Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-02
SPIRIT OF THE WEST
PRAISED BY BISHOP
Montana M. E. PreIate Says
East Is Too Self-Centered
in Its Outlook
AT MISSION MEETINGS

"Out West they have n wider. a
more sweeping cosmic realization; they
think in big terms: they are not so
Self-centcred as people in the Fast.
Their interests embrace world tOpics"
Bishop Charles Wesley Burns. former
nastor of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church of Germantown. and now Bishop
Of the Methodist Episcopal area of Mon
tann compared the outlook upon life
of the East and the West in the course
of discussion of his work in the West
and Of conditions in general in his area
He is IN this city in connection with
the present annual meeting Of the
Board of Home Missions Of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church. which is being
held today and tomorrow in the Wesley
Building, Seventeenth and Arch streets.
Bishop Burns area, which comprises
North Dakota. Montana. Idaho and
Eastern Oregon. is $4,000 square miles
in extent. and is the largest of the
Methodist Episcopal areas. His head
quarters are in Helena. Mont.
Country Of Great Distances
~ have to change my watch three
times when 60 from one end Of it to
the other" he said. with smile. at
is country Of great distances.
''It is only eighteen months since 7
was elected to tn" post. | had for
mcrly been here rs a pastor; In fact,
was born near here at WilNw Grove.
More people visit my birthplace than
Shakespeare
The great problem which face
Montana today. speaking from an eco
nomc point Of view. is that Of drought
and irrigation. For the last five years
we have severe drought and it has
seriously affected the we'll being of the
country.
Several large irrigation projects
we're abandoned during the war. and
never resumed. We must have irriga-
tiun at any cost. for We cannot keep
on very long without moisture, aud
there Is no rain.
Times Hard Out West
"Timcs our way are hard. For in
stance. thirty-fOur out of eighty dele
gates came TO the conference AT Helena
With arrears in salary averaging So" Il
man.
but in spite of that. the Mctho-
dists of the Montana area have given
bountifully. In per capita giving Mon
tana stands Almost at the top. If the
pcoplc Of the East here were to CIV"
as freely they alone could pay off all
the Centennial Fund.
coat West they are interested in
world affairs. In the East there Is a
certain self -ccntCrcd attitude, which
does not stretch out after the broadrr
YES. it is country Of big things.
Some of our cow boy circuit riders
have a whole county 10 themselves and
their work. and their circuits are as
large as 5000 miles.
"But We need moisture. Give u>
moisture, plenty of it. say by harness
ing the IellowstoucS and Missouri
Rivers to our end. and VIC will he the
bread basket of the world. Our wheat
IS the best grown We could grow
much moro of it with mo- i>turc. There
arr 2J. J.OOU, 600 acres OF land awaiting
irrigation in Montana alone.
''rhey get along all right in North
Dakota. for they huvr Il little rain
there, and they carry on dry farming
OF A very successful scale. But VIC
must have moistuIe-rivcrs Of 1t.
DR.. Burns spoke of the good work
being done by church workers in dis
tribVting food and clothing.
Mrs. Burns. who by the way was Il
Philadelphia girls. distributed 1000 gar
r,cnts last year. and she was one OF
many. recall an old circuit rider,
Alexander Muirdon by name. who re-
cpivod a fur coat sent out fourteen
years ago IN missionary barrel by the
Rchobeth Church in this city. When
| saw him recently he was still wear
lng tho coat and very anxious to know
where the Rehobeth Church is sit
uatod." "
Mrs. Burns was Laura Carson