New-York tribune., 1900-10-14
RELIGIOUS FEDERATION.

The Federation of Churches and Christian
Workers in this city continues its work in the
face of many difficulties and some opposition.
Its ultimate object is an actual federation of
religious work in New-YOrk so far as compat-
ible with denominational metes and bounds,
and in the mean while it has set about to make
q religious and sociological study of one-ifth of
the city every year. Assembly districts in the
boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx and
wards in Brooklyn are used as units of study.
and they are canvassed with the same care for
religious facts they are by politicians for
political facts. Obviously this method if rigidly
followed. must yield most valuable body of
facts which no individual parish can of itself
secure, and which will prove very helpful to the
various pastors. Such a work is especially i'm
pOrtant in an age of religious unrest like this,
and in the metropolis of America. where so
many creeds and races are gathered together.
and where doubt, Indifference and unbelief are
so largely prevalent Yet curiousy enough the
Federation, representing the great evangelical
denominations and doing n work in which they
should be vitally interested, has apparently at
traCted little notice in the churches. The only
explanation is that the denOmnational spirit
stands in the way. The denominations have
been rivals with each other for so long that they
cannot quite reach the point where they can
absolutely work together.
One important fact has been brought out by
the Investigations of the Federation Competi-
tive religious activity is not successful even
from the denOmnational point Of view Not
only does 1t fail almost completely to bring into
church relations religious people who are not
church members, but it misses a large percent
age of the actual church members 1t must b..
remembered, of course. that the work Of the
clergy is especially difficult in New-York Even
so far back as 1890 Manhattan had 1882 per
sons per dwelling while Brooklyn had almost
ten, higher average than that Of Chicago and
almost twice as high as that of PHILADELPHIA
The population of three and Il half blocks Of Phil
adelphia is compressed into one in Manhattan
and less than two in Brooklyn. 1t is physically
impossible for any pastor to gain an individual
knowledge of such densely congested popula-
tions. But many other difficulties confront him
These people belong to many races and large
proportion do not speak English Moreover
the owners of the tenement houses do not as a
| rule reside in the neghbOrhoOd, and in MANY
cases are not even known by name. The popu-
| latiOn is not homogeneous, and it shifts from,
| month to month, almost from week to week II
is apparent that the difficulty of doing any efec
tive religious work under such conditions is
enormous.
The last canvass of the Federation, that of
| Greenpoint, yields some suggestive results or
Roman Catholic families S.3 per cent are with
| out church home. There are 300 Der cent of
| churchless Protestant families and 1874 per cent
| of Hebrew families. There is one PrOtestant
church to every 233 Protestant households and
| one Catholic church to every 1433 Catholic
| households. And yet 800 out of every 600
| Protestant households are churchIess while
only So out of every 1000 Catholic families arc
| churchless. What is needed, therefore is feU,or
| Protestant churches and more effective effort o
| the part Of those that remain. But which sbau
withdraw? Well, if the commanding general of
| an army in battle saw that certain brieades
were doing no service where they were ba
would promptly order them to be nut vvboro
! they would be effective: and in city like Na,v
| York Christianity ought to have some general
| officer with the same power II so. he Ovould
| go TO Greenpoint and withdraw the churches
| which, for one reason or another are doing No
| service, no matter whose denominational cor,s
he might happen TO tread upon But there "a NO
such general officer, and there is not likely 70
be; so the denominations win each insist op
| staying where they are. oblivious OF the fact
that they may not be helping the general cause
or Christianity or that of the denominations