F oeeign Mission J oubnal
£aubli»be«l i?3««els!y hy (hcFopcign Mission ESonrtl of lire Southern Knjytist Comonlioa.
“ALL P0 WER IS GIV1)N VXTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTII. GO YE, THEREFORE,' AND
ТЕАСП
ALL NATIONS.'
Vol. 9. — New Series.
RICHMOND, VA., JUNE, 1877.
No. 3. — Whole No. 87
FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL
BATES PER ANNUM:
Ono copy . . . SO els.
Ftyo or
того
copies, to om> nililreas . 40 " a copy.
Twenty or
того
copies, to ono address . 30 " "
Fifty or
того
copies, to
они
mlilross . 25 “ “
^S-rionso remit by Draft, Postal Ortlor, or in Registered
Letter.
Address, FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL.
Richmond, Va.
FOREIGN MISSION BOARD
OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION,
Looatkp at RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.
PltKSlPK.YT-J. L. M. CURRY.
COIIIIKSrO.S-Ol.VO SnCHKTAHV— H.
Л.
TUPPER,
TltKASltltKli — J. C. WILLIAMS.
RKC0I(I>IN-I1 SitciiKTAHV— W. II. OWATIIMEY.
Лшнтоп—
JOSEPH F. COTTRELL.
Gurllck,
E37" - 1 U communications in reference to the business
of this Hoard should be addressed to II. A. Tupfsr,
Corresponding Secretary, Richmond, Va.
THE BUSINESS OF THE BOARD.
In thu May number we gave .=01110 account of the
organization of the Foreign Mission Hoard, its pur¬
poses anti modes of procedure. In tills wo take up
tile conduct of its linancial allairs. As an Interme¬
diary between (lie churches and the missions, -It lias1
business connections with both, collecting from the
one, disbursing to the other. The Corresponding
Secretary devotes a large part of his time to the
collection of money for the support of missionaries,
the erection of clmpels, the maintenance of schools
and tlie publication of the Scriptures in foreign
lands. The simpler and easier work of transmit¬
ting funds to their destination is attended to by the
Treasurer.
The Hoard gets annually from each mission sta-
t‘°n a full account of expenditures and an estimate
of what will bo needed for salaries, rents, schools,
building, Ac., for the incoming year. These ac¬
counts and estimates are scrutinized in committee
and then by .the whole Hoard. Thereupon appro¬
priations arc made as large as the linancial prospect
"ill justify, and the missionaries are informed of
the amount which will probably be at tlieir disposal,
and allowed to expand or Instructed to contract
their work accordingly. Contraction, when neces¬
sary, is made in the expenses for schools, out-stations
or native assistants. No appropriation is absolute,
but subject to Increase or diminution during the
year, according to circumstances ; the missionaries,
however, must keep tlieir ordinary expenses within
tlie amount appropriated.
Funds arc transmitted in ono or the oilier of two
"'ays, both of which cost aboutr the same. If tlie
slate of tlie treasury will allow, the missionaries tiro
authorized to make drafts and negotiate them. It
Is a gratifying fact that the Hoard lias always met
its obligations promptly, and lias thereby secured
a standing in commercial circles, which enables its
employees to get drafts discounted at the lowest
market rates. Hy tills method the missionary gets
ids money as soon as he needs it, and the Treasurer
lias nothing to do but pay the draft when presented.
Tlie churches ought to make the stream of tlieir
contributions so constant that we might give all
missionaries standing authority to draw quarterly In
advance. Hut sometimes there is reason to fear that
large drafts could not be met, and then authority to
draw is withheld, and as funds come in the Treasurer
remits from time to time. Remittances must follow,
as drafts also do, tlie channels of trade through
New York and London or Liverpool. Neither our
notes nor our coins pass as money outside of Ame¬
rica— our currency must be converted into Sterling
Exchange, and this again into tlie Lire of Italy,
tlie Cowries of Africa, or the Cash of China. For
this work our Treasurer is peculiarly well situated,
in being the cashier of aBank, and therefore famil¬
iar with the fluctuations of the money-market — he
uses for us his best skill anil judgment, without any
oilier reward than the answer of a good conscience.
All who know anything about foreign exchange will
appreciate tlie fact that it costs something to trans¬
mit money, anil that it reaches Its destination in
very different shape from that in which it started ;
but occasionally a good sister will accompany her
contribution, say for Moses Stone, with a request’
that ids receipt for tlie amount be returned to her.
She forgets that wo have no safe way of sending a
live dollar greenback to Africa, anil that, if sent, it
would not buy in Oghomosho so much as a loaf of
bread.
For raising money we roly 011 agencies, societies,
special contributions and, chtclly, on regular collec¬
tions taken in the churches by their own pastors
anil deacons. A word or two 011 eacli of these.
Agents are employed in several States to go from
place to place, present tlie cause, disseminate infor¬
mation and collect money. It is common to speak
of them as “necessary evils,” and doubtless they
do occasion mischief hy tempting sonic to wait till
personally called 011 for tlieir contributions, or to
give nothing except when so visited, but it may
л
veil
be doubted whether these evils attacii t.o tlie impor¬
tunate beggars or lie at tlie doors of those who will
not give without such importunity. When all our
churches shall do their duty without solicitation,
travelling agents may bo entirely dispensed with,
for then the millennium will be near at hand, if not
already come; but at present, so many of our people
are necessarily so much engaged with tlieir own
affairs, that they forget tlie claims of missions un¬
less reminded by some one who makes it ids busi¬
ness. The experience of the Hoard, ill its efforts to
do without agents, has abundantly demonstrated
their necessity. Wo hope, however, that all our
agents will look not merely to tlie present, but to
the future, and that by extending the circulation of
tlie Journal and encouraging the churches to
carry out plans of systematic giving, they will
gradually render tlieir work less and less necessary
anil he enabled to return to. more congenial em¬
ployments.
Of societies, co-operating with or working through
the Hoard, the most numerous and most effective are
the organizations among the ladies,— they ought to
be extended in all the States. Woman under hea¬
then customs is deeply degraded.; Christianity has
done much for her and “ she loveth much.” Every
town surely, and many country neighborhoods,
should have tlieir woman’s societies, to glean after
the reapers and gather up tlie little sums that would
else bo lost. The Board employs as many female
as male missionaries. Why should not the ladles of
tlie South support, the ladles of our missions?
Special, contributions are earnestly invited. If
any person or church feels special Interest in any
branch of our work and will contribute for it,, the
Board is bound by its own rides to carry out the
wishes of donors whenever made known. Anything
given for tlie Rome chapel or for the Canton resi¬
dence will be added to tlie amounts already col¬
lected for those objects, but contributions to any
mission for its regular work must be counted as
part of tlie appropriation thereto made, and in case
tlie contributions in any year should exceed the
amount of the appropriation to that mission, the
excess will go to its credit and increase the appro¬
priation for tlie ensuing • year. If any society or
other body is inclined to undertake any special
work, tlie Corresponding Secretary will gladly help
them to make a selection. In tills connection wo
mention tlie obvious propriety of making efforts to
raise money in tlie colored churches for our African
mission.
But after all, agents, societies and special dona¬
tions are but as scouts, skirmishers and detached
battalions — very useful in any army — yet victory
depends not on these, but 011 the steady advance of
solid columns of infantry. We must rely, wo hope
to rely more and more confidently, on the measured
troail, the resistless advance of tlie hosts of God’s
elect, organized according to his own appointment
and marshalled under offleers of his own choosing.
If tlie churches would appoint a suitable time once '
a year or of tenor to contribute for Foreign Missions,
if the pastors would inform themselves and tlieir
docks about tlie progress and needs of our'stations,
and if the deacons would sec that every member be
invited to give something to this cause, there would
be 110 lack of means to carry 011 the Lord’s work.
All money collected is sent to tlie Corresponding
Secretary, receipted for by postal card and entered
on his cash book, a condensed transcript' of which
is published monthly in tlie Journal. He docs
not pay it out for any purpose whatsoever, but de¬
posits it daily in bank, and once a week transfers
tlie sum on hand to the credit of tlie Treasurer,
giving him therewith a statement, not of all tho
items, but only of the amount received from each
State. The Treasurer, therefore, does not cumber
Ids books with a multitude of entries, but keeps his
account of receipts by States only. IIo disburses,
whether to meet drafts, make remittances or pay
little incidental expenses, only as directed by the
Board and upon the order of tlie President. All
bills and accounts arc examined by tlie Finance
Committee and regularly audited. It will be seen
that tlie counting of all money by several different
persons, the Secretary’s book, tlie Treasurer’s book,
tlie receipts sent to parties and the published ac¬
knowledgments, arc checks upon each other which
make it well nigh impossible that any mistake, if
made, should escape speedy detection.
We have given tills matter more space than wc
can afford, but not
того
than it deserves If, in
aiming to condense we have sacrificed clearness,
wo shall bo glad to have any questions asked, and
will answer to tho best of our ability.
