The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-01-30
Americans corrupted them

The speaker spoke OF the great
progress that the Protestant
churches were making In winning
converts among the Italians. He de
clared that there were In America
today more Protestant Italian
churches than there were Catho
lie Italian churches.
+. J. Michel of Chicago was next
introduced. He spoke on "The
Facts Underlying the United Mis-.
sionary Campaign"
| Mr.. Michel declared that two
out of three OF the human race
were beyond the call of Jesus
Christ. Two out of three have thus
far had no chance at all to hear
of Christ.
The Religious Census.
In America, the speaker said! two
out of three were outside of the
call OF the church. To substantiate
this statement he showed a chart.
| giving graphically the results of
a religious census OF the United
States, embracing both Protestant
and Catholic churches. Two out of
three were not going to any church.
and those that were attending were
giving on an average FIVE cents per
week per member to Christianize
America and to evangelize the
| world.
DIR. c. Tilford Erickson of Albania
spoke on "A New Nation"
1 Dr -. a
years ago as a young student from
Indiana he landed I'm Mankato at
eleven O'Clock one night. He had
promised his mother that he would
keep out of saloons, but when he
got here he found that he could not
enter a hotel, without going through
saloon. At last a stranger gave
him a bed in his home. The speak
er declared that he never would
cease to be grateful to that man.
DIR. Erickson told of the history
of Albania. from the time when
the country was first started as an
on-shoot from the Aryan race as Il
spread over Europe. For fifty years
Albania was a rock planted I'm the
midst OF the tide of Mahometan
invasion. When Mahomet III crowd.
ed the Albanians into the city
! where they made their last stand.
many Albanians slipped through
the enemies ranks into Italy, where
they made vain appeal for help
! against the invaders. After n
struggle for ten years more they
were at last beaten down. Then
followed $50 years. during which
the people were under the curse of
the Mahometan rule. The men
were swept into the Turkish armies
and the girls into the Turkish har.
ems. IL any Albanian ever man.
aged to become prosperous. black
hand" reached forth, seized and
made away with him and conflscated
lis property. Over nine hundred AL
bantam and Bulgarian leaders had
been killed OF I'm the last three
or four years.
Is Beautiful Country.
DIR. Erickson said Alabama is a
beautiful country by nature, but
vast tracts of forest had not
been touched by the woodsman's
axe. II was country without n
railroad. The country was a bean.
tiful pasture land. yet it was de.
nuded OF its flocks and herds. be-
cause the Turkish government
would not let the people learn and
progress. They We're kept in ignor.
ance by the government. Schools.
newspapers and all kinds of liter.
allure were suppressed. All the
Learning that the people had was
Inc folk lore that was handed down
from generation to generation I'm n
primitive way. The Albanians were
allowed, IL they chose, to make their
children Greeks or Italians or Turks.
but they could not learn Albanian,
NO. that was forbidden.
The speaker declared that the
Balkan war was the climax of the
sunerings OF the Albanians. Greece.
servia and Montenegro reached ont
for Albania as a prize. They want.
ed the Albanian harbors. Austria
and Italy said those countries could
not take them. So the European
powers decreed that Albania should
be free and set of a little buffer
state. The Albanians were forced
by the rival interests to protest
against this. Their signatures were
obtained to the protest at the point
OF the bayonet, by the Servions and
Greeks.
| The speaker said that neither
Austria nor Italy nor Greece nor
Servia could be trusted with the
interests of Albania. The Alban-
ians were anxious to identify them.
selves with the eeat Protestant
nations OF England and America
So they began by asking for a
Protestant prince. ~This was grant.
ed. The Albanians were anxious
to build up Protestant nation,
getting the gospel In its original
purity.
DR.. Erickson said the outstanding
menace to Christianity was Mahom-
etanism. Mohometanism had made
its converts with fire and sword
but It was progressing faster than
Christianity. The original Christian
lands were still left In the grasp
| - A.