The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-26
What Societies and Churches Do

RpHsous Jan. <b---Dne or the most In tsresfing reports received here recent ly at this centre of Missionary worl comes from Bolivia, a country wher, religious liberty has been a matter oi such brief period that the people have hardly had time to learn what the, need 90 that an abundant harvest il expected later.
 The Bolivian Indian Mission has beer one of the picturesque features of tn, great religious crusade that Is going or the world over. George Allan, a tall athletic. energetic and extremely prac teal man. is one of the chief worker. in this field and he Is at present ir England, whence he will go tc New Zealand and than back to his chosen country in time for the har. vest.
 He has a territory to cover that has about 2.300.00o poulation,s of whom haf-miliion are half breeds, about so0.000 whites and the rest Quechua Indians. The area of the eight prov Ffnces is upwards of 50o.000 square miles. or about twive the size of the State of New York. Although a Re- public, 1t ts not such a one as is un- derstood in the United States. It's Congress is liberal and anti ti-clerical From this has. come about the recent change. in the Constitutin that has guaranteed freedom of religious wor- shin.
 The new state of fairs has given great offense to the Church of Rome. for 1t struck hardest at the Catholic religion. which prevailed in the land The Vatican sought revision, but so far 1t has not been granted, and the feeling has become so intense that the Bolivian Minister was lately recalled from Rome. 1t Is declared by the Bolivians that they have acted only 1 nthetr own interest by thus dethron- ing the priesthoodn for it was fast be- coming q menace. The priests were largely without education and the bish- ops of the church have been in a state of despair because of the low character of the men under them. To put 1t very plainly, the people of the country saw that race elevation would never come about while the existence of a degener- ate clerby was tolerated.
 The new idea of work is in the line of Q greater education. There is to be 8 distinctly progressive policy pur- sued, especially in so far as 1t relates to the Quechau Indians. The Board of Education has offered rewards to those who learn and to those who teach. The result has been a wonderful mental awakening and desire for knowledge that is extending so rapidly that 1t is AaAA u AC1p QdC0 WAIn
 The Quechua Indians have for years been held in q state akin to slavery. Their pitiable condition attracted the attention of Mrs. Turner, the wife of one of the American Board Missionar- ies, and she came to Nhe conclusion that their lot was worsef than that of the negro before the civil war in this country. She wrote a book under the title of @Aves sine nido." or, in English, kEA -1ot. -x.. hoped would do for them what Uncle Toms Cabin" did for the negroes. The moral sentiment was not ripe for it to have any particular effect at the time. though 1t now has a great hold upon the people There has been little en- couragement to racial ambition. What ever mental impulse there has been has come from without, not from within. It will be years before these Indians show any lasting benefit from what is now being done for them; probably not until the present generation has died out, so that the young people are the ones upon whom the time is being spent. They are eager to advance, and with proper teachers will make a good showing.
 The Government has offered to sub- sidize missions schools and these spppor- tunities will In most cases De seized as the opening wedge for better things. The Methodist Mission at La Paz, in charge of Rev. and Mrs. Francis M. Harrington. was offered last year 15,- 900 Bolivian dollars to establish a high grade school to be in charge of the Mission Board at New York, and MT. Harrington also was supplied with 25, 900 Bolivian dollars to organize a Gov ernment High School at Oruro, the rail- road centre of the Republic. This has now been open for a year, in charge of four men from this country, who are able to teach all the higher branches, and the reports from it are most en- couraging.
 The Indians live simply. They are mainly engaged in agricultural work, using methods that are very primitive and knowing nothing of scientific cult ivation. The wooden blow is seen ev- erywhere-in fact, the older men abso- Iutely refuse to utilize the modern im- plements that have been obtained for them by the missionaries. But they have higher moral standards than nose of the whites, and for this reason are expected to be good material on which to expend missionary effort. Of his own work MT. Allan says:
 'I went to the Argentina eight years ago as the agent of the Australian South American Mission. For four years worked in the Argentine Re- public teaching, founding schools and as occasion offered. The work was supported by friends in Aus tralasfa and Great Britain, and 1t was thought advisable to form a commit tee in England to work joinly with the friends in Australia With the of religious freedom in Bo- livia, I and three others thought we might endeavor to break up virgin soil in that country. We selected the Que- chua Indians as our field of labor and pitched our tents at Cochabamba, on the plateau about 5000 feet above sea level.
 we have had no opposition among the Indians. The half-breeds at first tried to make trouble, but this has died away. The only serious opposition has come from the priests. We work on the lines of the China Inland Mission and look to God to send us the necessary funds. After organizing an English section the Bolivian Indian Mission Committee will go on to New Zea- land and get back to my work in time for the harvest. in August or Septem- ber."