary. As a matter of fact, the 

 convention had never exercised the right of nomi- 

 nation. The trustees of the seminary had, however, 

 at a recent meeting provided for giving notice to 

 the convention's committee of the occurrence of 

 any vacancies to which the convention had the right 

 of nomination. A resolution was passed reiterating 

 the " truceless and uncompromising hostility" of 

 the body " to the manufacture, sale, and importa- 

 tion and transportation of alcoholic beverages in 

 all their forms"; condemning as sinful and dis- 

 honorable the policy of issuing Government licenses 

 to the traffic; advising opposition to the traffic by 

 all legitimate means: and declaring it the sense of 

 the body that all persons using liquors as a bever- 

 age or concerned in any way in the traffic are un- 

 worthy of Baptist fellowship. 



German Baptists. The German Baptists in the 

 United States have five conferences the Eastern, 

 Central. Northwestern, Southwestern, and Texas 

 and a general conference. The last has a large 

 publishing establishment at Cleveland. Ohio, which 

 publishes books and tracts in the German language, 

 and has had a satisfactory business, notwithstand- 

 ing the financial depression. A co-operative rela- 

 tion with the American Baptist Publication Society 

 has been determined upon. A weekly general news- 

 paper is published in Cleveland, and a Young Peo- 

 ple's Journal in Xew York. 



Colored Baptists. The following are the sta- 

 tistics of the colored Baptist churches in America 

 at the close of 1895, as reported by the statistical 

 secretary to the National Convention in September: 

 Number of State organizations, 18; of associations. 

 443: of ordained ministers. 12,833; of ordained 

 ministers without charge, 1.640: of ordained min- 

 isters unable to read or write intelligibly, 1.4^8: 

 of churches. 13.593; of members, 1.687.526. show- 

 ing a gain over 1894 of 37.900: of baptisms during 

 the year, ss.275: of Sunday schools, 10.485. with 

 545.849 pupils : of high schools and colleges, 55 : of 

 schools controlled by home-mission societies, 11 ; of 

 schools controlled by colored Baptists. 44; of teach- 

 278 : of students. 6.4*4 : of theological students, 

 422: amount of money expended for education. 

 S41.SI7 : expended for missions, $35.320: expended 

 for miscellaneous purposes, $210.794 ; value of 

 church property. $9.794.342; amount of endow- 

 ments of educational institutions, $254.000: value 

 of school property, $1,774.650 ; number of periodi- 

 cals, 32. 



