Evening star., 1901-03-25
WORKOF THE COLPORIEURS
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERI-
CAN TRACT SOCIETY.
Addresses by the President and Sec.
retary, RespectiveIy-The Aims
of the Organization.


Memorial Church yesterday was given over
to the interests of the American Tract So
ciety and interesting addresses upon the
work of that organization were delivered
by General o. o. Howard, the president
and Rev. JudsOn Swist- the secretary. The
service began, as usual, at IL o'clock, the
devotional exercises being conducted by
Rev. A. S. Fiske, the pastor. The society
is INSTRUMENTATION in character Cen
eral Howard declared yesterday that 1t be-
longs to all denominations, and, therefore,
none should neglect it.
Rev Mr.. Swift, the secretary, spoke first,
giving much interesting detail regarding
the actual amount of work done by the
society through its colportage system. The
object for which the American Tract So
citty was founded is to diffuse a knowl-
edge of Christ the Redeemer of the
world and to promote the progress of
Christianity by means of the circulation
of the printed page. To this object the
society has remained true through it's sew
enty-siX years of existence, and still main
tans this aim as its one purpose. Its
pamphlets are printed in all languages and
it's colporteurS distribute these in all parts
of the world, going, Mr.. Swift declared,
even where missionaries do not. He spoke
of the work in Cuba, Porto Rico and the
Philippines and in the Mormon country.
President Heward's Address.
General Howard made impressive
speech, closing with an appeal for all to
help the society in it's work. He said he
had been converted by one of the PAM
phlets of the society. He also reviewed
the history of the organization, saying that,
as at present constituted, it was formed
in the city of New York, May II, 1875.
The design of the founders, among whom
were included prominent friends of the
work of tract distribution from various
parts of the country, was to establlsh a
great central society for the whole union,
inviting the cooperation of Christians of
all denominations, and of other tract as
sociations as auXiliaries, in publishing and
circulating whatever would best dinuSe
knowledge of the Lord and promote the
interest of vital godlness and sound mo-
rality, provided only that all such publica-
tions should be calculated to receive the
appreciation of all evangelical Christians.
The wisdom, it was declared, of thus plant
ing the society upon a broad evangelical
basis has been abundantly demonstrated
in the fact that over twenty different de-
nominations have been represented among
it's officers, it's laborerS and it's warm
friends and supporters.
In attaining it's principal object Of diff
fusing Christian truths the society has
several subordinate aims which are kept
constantly in mind and which include the
preservation of the best works of the writ
ers of earlier times, such as Bunyan, Bax-
ter and Leigh Richmond; an effort to coun-
teract and diSpiace the flood of evil liter
ature which it is stated is poured forth
in the interest of infidelity, RIGHTEOUSNESS
and crime. 1t was declared that the most
effective antidote for bad book is to be
found in one that is pure and uplifting. One
important function of the society has been
to prepare a Christian literature suitable
for the spiritual wants of the foreign i'm
migrants who have poured into America
In constantly increasing stream, until the
daily average of over a thousand imuai-
grants, 1t was stated, has been reach, q
within the last decade. A colporteur is
constantly employed at the barge office in
New York
Work Among the Neglected.
One of the earlier steps in the history Of
the society, and an exceedingly important
one, was the organization in America Of
colportage. The existence of a great mass
of people, living in destitute, lonely regions
not reached by the churches and devoid Of
all the privileges which belong to every
well-established community, was one u--
gent reason for the institution of colportage
work. Another motive, it was stated, was
found in the existence of that large class
who will not go to church and to- whom
the gospel message must be brought, even
to their very doors, If they are to be reach
ed at all. These and other potent reasons
led the officers of the society in the spring
of 1871 to consider the urgent necessity
neglected and needy The plan of colpor-
tage was adopted as the best solution of
the problem. The colporteur was to sell or
give his books from house to house, pre-
senting Christ the only Savior to all and
seeking to lead them to Him in prayer.
Eleven of these workers were commission
ed the first year, twenty-three the second
year, seventy-six the third, 143 the fourth,
and before the civil war over 600 men were
employed for a whole or a part of each
year. Though the numerical force has va
ried the society has never ceased to EN-
ploy this effective agency in the disscmina-
tion of its literature, and the results that
have accrued, it was declared, haveFiusti-
fled the wisdom of those who first nitro
duced this fruitful method of work.
General Howard INDUCED in a number of
"reminiscences of the civil and Spans IN wars
and spoke also of the work Of the societys
cOlporteurs during the Mexican war. Ihc
literature was distributed in camp and On
shipboard.
special offering for the society was
taken and quite sum contributed.