Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-21
the PREsBYTERIaNs
a Special Effort VIII bc Made to
Evangelize Germans.

New YoRK, May 2o.--The third days bus
mess of the Presbyterian, general assembly
opened this morning at o'clock Dr. Nc
Gill, chairman of the standing committee on
the board of missions for freedmen, reported
there were 27T missionaries at work under
the board, of whom 202 were colored, and l02
of the 116 ordained ministers were colored
also. Rev. DIR. Allen, secretary of the fund
for missions among the freedmen, spoke of
the necessity for energetic work among the
colored people. ''In the SOUTH" he said,
there are 1,S40,556 colored children of
school age, and of this number only s02,5S5
attend school. Illiteracy is on the increase.
1t can be seen III the rapid growth of litter
ate voters, OF whom INSCRIPTIONS politicians
take undue advantage. 1t is the duty of
Americans to care for the negro.
The negro has come to stay with us, and we
must give him an education that will fit hi m
for his duty TO God and man."
A resolution recommending the adoption
of the report and recommendations of the
standing committee of the board of missions
for freedom was adopted. DIR. w. o. Rus
ter, of Dubuque, Ia, presented the report of
the committee appointed to inquire into
evangelical work among emigrants, particu-
larly Germans and Scandinavians. The
emigrant question, the report said, had now
got into politics, and the racial sympathies
and preiudces that existed were likely to
breed trouble. 1t would be much better not
to recognize emigrants as q class at all, but
let them merge into the general population
and imbibe the American spirit. But many
o. .hem won't do to this, the report says,
and =. the church must seek them out and
take them within the pale of American Chris
tianity Fifty thousand Germans in the
city of New York have broken every church
Tie. Intidelity among foreigners is on the
increase. Over four millions of emigrants
in the last four years were protestants and
almost three millions were not.
The report then gave synopsis of the
work done by the various protestant denom-
nations and emgrant societies. IN evangeli-
cation among foreigners. The Germans par
ticularly needed looking after by the Pres
byterian church. A foreign tongue must be
used in evangelizing emigrants,
The committee recommended that third
secretary be appointed on the board of for
eign missions, who will devote his time to the
emigrant question.
DIR. A. G. Smith, of Freeport, ILL.,, spoke
on the report He said the Irish emgrants
did not come under the scope of the commit
tee because they were Roman Catholics.
Their energies must be devoted principally
toward evangeliziug Germans, because
they would leave deeper impress on the
future American race than any other nation
atty. If they refused to preach to Germans
in the German tongue. they would lose the
opportunity of preaching either to them or
to their children. The Germans were thrifty
and intelligent and influenced american po-
litical, social and religious life, and the Pres
byteran church could not afford to ignore
them. The conference then took recess
and further consideration of the report on
emgrant evangelization was postponed until
Tomorrow.
In the afternoon session Rev. DIR. Cattell
presented report as chairman of the minis
terial help committee. The report recon-
mended that every minister who had reached
the age of seventy, and who has preached for
thirty years in the Presbyterian church,
shall receive $500 year without his case
being considered annually by the committee.
The report was adopted, and the assembly
adjourned