PRESBYTERIANS. 



581 



church erection, and $30,704 for the foreign mis- 

 sions in China and Japan. 



The Missionary Convention of Cumberland 

 Presbyterian Women had received $26,284, being 

 an increase of $2,369 over the contributions of the 

 preceding year. Reports were read at the twenty- 

 second annual meeting, May 13, of missions in 

 China, Japan, Mexico, 3 Chinese missions in 

 California, and the mountain mission, where 344 

 pupils were enrolled in 3 schools, 200 of them 

 in the Industrial Home. 



The seventy-second General Assembly met at 

 Springfield, Mo., May 15. The Rev. S. M. Tem- 

 pleton, of Texas, was chosen moderator. A coun- 

 cil composed of one member from each of the 

 synods, nominated by the commissioners of the 

 several synods, was constituted, for the present 

 Assembly only, to assist the moderator in ap- 

 pointing the committees. An important item in 

 the business of the meeting related to the question 

 of the control of the teachings of the Theolog- 

 ical Seminary by the General Assembly. A Com- 

 mittee of Seven had been appointed by the pre- 

 vious General Assembly to confer with the trus- 

 tees of Cumberland University, who had also 

 jurisdiction over the Theological Seminary, with a 

 view to making some arrangement under which 

 control should be permanently assured to the As- 

 sembly. A proposition made by the Board of Trus- 

 tees to the Assembly had been found to afford no 

 satisfactory solution of the problem; and a plan 

 of settlement submitted by the Committee of Seven 

 to the Board of Trustees had not been accepted 

 by them. Majority and minority reports were 

 presented by the Committee on the Theological 

 Seminary. Both agreed in commending the man- 

 agement of the institution, but they advised dif- 

 ferent methods of settling the questions that 

 had arisen. The Assembly directed the appoint- 

 ment of another committee which should request 

 the Board of Trustees of Cumberland University 

 to reconsider their action in declining to accept 

 the plan of settlement proposed by the Commit- 

 tee of Seven, and to accept and adopt it with 

 such changes as may be agreed upon; provided 

 the changes do not conflict with the terms of 

 the constitution of 1852, and do not surrender 

 any of the rights of the General Assembly to 

 the direct and absolute control of the Theological 

 Seminary; and in the event that the committee 

 and the Board of Trustees " are unable to arrive 

 at an agreement in accordance with said plan, 

 then that the said committee be authorized and 

 directed to ask the said Board of Trustees to 

 secure such changes in the charter of Cumber- 

 land University as will preserve all the rights of 

 the General Assembly, and among these changes 

 such a change in said charter as will secure 

 and reserve to the General Assembly of the Cum- 

 berland Presbyterian Church, through the mem- 

 bers of the Board of Trustees, whose terms of 

 office shall be limited, or the Board of Visitors, 

 or both, a majority vote on all matters pertain- 

 ing to the Theological Seminary." The question 

 of forming a separate Board of Home Missions 

 was considered. Two reports of different tenor 

 were presented. A substitute measure was adopt- 

 ed providing for a conference of the Board of 

 Missions and its corresponding members for the 

 preparation of a plan for the organization of 

 the mission work, upon which report shall be 

 made to the next General Assembly. The pres- 

 byteries were instructed to cooperate with the 

 Cumberland Presbyterian Historical Society. 

 The society was advised to print in book form 

 the minutes of the Assembly from 1829 to 1875, 

 and to incorporate in separate or combined book 



form any historical data it might have or obtain 

 during the Assembly year bearing upon the ori- 

 gin and distinctive doctrines of the Church; pro- 

 viding those things could be done without em- 

 barrassing the publishing interests. The report 

 on the centennial endowment of the colleges ad- 

 vised the institutions interested to push the work 

 of endowments vigorously in their respective 

 bounds, so as to secure the stipulated amounts 

 within the allotted time. " While the burden of 

 endowing our institutions of learning would fall 

 largely on the wealthier people of the Church, 

 yet the question should be presented to every 

 member and a subscription solicited.'' A perma- 

 nent Committee on Temperance was appointed, 

 of 17 members representing all the synods, and 

 charged with the duty of promoting temperance 

 agitation, education, and legislation; and pro- 

 vision was made for synodal committees. The 

 report on Sabbath observance urged an uncom- 

 promising stand for a sacred Sunday and recom- 

 mended the institution of Sabbath observance 

 meetings or institutes in the General Assembly, 

 the synods, and the presbyteries; preaching, 

 ministerial practise, precept, and example in its 

 favor; and cooperation with the National Sa"b- 

 bath Observance Movement. The Choctaw Pres- 

 bytery was authorized to publish the Confession 

 of Faith in the Choctaw language, a translation 

 being already in course of preparation. The ac- 

 tion of the General Assembly of 1899 requiring 

 the boards to wait for nominations by the Assem- 

 bly before electing members to fill vacancies was 

 approved. This measure permits the boards and 

 permanent committees to fill vacancies subject to 

 veto by the Assembly. 



The Colored Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 

 with 450 ministers, 400 churches, and 39,000 mem- 

 bers, has a Board of Publication publishing a 

 weekly journal at Fayetteville, Tenn., and Boards 

 of Education, Ministerial Relief, and Missions; 

 and a Woman's Board of Missions; and is inter- 

 ested in synodal schools at Newbern, Tenn., and 

 Huntsville, Ala. The twenty-sixth General As- 

 sembly was held in May. 



VII. Presbyterian Church, in Canada. 

 The following is a summary of the statistics 

 of this Church as shown in the reports made 

 to the General Assembly in June: Number of 

 presbyteries, 58; of ordained ministers, 1,368; 

 of communicants, 219,470; of church sittings, 

 601,885; of families, 118,114; of elders, 7,559; 

 of additions by profession of faith, 11,259; of 

 Sabbath-schools, 3,196, with 21,717 teachers and 

 officers and 182,335 pupils; of members of Chris- 

 tian Endeavor and other Young People's Societies, 

 26,319; amount of contributions for the schemes 

 of the Church, $394,203; of contributions for sal- 

 aries of ministers, $1,052,691 : income of the 

 Church for all purposes, $2,857,689. Value of 

 church property, more than $10,000,000, less in- 

 debtedness of about $1,500,000. An increase of 

 5,799 communicants was shown, and the increase 

 in the total amount of contributions was $394,203. 

 The statistics of Sabbath-schools showed an in- 

 crease of 147 in the number of schools report iiii_ r . 

 of 517 officers and teachers, and of 2,968 pupils 

 (including the home department). The Sabbath- 

 schools had raised during 1901, for all purposes, 

 $112,110. The statistics of Young People's Soci- 

 eties showed a decrease in the number of soci- 

 eties, but slight as compared with the decrease in 

 a few previous years. The rapid decline in the 

 number of societies was apparently arrested. 



The Aged and Retired Ministers' fund (for 

 the provision of annuities to ministers honorably 

 retired from active service) in the Western sec- 



