The Washington herald., 1916-08-10
SEEN AND HEARD
BY GEORGE MINER

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OF the American Bible Society that there is a
great demand for New Testaments in Mexico,
printed in Spanish of course
This agent Rev. ". F. Jordan, writes that
the eagerness of the Mexican people for the
Scriptures is unprecedented
This is remarkable. According to most OF
the press reports that come from Mexico the
people there are clamoring' for corn and beans,
and such things, not food for the soul and mind
but purely for the body
AS l have often pointed out, that shows just
how little reliance you can ever put on these
press reports from Mexico
somebody is always taking the JOY out OF
life and the truth out of the Mexican situation.
Ill bet the print paper trust has had hand in
this or else the newspaper owners knowing all
about the shortage of paper, have deliberately
suppressed the news; for if it had come out be-
fore, the big demand for Bibles would surely
have been another reason for raising the price Of
paper
The Rev. Mr.. Jordan goes on to say that the
real fact is that the Mexican people have little
to read. The war, he says. has practically stop
ped the circulation OF papers, magazines and
books in the Spanish language and so there is
this big demand for the New Testament among
people who hungry to read.
While there are many who are illterate," he
says, there are in every neighborhood those who
can read and the others gather about them and
listen, SO that there was never a better time for
the ministering of the Word than at present.
The only hlndrance is the lack of sufficient re-
sources"
That last sentence-lack Of resources-sounds
familiar
Seems to me everything in any way connected
with Northern Mexico has had lack of re-
sources hitched to it. That was the reason Mex
lean money deprecated. That's the reason Per-
shing couldn't capture Villa. That's the reason
ii took so long to get the National Guard down
there. That's the reason some Of the regiments
went hungry the way and others slept in day
coaches, and now that's the reason why those
poor, suffering Mexcans can't get Bibles to
read
Now while there may be lack OF resources
in getting Bibles to them | am sure there would
be no lack Of resources in supplying them with
other kinds of reading matter. For instance,
there a number of American authors who
write best sellers and publishers who print them,
that would supply this crying need without any
complaint about lack of resources.
On the contrary, the lack of resources would
be freight The railroads couldn't get
enough to transport the editions to those Bible
hungry Mexicans.
And while this pitfu cry is going up, be-
waing the lack of resources to get Bibles to
Mexicans the Sunday schools in Greater New
York have all been closed. Not from lack Of
resources No, indeed. Just because Of the
prevalence of infantile paralysis.
So, you see, while the Mexican bandits are
being deprived of Bible reading New York chill
dren being deprived of Biblical instruction.
Missionaries and ministers are certainly playing
in hard luck.
That statement by the Rev. Mr.. Jordan that
when somebody begins to read the Bible in
Mexico the natives flock to the reader opens a
line OF speculation. Is that the method that Villa
has been adopting to gather the poems to him
again