UNITARIANS. 



UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 667 



The Vali of Busra established direct Turkish do- 

 minion over a great part of Nejd to guard against 

 any extension of British claims such as those 

 over the federated rebel tribes behind Aden. The 

 Turkish Government consented to the passage of 

 4 Russian torpedo-boats up the Dardanelles into 

 the Black Sea. These vessels carried no arma- 



ment, and by this means they technically evaded 

 the clause in the treaty of Berlin by which the 

 straits were neutralized, which condition was im- 

 posed by England and the other powers not 

 merely to safeguard Turkey, but also to prevent 

 the development of Russian naval power in the 

 Mediterranean Sea. 



U 



UNITARIANS. The reports of the American 

 Unitarian churches for 1902 give them 540 minis- 

 ters, 452 societies, and 71,000 members. 



The annual meeting of the American Unitarian 

 Association was held in Boston, Mass., May 27. 

 The Rev. Samuel A. Eliot, D. D., presided. The 

 report of the secretary showed that the names of 

 97 new life members had been enrolled; that 12 

 new churches, 21 preaching stations, and 27 min- 

 isters had been added during the year, 15 of the 

 ministers having been received from various ortho- 

 dox denominations; services had been resumed at 

 S places, and missionary preaching had been 

 maintained during the summer months at 8 

 points. The president of the association had vis- 

 ited 84 churches and the secretary 95 churches; 

 and reports of similar labors w r ere received from 

 district and state secretaries. The gifts for capi- 

 tal account or increase of endowment amounted 

 to more than $60,000. Among them were gifts of 

 $10,000 to establish the James Walker fund, in 

 memory of Dr. James Walker, the secretary of the 

 first meeting called to establish the association, 

 and one of its original directors ; and $24,000 as a 

 memorial fund of Dr. Ezra Stiles Gannett, the first 

 secretary of the association. Considerable atten- 

 tion had been given to missionary work among 

 Spanish-speaking peoples. Tracts had been printed 

 in Spanish and mailed to persons in Mexico and 

 Cuba; and work had been instituted on the plan 

 of the post-office mission; but no intention existed 

 at present to undertake the establishment of 

 Unitarian churches in Cuba. The work of special 

 committees on investigating the condition of 

 country work, on retiring allowances for minis- 

 ters, on the sources of the Unitarian ministry, on 

 non-sectarian education, and on plans for new 

 hurch buildings was mentioned. The budget of 

 the treasurer for 1902-'03 provided for the expend- 

 iture of $91,500, income from the churches and 

 from the various funds of the association. 



A resolution was passed placing the association 

 on record as condemning all such evils as the em- 

 ployment of children under twelve years of age in 

 factories in the Southern States, and as favoring 

 Totective legislation in their behalf. A memo- 

 ial was adopted to be presented to the President 

 if the United States and the two houses of Con- 

 ess, expressing deep concern " for a just, honor- 

 ble, and humane settlement of our difficulties 

 ith the people of the Philippine Islands," asking 

 that such prompt and efficient measures be taken 

 s might " replace the present methods of coercion 

 ith a policy of conciliation and good will," and 

 'ledging support to the President " in his expressed 

 esire to secure for the people of the Philippine 

 slands ' self-government after the fashion of really 

 ee nations.' " The committee appointed to con- 

 'er with the Universalists reported progress, the 

 organization of the joint commission of Unitarians 

 and Universalists, and its first regular meeting 

 ~an. 20, 1902, and was continued. The annual 

 meetings of the Unitarian Sunday-School Asso- 

 iation, the Unitarian Historical Society, and the 

 ational Alliance (Women's) were held in con- 



nection with the meeting of the association. The 

 reports of the National Alliance concerned the 

 post-office mission, the study class, missions in 

 the South, local missions, student aid, tours of 

 secretaries, and other work aiming at cooperation 

 in every possible way with the American Unita- 

 rian Association. 



The annual meeting of the British and Foreign 

 Unitarian Association was held in London, May 

 20. The report opened with a reference to the suc- 

 cessful " International Council of Unitarians " 

 that was held in 1901; it mentioned the publica- 

 tion of several volumes and the circulation of 

 leaflets, which had reached very high figures; the 

 increase of correspondence with inquirers; the 

 foundation of a new church at Auckland, New 

 Zealand; the work in Scotland, carried on chiefly 

 by the aid of the McQuaker bequest; and the 

 progress of the work in India, attended by a keen 

 demand for literature. The grants in aid to con- 

 gregations had amounted to 2,030. The educa- 

 tion bill was condemned because its tendency was 

 believed to be to perpetuate and intensify denom- 

 inationalism, and the association declared that 

 " the state ought in education to concern itself not 

 with the desires of churches and sects, but with 

 the needs and rights of citizens, and that the com- 

 munity which pays should appoint not less than 

 two-thirds of the management." The Postal Mis- 

 sion and Unitarian Workers' Union held its four- 

 teenth annual meeting. The presidential address 

 was delivered by Mr. W. Blake Odjers, K. C. ; the 

 president-elect, the Rev. R. A. Armstrong, spoke 

 on The Principles of Unitarian Christianity as 

 Distinguished from its Doctrines; and other ad- 

 dresses were delivered on the importance of preach- 

 ing truth in the common life, Unitarianism and 

 Humanism, and The Causes which have Retarded 

 the Effectiveness of the Unitarian Churches. The 

 report of the National Unitarian Temperance As- 

 sociation showed a small but steady advance in 

 the number of members and of affiliated societies. 



UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH. The 

 statistical reports of this Church for 1902 give 

 it 501 ministers, 820 churches, and 63,390 commu- 

 nicant members. The bishops, in their quadren- 

 nial address to the General Conference in October, 

 represented that the net gain in members for four 

 years had been 4,200. During the same period 

 27,279 conversions had been reported, and 29,842 

 accessions by confession of faith. The gain in 

 itinerant preachers in four years had been 75, 

 while the number of local preachers, 214, re- 

 mained exactly the same. The contributions 

 during the quadrennium had been $261,668 for 

 missionary purposes, $77.295 for other conference 

 collections, $117,412 for Sunday-school work. $710,- 

 371 for preachers' salaries, and $508,641 for build- 

 ing and repairing churches and parsonages; in all, 

 $1,675,387. One hundred and thirty-six churches 

 and 88 parsonages had been added, and the total 

 valuation of church property $2,751,207 had in- 

 creased $804,908, or 41 per cent. : but there were 

 still 159 organized congregations without a church 

 building. Of the educational institutions, Central 



