The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-09-06
THE CAUSE OF MISSIONS.
(sy Richmond Dean, Vice President
Of the Pullman Company.

1t goes without saying that the au-
thor of this article, if we can dignity
it by such a high-sounding title, is not
a priest, and very far from being
Bishop. He is business man, who
started his business career in about as
poor a position as the Pullman Com
pany had to offer, but who has re-
manned with the same organization
for over thirty years, and has had ac-
tual experience, as we'll as full share
of that intimate knowledge, which is a
part of the assets of great corpora
ton.
Some thirteen years ago he became
interested in Catholic missions
through his connection as a member
of the Board of Governors of the Cath
Ollie Church Extension Society.
Thirteen years OF experience on a
missionary board, even though that
board restricted its activities to home
missions, has given the writer an in
terest in all the work that the Church
of America could do for Catholic mis-
sions everywhere. 1t is natural, there
fore, that he should have views of his
own on the general subject and on
many of it's details. Monsignor Kelley
has asked him to write these things.
and he is very glad to do it.
A Business View.
My Dear Monsignor:
t. y, ~
imagine that the Church can learn
something from business; not about
dogmas or about canon law, of course,
but about the management of such
activities as are unconnected with the
actual running of diocese. These
activities at present look to me, and
to many other business men, as if they
we're being run in somewhat haphaz-
ard way. A multitude of little organ
izations are appealing to the same
people, without any coordination or
unity amongst them, except on the
bare ground that they are assisting
the Church universal in her mission.
These societies have taken over prac-
tically the entire work of collecting
for missions, social effort, etc. My in
terest chiefly is in missions.
The first thing business man is
inclined to say when he views this sit
uation is: why not get together?
Why not have central direction? Why
not stop cultivating intensely the irri-
gated spots and give attention to re-
deeming the swamps? Why not try
to make our people, away from the big
centers, realize that they have as
much interest in the Church as the
people in the cities?" No business or
ganization could run itself as the Cath
Ollie Church in America runs its mis-
sions, and have it's officials get away
with it before a board of directors. A
company could not be run if there
was no unification; yet we find that, in
the Church, it's missionary arm in
Rome has very little to. do with the
direction of missions except in the
most general and abstract way, while
the missionary societies, that actually
do the collecting, have headquarters
here, there and every place, and are
constantly overlapping in their activi-
ties by disunion, private collections or
undirected and uncontrolled individual
efforts. The consequence is that some
missions are admirably taken care of,
while others have nothing, and the
men attached to these latter are not
infrequently hungry. It is sad thing
that some missionaries right here in
the United States have to beg second
hand clothes, while others have no
difficulty in buying and supporting a
car. We cannot have good distribu-
ton without central management-a
central management that knows the