The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1868-03-21
(For the Free Trad cry -
Half a Million People in Illinois
Without Bibles!
What Shall BE Done to supply Them


the Scriptures in our State as many others will
| be who read this article. We have some 1900
Bible REPOSITORIES in Illinois, with about 5000
| local unpaid agents to circulate the Scriptures
and are putting in circulation from seventy. five
to one hundred thousand copies annually. Our
State is probably better supplied than any other
in the West. And yet, facts have been ascer-
tanned by actual enquiry which show that the
assertion at the head of this paragraph is true
and give Importance to the enquiry" what shall
be done" Some of these facts are as follows
The city of Aurora is one of the most moral
and religious places in Illinois, where as small
restitution of the Scriptures would be thought to
exist as almost any where. And yet when it was
canvassed some time ago, out of 2O4S families
visited $40, or more than one-fourth, were des-
| titute
The officers of the Knox Co. B. s., recently
employed man to visit every family in several
| townships supposed to be the most destitute.
| With some assistance from Local Agents, he call
ed on 1850 families in six townships, and of them
found 233 or nearly one-sixth, without Bibles.
In recent letter, he says:
"The restitution is truly alarming. To-day |
| have found eight families destitute--some OF
them long without the word of God and some OF
them recently married. All were glad to receive
it although not nearly all had present mems to
pay for it,"
| "A local agent IN HANCOCK county, says.
"Ihere are 81 families in my district Of whom
IA were without entire copy of the Bible and
IL children without testaments"
Of9,27S families visited during the past two
years in Chicago, 1862 were found destitute
And this Is not near great restitution as was
found in st. Louis No. where about 80 per cent
of those visited were found without Bibles
| Of forty families called on in section O:
Marion Co., H., II, or nearly one-half were
found without Bibles.
OF 10 families visited in one of the townships
of Clark Co., 9, more than one-half, were with.
out Bibles. u. 4t
1t may be said that the foregoing are extreme
cases, but they show concluslvely that extreme
| eases exist. And they are not by any means the
only ones Upon facts which have been reported
by oar distributors from other parts of the State
as well as those named we base the estimate that
there are at least 100000 families in Illinois
without Bibles. If this is so and these families
will average persons to each, the truth of our
heading is established. And if the population of
| the State is 100000, comprising 100000 fami.
lies, then one family in five is destitute After
excluding from this count those who are unwill-
ing to receive the Protestant version Of the scrip
lures there will still remain large number to
| be supplied. aIr
In view of these facts the question recurs
"What shall be done ~ We can only indicate
what should be and leave others to decide what
shall be. .lI
list. The destitute should supply themselves
Our fifteen hundred Bible depositaries are acces.
sbe to every person in the State and from them
they may purchase the Scriptures at less than
cost, or if not able to purchase may obtain them
| gratuitously. If they do not wish tosbe found
destitute they will of course avail themselves OF
the privilege.
I'd. But many are too little interested to 20
after the scriptures, and hence, our local Agents
should be more active and carry Bibles and Tes-
taments to the homes of the people-not merely
to those, who destitute bat to all-selling
where practicable and giving where necessary.
Sd. The Life Members and Directors of the
American Bible Society, of whom there are
thousands in the State, should search out the
destitute around them and place the books to
which they are entitled on account of their mem
| bershp in their hands Pastors will also be sup
piled with books for this purpose application
at the repositories. uf.
4th The fields of the County Agents usually
embrace about four counties. One of these
counties should be canvassed thoroughly each
year by the travelling agent for the purpose Of
supplying the misunderstanding to the other
departments of his work ut the same time, and
| having the annual meetings IN the three remain
Jag counties enough nearer together to enable
him to still get over his entire field during the
year. But as it will be four years before tie
last county on his field will be oanvassed in this
way the destitute and our local agents, life meri-
bers and pastors should not wais for this but do
at once as suggested in preceding paragraphs
Finally: all citizens should remember that
the home as we'll as the foreign work of our
Bible Societies requires an increase of funds and
should give with u cheerfulness and liberaity
corresponding with the Importance of the OBJ
| jects to be accomplished. L.. .
March, 1868. u1