PRESBYTERIANS. 



727 



leges, $261,268; for the General Assembly, $80,- 

 100; congregational contributions, $10,094,518; 

 miscellaneous, $793,788; aggregate amount of 

 contributions, according to the footing of the 

 table, $13,777,717. 



These numbers show a net gain for the year of 

 .8,030 members, a decrease of 4,935 in the member- 

 ship of Sabbath schools, and an increase of $74,- 

 156 in the aggregate of contributions. 



The total income of the Board of Church Erec- 

 tion had been $155,476, and the total disburse- 

 ments $129,660. One hundred and sixty-eight ap- 

 plications for aid had been made to the board, 

 calling for $114,516. Including special gifts, ap- 

 propriations, either grants or loans, had been 

 made to 180 churches (to 53, aggregating $15,150, 

 for manses) to the total amount of $99,086. 



The Board of Publication and Sabbath school 

 Work returned net profits in the business depart- 

 ment of $19,175, two thirds of which ($12,783) 

 was contributed to the Sabbath-school mission- 

 .ary work. The aggregate of publications, includ- 

 ing books, tracts, periodicals, and the annual re- 

 port, had been 46,151,961 copies. The Sabbath- 

 school and missionary department had 79 mis- 

 sionaries in the field, under whom 848 schools had 

 been organized and 319 reorganized. The schools 

 returned 4,149 teachers and 38,530 pupils. Con- 

 tributions x)f $89,879 had been received for this 

 work from churches and Sabbath schools. 



The receipts of the Board of Relief for Dis- 

 abled Ministers and the Widows and Orphans of 

 Deceased Ministers had been $185,513, as against 

 $197,136 in the previous year. The permanent 

 fund amounted to $1,547,804. The number of 

 beneficiaries aided during the year was 877. The 

 average amount paid all annuitants was $2-26.20; 

 to ministers on the honorably retired roll, $278.12. 



The Board of Education had had 814 men un- 

 der its care, a falling off of 97 from the year be- 

 fore; but the number of new candidates enrolled 

 was slightly larger. Of the whole number of 

 beneficiaries, 31 were attending the German theo- 

 logical schools, 97 the various schools for col- 

 ored men, and 7 were in schools for Spanish- 

 speaking students. The receipts for the year had 

 been $78,370. The board was free from debt. 



The Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies 

 had aided 27 institutions, the value of the prop- 

 erty of which above indebtedness had been in- 

 creased $134,781. Its total receipts for 1898-'99 

 were $181,996. 



The total contributions to the Board of Home 

 Missions had been $856,906. The board had ex- 

 pended $685,454 on field work, and had extin- 

 guished the debt of $167,839 with which it had 

 begun the year. In all, 2,112 ministers were em- 

 ployed in home mission work, 732 of whom were 

 under the charge of the synods of eight States 

 and independent of the board. In the support of 

 these the synods had expended $125,365. The 

 board had under its charge 347 teachers in 121 

 schools, with 8,411 pupils; and 106 teachers with 

 7,441 pupils in Sabbath schools. The 1,450 aided 

 churches returned 74,832 members, of whom 7,346 

 had been added during the year on confession of 

 faith. Seven church organizations had reached 



It support, 47 new churches and 231 Sabbath 

 schools had been organized, 66 churches had been 

 built at a cost of $34,051, 233 churches repaired 

 and enlarged at a cost of $57,916, and $76,080 of 

 church debts canceled, during the year. 



The report of the Board of Missions for Freed- 

 men showed an expenditure of $132,578 during 

 the year, or $862 more than in the previous year. 

 The board had reduced its debt by $18,000, mak- 

 ing the present amount $40,065. It had main- 



tained 62 schools, instructing 8,109 pupils, and 

 had aided 192 ministers in the field. An appeal 

 was sent out after the presentation of the report 

 to the General Assembly to all the Presbyterian 

 churches to make an offering to this cause on 

 Sunday, May 21, and report to the moderator the 

 next morning, so that, " for the first time in 

 twenty-five years, the Assembly may conclude its 

 sessions free from the burden of debt." Without 

 waiting for a response to this appeal to the 

 churches, -the whole amount of the debt was 

 pledged at a meeting held in connection with the 

 sessions of the Assembly. 



The Board of Foreign Missions reported that 

 the year with it had ended, as it had begun, with- 

 out any deficit. The receipts had been $863,743, 

 as compared with $881,511 in the previous year, 

 when extraordinary contributions were made for 

 the payment of the debt. The board had felt con- 

 strained to limit the appropriations for the fiscal 

 year 1899-1900 to $825,000, with the hope that 

 enlarged contributions would enable it to add 

 to the amount. This was $200,000 less than the 

 appropriations of six years before. The report 

 of the auditor showed that the current and in- 

 vested assets amounted to $1,798,210, and the 

 liabilities to $1,320,212. The board had under its 

 direction 240 ordained ministers, 395 women, 67 

 medical missionaries, 2,021 native workers, 368 

 churches, 35,995 communicant members, 30,235 

 pupils in Sabbath schools, 87 candidates for the 

 ministry, 686 schools and colleges, with 21,516 

 pupils, 35 hospitals, and 47 dispensaries, at which 

 349,789 patients had been treated. The 1,192 

 mission stations were situated in Africa, China, 

 Guatemala, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Persia, 

 Siam, South America, Syria, and the Philippine 

 Islands. 



The one hundred and eleventh meeting of the 

 General Assembly was held at Minneapolis, 

 Minn., beginning May 18. The Rev. Dr. Robert 

 F. Sample, of New York, was chosen moderator. 

 The committee appointed by the previous General 

 Assembly to consider measures for reducing the 

 size of the Assembly recommended the submis- 

 sion to presbyteries of an overture making the 

 number of ministers necessary to constitute a 

 presbytery 10 instead of 5; and also two al- 

 ternative overtures one, that each presbytery 

 having less than 18 ministers be entitled to one 

 commissioner (a minister and an elder, alter- 

 nately) ; each presbytery having more than 18 

 members and less than 36 to two (a minister and 

 an elder) ; and each presbytery having 36 minis- 

 ters or more to two commissioners, one minis- 

 ter and one elder, for every 36 ministers. The 

 second of these alternative overtures provided 

 that the ratio of representation should be one 

 minister and one elder for every 6,000 communi- 

 cants and under in each of the synods, and one 

 minister and one elder for every additional 6,000 

 members. Under the former plan the Assembly 

 would consist of 422 members; under the second 

 plan it would comprise 300 members. The recom- 

 mendations of the report were not approved, and 

 the subject was indefinitely postponed. Regard- 

 ing union with the Southern Presbyterian Church, 

 the Assembly resolved: "While reiterating our 

 confidence in the Christian character and ortho- 

 doxy of our Southern brethren, and our fraternal 

 feelings and desire for closer fellowship and more 

 effective union, we do not deem it wise to take 

 any further action in the matter proposed." 

 Telegraphic greetings were, however, sent to the 

 Southern General Assembly and responded to by 

 it, and a written address was sent by the elders 

 in the Assembly to the elders in that body, ex- 



