BAPTISTS. 



63 



liminary meeting of this committee was held in 

 Boston, Jan. 28, 1902, at which the three West- 

 ern societies were represented by letters; and 

 after further correspondence a final meeting was 

 held Feb. 19, at which the three larger societies 

 were represented by delegates, and those of Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon by letter. A report was 

 unanimously adopted at this meeting, and after- 

 ward approved by the board of the societies con- 

 cerned, in which the absolute need of " woman's 

 work for women " was asserted. The belief was 

 expressed " that the educational work in mis- 

 sions which the woman's societies are doing in 

 our own country through the instruction of chil- 

 dren in bands and Sunday-schools, the preparation 

 and distribution of literature, and the stimulation 

 of a more thorough study of missions by our cir- 

 cles of women and girls, with their training in 

 habits of benevolence, is a sufficient reason for the 

 existence of these societies, and we would depre- 

 cate any change which might interfere with their 

 sense of individual responsibility." A contin- 

 ued separate organization of the woman's soci- 

 ties of the East and the West was regarded as 

 desirable, but a union of the societies of Oregon 

 and California with that of the West was ad- 

 \ised. Respecting the unity of the work of all 

 the societies, the report continues : " We consider 

 that there is already one treasury for the for- 

 eign work, we regard the woman's societies in 

 the light of helpful and efficient auxiliaries, 

 whose several treasuries are only places of de- 

 posit for funds to be used in the foreign mission 

 work, which funds are duly sent to the treasury 

 of the Missionary Union, and are finally admin- 

 istered by the Executive Committee of the union. 

 The title to all property in foreign countries, ac- 

 quired by the payment of money collected by the 

 woman's societies, is held by the Missionary 

 Union; all women candidates are appointed and 

 their fields are designated by the Executive Com- 

 mittee, and their salaries are paid by order of 

 the Executive Committee through the treasury of 

 the Missionary Union; every appropriation for 

 the foreign work of the woman's societies is sub- 

 mitted to the Executive Committee, and can be- 

 come operative only with their approval. The 

 woman's societies also appropriate large sums 

 for educational, medical, and evangelistic work, 

 at the request of the Executive Committee, to sup- 

 port work where the woman's societies have no 

 representative." The woman's societies method 

 of raising funds " quietly among the women 

 through collectors and by means of envelopes or 

 mitecboxes " was commended as preferable to 

 that of making promiscuous appeals to the whole 

 congregation. 



Joint Conference of Societies. A joint con- 

 ference of the American Baptist Missionary 

 Union, the Publication Society, and the Home 

 Mission Society was held at St. Paul, Minn., 

 May 12, to hear reports and consider questions 

 concerning the relations of the three societies. 

 The report of the Commission on Systematic 

 Benevolence, which was referred to this meeting 

 from the several societies, related the history of 

 the work of the commission, and closed with 

 a recommendation that it be discontinued; 

 whereupon the presidents of the several societies 

 were requested to appoint a committee of 7 mem- 

 bers for each on Christian stewardship for three 

 years, whose duty it shall be to foster the work 

 already done by the Commission on Systematic 

 Benevolence, and whose distinctive work shall 

 be to supervise a campaign of education in the 

 fundamental principles of Christian stewardship 

 among the churches. Contingent upon its secur- 



ing a sufficient guarantee fund for three years by 

 special subscription this committee was author- 

 ized to appoint a superintendent to give his 

 whole time to the work, but who should in no 

 respect be regarded as a special representative 

 for any one of the societies. It was decided that 

 in connection with the anniversaries each year, a 

 session should be devoted to hearing the annual 

 report of this committee and to the consideration 

 and discussion of the whole question of Christian 

 stewardship. The committee of 3 members from 

 each of the 3 societies on collecting agencies 

 reported concerning the investigations they had 

 made, recommending the continuance of the pol- 

 icy of the employment of district secretaries, but 

 adversely to the combination of the offices, so 

 that one man shall represent the 3 organiza- 

 tions in a given territory, while suggesting that 

 an experimental trial of the plan might be made 

 in a selected district. The plan called the 

 " wheel plan," under which causes are each ex- 

 clusively presented in rotation, in a given terri- 

 tory, at proper intervals, was unanimously ap- 

 proved by the committee and recommended by 

 the conference. Other recommendations of the 

 ccmmittee related to conferences between the 

 several secretaries and the committees of ar- 

 rangement of State conventions and local associ- 

 ations, looking to avoidance of congestion and 

 friction, and to the plan of appointing associa- 

 tional secretaries as the local advisers and help- 

 ers of the district secretaries. The 3 societies 

 and the 4 woman's missionary societies were 

 advised to appoint a committee to formulate a 

 plan for combining all their publications in a 

 single monthly and a bulletin, each represent- 

 ing all the denominational missionary interests 

 this committee to report in 1903. By agree- 

 ment of the 3 societies a committee of 15 was 

 provided for, to consist of 7 ministers, 5 laymen, 

 and 3 women, to whom all matters respecting 

 the relations between the societies shall be re- 

 ferred, whose duty it shall be to ascertain such 

 facts as whether there be any lack of proper 

 adjustment and proper cooperation as to fields 

 of labor, collecting and other agencies, and 

 methods of work; whether there may be im- 

 provement in their mutual relations for more 

 harmonious, effective, and fruitful service; 

 whether changes are needful or desirable in their 

 forms of organization, in their constitutions, by- 

 laws, agencies, and methods of work; and if 

 changes are needed, recommending what they 

 shall be. 



Following the recommendations of a confer- 

 ence held in 1901 in connection with the anni- 

 versaries at Springfield, Mass., the constitutions 

 of the 3 principal societies were so changed as to 

 make the qualifications for membership in them 

 alike. 



Woman's Societies. The twenty-fifth annual 

 meeting of the Woman's Baptist Home Mission 

 Society was held in St. Paul, Minn.. May 19 and 

 20. The occasion was celebrated as the " silver 

 anniversary " of the society, and the proceedings 

 were marked by the reading of historical papers 

 and addresses, relative to the general organiza- 

 tion, the State and local branches, and the sev- 

 eral fields of work. The labors of the society 

 were in practise distinctively directed to the 

 women and children, with the purpose of Chris- 

 tianizing and consequently elevating the homes 

 of the people. The agencies it used were house- 

 to-house visitation, schools for children, chil- 

 dren's meetings, Bible bands, women's (or moth- 

 ers') meetings, parents' conferences, and training 

 classes for workers. The work had been carried 



