72 



BAPTISTS. 



fostering of secondary schools and a laying of foun- 

 dations for theological training. Fourth, the time 

 is ripe for the Union to take decisive steps for the 

 introduction of industrial pursuits among native 

 Christians. A resolution was passed by the meet- 

 ing affirming that the settled aim and purpose of 

 the Missionary Union "are nothing less and noth- 

 ing else than' the planting of Christianity as an 

 abiding possession of the land in which its work is 

 dniH'. and (hat it regards as necessary to this end 

 the forming of a strong and self-supporting Chris- 

 tian people, trained in all that pertains to intelli- 

 gent thought and worthy living." A comparison 

 was given in the report of the Executive Committee 

 of the condition of the Union and its work in 1869 

 and 1898, summarized as follows : 



The twenty-seventh annual meeting of the Bap- 

 tist Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the 

 West was held at Waterloo, Iowa, April 20 and 21. 

 The treasurer's report showed that the receipts for 

 the year had been $58,607, and the expenditure 

 $57,299, leaving a balance in the treasury, including 

 designated funds, of $1,308. 



The European missions (in Sweden, Germany, 

 Russia, Finland, Denmark, Norway, France, and 

 Spain) returned 1,518 preachers, 950 churches, 102,- 

 963 church members, 6,C68 baptisms during the 

 year, 79,321 pupils in Sunday schools, and contri- 

 butions amounting to $118,900 : the missions to 

 heathen (in Burmah, Assam, Teluguland, China, 

 Japan, and Africa), 93 stations, 463 missionaries, 

 3,484 native helpers, 870 churches, 98,904 church 

 members, 6,529 baptisms, 34,041 pupils in Sunday 

 schools, $71,849 of contributions ; and a total of 

 31,226 pupils in. theological, boarding, and other 

 schools. , 



Home Mission Society. The sixty-sixth an- 

 nual meeting of the American Baptist Home Mis- 

 sion Society was held May 19 and 20. The receipts 

 for the year had been $458,470, of which $335.222 

 had come from the contributions of churches, 

 schools, etc. The expenditure had been $402,315, 

 exceeding the income available for current work by 

 about $14.000. The permanent trust funds had 

 been increased by about $17,000, and $60,000 had 

 been added to the annuity funds, which now 

 amounted to $400,000. T)ie growth of the wo*k of 

 the society had been rapid and substantial, espe- 

 cially in the far West. Missionary work among 

 foreign populations was most prosperous and en- 

 couraging, especially among Italians, and there had 

 been progress in spite of difficulties in Mexico and 

 among the negroes. One thousand and thirty mis- 

 sionaries had been employed, of whom 113 had 

 labored in the Central and New England States, 197 

 in the South. 088 in the West, 14 in Canada, and 18 

 in Mexico. Sixty-three of these had labored among 

 the foreign populations. The missionaries had 

 baptized 5,022 persons and received 3,938 others, 

 and returned a total membership of 40,593, 150 

 churches organized, 985 Sunday schools under the 

 care of missionaries, and benevolent contributions 

 amounting to $85,738. Important movements dur- 

 ing the year had been the withdrawal of co-operation 

 from Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, the exten- 

 sion of co-operation with the colored people of the 

 South, and the beginning of larger participation in 



city mission work. Ninety-five churches had been 

 aided from the Church Edifice fund. From the 

 educational department the total enrollment of 

 pupils in all the schools was reported as being 5,396. 

 More than $259,000 had been spent during the 

 year 1896-'97 on the colored schools. 



Thirteen high schools and 13 secondary schools 

 for colored people returned a total enrollment of 

 5.036 pupils (2,210 young men and 2,826 young 

 women), with averages of 1,414 boarders and 1,685 

 day pupils, or a general average of 3,099. Of these 

 numbers, 373 were studying for the ministry, 1,724 

 were preparing to teach, 29 were in the teachers' 

 professional course, 25 in the missionary training 

 course, 39 in the nurse's training course, and 1,787 

 had received systematic training in some line of in- 

 dustrial work. Three hundred and sixty pupils were 

 enrolled in the schools for Indians, 2 of whom were 

 studying for the ministry and 25 were preparing to 

 teach. Two hundred and forty-seven teachers 12t) 

 white and 127 colored, 103 men and 144 women 

 were employed in the colored schools receiving help 

 from the society ; in the 10 schools wholly or par- 

 tially managed by the society 112 white and 42 

 colored, and in those under the entire control and 

 management of colored trustees 85 colored and 8 

 white teachers. The society had received in the 

 shape of tuition fees, in payment for board, etc., 

 $118,032 from the colored people, and had contrib- 

 uted to the support of their schools, for buildings, 

 etc., $84,767, and the total amount of $255,452 

 had been expended on them during the school 

 year. The 16 schools under the entire control and 

 management of negro boards of trustees included 3 

 holding college charters and 13 secondary or aca- 

 demic schools. The aggregate salaries of all the 

 teachers in these schools were $44,827, of which 

 the society paid $9,700, and the expenditure for 

 board, school supplies, and all other current ex- 

 penses was $39,570, making a total expenditure for 

 1896-'97 of $84,397. Chinese mission schools were 

 sustained at various points in the Pacific States and 

 Montana, and in New York city ; and other schools 

 in Utah, Mexico, and New Mexico. 



Publication Society. The seventy-fourth an- 

 nual meeting of the American Baptist Publication 

 Society was held May 21 and 23. The report men- 

 tioned as the great event in the year's history of 

 the society the completion of its new building in 

 Philadelphia, costing $530,000, without cost to the 

 missionary department of its work except that 

 money had been borrowed from it. In the business 

 department the aggregate of sales had been $070,- 

 093, an increase of $48,806 over the previous year. 

 In the missionary department the receipts from in- 

 vested funds, contributions, Children's Day, etc., 

 had been $115,433. The deficit in this department, 

 $11,374 at the beginning of the year, had been r"e- 

 duced to $8,464. In addition to the ordinary mis- 

 sionary contributions $41,850 had been received 

 from bequests in the form of conditional gifts. Tin 

 receipts in the Bible department had been $12,41!) : 

 and the entire amount, including Bible funds, com- 

 ing into the missionary treasury through ordinal? 

 channels had been $127,852. Very great enlarge- 

 ments had been made in the Bible work during the 

 year. The society was no longerdependent upon am 

 other society for Scriptures in the ordinary version 

 but had a list of its own, comprising text editions, 

 teachers', family, pulpit, illustrated, and other 

 Bibles. On the general list, 72 new publications 

 had been issued. Ninety-four missionaries and 

 workers had been employed during the \ear.vlii' 

 had baptized 533 persons and constituted 51 

 churches. 



A "ladies' chapel car," built at a cost of $8,000 

 entirely by contributions from women, was dedi- 



