Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-15
TALKED OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
BY CLERGY AT CON-
FERENCE ANNIVERSARY.
Harvest Said to Be Waiting in
Africa-Bishop Hartzell's State
ment-Church Prospects.

BAL lMonEs. NidS lie UOdIO
of foreign missions of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church held its general conference
anniversary last evening at the Lyric.
Rev Walling V. Clark. delegate from
Italy. spoke on the Catholic Church and
its influences. and Gaetono Conte. lay
delegate from that country, took for his
subject the Greek Church In Bulgaria and
the Balkan states.
The meeting was opened with prayer by
Bishop Scott. the colored missionary
bishop of Liberia. and hymns were an
nounced by Or. Ebenezer Millecans of Rae
Bareilly India. and Mr.. Nathan 81 Jordan
of Maradabad. Bishop Thoburn presided.
Rev. DIR. A. b. Leonard secretary of the
board, gave a survey Of the mission work
since the first Methodist missionary went
into the field
Bishop Burt was to have delivered an
address on Protestant Countries"
Instead of making the address. however,
he introduced Messrs. Clark and Conte.
Rev. Clark on Italy.
Up to 1870" Rev. Mr.. Clark said,
Italy was under the domination Of the
pope. In that year the army under Gar
ibaldi and the leadership of Victor En-
manuel entered the city of Rome and
marched up the street on which our build
lngs are now located. The city then be-
came no longer the temporal city Of the
pope. but the capital of free and united
Italy.
'Since then the people OF the country
have been rising from the dominance. and
| may say oppression. of the papacy,
Italy, taking the people as a whole. is
largely illfterate Forty-eight per cent of
the people cannot read or write. Every
other man woman you meet on the
street. average. cannot read line
or write his or her own name.
This is the result of papal domination
Of a country. 1t has been said that the
priests did not think it wise to expose the
people to the temptations of knowledge
Conditions in the Philippines are similar
to those in all Catholic countries. and the
Church of Rome must face the fact that
it has not taught the people the things nee
essary for their intellectual, not to say
spiritual, Well-being."
Work in Bulgaria.
Mr.. Conte said that Bulgaria is domi-
mated by the Greek Church, and told of
the difficulty of mission work in that
country.
The Greek Church is there in mighty
force. and If we retreat it would be before
the one great foe. A writer has said that
the Greek Church has more devOteeS than
all Professionalism and Catholicism COM
Dlneu. But lnere is more righteousness
In Japan than in the Greek Church; more
justice in India than in that church. If
you want to see degradation. ignorance
and immortality come down to the Balkan
peninsula. where the Greek Church is
dominant. 1t is as hard to preach the
Gospel there 1t is In Tibet or In China
before we passed the great WALL
Mr.. Conte said that to go into Servia to
preach the doctrines of Methodism would
mean that the preacher would be expelled
from the country, and that in all the
Balkan states where the Greek denomna
ton is dominant the same fate would be
suffered.
Aggressive in Africa.
Bishop Hartzell of Africa spoke on the
needs of Africa, and said that unless
Africa is less neglected the Mohamme
dams will convert the blacks.
africa is the most neglected mission
field in the Methodist Episcopal Church"
he said. africa has 1OO.OOOOOO heather.
with none of the philosophers and leaders,
as in China. Everywhere they are wait
ing to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
do you know that one-fourth of the
Mohammedan world is in Africa-that
there are 59.OOO.O0O of them on the con-
tinent? In northern Africa they have held
Christian Church. The Mohammedan
Church is a missionary church and is
constantly sending men out. They are
planting their schools beside our stations
in Liberia: they are going southwark.
IF 1 had $1.OO000O and fifty men of the
right stamp l would put up a chain of
stations across Africa barrier to that
threatening flood coming down from the
Sudan"
Bishop Warne spoke on India and pic
tured the horrors and hopelessness of
pagan religion, and contrasted 1t with the
happiness of the natives converted to
Christianity. Speaking of paganism. he
named caste. child marriage and en-
forced widowhood the principal curses
and said that under the Christian inf1u
ence these were passing away.
Bishop Harris pronounced the benedic-
ton.
Five Elected at Norfolk.
NORFOLK, Va, May 1.-the election
of five bishops was the feature of yester-
days session of the general conference of
the 4. NJ. F. conference the successful
ministers being +. w. hampton. the pres
ent financial secretary of Mississippi; Rev.
mr. Do he