Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-24
THE Y. M. C.. A. CONVENTION.
By FREDERIC J. F1ASKIN

The triennial convention of the Interna-
| tional Young Mems Christian Associa-
ton. which begins its deliberations i'll
Toronto next Thursday, focuses the eyes
of the world upon an institution which
has been one of the most potent factors
i'm raising the people of every race and
cline IN a high standard of right living
and right thinking.
in its ever-broadeninG endeavor TO de-
Vclop in their right proportions the trinity
of man-his mental, spiritual and physi-
cal sides-the Y. NJ. G. A. has gone into
every country on the globe. At the
Toronto gathering there will be between
loo and 100 delegates from every quar-
ter of the world eager to solve the great
problems which face the institution and
which will have Il far-reaching effect
upon the spread of its beneficent intiu-
cnce.
*
The three most important concrete
questions to come before the convention
will he: First, the
Three Important resolution presented
by the Pacific
ducStiols' coast presidents
and general secretaries prov iuliS 'i'1'e
any 10 per cent of the associations shail
have the right to file referendum petit
ton at any time within ninety days
after an international convention The
argumet for this is that at the conven-
tions many of the associations are I'M
able to have proper representation, and
therefore are not participants in making
tho laws which govern the institution s
activities Second "A further dist liSSipn bI
the evangelical test proNiso, which
restricts active management ana cOntfo.
oI In4- J. NJ. e. \. work to members of
Protestant churches. Third. plans for the
forward movement. a campaign which is
to be set III motion in September, 1911. and
continue through May, 1el:. During that
time il is hoped to bring Ia Christ and the
church 1Ub,'s-b men and boys; to double
the enrolment of the Bible classes, and
to add {. conclusive testimony to the es-
sential reality of Christian unity
While these are the formal questions
TO be discussed. il is known that many
of the leaders in the y. NJ. c. y. move
ment are more vitality concerned in queS-
tons of advancing the work of the or
ganiZation in continental Europe and III
England along the lines which nave
brought such d rich harvest i'll America.
The democracy of the American y. NJ. {.
A. is the ideal toward which the CONT
mental organizations are striving. III
England the work is largely confined TO
the classes among which the association
was founded by George Williams in 1874.
In America the Y. NJ. c. a. appeals alike
TO the Slave who comes from the depths
of the coal mine to learn the rudiments of
English in the night schools, and to the
sons of Americas multimillonaires VINO
find in the institution's gymnasium and
in its social circles recreation and sound
moral influence. On the continent the
work is handicapped by the traditions of
Il;
which the leaders are trying to overcome.
so that the benefits of the institution may
be as widespread elsewhere as in this
country. In the orient. where the Ameri-
can has been the Y. NJ. {. A. pioneer. the
work has progressed far more satisfac-
torily than in England, where the move
ment was started.
The great hold which the work has
taken upon the Chinese and the Japanese
is shown in the fact that
Great Hold Onin the city of Toxic more
than 1,40o Chinese stu
thc OIicA'' dents assemble from time
to time in the new building erected as
the headquarters of the 1900 Chinese
students who are studying in Japan. Count
Okumra, the famous Japanese states
man, who is not a Christian. but
maintains a Shinto shrine in his palace
grounds, said TO the secretary of the
American board recently: 1T is important
that these Chinese students he impressed
with the fact that Christianity is good
for nation He added that he pro-
posed to do all he could TO help the as
ISOLATION get hold OF the Chinese young
men The work in Korea is, likewise, ad-
vancing rapidly.
The cardinal virtue of the V. NJ. c. y.
method of reaching men is that ii is I'M
hampered by traditions and that it is a
democratic institution in the broadest and
best sense of the word. 1t is progressive
in its work. utilizing the common sense
means at hand. The best example of
this is 10 be found in the work being ac-
complished in the ice-bound regions of
Alaska. There the secretary of the Sol
diers' Y. NJ. c. \. at Fort Seward spends
his summers on d floating y. NJ. G. A.
building, thirty-eight-foot launch,
called the Helen Gould. In this tiny