The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-02-08
THE WAR CLOUD IN THE EAST
Statement of Japan's Progress Towards
Higher Civilization

ton propagandism, and have been in
some senses an injury to the people.
But, in spite of these reactions. Chris
tlanlty has made great progress among
the people. There are strong, self-sup-
porting churches. strong schools, and
strong publishing interests, all tend
ing to build largely for the best in
terests of the nation.
me Roman Catholic Chuch, under
the lead of most earnest and scholarly
men, claims a membership of Sc 900. the
Greek Catholic Church a membership of
2S,OOO, and the Protestant families a
membership of about SIS 600. These Pro-
testant believers are almost equally
divided between the families known as
Presbyterian, Congregational, Episcopal
and Methodist, while the Baptists have
an interesting and growing work. These
Protestants preach the Gospel regular
ly in LAO stations. There are some 500
organized churches with $40 church
buildings; $4,000 children are in the
Sunday-schools About 125 schools are
open daily for the instruction of II, 900
students. One mission press, the Meth
odlst Episcopal, sent out last year more
than 100000 volumes of books and
tracts, more than 21,OO0,0OO pages of
Christian literature, over the broad
land. The power of the press is evil
dent when we consider that there are
more people in Japan who read the
morning paper than can be found in all
the Russfas, where sly per cent of the
children of school age are enrolled in
her schools, an aggregate larger than
In all Russia; where the English lam
guage is a required study in all her
Gbhools, and where the government
sympathizes with all the best methods
OF developing the mind and building
strong social and political institutions.
To capture the minds of this bright
people and to lead them along the path
way of Christian progress is a duty
resting upon the Christian Church, and
no higher duty or greater opportunity
has been offered to the people who call
themselves ProteStants. 1t is difficult
to state in terms which appear sober
and conservative the immense possibili-
ties easily within the reach of the
Christian Church, in this Land of the
Rising Sun.
But the work yet to be done is i'm
mense. Because of the progress made.
let no one suppose that little remains to
be done. Only one in thousand of the
population yet believes in the Christian
faith, while in America 81 2-3 per cent.
of the population affirm to the census
taker their faith in the Man of Naza-
| reth. The Church cannot rest it's hand
WIllle Inere are Stlll more temples to
heather gods in Japan than there are
individual believers in the Christian
faith. Some of these temples erected in
| recent years cost more in an individual
instance than all the churches that
Christian faith has yet erected in this
empire. So long as one in three of the
| marriages end in divorce; so long as
| social vice is a system licensed by the
| government; so long as agnosticism
and infidelity are rapidly overcoming
the young men of the empire, the re-
suit of non-religious school system
without religious movement among
the people to support such a system;
| so long as woman remains in a condi-
ton which prevents her proper devel-
| opment; so long as bribery and vice
| tend to increase because of the lack of
proper moral restraints; so long must
the Christian churches of America
| gladly pour out their wealth to the
saving of this bright people who espe-
cially need the uplifting and purifying
influences of the Gospel of Jesus to
make of them the nation they ought to
become.