Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-07-14

| prcsehtea !" re-nited states and canada.
| Due place will be. given for a treatment Oh
| the varied work carried on py oui
| vromen's societies. The four years course
| Iii fnrnish n cOnspectus Of Baptist mis-
| sIons TO make our organization as service
/ able as possible TO our great missionary
societies. IT has been decided 10 lssue
I these studies which will be prepared
! under the direction Of the general secre-
| tary. i'm leahet form. that they may nave
, the widest circulation and be used 20 De
velop an intelligent missionary Interest IN
| our churches. The topics ot the stuuies
| for the first year are as follows;
| 1S99-OctOber The New Testament BASIS
| OF Missions: November. Some F0retuh-
ners of Modern Missions; December, "a
| rey and His Colleagues.
| l9C0-January Baptist Beginnings III
! Assam; February. Baptist Missionary so
! cieties 00relgn); March, The story OF Juu-
| son and the Mission to the BuImans'
| April. Baptist Missionary Socleues
! thome); May, Among the Freedmen Jun
/ Daybreak in Assam: July, Work ~ MeAl-
! co: August. Gleanings from Mlssloh
/ Fields: September. our Missionary so
cieties publication and Sunday school.
The lessons in the Sacred Literature
| Course for the coming year Will be pre-
| pared by Professor Milton q. Evans, OF
| Grocer Theological Seminary, Chester. Pa.
| The general title of the series VIII De
! "Foregleams Of the Messiah The loi-
| lowing is an outline OF the course;
CHRISTIAN CULTURE COURSES.
According to previous announcement
| the manuals for our Advanced Christian
| Culture courses were to be IN readiness
! for use at the beginning Of The study pc
| Rod for the present year. Circumstances
! have delayed the preparation or the
| manuals. and rather than 10 sacIlhce
| thOrOughness Of workmanship. it has been
! decided to postpone for another year the
! formal opening Of the courses An Initial
volume. entitled THE Monuments ana
| the Old Testament by Professor Ira NJ.
| Price. of the University Of Chicago, Wnicn
| Will serve a an introduction TO the series.
| VIII be i'm readiness for use October l. 1879.
! The most gratifying feature In the work
| Of the year has been the rapid develop
ment OF our junior work. New unions
| have been formed. Existing unions have
| taken up their work with fresh zest The
! junior courses are steadily gaining In
| favor and commencing themselves TO
| the judgment Of our junior leaders. The
| examination returns snow not only an
! increase i'm numbers but also n marked
| improvement i'm the quality Of the papers
and indicate a fundamental preparation,
which furnishes broad basis for the
work of the future. At our convention I'm
Buffalo last year the Committee on I'm
pOrtant Topics presented q cautious and
conservative report in regard TO the pun-
licati0n Of junior paper iaVOrlng such
a publication. providing il be held close
ly TO our educational plans and does not
involve undue financial burdens AIter
"a careful survey of the matter the EXecu-
| tive Committee decided 90 publish a pa
per. The Junior Baptist Union was
launched I'm October. 1&S The appearance
of IT was hailed with favor. The sub
scriptiOn list has steadily increased unul
il now represents a total OF over lu'J
monthly. and our junior work IS yet Ouly
! In its beginnings.
THE FINANCIAL FEATURE
The one feature in the work of the year
u
ton IS the financial. At our convention
last year announcement was made OF
generous Offering by friend OF our
cause who recognized its relation % the
interests Of our denomination. He tN-
pressed his readiness 10 add 10 per cent.
to all contributions for our debt until the
whole amount was cancelled. As an
earnest Of hiS readiness. he sent I'm adj
vance his check for $1,000 as his 10 Per
cent. on the first $4,000. In response 20
! this generous offer your Committee On
important Topics recommended That We
should begin AT once our effort 10 secure
the payment Of the debt. land that no
halt be made until the entire ucDt is paid
and our union allowed to prosecute un-
Handicapped fits great and i0d-given
work An Offering was made dt the
meeting. which amounted i'm Sits and
pledges 20 So. 6Gi % II was felt shat an
appeal should bee made I'm the first in-
stance 90 our unions throughout the
country. and that with such a. stimulus
the appeal might be- made with re1sJn-
able expectation of generous response
Letters were sent i'm large numbers max
ing statement of the case. ana request
ing "a minimum contribution OF I'D cents
per member. This would DE burIensotne
10 none. II would distribute the burden
widely. vet IF responded 20 would furnish
an adequate amount The response was
disappontngly small. The majority OF
societies addressed made no acknoW eds'-
mont Whatever The number mat re-
spoudcd with a l0-cents per cjpll1 ,on-
tributi0n could be counted on he myers
of both hands sufficient mount was
pledged. however. 90 warrant he calllnS
in Of conditional subscriptions. ana ue-
ginning has been made. The amount re-
ceived on debt fund during The year was
S4SOGJ as against S1Zl5i for The year
ending July l. 1895
Early I'm the year with 4 view N IN
creasng the subscription list or the Bap-
tist Union. We reduced the price of our
paper 10 81 I'M advance. whether for SIM
Gle copies or for clubs At the same
time. MS am added inducemrnt. we in
creased our c0mmi ssiorS 10 club agents,
and made am offer tO State officers by
which the several State treasures would
reap benefit from an increased circull-
ton Of the paper within their territory.
COincident with this reduction IN price,
change was made ln the form of the
paper, with Improvement i'm quality Of
stock ana illustration. These changes
involved an added outlay during the year
Of about 5000. They seemed necessary
In order 90 meet sharp competition, and
To keep our paper fully, abreast of Other
papers of its class. The returns thus
far have not realized our expectations
or been commensurate with the increased
outlay II must not he inferred from
this that the Baptist Union is not paying
fits way. Notwithstanding the low price
at which the paper s issued. the annual
report Of our business manager shows
a credit balance for the year I'm it's favor.
Many OF our constituents lose sight Of
the heavy burdens which our paper is
called upon 20 carry. As q rule. our de-
nOminariOnal papers count themselves
fortunate IN they meet expenses and pay
q moderate dividend on the Investment.
Magazines which represent the interests
Of our missionary societies often involve
q charge upon the treasury I'm the June
number OF the Horne Mission Monthly,
the organ Of the American Baptist Home
Mission Society. the statement is made
that the expenses OF publication for the
year exceed the income by about I,fJ.
Even the "Tidings' the organ Of the
WOman's Baptist Home Mission Society,
reports a deficit for the year of $ljijs.
Reports from other publications OF
similar character would probably indie
cate like conditions. our paper Is care
rylng on work which is as truly edu-
cational and missionary as that of ans
OF these magazines, and far broader in
scope than that OF any oil them. The
salaries and travelling expenses of the
officers and Office force of our missionary
societies are met either by funds which
have been designated for that purpose,
or by funds drawn from the direct Of
ferngs of the churches. The Baptist
Union is not only charged with the sup
port of its editorial and clerical force
as In the case of other papers. but also
of ITS general secretary and with AN the
cost OF the varied educational work which