The sun., 1904-12-10
XMAS GIFT TO JAPAN'S POOR,
SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN ARE
TO SEND 1T BY CABLE.

Somebody Needed to Play Santa Claus "a
/ the Distressed widows and Orphans OF
the Thousands Who Have Fallen In the
Nar-What Our Aid VIII Mean There
On the two Sundays between now and
Christmas an appeal is to be made in
churches and Sunday schools to give aid to
the children in Japan who have been left
fatherless and destitute by the war. 1t is
intended to send the contributions thus
| gathered in as a Christmas gift from the
Sunday school children OF the United States.
| The amount will be cabled for distribu-
ton to Bishop Harris, Methodist Bishop of
Japan and Corea, who is now on his way
| to Japan and is due there next week.
The effort meets the hearty approval OF
the Japanese authorities. 1t in no way
involves the question Of Japan's financial
stability, but Is simply intended to aid her
charitable organizations, which have been
doing their utmost to relieve the increasing
volume Of distress incident to the killing Of
so many OF her heads of families.
The Japanese reserves, now for a long
time in the field, are drawn from the active
producing classes. They are men with
many dependent upon them for support.
and in the recent engagements they have
been killed or disabled by the thousand,
leaving their families utterly helpless.
And the worst feature Of it, said the
Young Peoples Relief Fund, which is at
the head OF the new subscription move
ment lis that these people suffer in silence.
they will endure death itself rather than
complain. My advioes Of recent date are
that suffering and privation are widespread.
L.. th, Nrr 81 .lat
OF some 10000 inhabitants, there were 2, 900
families made destitute by the war. The
same proportion holds good all over the
country. No matter how great the ex-
ertions OF the Japanese charitable societies
and the Japanese authorities, It Is impos-
sible to keep up with this rising tide of
misery.
This plan Of a. Christmas gift from the
Sunday school children Of the United States
to the children Of Japan is in no sense con-
nected with work In the missionary field
II some churches or Sunday schools prefer
to haye their contributions distributed
through their own missionaries, they will
be 30 distributed. But the fund as a whole
has no connection with missionary work
1t y entirely undenominational.
Our appeal is signed BY Bishop Doane
Church, brooklyn; the Rev Theodore e'sa s
Arch Street Baptist Church, Phiia.
delphia; the Rev. Robert Collyer of the
Church OF the Messiah, the Rev. James
r. Winchester Of st. Louis, the Rev, T.
p. johnson OF the First Reformed Dutch
Church, Albany, and 80 on all over the
country. / have also letters from the
presidents Of the Society Of Christian En-
deavor and the Epworth League, promis-
ing the support OF those two organiza-
tions. We have sent out 5000 letters
to churches and Sunday schools. We have
thousands more to send out. The responses
everywhere have been quick and generous
sThe work, moreover, Is not going to
stop with this gift. There is still another
movement Of wider scope which has back
OF II many Of the most conspicuous figures
In our commercial world. But that will
come later.
Il have lived many years In Japan, and I
know that II there is put In practice now a
little Of thnt Christian precept which has
been 30 long taught in Japan by our mis-
sionaries, IL will be more effective in bring
ing the Christian religion into the affec-
tions OF the Japanese than all the tracts
that have been distributed. all the sermons
that have been preached and all the 500, ,0oO,-
600 that has been spent there. On the other
hand, II We now. In their hour OF trial, fail
10 come with substantial Christian aid
to these people, the cause OF Christianity
there will get q setback from which II viii
not recover In hundred years