Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1901-07-13

tlnternatlOnal freSluent i. Z. y. ". MI
business session was held in the aft
ernoon, at which the annual reports
of the officers and business agents
were submitted.
The grand openings with welcome
addresses and the annual address of
President Clark and the annual report
of Secretary Baer took place simulta-
neously in the auditoriums at night.
President Francis Z. Clark, in his an
nal address said in part:
For every age God prepares His agen-
cies. As the bee Is made for the flower,
as the birds wing fits the air and the
fin Of the fish Of the yielding water. so
In the moral and religious world God
adapts His plans and methods to the
needs of the time. The nineteenth CEN
fury saw peculiar perils assail the young
man. The saloon, the brothel, the gam
bling den, commercialism and materialism
laid their traps for him. But God looked
down from heaven upon the children OF
men, and in the middle of the century
the Young Mems Christian association
was started to set young men at work for
young men In a new evangelism. The
days of the rampant infidel and atheist
are also in the past. as devoutly believe.
No Robert Hume could to-day greatly In
fiuence the thought Of the world. No
voltaire or Rosseau could number his
followers by millions. Robert Ingersoll
to-day Is little but O memory Of elo-
quence and pathos.
But something more insidious and
harmful a thousand times than blatant
infidelity Is the foe Of the church Of the
twentieth century. This infidelity Is the
skepticism OF life rather than Of talk.
It Is the indifference that is born OF lux
ury and Of fashion. The twentieth CEN
fury church needs the Christian Endeavor
society because It needs the prayer meet
ing. It needs more thorough-going and
effective organization In church life and
Il needs to be more united. The new
century will be q century Of mighty COM
binations and tremendous aggregations
Of material forces. There should be q
combination Of the Christian forces Of
the land to work together In harmony for
the advancement Of the kingdom through
their own churches and denominations.
The report of General Secretary
John Willis Baer was, in part, as fol-
lows:
In 1891. the close of the first decade of
G<HuCdNOEp thCEC WCLC 4Us-
"a societies, and we returned hearty
thanks to God for what He had wrought.
In this year 1901. at the close OF the Chris
tian Endeavor's second decade. we must
employ the same numerals. though DIFF
ferently arranged, to tell our. nu-
merical strength. for the 1924 So
cieties have become 81 Az. The nearly
l.000.0 900 members have become nearly
100000 This growth Is marvellous. and
nothing comparable to It can be found in
history. The net increase In numbers Of
new societies since we met In the great
London convention last July is nearly
1000, with q total membership OF almost
100000 members. In other words, the net
increase during the past year equals the
total number Of societies organized during
the first seven years Of our splendid his
tory.
Very naturally the increase in Junior
and intermediate societies continues to
be interesting. There are now over 16,-
900 Junior societies and 1.2S5 intermediate
societies. the first with $4,000 members,
and the second with $500. More and
more Is Christian Endeavor becoming an
evangelistic agency for Christ. In all.
100000 young people have in the last Il
months Joined the church from the ranks
OF our societies.