70 



BAPTISTS. 



negroes and Indians, with 171) instructors. 5.177 

 pupils, and property estimated to be worth 

 $1,380,540; in all, 152 institutions, with 1,791 

 instructors. 23.5i;> pupils, and 181,862,902 of 

 property. Tin- number of charitable institutions 

 recorded is 54. with property valued at $l,:!du.- 

 u21. The number of periodicals of all kinds is 



L2& 



The largest nuinli.-rs of members in the several 

 State- are in the Southern Stales. (Jei.rgia lead- 

 in-,' with 352,595, and being followed by Virginia, 

 with :519.'5!S: North Carolina, with 255,803; 

 Texas, with 240,851; Alabama, with 240,489; 

 K.-ntueky. with 217,310. The largest numbers 

 of baptisms are also found in the Southern States, 

 beginning again withdeorgia. 2<>.s is. after whirh 

 follow in order Texas Virginia. Kentucky. South 

 Carolina, Alabama. North Carolina. Mississippi, 

 Tenneoee, and New York leading the Northern 

 a with '5.457 baptisms. The largest contri- 

 butions however, are returned from the North- 

 ern States, New York leading in aggregate con- 

 tributions, $1.S2U,027, and Massachusetts in the 

 highest average per member, $16.85. In the 

 States of tlu- Southern Baptist Convention, Mis- 

 souri leads in absolute amount, $500,490, and 

 Maryland in average per member, $12.68. 



Baptists have in all the world, including Ku- 

 rope. Asia. Africa, and Australasia, as well as 

 both America^, 44.()'5!> churches, 29,871 ordained 

 ministers, and 4.1S4.507 members; and the whole 

 number of baptisms during the year throughout 

 the world was 221.724. The distribution of mein- 

 I'.-rs in the principal states of Europe is: In 

 France. i.'.tT!); in Germany, 27,883 : in Knghmd, 



138; in Ireland, 2.2< M)'; in Scotland. 18,208; 

 in Russia and Poland, 16,443; in Sweden. 36,- 

 in Finland. 1.329; in Denmark, 3,015: in 

 Norway. l.!r>i>: in Italy, 1,151 ; in Austria-llun- 

 . v!'.!75: in Spain. 100; in Switzerland, 439. 

 Education Society. The American I'.ap- 

 tist Kducation Society met in Saratoga Springs. 

 N. V.. May 22. The year's income of the so- 

 ciety from all sources had been $53,357, and the 

 expenditures, including appropriations to insti- 

 tutions. :j;4s.iil7. The report showed that, aside 

 from a -peeial effort in the first year of the so- 

 ciety's history, the aggregate gifts of individuals 

 and ehnrchefl during the pa>t four years had 



I n only *1.7?7. <>r an average of $444.32 per 



year. This sum was equivalent to only about 

 half the society's expends for a single year. Its 

 expenses had been met mainly by its beneficiaries. 

 The society had. sine.' its beginning, granted al- 

 lowances to 32 institutions in 'j:> States of the 

 t'nion, of which s had collected their pledges 

 and received the full amount of their grants. 

 During the past year 10 institutions, to which 

 th- sorj.-ty had made conditional grants, had re- 

 P >rted $92^60 <-.,||..,-ti-d on their pledges for en- 

 dowment : to these institutions the society had 

 paid during the year 34,017. A committee ap- 

 pointed to prepare a memorial to the Constitu- 

 tional Convention of the State of N-\v York 

 urging the adoption of a pn>\ ision forbidding 

 the appropriation of State money to sectarian 

 institutions reported adversely to a national or- 

 ganization like this society sending a memorial 

 to a State constitutional convention, but recom- 

 mended as a suitable constitutional provision 

 for which Baptists could present memorials to 



the legislatures and conventions of their States, 

 the following : 



No law shall he passed respecting the establishment 

 of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 

 nor shall the State, or any county, city, town, village, 

 or other rivil division of the State, use its property or 

 credit or any money raised by taxation or otherwise, 

 or authorize such property, credit, or money to be 

 used for the purpose ot founding, maintaining, or aid- 

 ing by appropriation, payment for services, expenses, 

 or in any other manner, any church, religious denom- 

 ination, or religious society, or any institution, society, 

 or undertaking which is wholly or in part under sec-^ 

 tarian or ecclesiastical control. 



Publication Society. The seventieth annual 

 meeting of the American Baptist Publication So- 

 ciety was held at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., May 

 25. The receipts of the society had been $21,236 

 in the department of Bible distribution, $127,650 

 in the missionary department, and $497,807 from 

 sales in the business department. Forty-nine 

 new publications had been issued. In the mis- 

 sionary department 116 missionaries and work- 

 ers had been employed, 704 persons baptized, 

 48 churches constituted, 285 Sunday schools 

 organized and 332 aided, and 330 pastors and 

 ministerial students aided with grants for their 

 libraries. Two chapel cars had been continu- 

 ously in use in Minnesota and west of the Mis- 

 sissippi and on the Pacific coast. They had 

 traveled altogether 17,834 miles, and from them 

 681 Bibles and 74,945 pages of tracts had been 

 granted, 1,313 sermons and addresses delivered, 

 207 prayer meetings held, 589 families visited, 18 

 persons" baptized. 7 churches constituted, 11 Sun- 

 day schools organized, 45 Sunday schools ad- 

 dressed, and 4 Sunday-school institutes held. A 

 third chapel car had been offered the society on 

 condition that means were contributed to it by 

 the denomination for building a fourth, and had 

 been completed in anticipation of the fulfillment 

 of the condition. 



Home Mission Society. The sixty-second 

 annual meeting of the American Baptist Home 

 Mission Society was held in Saratoga Springs, 

 N. Y., May 23. The total receipts of the society 

 had been $405,213, and the aggregate of ex- 

 penditures $524,155, leaving an indebtedness of 

 $101,456. The society had employed 1,111 la- 

 borers, 29 more than in the preceding year, and 

 the largest number ever reported. Of them, 252 

 had been engaged among the foreign populations, 

 215ainonir the negroes, 35 among the Indians, 26 

 among Mexicans, and 583 among Americans. 

 Fourteen nationalities were represented among 

 the missionaries. The churches aided returned 

 a membership of 50,701 souls. Thirty-six schools 

 were maintained by the aid of the society among 

 the colored people, Indians, and Mexicans. The 

 act of incorporation granted by the Legislature of 

 Massachusetts was accepted/ A memorial was 

 adopted for presentation to the Constitutional 

 Convention of the State of New York asking for 

 the incorporation in the Constitution to be 

 framed by it of the clause proposed by the 

 American Baptist Education Society, forbidding 

 the appropriation of public money to sectarian 

 schools and institutions. 



The seventeenth annual meeting of the Wom- 

 an's Baptist Home Mission Society was held in 

 Saratoga Springs, N. Y., May 21 and 22. The 

 total receipts of the society for the year, includ- 



