PRESBYTERIANS. 



$135,000 were received from interest mi permanent 

 funds of the boards, and about $300,000 as income 

 of the tht'i 'It laical seminaries. 



The Hoards. Tlie table of statistics of benevo- 

 lence for the past ten years pre.-ented to the General 

 ::ibly shows a steady decrease since 1801 in the 

 ratio of gifts from the churches to the total income 

 of the boards from 38 per cent, to 31 per cent. : a 

 steady decrea.M- in the total gifts to the boards since 

 1893 from $97!'. v,'! to s-r,-j.s44 : and a steady dc- 

 -.'-2 in the average contributions per 

 member through the boards from $1.20 to 90 cents. 



The past year's receipts of the Board of Church 

 Erection were $118,093, and the expenditures $165.- 

 5s2. With the aid thus given, churches and manses 

 were erected valued at s573.280. The board had a 

 loan fund of $245.000, out of which 11 churches 

 were aided to the amount of $38.000: and a manse 

 fund of $85.000. by which 41 churches were aided 

 with $1G.813. Besides these. 175 churches were aid- 

 ed to the amount of $80.699. About $40,000 are 

 available annually from the loan fund. 



The Board of Publication returned in a business 

 capital of $332.833. with receipts for the year of 

 $317.848. and expenditures of $362.745. The net 

 profits amounted to s31.146 ia decrease of $5.653). 

 two thirds of which went to the missionary depart- 

 ment. The available funds of the missionary depart- 

 ment aggregated $145.130. and the expenditures 

 reached $124,962. The board had maintained 107 

 missionaries, organized 1.030 new schcols. and had 

 under its care 51.800 pupils and teachers. 



The available receipts of the Board of Ministerial 

 Relief had been $171.557. showing a slight decrease, 

 and the expenditure 5, giving an average 



to each of the 795 beneficiaries <f $210. with a 

 maximum of $300. A debt of $9,673 was covered 

 by a gift of $10.000 previously, though not neces- 

 sarily, applied to the Endowment fund. 



The total receipts, including loans, etc., of the 

 Board of Education, had been $103.442. and the 

 expenditures $103.158. Of the 1.037 candidates for 

 the ministry under the care of the board 248 were 

 new. 



The Board of Aid for Colleges had received $89,- 

 138. against. $119.627 in 1894-'9o, and had ex- 

 pended $98.787. Tt had a balance of $11,149. 

 During an operation of thirteen years 56 institu- 

 tions had been aided. The board' held mort_ 

 amounting to $173.388 on property valued at $942.- 

 429. During the period of thirteen years the re- 

 ceipts had aggregated $1.143.361. 



The receipts of the Board of Home Missions had 

 been $729.433. and the expenditures $85- 

 while the debt had grown to $299.n(i2. The i 

 had sustained 1.544 ministers, a decrease ol 

 with 1.830 churches having 99.454 members, and 

 returning 9.179 additions on profession of faith. 

 Sixty-rive new churches had been organized. 



The receipts of the Freedmen's Board had been 

 $146.992. and the expenditures $149.763. The 

 debt had increased to $16.371. The freedmen had 

 contributed $35,577 to their churches and minis- 

 ters and $32.521 to schools. One hundred and 

 eighty-one ministers were in the field, and 314 

 churches or missions and the same number of 

 Sunday schools were sustained, with 19.G24 pupils 

 in the latter. The churches and missions returned 

 l s .7<il communicants, and 2.083 added on examina- 

 tion. The 75 secular schools returned 230 teachers 

 and 9,511 pupils. 



The funds available for the prosecution of the 

 work of the Board of Foreign Missions amounted 

 -.'59.774. and the expenditures were $929.239. of 

 which $54.31(1 were charged to administration. 

 Appropriations had been cut down more than 

 $100,000, and the present deficit was $76,770. 

 VOL. xxxvi. i2 A 



The one hundred and eighth General Assembly 

 met in Saratoga. N. V.. .May 21. The I;.-\. .1. ]]. 

 Withrow was chosen moderator. Upon tin- p 

 mendation of the Committee on the Const it mi 

 the Church the Assembly reaffirmed tin- action of the 

 Assembly of 1894 in directing the in>ertion in the 

 title of the constitution of the words "subordinate 

 standards." as setting forth the true relatii n of the 

 Confession of Faith and the other standards of the 

 Church to the Word of God as their sole source 

 and sanction, and called the attention of thejudi- 

 catories and members of the Church to the declara- 

 tion of the standards, which set forth iti explicit 

 terms the belief of the Church that all the stand- 

 ards rest upon and are in accordance with the Holy 

 Scriptures. The term "subordinate standards" on 

 the title page of the constitution of the Church was 

 changed so as to read, "being its standards, subor- 

 dinate to the Word of God. containing." etc. The 

 report on Young People's Societies of Christian En- 

 deavor recognized the great good that had attended 

 the formation of the societies, and advised that the 

 Assembly should so direct their future that they 

 might be " of the greatest service to the cause of 

 Christ and the furtherance of the influence of the 

 Church." Tt further included a statement of the 

 relations between the individual societies and the 

 Church, in which all young people's religious organ- 

 izations of every name were recognized as under 

 the jurisdiction of the Church " which are to be 

 found within its churches or composed of members 

 of its churches. Variety of form can not affect 

 this relation, which involves mutual obligation^ 

 Such being the case, the Assembly deems it unne- 

 cessary to prescribe any specific form of organiza- 

 tion for individual societies, while it expects them 

 to conform to certain acknowledged principles, both 

 general and particular, as follow : In general, those 

 societies are to be organized and to work in con- 

 formity with the historic position of the Church, as 

 expressed by her standards and interpreted by her 

 courts. The particular relations of all societies t<> 

 the Church are sustained, in the first instance, to the 

 session of a particular church, and thence through 

 the session to the Church at large. Each society is 

 under the immediate direction, control, and over- 

 sight of the session of that church in which it is 

 formed, and that oversight is not merely general, 

 but applies to the constitution of the society, the 

 schedule of its services, the election of its officers. 

 and the distribution of its funds." This statement 

 was adopted as " setting forth the sense in which 

 the Church expects the young people to be loyal," 

 and was ordered sent to the presbyteries to be read to 

 individual societies. The use was advised, in jour- 

 nals, reports, etc., within the Church, of the simple 

 designation " Young People's Societies." The As- 

 sembly further resolved on this subject that it re- 

 affirmed the deliverances of former years wherein 

 confidence had been expressed in these societies and 

 encouragement given to their work: exhorted them 

 not only to increased loyalty and devotion to t he- 

 pastors and sessions to which they are subordinate, 

 but to careful study of the doctrine and polity of the 

 Presbyterian Church : and urgently recommended 

 them. "as far as practicable, to make the appointed 

 boards of the Church the channels of their benefi- 

 cence, and to maintain steadfastly their adherence 

 to Presbyterianism. in harmony with the principles 

 and practices of interdenominational fellowship. 



A memorial was received from the Synod of India 

 requesting the General Assembly, "in view of the 

 exceedingly difficult complications which often oc- 

 cur in cases of polygamists who desire to be received 

 into the Church, to leave the ultimate decision in 

 all such cases in India to the Synod of India." The 

 committee to whom the application was referred re- 



