690 



PRESBYTERIANS, 



the reform of the House of Peers. A dm*t ie press 

 bill, inflicting severe penalties for disrespectful lan- 

 guage toward the Portuguese royal family >r to- 

 ward sorer. _ - --r '.: s .-f fovtbn rtat< Land an- 

 powering the ministers ii the introduc- 



lion of foreign newspaper* int.. Portugal, fi 

 pats. of twei\e mi:.. Serial tneasures only three 

 were adopted bcfmv th. ! iheC.iries on 



8ept8. These dealt with the reform of the Hank 

 nsions and rvtiring allowances, and 



In. Th.- 11. .11- 



not yet sanctioned a measure extending the 

 . u'rj.uf the Tobaooo Company. After the Oor- 

 tes rtttssembled in November S. -ni 

 resist MHiuence of which S-nh>r I'. 



ame Minister of I-'.T. ii:ii Allairs and Scn- 

 -*U Ninist < r <>f Ma 



r recognizing Port ugal's ri^ht- t-> 

 the island of Mara- Gulf 



\ Mgned in tln> pn . 

 . \ . i Mmnit erected a gnaidhoott <on 

 thf> dependent i>lan<l <>f ]i,.ni .1, ao .,.. i -stationed a 

 - -n there. In 1N96 Portugal as a warning 

 ml a battalion there, an.l in April. 1^ 



ntiary had a conference wit h 



y <.f Canton, whloh resulted in an I 



inent t i i return to the 



slatu-s otto exist in:: b.'fo; - ity of com- 



and .Japan was signed at 



Lisbon on tal other commercial trea- 



ties wen- under discussion. 



I'lII sl!\ I I IM \NV I. I'rexlnteriaiil hnrcli 

 in th. I nited States of America Northern. 

 following is the summary of the statis; 

 1 hurt- has reported to the General Assembly in 

 May: Number of synods, 32: of pr 

 of minist ..f candid B; of local 



-. r7: of licentiates. 477; of church,-. 

 : of communicants, 960,1)11: of members of 

 ah schools. 1 < ; i : ,f 



deacons, 0,551; of churches or 

 rear, 162: of members added on exanunatio! 

 Oil; of baptisms, 21,596 of adults an.l :W,!>56 of 

 infants. Amount of contributions: For home 

 missions, $1,042,768: for foreign missions, $681,- 

 459: for education, $100.231; for Sabbath-school 

 work. $121,806: for ehun-h erection, $124378 ; for 

 ;.-lief fund, $85.420: for the freedrnen, *1V 

 496; for synodieal aid. $71.515 ; for aid for coll 

 $109.'J?J: for th.- Anniversary Kcunion fund, $57,- 

 891: for the (ieneral Assembly, etc., $187,660; 

 congregational, $9,980,958: niseellaneons, *72!.i:>i. 

 The year's increase in oommunieants wa< 1?.: 



The contributions for ministerial relief had been 

 $160,856, being $11,000 less than in 1896. The 

 debt of the board was $20,911. The permanent 

 fund amounted to $1.551,783. Kiirht hundred and 

 thirty-five families had been under the care of the 

 board, being a larger number than in any previous 

 tear. Amonp the persons r < d were 95 



honorably retired veterans, each more than seventy 

 Tears of age, who had served the Presbyterian 

 Church as pastor, stated supply, or missionary in 

 the aggregate more than thirty years. 



at ion had received $7- 



inch. .". from the Anniversary Kd. 



fund. mdre*l and el- .idates had 



r its care. The board had tried to make 

 effective, through recommendations to the several 

 educational committee* an.l to teachers in the in- 

 stitutions where candidates were pur-uin^ th<ir 

 studies, the admonition given by the General As- 

 sembly of 1896 to presbyteries to exercise all due 

 care and watchfulness 'in the recommending of 

 candidates. 



The Board of Aid for ('"Urges and A 

 had received $95,751. By reducing admim-irative 



uses nearly 23 per cent, and by mm 



. ;! 'had 



all appropriation- voted. 



Th- < nuieh Kivrtion hail 



!priatioiis and -ill- had 



Tin- largest .sum had 



been assigned to ln<: thru. 



Minnesota. ln: --uri. and 



\Va-li 



The tot;. anl of Publi,-.. 



an.l Sabbath-School \. , been $11:: 



falling olT in e..ntributions fr,,m ehurehe-. Sabbath 

 .nd individuals wus $1,429, or less than 

 .mount anticipated, ami the total reduction 

 was $5,85(1. The business department sh 



profits of $M,867 ( two thn-.N of which, or $i. 



had been passed over to the Suinlay-.sehiMil an.l 

 missionary ih-part ment. The missionary depart- 

 ment had distributetl Hi:', free librari.--, -ontainin^ 

 I !.<>:,: rolumi -. Tin- n.; 



3 .bballiseh.H.N. an.l :;>!lj ^abl-ath -e|,o,,ls 

 had been vi-ited and otherwise aideil, mo>t of them 

 such as had been or^ani/cd by the mi 



The hoard of I-'reednn-n's Relief had expended 



Hot quite Si.. 



t he pivvi' Ii returned 1 7"> mini 



than in 1- and mi ion-, an in- 



crease of 7; 1,800 members added on examination, 

 or 174 less than the previou- J '> s commu- 



nicants, a dec; 

 with 79.021 pupils, a deer 

 schools, with 20-1 teachers and 9. 1 12 pupil*. 



The receipts of the Hoard of Home Ml ion- had 



;:y fallen olT sii. nd were for tin 



year, exclusive of what was n-ceiv.-d from the 

 Memorial fund, $730,000. A reduction of 1" 

 :iad leen made during the year il 

 . The lioard returned l.JHJ mis-ionari- 

 nary teachers. ST. <>:;.") meml 



*".")22 added on profession of faith. 

 4,010 baptism* of adults and -I/.:;: of infan; 

 Sunday schools organ i/ed. 2,1X0 Sunday schools in 

 all, with more than rJ9.so|f members. .">:! churches 

 organi/ed and 10 churches become sclf-sustainiii-. 

 81 Church edifices built during the year, and Ul? 

 church edifices in all. valued ! 7. 



The of the Womaii 



mittee of Home Mi-ion-, ha-: I. of 



the 29 synods, 19 had made advance. Tin- debt 

 of $105,000 with which the MM opem-d had 

 reduced to $9.649. The building! and equipment. 

 of the committee were valued at $742.000. The 

 receipts for freedmen's work had been $4 

 somewhat less than in IH'.KJ. The nc^n. people had 



i.nted $70,017 for support of Pi 

 churches' and school-. 



The p.oard of |-'..reirn Mi i<-n- ha 

 $869,057, of which $299.1 15 I. .itribnied 



through the woman's ')'. throu^li tin; 



Sabbatii schools, and $25.679 throuuh the Young 

 People's Societies. 

 $986,061. 



< ncral Assembly. The General Assejnb 



.. hid.. May -JM. The |;, v. Sheldon 



bosen moderator, and the n..n. 



John Watiamal itor. The conn 



of eleven appointed by the previous (Jem -ral A-- 



Xamine IntO the subject of th- 

 , Huildine; " erected in t 1 York 



by the Hoards ,.f Home and ]"< r.-i-n Mi--ioi. 

 the accotnnio]ation of th<-ir business and for pur- 

 poses of rental, reported concerning their proceed- 

 ings and the conclusions they had reached. The 

 report embodied a rts"lution of the General A 

 bly of 1894, from which it appeared that 



