The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-30
CLOSING DAYS OF THE
 BAPTIST CENTENNIAL


 Of the nfty-two ministerial students at the Howard College this year, only seventeen pay their own way, twelve preach regularly for assistance in meeting college expenses, and thirty five are unable to contribute any amount whatever towards defrayfng expenses. Five were turned away at the beginning of the session, there be- Ing no provision to take care of them, admission, but cannot be received.
 reciting the history of the Theolog- teal Seminary at Louisville, pr. Sam pey sketched over the time from It's organization In 1859 to the present time In 1867 the Alabama Baptists began support by the appropriation of $l.S0O annually towards the expenses of the Seminary, In 1907 there were hfty-nine Alabama ministerial students at the Seminary, and in 1908 there were hfty-two all of them paying their ex. penses. Quite a number of others from the State were given assistance in the matter of securing a ministerial education.
 Since the establishment of the Semi nary 2z5 Alabama students have been graduated from the institution. Missis- sippi is now raising $4o.0oo to be ada ed to the endowment fund of the Sem IndTy anu EItoiaEnk hOpCS SO secure $50.e00 for the same cause from Alabama Baptists. It is also urged by the ofacers of the Seminary that a chair of English Bible study be established by the Alabama Baptists at Howard College.
 Statistical Report.
 The statistical report by Clerk M M. Wood covered the time from 1920 to 1908. During that time the church
 
 2ss; ministerial education. $sS439; school property, s30o,237; endowment, s74.326; colportage, $4s,27O; orphans. 3121,2s7; home expenses, $3.52S, ,294; miscellaneous matters, s1s.5ss; total. $5,132,700.
 Discussing these figures, MT. Wood among other things said; 'Tf to this could be added on home expenses S41,- 279 and to the next period sss7.so4. which could be done with all safety, the total would be $5,561.2S4 which in my judgment is far. below the fact"
 MT. Wood in continuing, said that If the Baptists had paid last year 1 per cent per capita of their wealth. the collections would have been $34l.64S more than they were. He also noted that in seventy years thsre have been 1O.422 matricnlates at Judson College and 7,0S3 in the sixty-six years of EAOH4AA SOAAIGOt @CN 0A tAAS A&~NCA p~AA8 ministerial In all of the Baptist schools of the States the matriculates have been Is,si0 with I.4s0 graduates and 1.009 ministerial students.
 The address of Rev. W. J. E. Cox was doctrinal purely. It dealt with the many dificulties that the church has had to face in the final establish ment of its faith and outlined in a pe- culiarly intelligent way the creed which is now said to give the Baptist people the greatest religious freedom both as regards their own organiza- tions and the public at large, of any religious body In the world. It was. in fact. careful and painstaking "Re- statement of Our Baptist Position" as was put down in the program for MT. Cox's address.
 Afternoon Session.
 The afternoon session began at 3I o'clock with Scripture reading by Rev. George E. Brewer, of Notasulga, form or chaplain of the Alabama convicts. and a historian of several companies and regiments of the civil war.
 The work of the Alabama Baptist Sunday Schools during the early days of the church and during the present. modern high standard of high excei- lence was detailed by Rev J. Nj. Shell burne pastor of the Baptist Church at East Lake. The dificuIties that grew