The New York herald., 1921-10-16
A Missionary Centennial.


in celebrating the centennial this
month Of its founding the society
has to it's credit a record of distin-
guished and worthy attainments. It
has left it's mark indelibly upon the
western half of tho nation; it has
carried its message of Christianity
and civilization to remote parts Of
the earth; it has brought help to the
needy and the suffering; it has known
no national or racial lines but has
made the world its field of labor and
has covered 1t with q marvellous
fidelity and an untiring faithfulness
Of purpose.
A few months ago Bishop FUTILE,
the Presiding Bishop Of the Protes-
tant Episcopal Church, started from
st. Louis and retraced in part the
route over which In 1867 as a young
man Of 80 and the first missionary
Bishop to the Rocky Mountain region
be travelled to take charge of his dio-
cese. He rode then on the first Union
Pacific train west of North Platte,
and by stage coach with a rifle across
his knees and a Bible In his hand
through the lands Of the hostile
Arapahoes to Salt Lake City. When
at "a he went again over this route
he met with a remarkable reception
at every city and town he visited.
While this was personal honor to
the man it was also tribute to the
accomplishments of the organization
which he so worthily represented in
those early days.
In 1921 the frontier of the nation
was not far beyond the Ohio, and
when ten years later JACKSON KEN
PER, the first of the Church's mis-
sionary Bishops, began the travels
which in his thirty-fve years Of SER
vice amounted to more than 100000
miles, he entered a new land Of
adventures and wonderful potentiali-
ties. In the region which he trav-
ersed there are to-day more dioceses,
bishops, clergy and communicates
than there were in the whole Amer
lean Protestant Episcopal Church
when he began his career.
But this pioneer work for the
Church was not all that he and others
such as he accomplished. They did
in their own territory what Bishop
TUTTLE did at Salt Lake City when
he founded the first mission hos
pital in the Rocky Mountain re-
gion. They carried books and news
papers to the lonely homes and
camps of the almost untravelled
West, they reinforced and safe
guarded the pioneer farmer, settler
and railroad builder; they went to the
wilds Of the Northwest in the wake
of LEWIS and CLARK and they ac-
companied the Forty-niners to the
California gold fields. No person
more completely expressed the value
Of their labor than did Mr.. ROOSEVELT
when he said.
without the work of the home
missionary the life of this country
would have been a life OF incon-
ceivably hard and barren material
ism. Because OF it. deep beneath
and through the national character
there runs that power of firm adher-
ence to lofty ideal upon which the
safety of the nation will ultimately
depend"
In the Far East, China and Japan
the success of the Missionary Society
has been marked. MATTHEW G. PERRY,
the naval commander who opened
the doors of Japan, and TOWNSEND
HARRIS, the diplomat, were both
/ churchmen and they prepared the
way for JOHN LIGGINs and CLAIMING
MOORE WILLIAMS, the first modern
missionaries to enter japan. For
years there was no response to their
efforts, but to-day everybody familiar
with the situation recognizes that
the Church OF Japan, formed by a
combination OF missionary diocese
established by the American, Cana
dian and English churches, Is a
power in the nations life hundred
times greater than its statistical
strength would suggest. 1t has cul-
tivated spirit Of altruism and do
nestle philanthropy which has found
expression In the building Of orphan
ages and the magnificent new st.
Luke's Hospital at Toxic. to which
the Emperor has personally contrib
uted $4,000.
In China, st. Johns, the leading
university of the country. was estab-
lished by the Church. Mr.. Szy,
Chinese Minister to the United States:
WELLINGTON Koo, Ambassador TO
England; Mr.. YEN, Chinese Fe-eirn
Minister and delegate to the CoDIcs-
ence for the Limitation OF Arma
ment, are all graduates OF 81. Johns.
The society has been represented 10
China by able men: GRAVES, whom
the Archbishop OF Canterbury de-
A. ts.x.s~-.. rgf.k.. 20