THE American Missionary

Vol. L. MAY, 1896. No. 5.

THE JUBILEE YEAR FUND.

In the last number of The American Missionary we published the plea of the Executive Committee of this Association for an offering to relieve the Association in its financial necessities. We present below the working point of that document in these words:

It is proposed to raise during the next six months a special Jubilee Year Fund of $100,000, in shares of $50 each, with the hope and expectation that these shares will be taken by the friends of missions without lessening those regular contributions which must be depended upon to sustain the current work.

As the means of securing these gifts we subjoin the blank form of a pledge, which, when signed by individuals or officers of churches, may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, Bible House, New York. When the amount pledged is paid our treasurer will send as a receipt a neatly printed certificate. On another page will be found a list of pledges already made.

We solicit especial attention to the closing paragraph of the sentence quoted above, asking that these special gifts shall not lessen the regular contributions, upon which the Association must depend to sustain the current work.

We send forth this appeal under a deep sense of responsibility. We know that business is still depressed and that many of the friends to whom we make this plea have responded generously to the calls of sister missionary societies. But we feel that it is a duty we owe to God and to the needy peoples for whom we labor to attempt the relief of this Association in its embarrassing and hindering liabilities. We confidently believe that many of the churches and generous individuals to whom we make this plea, feel as we do, a sense of duty and responsibility in this important matter. Some to whom this may come may be able to respond at once with a pledge of one or more shares. But to those who cannot, we urge that they lay by in store as God may prosper them the means for as prompt a response as possible to our call.

Share, $50.$100,000

THE JUBILEE YEAR FUND of the AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

I hereby take ...... shares (Fifty Dollars each) in the Jubilee Year Fund of the American Missionary Association, to be paid before the close of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, 1896.

Name ...................................................... P. O. Address .........................................

ARREST OF OUR TEACHERS IN ORANGE PARK, FLORIDA.

Rev. T. S. Perry, of Limerick, Me.; Mr. O. S. Dickinson, of West Granville, Mass.; Principal B. D. Rowlee, of East Woodstock, Conn.; Mrs. B. D. Rowlee; Miss Edith M. Robinson, of Battle Creek, Mich.; Miss H. S. Loveland, of Newark Valley, N. Y.; and Miss Margaret Ball, of Orange Park, Fla., with two patrons of the school (white) residing in Orange Park, were all arrested by the Sheriff at Orange Park, Fla., on Friday the 10th of April, charged with the crime of teaching young people of two races under the same roof. They were not taken to jail, but were given until Monday—the intervening days of Saturday and Sunday—to procure bail. This esteemed pastor of the Congregational Church in Orange Park, the most worthy teachers and the patrons are awaiting trial for this crime! and are only saved from jail by the bail which has been procured for them. This is as far as the State of Florida has descended in its shame at present.

This enactment, which we have been careful not to call a law, was pronounced by the National Council to be "not only repugnant to Christian principles, but also opposed to the civil rights guaranteed by our Constitution," and the Association was called to persistently resist it with all legal measures.

Senator Hoar of Massachusetts writes of it: "I am amazed that even in Florida such things can be done. I think that this cannot stand a moment before the Courts of the United States."

Arrests of Christian teachers because they instruct a few white children under the same roof with colored children will not only call the attention of the Nation to the gross darkness which dwells in the minds of those who could make such an enactment, but it will bring about a public opinion which will hasten the progress of the State from its present low condition faster than almost any other agency.

Meanwhile Florida remains in shame.

The Hamilton Club has added the name of a colored man to the list of its members. It is the first of the leading men's social organizations in Chicago to abolish the color line. This special honor was conferred upon Adelbert H. Roberts. The name passed the test of posting and the directors were unanimous in his favor.—Chicago Times-Herald.

Horse Needed.—A faithful minister in our mountain field has great need of a horse. He reaches half a dozen preaching-stations among these Highlanders, often going on foot. Fifty dollars would purchase him a good horse, and if any friend will respond to this appeal it will increase the efficiency of an earnest missionary very greatly. If a larger amount than this is received it will be expended in the work among these mountain people.

Rev. H. E. Partridge, of Pomona, Tenn., will be glad to write full particulars concerning an opening for a Christian merchant in a store on the Cumberland Plateau.

JUBILEE FIELD DAYS IN THE INTERIOR.

SECRETARY CHARLES J. RYDER.

A reduction in the secretarial force of the American Missionary Association, in order to cut down current expenses and decrease the debt, has resulted in a serious loss in the effectiveness of the collecting field. The office at Cleveland, together with a most efficient and acceptable district secretary, was discontinued for economy's sake. The expenses, however, had to be cut down in some way, and so the burden was placed upon one of the secretaries in the New York office. With multiform duties already upon the hands of each one in the administration of the mission field, and almost constant Sunday service among the contributing churches, it seemed almost impossible to take up this new burden of work, which in some societies involves the constant labor of a large number of secretaries. To accomplish an undertaking which seemed almost impossible the pastors were conferred with, and cordially and generously promised all the assistance within their power for the American Missionary Association in its depleted condition. Right royally did these good brethren redeem their pledge.

A series of Jubilee Field Days was planned and carried out with great success and interest, largely through the co-operation of these faithful brethren in the ministry of the churches in the interior.

Just a word concerning the plan adopted. A campaign of five weeks was planned. Jubilee Field Day Rallies were to be held twice every weekday except Saturday, and as many times on the Sabbath as possible. Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana were the States to be reached.

The purpose of the campaign was to instruct and stimulate the churches and congregations reached. It was also hoped that the collections would pay all the expenses of this effort to scatter missionary information and enthusiasm, and that the regular collections of the churches would be largely increased.

The speakers consisted of the pastors of the several churches and missionaries from the fields, and the writer of this article. Just a word in reference to these friends who presented the work to the churches. The value of the address of the pastor in each case was very great. Standing on the vantage ground that an honored and beloved pastor occupies in any church and community, his indorsement and earnest and discriminating commendation carried greatest weight. I desire thus publicly to recognize the service of those generous brethren in the ministry to the American Missionary Association. That service was large.

The colored work was represented by Rev. George V. Clark, pastor of the Congregational Church at Memphis, Tenn. Born a slave, rescued by an American Missionary Association missionary from the degrading influences of a saloon into which he drifted as a lad when freedom came and no other opening was before him, his testimony and earnest appeal stirred the deepest convictions of his hearers. The quaint old slave melodies, which Mr. Clark sometimes heard as a boy in slave times, and often since by those who are freemen now, he rendered with peculiar effect. The weird and quaint pathos of these songs coming originally from the crushed and bleeding hearts of slaves, held the large audiences in hushed and sympathetic attention. Is there anything in the world like these slave songs sung by those who have known the bitterness of slavery?

From far-away Dakota Miss Dora K. Dodge brought the message to these several gatherings, of the discouragement and want, the hopefulness and progress, of the Christian work among the Indians. Her mission, seventy-five miles out on the prairie, with only Christian Indians—John Bluecloud and his wife—for associates, is of unique interest and importance. No one could have told the story of this wonderful movement among the red people of the prairie with more simple and earnest eloquence than did Miss Dodge.

Rev. W. G. Olinger, a native mountaineer, presented the work "Among the American Highlanders." Born in the humble cabin of the mountaineer, stirred from his earliest boyhood with the great desire for education and improvement, he struggled up through great discouragements, until to-day he can stand on any platform with interest to those who hear and with honor to himself. His manly presence is the illustration of the wonderful possibilities of these mountaineers; and his story is their agonizing cry for the light and opportunities which only an intelligent gospel and educational privileges such as the American Missionary Association is bringing, can satisfy.

The secretary, who had charge of the campaign, presented "The Claims of the American Missionary Association on this Jubilee Year."

The immediate results of this series of Jubilee Field Days were most encouraging. Nearly twenty thousand people gathered in the various audiences. Lincoln Memorial Day, celebrated at Oberlin, was most delightfully spent. Every service during the day, including Sunday-school, Mission Circle, Endeavor Society, as well as church services, was an American Missionary Association rally.

On the Sabbath large churches and towns were reached. During the week important centers were selected, and many surrounding churches sent pastors and delegates to the Jubilee Field Day services.

From a financial standpoint the result was also encouraging. More than three times as much was gathered as the campaign cost, and pastors and church members everywhere testified that the meetings were resultful in spiritual uplift and blessing, as well as in stimulating interest and greatly increased gifts.

The general feeling seemed to be that this was American Missionary Association year, and that during this Jubilee season the specials should float into this treasury and the regular contributions should be greatly increased. While en route the joyful message came to us that the Board and the Home Missionary Society were both out of debt. When announced from various pulpits by American Missionary Association speakers, this glorious fact met with cordial applause. All the more did it seem incumbent upon the churches to take hold of the American Missionary Association, still burdened with its debt, and lift it out of the slough of financial despond. This, however, is only the reflection of the feeling among the churches throughout the land. The determination to lift the debt of the American Missionary Association, and to make it possible to continue at least its depleted work, is universal. Special collections, regular contributions, and hundreds of individuals taking the fifty-dollar shares in the Jubilee fund, will accomplish this most desirable result.