Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-05-19

The receipts Of the board Of foreign missions
were 81 .O14. 504 81, and balance remains In the
treasury after meeting all obligations, including
deficit of s54.521.O5 carried over from last
year The womens societies and boards raised
s529, $50 20 of that amount
THE FIELD FOR HOME MISSIONS.
The report OF the board of home missions, OF
which Rev. DR.. John Hall is president, has this
to say of the field Of work:
''In the extent of its territory the field Of
home missions IS prodigious. 1t Is coterml-
nous with our widely extended country. which
embraces more square miles than the whole
continent of Europe. By acquisition. eession
and purchase the country has doubled its area
within fis.v years But until comparatively
recent date the two-thirds lying west of the
mississippi river was not thought to be OF much
Importance. IL has been designated The
Great American Desert and pronounced by
high authority mot worth a pinch of snuff for
agricultural purposes Within fifty years Mr..
McDuiie. a United States Senator. has declared
that .7C0 miles this side tine Rocky mountains
was uninhabitable because rain scarcely ever fell
upon it West of the mountains the desert
extends SAYS the Edinburgh Rerielo FOR July,
1913, from the Mexican border to the Column
bia river Senator Benton OF Missouri is
credited with saying: The ridge of the Rocky
mountains may be named without offense
presenting a convenient natural and everlast-
ing boundary. Along the back of this ridge
the western limit of the republic should he
drawn and the statue of the tabled god Ter
minus should be raised upon its highest
How differen. is that which we see
today from what We might be led to expect
from the above statements of distinguished
Senator'S. Instead OF encountering 700 miles
of arid waste between the father of waters and
the foot OF the Rockies there lie the great states
of Missouri, Kansas. Nebraska, North and
South Dakota and Colorado, able to support,
according to fair estimate. all the people of
the United States. Instead of finding great
desert extending as the Scotch Rerielc
alleges. from the Mexican border to the
Columbia river, we meet the noble states of
California and Oregon. Astounding in fertility
and beauty. In place of Mr.. Benton's value
less mountains We come across numberless
valleys and foothills capable by irrigation of
supporting large population to the square
mile the rich prairies of Illinois or Iowa.
Thus our field Of home missions will have, in
the near future. population fully equal to
one-hsf the inhabitants of the globe. The
possibility OF this seems almost incredible, but
facts viii bring out clearly and unquestionably
its certainty.
UNIQUE WORK.
SIN its nature our field Of home missions is
unique. In no other land can be found the
ike of it, except perhaps in the British colonies.
The home mission field of England and Ger
many is confined to the poor of their great
marts OF trade; that of Scotland is largely re-
stricted to its maritime people and the in
habitants OF the islands dotting its coast; and
that of ireland is limited to the Roman Catho-
lies living in few of the counties south of
Dublin Our home missions, on the other
hand. embrace millions Of the native and the
foreign population of great cities; the
sailors of not only the seaboard and the islands
dotting our Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but
those also on the shores of our great lakes, and
along our canals and rivers: the operatives in
the great factories OF Vow England, the middle
states and the west; the farmers and the ranch
men on the great plains of Texas, Kansas New
Mexico and Montana, and along the rich val
leys Of the Aleghenies and the Rocky noun
tains: the miners of Pennsylvania, Wyoming
and Washington; the people OF the towns along
the lines of our railroads; the Indians, the
Mexicans and the Mormons who need not only
the preacher but the teacher also; and the
Chinese who have brought to our shores the
Idols of their heather country"
summary Of schools, teachers and scholars
maintained by the board is given "a follows.