The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-24

] on a large scale IN china lHdl d uulnbtT
of the missionaries have not given up
their lives for the cause which they rep
resent In spite of these discourag ing
facts, there are more missionaries than
ever before engaged in evangelical work
| in China at the present time. In the dis
| trict which is the scene of the presen
! troubles there are upward of 2O mission
| aries.
OF these nearly one-half are Americans.
There are about thirty Presbyterians,
twenty English Baptists. thirty under the
American board of foreign missions. thir-
ty-five representatives of the Methodist
Episcopal church of the Uritcd States
and about fifty from the London mission
society and various other organizations
for propagating the gosptL The estimated
value Of mission property in North emma
is upward Of $4,000. These figures, it
should be borne in mind, apply only to
the provinces of Shan-Tung and Honan
and the district north of them.
In all of CHA there are probably more
than 1000 missionaries, while the capital
invested in missionary efforts cannot be
less than 100000. During the last ten
years the Methodist Episcopal church
alone has spent more than 81, 10000 in the
work of Chinese conversion.
1t has been questioned sometimes
whether the results attained by the mis-
sionaries have been sufficient TO justify
the expenditure involved in their main
tenance That the work has not been
without results is amply proved by the
showing made in the annual reports OF
the different societies. DIR. Martin says
that in 1850 when he went 10 China,
there were only about 100 converts in the
entire country, and that at the time he
was speaking there were at least U'0o.
This computation applied only to Protest
ants. At the present time there must be
fully 1900 Of these, while the number OF
native Roman Catholics is estimated as
upward of 10000. Even these combined
figures do not make a formidable showing
compared with the $4,000 900 population
Of China.
On the other hand it has been esti-
mated by a British statisticlan that, leav-
ing out of account the loss of life and
property, the conversion Leach China
man embracing the Christian faith costs
50 pounds. or $ii5 and that after the ex-
penditure Of this sum the chances are
about even as to whether he will remain
converted.
While neither the amount Of expense in
VOWED nor the massacre of missionaries
Is likely 10 put a stop to the efforts TO
Christianize China. IL is undoubtedly true
that the results achieved in this field have
been more mesger in proportion to the
effort that has been expended than in al
most any other part OF the world One
reason for this is to De found in the bar
rier imposed by the Chinese language.
Not only does the structure Of Chinese
make Il exceedingly difficult for a for
eigner acquire il, but there exist in China
an almost endless variety OF dialects.
which the missionaries must master IN
orfer 10 come into direct communication
with the people who use them Thus the
word '-pang" as variOus.y pronounced.
has no less than nine different meanings.
Such g condition o. affairs offers nu-ner-
Gus pitfalls for even an experienced In
guist- one missionary relates that on one
occasion he called upon a family who had
lost relative and inquired whether they
had buried the corpse. The family az
pared hor-o- stricken a. this question, /
and hs afts-wa-d found that through mis- I
pronunciation % ore word Re had really 4
4sad whether They had murdered the rela- 4
ttvs.
Another obstacle, even more difficult = .
overcome than that Imposed b tEe Ian /
Zuage. IS the strength II tradition and IS 4
.ahlishei custom, n China There Is ID 4
7the- country IN the World whe,a change 4
s9rks 50 slowly TIE fouadatlon % Chi
1ese religion IS tire Q 1rzhtp OF ancestors. /
Ind when natives, o.. hscOusirls converted !
% the Christian faith, abandon this czs-
on they cau Sown upon themselves TIE &
'un7ity @: ths1r aelghaors. who believe
hat sszch irrzvereace EtN result Il tie
-isi.stica e evT Spirits OF tbs entire dss-
rsct Under the IAa.e-shlp q tae setter
s5ucsted Easubzrs 81 RE zntz-fo-ssz1
lass The popsIaoe Is - e aeAeTs that
u the tr7usses which asaict the e0zssry
re caused % sAe foreigners. an3 rhzt
he latter are not checked they ~ta q
sule 6estros ;ae empire ttself Utde-
aese Circumstances It L nct dtEzSsit g