, 1881-11-20

| y STATEMENT EY THE ASSISTANT rAsTOI.
| OF PLYMOUTH eIitEc1i-a PARTIAL AN
L. AIlS1s UF EEPOIrFs Fol: THREE YE.L,s.~.:
! Ssir l,rls Her ':, Nnr. Il.
If the policy which the Christian Tnin71
! recommends toward tile American Billie s9n-
| ciety should be carried out generally that
venerable society woultt have 10 so out of
business very soon. III its current Issue tlle
| thfistiun Cnih11 recommends, III view Of
| the charges made by the Connecticut Bible
| Society, that until all Investigation is l;.e
| by Il committee Of experts selected by, or at
! least satisfactory to, its principal AUXILIARY
societies, all pastors Of churches slloul.l POST
| ponc tie Bible Society collections. ali ttti-
vidual donors should withhold their con-
trib,ltions, and all auxiliari.:s hold
their funds in their own treas
urits. While every man is to be
! presumed innocent till he has been proved
guilty the Christian Union thinks that no
man il, charge Of trust funds silo:!d be left
in Charge OF them it. under serious acc,,;l-
sations. he opposes, declines, cyadcs. or cytn
diScourages IL full, free, and thorough inves-
1igation OF his accounts, is the authorities in
charge Ut tllc Eible Society offices llctc are
ACCUSED OF dong by the Connecticut society.
The Christian Enion insists that the .hig!
character Of the managers aud officers Of the
American Bible Society is ITO guarantee Of
good management or careful administration,
in view of the reputed good character OF
baldwin, the Newark Bank Cashier, and tic
lizard Of Directors OF that Institution, and of
Mr.. Dcnlond and the gentlemen associated
with him i'll the mlssnanagelcnt and 1nAlatt-
ADMINISTRATION of the Massachusetts Home Mis-
siollary Society, and other men Of rt:pute and
good character who have turned out 10 be
arEant knares.
An inquiry into the facts and figures of the
bible Socicty's reports for Three years (lS1S-
'so) apparently SLOWS the following nondi-
tiu1 Of things: The report for 1878 shows that
the building account presents Il deficit of
S5,Gs:;.ll, and the manufacturing account IL t
ever, promptly made good by donations fron
some liberal gisers. The salary ami WAGES |
items Ill the manufacturing department |
amount to Sill ,G35i Il out of total business !
of Sio,:sS S;.2o dune during that year; Thls; |
sum includes only half years salary Of
some Of the employees and is exclusive Of I
S:;l'',40 dybitetI rs unpaid wages. Tile rental |
NJ the society's building is also saddied with |
another salary-llst Of executive officers, |
clerks: etc, i'll various departments not i1'- |
clEded above, which ai,iounts to ~, :;.5..A ~ II
out Of a total OF S4.1.6:i.is--consitieraj /
hlore than half Of the iliconlu being for SUI
aries. In this rental. account is included I
s13,Uo0 for the building department, 50 that
one part Of tile Bible society's business pays
rent to another part. The business Ut the ST.
clety aggregates S:,00,UO0 per allniltl, un
which. us the report Shows there arc HI
profits, and being Il benevolent society there /
inanifestly can be 11one. Three secretaries |
rcctive - 0OU and travelling expenses. The
translation of Bibles into foreign language gcs
anu dialects Is carried on at great expense,
even WHEN the report shows Il circulation III
some cases Of only two or three copies. The
report Of 1871 is little more favorable. |
though the total business shows Il decrease
Of several thousand dollars. The report Of
1ss0 endeav0rs to be more explicit. 1t gives
detailed statements Ut the expenses. salaries.
etc., ,IppertaiIln1 tt various foreign missions, |
which only show that i'll lll:ln} cases the sal
nry and expenses OF tile agent amounted to
more than half Of the entire business trans
actions at his agency. The ltey. :. +. llalli-
day, ot Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, declares
tl!at to his knowledge these abuses are Of
lnng standing and that ten years ago the
Presbyterian Synod Ut Ohio, together With
the Methodist Conferences OF that State sent
Il joint delegation, to New York to protest
against the 1nlsnlanagenent OF the socety's +
funds here. Mr.. Halliday says lie is in pos
session ut 4 number uf facts which reflect
rather severely upon the society, But 1le has
never arranged! them III proper form for use,
md never intended to Nse them against the
society. Now that all igatioll is likely
o bt made lie thinks it unnecessary for him
. take any steps in the matter. Tie Board
u Managers, he says. are very respectable |
gentlemen and highly trustworthy, but he
links they do not pay the close attention to
he affairs of the society that they should