Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1889-05-21
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
fHR PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
CONTINUES IN SESSION.
Church Work Among the Frsedmen-Addrsss BY
q an k-Slsys Among the Alsns-In Fsvoro
EyangslizatOn Of Germans Who are
Called Thrifty and Intelligent

NEW YORK, May 20.-The third days
business session Of the General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church opened this
morning at Q o'clock. DR.. Hastings, the
chairman of the Committee on Christian
Unity, reported that negotiations were
going on for conference between the COM
mittee and committee of the Congrega-
tionalistS, and moved that the Committee
on Christian Unity be continued. The
motion c1rrie1.
DR.. J. T. Mccall, chairman Of the stand
ing COMMITTEES on the Board of Mi-gions
for Freedmen, made his report He said
there were 277 mi~siOnaries working under
the Board, of whom 202 we've colorcd, and
102 of the lie ordained ministers were
cOlOred also. The contributions to the
work last year amounted to $134, 450, an
increase Of g., ,797 on the previous year.
The freedmen themselves gave S32, ,092 for
various parts of the work. DR.. McGill
said that although there was diversity
of opinion among Presbyteriaus in regard
to matters of administration in missions
for freedmen, they we're all agreed that the
work must be pushed. He suggested that
in future contributions be paid direct to
the board, and moved that the four men,
bers of the committee, whose term of office
expired, be reelected. They were Rev. w.
I c. Burchard, Rev. Geo. T. Purvis, Mr..
B. O. Totten and Mr.. s. P HARRISON.
Rev. DR.. Allen, secretary of the fund for
missions among the freedmen, spoke on
the necessity for Evangelical work among
the c0lored race. ''In the South" he
said, "there are ], $40, 500 colored children
of school age, and Of this number only
500, 5S5 attend school. Illiteracy is ON
the Increase. 1t can be seen in the rap
idly-growing number of illiterate voters,
of whom unscrupulOus politicians take
undue advantage.
A SLAVES TONGUE LOOsENED.
Much interest was added to Rev. DR..
Aliens address when it was known thai
bis grandfather, his father and himself
were slave owners. The speaker then asked
for Urcle Joe Williams, an ex-slave 81
years old, who addressed the Assembly 20
years ago in Albany. He walked up to the
platform and received an ovation. Rev.
DR.. John W. Scott, President HaE-
risOn's father in-lsw, here entered the
church took front seat, and wel elusive
IL welcomed by Dr. Crosby. Mr.. B. ].
Sunders, another cOlored mon, and editor
of the Africo-AmericdR Presbyterian, slso
spoke. He said he set the type and edited
bis paper himself, and worked to make
his race all good Presbyterians. A re7olu-
tion recommending the adoption of the re-
port, and recommendations of the standing
committee of the Board of Missions for
Freedmen was carried.
WORK AMONG RNIIGRANTs.
DR.. W. o RustOn, of Dubuque, Iowa,
presented the committed appointed to in
ouire into the evangelical work among
emigrants, particularly Germans and
Scandinavians. The emigrant question,
the report said, had now got into politics,
and the racial sympathies ard prejudices
that existed were likely to breed trouble.
II would be much better not to recognize
emigrants q a class but let them merge
in the general population and imbibe the
American spirit. But many of them wont
do this the report said, ana so the
within the pale of American Christianity.
Fifty thousand Germans in the city Of
New York have broken every church tie.
IDfdelity among foreigners is on the in
ereaqe. Over four millions of the emf
grants within the past four years were
Protestants and almost three millions were
Romaniste The report then gave syn
Opsis of the work done by the various
Protestant denominations and emigrant
societies among foreigners. Germans par
ticularly nseded looking after by the
Presbyterian church. The foreign tongues
must he used in evaDgelizing emigrants.
To MAKE PRESBYTERIAN GERMANS.
The committee Il commended that a
third Secretary be appointed in the Board
of Foreign Missions, who would devote his
time to the emigrant population. DR.. A.
@. Smith, of Freeport, Ils.., spoke on the
report. He said the Irish emigrants did
not come under the scope OF the committee |
became they were Roman Catholics. Their |
energies must be devoted principally TO |
ward evaugslizing the Germans, because
they would leave deeper imprec'ion on
the future American race than any other
nationality. If they refused to preach to
Germans in the German tongue they |
would lose the OPP ortunity of preaching
either to them or to their children. The
Germans were thrifty and intelligent, and
influenced American political, sOcial, and
religious life, and the Presbyterian church
could not afford toignore them. The con-
ference then took a recess, and the further
consideration of the report on em'grsnt
evangelization was postponed till to-mor-
row
In the afternoon session Rev. Dr. Cattell
presented the report a. Chairman of the
Ministerial Help Committee. He said that
although it Il been stated that 500 per
aunum was the minimum salary OF Prea-
byterian ministers, some did not get more
than $500 The report recommended that
every minister who had reached the age Of
20. and who hrs preached for thirty
wears in the PrclbyteIian church shall
receive $500 year without h's csse being
considered annually by the committee.
The report wes adopted and the Assembly
adiOurned