The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-01-06

1 rtvt 200oftnn
lhey speak feelIngly of the incons,st.
photography Allied to this wiSosnre.d GU,
interest in English. should he n,on'
toned the desire of Japanese men 70
go to America. 1 have talked w;tb
scores, ranging from boys TO college
ppes,oents. whose supreme ambition
apparently. IS to cross the Pacific.
In this connection come in the mis-.
sion schools: They have a higher
percentage Of foreigners amonp tbe;r
teachers than the Government schools.
ana oesides they are generally willing
to teach English to anybody who viii
study the Bible along with il.
Leading a Nation to School
1t was the missionaries who intro.
Guceu hlEher education into japan,
One of them, DIR. David Murray wos
the Government EDUCATIONAL adv;seT
ana led IN the organization of the pres
ent school system. The first of the jap
anese institutions of higher learning
was the Doshlsha, found ed by the run
away youth, Joseph Hardy Neesima
VINO was trained in a home and is now
esteemed by the Nation as one of it's
great men: The Doshisba. which is To-
cated at Kloto. is the most famous of
mission schools in this country, and ii
is still doing successful work. with
about 600 students, The average age
OF the latter is lower than formerly.
as seems to be the case with all long
established mission schools
The Doshisha has passed through
dramatic experiences. Established in
1878, with American Board money. bv
Neesima. who was actua ted by only
Christian motives, the school became
center of great religious influence in
Japan Then, after Neesima's death.
the wave Of nationalistic and rational
lstlc reaction swept over the country
and the Christian features were e1imi-
mated from the constitution. The prop
erty had been in the legal control of
the Japanese, although really this was
meant to be but nominal, in order TO
conform to Japanese law. When the
anti-foreign revulsion came the Jap
anese trustees exercised their legal
functions and completely divorced the
Doshisha from its original mission But
Rev. DR.. j. R. Davis, who has been in
Japan 30 years. and was co-founder
with Neesima of the Doshisha, and one
of the great men Of the Christian mis-
sion force here, led struggle for
restoration of the old ideals that was
finally successful. During this time
the Doshisha ran down considerably,
but now it is again filing great place
III tDe euucdIionai WoIk OF Japan. Like
practically all the other mission
schools, it has japanese management,
but DR., Davis remains the dominant
personality.
Must Mission Schools Go?
The intensely national spirit among
the Japanese, together with the crea-
tion of the new educational system,
has largely altered the status and char
acter of the mission schools. Whatever
changes the future brings, it is evident,
however, that from, the, mission schools
Japan has received a tremendous edu-
cational impulse, a host of trained
teachers and a company OF unselhsh
counsellors. Furthermore, 1t must be
admitted that at the present time great
service is being done by the mission
schools, which are maintained through
out the empire by the various denomi-
nations in such numbers and variety
that space cannot be spared even to
mention the score or more that l have
personally visited.
The size and scope of these institu-
tions-of which the Doshisha at kioto,
the Protestant Episcopal, Presbyterian
and Joint Methodist Episcopal schools
at Toxic, the German Reform school at
Sendai and the Southern Methodist
school at Kobe, may be cited as con-
spicuous examples-is beyond the
knowledge of the people of America.
That one country should contribute
such tremendous influences TO the up
building of another is certainly an evi.
deuce of the altruistic character of
Christian missions. While il is true
that by far the larger proportion of
the graduates become Christian II is
also true that disinterested phllan-
thropic work is done by those schools
in behalf of the Japanese.
At present there is need for all the
schools that can be established. The
demand for education is greater than
the facilities. But steadily the condi-
tions are changing and students will
soon cease to attend mission schools
merely for the reason that they can find
room elsewhere. What, then, is TO be
the future of the mission schools, main