The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-11-15

be preached in all
the world for a witness unto all ma
tons: and then shall the End come. -
Matthew xiv. ~ He said
year ago the international Bible
Students Association. perplexed by the
conflicting reports. resolved to send a
Committee of Seven TO investigate and
give candid report on missionary
prospects in foreign landS-eSpecially
in South India. where it is making a
special effort. | was one of that Com
mittce. which otherwise was composed
Of four successful business men,-one
doctor, and General Hall. of the u. S.
A. The Committee performed it's du-
ties cOnScientiOusIy, and made its Re-
port to one of the largest Christian
gatherings ever held in New York City
in the UippOdrOme. March 31st. Its
Report. published in pamphlet form.
reached ii very wide circulation
amongst Christian people. l am au-
thOriTed to offer the remainder free.
one copy each. to all interested in
Foreign Mission work. A postcard ad
dressed TO Il. b. S. A, Brooklyn, n
V" requesting copy of the Mission
AIRY Report. will receive prompt atten-
ton as long as the supply holds out
The Committee. in preparing this Re
port, felt sure that it would be dis
couraging to some loyal Christian peo-
pie: and they therefore laid bare the
facts in as kindly and Christian a man
ner as possible. Every one of them
being deeply interested in the heather,
every one of them a sincere Christian.
what else could they do?
Now, as the Committee feared. the
truthfulness of their Report. which so
many Christian people gratefully ac-
knowledge, has irritated few persons.
These evidently fear that we have
shattered their idol and dScredited
their fairy tales respecting the imme-
date conversion of the world by hui
man instrumentality and more millions
of money We sympathize with these
enthusiasts. who seem to deceive them
selves as well as others and who shut
their eyes to facts, while hoping against
hope to maintain exploded theories.
One of these, Mr.. w. II. Ellis. alias
the Religious Rambler" attacks our
report after the style of Don Quixote
Falsely he declares that we journeyed
on the same vessel from San Francis
co TO Shanghai. giving the impression
that we had not visited Japan at ALL
Then he declares that we merely raced
through the country, did not visit all
the mission stations. nor talk with all
the missionaries: and he wants to know
how we could know anything on the
subject of our Report. Our Report
tells the facts. The Committee of Sew
en- scattered. and spent six days in
Japan, or a total of AZ days of inveStl-
CATION. Our % days spent in India.
similarly recorded. would be the equiv
aIent Of nearly six months investiga-
ton by one person.
Our |. Il. S. A. Committee were not
commissioned to investigate missions.
nor merely to ask missionaries to cor
rObOrate reports promulgated by mis-
siOnary societies. We visited and in
terrogated the people. saw their con-
ditiOns, attended meetings. etc. AS
for myself, this critic charges i'm one
breath that | did not preach the SER
mons which appeared in the newspa-
perS of the world: and in the next
breath he declares that / spent all my
time i'll preaching and therefore had
not time for investigation. A discern
ing public read between the lines of
such criticism what the Bible symbol
ically describes as ''gnashing of teeth"
The Only Practical Method.
If millions Of money were being
spent to give instructions in French.
if the teachers gave glowing reports
of their success. and if committee
of business men were sent to investi-
gate the success. would they ask the
teachers and professors for confirma-
ton of the reports they had already
made. or would they go amongst the
pupils. and seek to ascertain to what
extent they had knowledge of
French? There can be but one an
swer to this question. The principle
applied TO Foreign Missions. shows
that our Committee took the only
proper course for ascertaining the
facts. They did obtain them. and be-
lieve that every missionary and every |
other person who has been i'm foreign |
lands. within the last FIVE years. will |
on reading our Report. concede that |