Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-04-23
THE METHoplsTs.
Continued from Page One.)

Japanese in both peace and war and
said that God would have to help the
United States if there should ever be
war between Japan and this country
The japanese, however, he declared,
have no desire for war with us.
In India the number of Christians
has increased 80 per cent. in four years
and the Calcutta papers which are not
very friendly to missionaries say that
at this rate India will be at least NOM
inally Christian in century more. We
have in India 25 native churches now
self-supporting. and over 60 English
speaking churches which are self-sup-
porting, so we do not have to send
money for all the churches there. The
work of the Catholics in the Philip
pines for three centuries has made
missionary work relatively easy there,
for after all Catholics and Protestants
have many more things in common
than they have things over which they
have difference. But in India there
are harder conditions. The English
church has done very little there.
though few of it's clergymen like
Reginald Heber have done splendid
things in India for the advancement of
the kingdom of Christ. In India also
the missionaries have had to do the
school work, for the English have done
little to educate the masses, nothing
like the work this country is doing in
the Philippines. American missionaries
are far more successful in India than
those from Great Britain for they are
more democratic in spirit and believe
in the equality of man. The heat is a
great drawback FOR except in the
mountains. the temperature is from 80
to $40 above zero in the shade for nine
months of the year. Everybody drinks
much tea, and there are many SER
wants, 10 to 90 in a family. The SER
wants cost little and by reason of their
caste each will do only one kind of
work Moreover, most of them are too
stupid to learn to do more than one
kind Of work. The hardships of the
missionary life include the absence
from home and friends, the difficulty of
learning the language, the contact with
loathsomc diseases and the supersti-
tions Of the people. Mr.. Stokes told
many good stories of his struggles in
learning to preach in the native
tongue, and gave numerous concrete
examples Of the good results of the
missionary work. The marriage age for
girls has been raised from Z to Is in
Christian communities The work is al
| most wholly among the lower classes,
| for a Christian of high caste is subject
| to prosecutions beyond description.
| Among the 100000 adult native Metho-
dist Christians in India rot more than
| two or three score are of the highest
| caste In all there are now about 3,O0O,-
900 native Christians in the 800, 900
people in India, and Of these about g.
| 600, 900 are Roman Catholic converts,
and their descendants.
Rev 7. A. Bean of Richmond presid-
ed oyer the second part of the after
| noon program when Rev. d. B. Holt of
Bath spoke upon the mission work here
! in Maine. No question to come before
this conference. said Mr.. Beane, is of
more Importance to Maine Methodism
than that Of the conditions here in
Maine and the way in which our de-
nomination is to meet them. Maine is
missionary field, in spite ofTits many
schools and churches and it's degree of
| general civilization. We have no heath
| en- here-though many of the 'isms"
are represented here-but we are not
yet Christianized land. We have too
many murders. too many divorces and
too much political corruption. If this
was a thoroughly Christian State there
| would be no resubmission problem.
Maine has far too large an element of
non-church going people. People can be
| Christians and not go to church, but
Christians will not stay away from
church when there is a church to go
to. About 40 per cent of the Maine
Protestant families canvassed by the
Maine Bible Society last year do not
attend church. Over II per cent. more
confessed they had no religious pref
ercnoes. In our town of 491 families,
with eight churches, 81 families were
reported as non-church going. In Bath
400 families. said Mr.. Holt. We're re-
| ported to me as expressing preference
fer the Methodist church. but over 100
| of them were families had never seen
in church or men heard of in any way
| in my three years there. The begin
nings of Maine were Christian. but
how far the people have drifted from
the practices of the old time. Then
there is the large foreign population
coming to Maine. 10000 or more foreign
born people in Maine by the last CEN
sus. We need to go into the missionary
business here in Maine because many
communities cannot maintain churches