q 



students. At the 1921 session of the Foreign Missions Con- 

 ference Dean Reisner of Nanking gave an address on "The 

 Relation of Agriculture to Mission Activities/' and the discus- 

 sion, participated in by some ten or twelve persons, not only 

 contained no note of disapproval, but seemed to assume the 

 significance and validity of this phase of mission educational 

 activity. 



III. Objections 



Many phases of educational endeavor under Christian 

 management call for no argument on their behalf. But agri- 

 culture is not yet so fully established that its extension has 

 become a part of the accepted policy of all the missions. The 

 facts just stated relative to enterprises under way, and the 

 cumulative and important evidences of a growing interest in 

 further development, do not of themselves meet all the objec- 

 tions that can legitimately be made to an inclusion of agriculture 

 in the scheme of either the present or of a greatly enlarged 

 system of Christian education in China. 



Some of the objections made to agricultural missions in 

 China are as follows: 



(1) The development of a great industry like agriculture 

 is peculiarly a public function. 



(2) China has already organized a scheme of agricultural 

 education. There is danger of duplication. 



(3) The task of agricultural education in China is so huge 

 that the Christian forces can, at the best, do only a fraction of 

 what needs to be done. 



(4) The cost of agricultural education is too heavy to be 

 borne by the limited funds at the disposal of Christian institu- 

 tions. 



(5) Well trained man are exceedingly difficult to get, both 

 foreigners and Chinese. 



(6) It is doubtful whether technical education of any kind 

 is a function of Christian education in China. 



All these objections have weight and cannot be ignored; 

 but they are not conclusive for failing to press agricultural 

 education as an organic part of the Christian enterprise in 

 China. And for these reasons: 



1. All education, except that for training religious leaders, 

 is universally regarded as a government function. Indeed, the 



