St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1907-05-25
printed upon his appearance.

printed upon his appearance.
Now the missionaries are talking
of a possible visit from President
Roosevelt at the close OF his term; he
will be formally invited, and an emin-
ent missionary now en- route to
America is charged with the mission
of representing to the President the
attitude of the japanese towards him.
For there is no man, outside of the
emperor and few war heroes, who
is SO popular in this country to-day,
with all classes of people, as Theo-
dore Roosevelt. Taking advantage of
this, the missionaries have circulated
widely, in Japanese, the address on
the Bible delivered at Oyster Bay, and
other religious utterances of the Presi
dent. His letter to the interchurch
Conference on Federation in New
York was Immediately printed
by most Of the Japanese dailies.
In these ways it may fairly be said
that President Roosevelt and Mr..
Bryan are more potent influences in
the religious evolution of Japan than
many professional missionaries com.
| bined.
The Japanese Press and Religion.
The use the latter make Of these
men l cite as evidence of their alert
ness and broad-mindedness Anoth-
er progressive plan which waits only
a special donation from America to
put it into immediate execution is the
use of the advertising columns of the
| daily Japanese newspapers for pur.
poses of religious propaganda. Pub
| fishers of leading journals have
agreed to place from one to two col
umns day at the disposal of the
missionaries for the insertion OF
Christian teaching in popular form.
The expense of publication for year
in a newspaper of 10000 daily circu'
lation, including the preparation OF
the material would be less than the
salary of an ordinary preacher in
/ America. Only by this method, a
leading missionary assured me to-day
can the churches hope to reach great
masses of people who will rot attend
Christian churches.
| Missionaries Not Grafters.
| Novel ideas in church work found
to be common in Japan. I heard con
siderable here about the "P. and R
Building association" which inquiry
showed is not a thrifty scheme fol
laying up money for a rainy day, as
it is on the other side of the Pacific
but a missionary enterprise by mis-
sionaries. Subscribers, chiefly mem
bers of the missions, pay five dollars
year for each share; then, whenevel
native congregation needs help il
putting up a church building, it ap
plies to the building association
which advances a sum equal to no
more than one-third of the total cos
of the structure For each grant 81
made every shareholder is assesses
one dollar, the aggregate assessmen
: for year being limited to five dol
lars. In return the shareholder get
the privilege of paying another tel
dollars the next year!
Considering the charge that tn
missionaries are tgrafters," / am II
terested to find many evidences Xix
this of the gifts by missionaries t
} their own work l have met at leas
one wealthy man who supports hin
{ self and contributes to his missio
! besides. Another prominent mission
: airy is maintained, and the expense
' of his work are paid by his brother
, a well-known American manufactures
!, Facing the Facts.
5 Most of the missionaries here ar
2 Americans and Canadians, and it
!, gratifying to find that they seem sti
g to retain their level-headedness. The
! are not fanatics. Their attitude
j one of sober confronting of eth
things as they are" They suffer n
decisions concerning their work G
concerning the Japanese. To cite a
+ illustration: The day of my arriva
0 a young Ohioan (the persistence {
s American proVincialisms and dialect
over here, even among men VIII
' speak Japanese like natives, is int
q esting to an observer), total strani
a er, helped me out of a linguistic sna
q at the post Office. Then he crosse
d the street with me and smilingl,
q since you must always bargain wit
I smile in this polite land, helpe
y me make a purchase 25 per cen
n cheaper than the natives askin
: price The duplicity and guilefulnes
s of the Japanese tradesman are a
Q open book to these missionaries VIII
while intensely loyal to the Japanes
2 are not blind to certain grayer n
q tional shortcomings. The varied di
o ficulties which beset their own wor
= are frankly recognized; not all mi
r sioaary meetings hear reports as ter
L perate AID discriminating as al
$ made by the workers here.
y Amusement for Children.
= II parents would invest in a sma
IS amount of ordinary modelling clay the
T. would feel well repaid in seeing VIII
5" a source of amusement it is for IL