The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1916-05-03
~ On. PRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1915. BY Frank Crane)

They had religious congress last Feb
ruary down in Panama where some sisni-
ficant things were said. We have rot in
to the rut of thinking that churches are
droning away at expounding doctrines
that are as lunar politics" to ordinary
folk, and that preachers and missionaries
are the most impractical of men.
If you read Willard Prices article IN
the March 18th issue of The Survey, you
may change your opinion, and realize
that the religious forces are quietly
changing tactics. and are going at the
conquest of the world in the new spirit
OF social service which after all is prob
ably nearer than theological doctrine bat
Ting to the spirit of primitive Chris.
tianity.
To be sure one brother from Cuba de-
livered his reactionary soul as follows:
The tourist who comes to me hoping
to learn something about the political.
industrial or commercial conditions of
Cuba will be badly disappointed. don't
know anything about the fruit situation
or the sugar situation in Cuba. These
things are none of my business. My
business is to know nothing but Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified.'
But the general tone Of the congress
was against him. 1T il especially timely
to emphasize the social gospel in South
America now" said Professor William
Adams Brown.
Professor Eduardo Monteverde. Of
Montevideo. declared. This is the age
of applied Christianity" And Bishop
Lambuth of the Methodist Episcopal
Church stated that social service opens
new avenue of approach"
Reports indicated that Christian work
ers were applying themselves to the
most intensely practical problems of the
people throughout Latin America.
Industrial education is being carried
on by missions in Mexico, Brazil, Chill,
Peru, and Bolivia. The Friends Presby.
terians, and Episcopalians are pushing
industrial farms and schools in Mexico.
A farmer-preacher in Brazil is teach
ing the use of American farm machin-
cry and scientific methods, 80 that one
Brazilian farmer will be able to do the
work which formerly took five.
The South American Missionary So
ciety teaches farming. gardening, car
pentry, and weaving in its schools in
Chill.
A diploma from the Methodist COM
mercial school in Buenos Ayres is &C
copied by the government.
A vigorous little missionary woman In
Mayaguez, Porto Rico, has a social set
Element. and is organizing the first move
ever made in Porto Rico against prosti-
tuition.
A missionary preacher in Panama has
got together a number of the West In
dian Negroes, who. having been laid of
from work on the Canal we're rapidly
drifting to starvation and crime, and es-
tablished colony of three hundred fam
lies. and built up prosperous agricul-
tural community on tract Of land he
obtained from the Panama government,
east Of Gatun Lake.
The Y. M. c. A. everywhere is doing
such work as maintaining employment
bureaus, securing work for immigrants,
Encouraging savings banks and training
boys for business.
The missionaries are attacking tuber-
culosis, teaching the use Of the tooth
brush, feeding half-starved children 80
they can 60 to school, showing the au-
thorities they ought to let the little ones
play in the public parks, and teaching
the little ones to play; they have cook
ing schools, sewing-schools, and type
writing-schools; they are fighting flies
and mosquitoes; they have come down
out of the temple and are graphing with
the real needs of the people.
Dr. Grenfell. Of Labrador, condensed
the modern missionary programme into
sentence
when you set out to commend your
gospel to one who doesn't want Il. there