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Mirch 6, 1912]
through his life attending to his own
affairs and not those of another; and
In this way he has Justly merited the
confidence and esteem of all with whom
he came In contact, though he never
des'red any recognition at the hands of
his friends. Yet he was a magistrate
for the space of forty years, and so interested
was he In gathering Information
with regard to his duties that he
became an authority in matters of law
in his neighborhood. During his term
of office he married more than thirty
couples and to use his own language:
"They all stuck but one, and In that
case the material was not good." But
what haB increased his usefulness and
influence more tnan anyining ei^e is me
religious side of his life. At the ape of
elphteen he connected h'mself with
Poplar Tent Presbyterian church, Cabarrus
county, removing his membership
to Mallard Creek Presbyterian
church In Mecklenburg county, where,
while 81111 a young man, he was elected
to the office of ruling elder. He was
the first superintendent of the Sabhath
school and according to the written
records was clerk of session for the
space of forty-one years. Though within
recent years his eye-sight has become
somewhat impaired, yet his general
health Is good and his memory wonderfully
retentive for a man nearlng the
century mark. Tt Is interesting to hear
him talk of things which took place In
the long ago. He still has a vivid recollect'on
of an Incident that took place
when he was four years old, and well
he might, as there was a- visible outward
Impression connected with It.
lTncle Harvey has no organic disease.
He eats well, sleeps well, takes moder
are exercise, ana iu an numnn niincmances
bids fair to pass the century
mark, a distinction attained by few in
this day and time. A short religious
service was held In which the 103rd
Psalm was read, that grand old hymn,
"How Firm a Foundation," was sung
and prayer was offered. Short but Interesting
talks were then made by
several of those present, recounting
numerous Incidents which secured many
years ago, when they were mere youths
and Fncle Henry considered an old man.
All In all the day was pleasantly and
happily spent and will linger long In
the memory of all present. May the
smiles of a king and beneficent Heavenly
Father continue to rest upon and
abide with him Is the earnest, longing
desire of One Present.
RETORT OF EXFERT ACCOrXTIXTS
OX FOREIGN MISSION OFFICE.
In obedience to the Instructions of
the General Assembly, the Executive
Committee has recently had Its books
examined and audited by E. F. Leathern
& Company, public accountants and
auditors of Memphis, Tenn.
In recommending a new system of accounting,
Messrs. Leathern & Co. reported
as follows:
'We have visited Nashville for the
purpose of Investigating the system of
accounting used in handling the receipts
and disbursements of the Com
mittee of Foreign Missions, with the object
of Improving the system, where
possible, and of meeting the wishes of
the General Aseembly along certain
indicated lines.
"Our Investigation revealed no lack
of system in the Comm'ttee's office;
there were regular methods of recording
and balancing the receipts, of verifying
the bank accounts, and recording
all disbursements from the General
and Special Funds. Csreful and
accurate accounts were kept of the
pledges and contributions of the "Forward
Movement" churches, and we
were gratified to find that all receipts
for Special Causes were deposited In a
eparate account at the bank and that,
aniens a Special Fund was being ac
THE PRESBYTERIi
cumulated, the remittance! for these
Special Causes were made by the Committee
the same days as the contributions
were received. Still we consider
the system too complicated and not in
line with the latest ideas in accounting
as found in the offices of large mercantile
and manufacturing firms, which
ideas are perfectly adaptable to the
needs of the accounting end of the
Committee's work. But our recommendations
Tor improvement in the sys
tern of accounting contain no element
of censure for the present methods of
the Committee, which are characterized
by accuracy, carefulness and a desire
to do things right."
After the books had been audited by
Messrs. Leathern & Co., the following
report was made:
"As Instructed by your Comm'ttee, wr
have audited the books and accounts In
your office for the nine months ending
December 30, 1911, and now repor
on same.
"All receipts were verified by the
duplicate receipts Issued for same, and
satisfactory evidence was shown us for
all disbursements. In the form of cancelled
checks. The accounts carried
with the American Nat'onal Bank of
Nashville were verified as per reconcilement
statements attached thereto.
The additions of the cash books were
checked, also the posting to the General
ledeer, and the general ledeer wa?
In exact hnlnnee nn rionomha- tn u?t
as per copy of trial balance attached
hereto.
'"All accounts were accurately an''
carefully kept and all funds entrusted
to the care of your Committee have
been faithfully accounted, and your
office force was able to satisfy us on
everv point. We desire to tbank Mr
Cordon and his associates for 'he courtesy
and help shown during our examination.
"Respectfully submitted,
"(Signed) E. F. Leathern & Co.,
"By Earnest F. leathern."
The new system was installed on February
1st.
W. H. Raymond, Treasurer.
DOES FOREIGN MISSION GIVING INJURE
HOME MISSIONSI
A Rejoinder.
Dr. Smith seems to overlook the fact
*Viqt If woo V?A - '" J * u - ?
W~?. IV ??w uc mai i a IOCU me uuuve
question, and then insisted that "interest
in Foreign Missions increases the
spirit of practical beneficence in every
other cause." I have had no desire to
crit'eize his ministry, or the church he
recently served. Both have done excellent
work. My wish Is to call for the
correction of certain methods and arguments
thnt tend to hurt other causes,
the above fallacy being one of them.
In doing this I d'd not take isolated
years as he argues, but one period covering
several years. Nothing can be
fairer than to take the statistics of the
past few years during which time
Foreign Missions have made such steady
and rapid progress, and ask what effect
it has on Home Missions (General Assembly,
Local, and Col.). We expect
variation In contributions, but In this
case the general trend 's marked and the
regularity striking. The minutes of the
A COAmKltT eh/\tn AA??Ulk?i*lA??i
noocniUi.T OIIU" Lliai 111 C wwilll IUUUUIIO Ul
this Presbytery for the past four years
were as follows:
Foreign Missions, $5,378, $5,477, $6,397,
$8,663.
Home Missions, $10,937, $10,867, $9,838,
$9,145.
The contributions reported from the
Second church were as follows:
Foreign Mlssons, $1,627, $1,507, $1,868,
$2,492.
Home Missions, $3,280, $3,159, $2,958,
$1,689.
In both cases when Foreign Missions
made greater advance (1908-1911) Home
A N OF THE SOUTH
Missions lost most. The exact figures
taken from our treasurer's books, as in
the former article, show the contrast to
be doubly great. Every cause suffered
though Home Missions lost most
This may not prove that Foreign Mission
giving injures Home Missions, but
it certainly indicates thst it does not
help the cause, as my friend claims.
From the first of the same period
wiuuugu ivivj .MiniMenai reiiei sunereti
the same rapid decline, and, if we are
not m'staken, was only saved In 1911 by
an individual memorial gift. Under the
theory advanced that Foreign Mission
giving means Increase in all other
causes Is it not passing strange that all
of these causes suffered so much wh'le
Foreign Missions advanced so rapidly?
Tf it is true why would It not work In
these cases? And are we sure there is
no connection between the steadv and
"apld Increase on the one hand and the
steady and rapid decrease on the other?
If there is such a connection where does
the trouble l'e? Is It in our methods?
In my former article, as In this. I
gave statistics, not of a single church
only but, -of a whole Presbytery. Dr.
Smith wisely overlooked this part of It,
and tries to meet the other bv adding
into the Home cause everything In s'ght,
Includ'ns miscellaneous and every Item
of congreeatlnnal evpense. and setting It
nil Ai'o i? nnnlnel ir r\ rn 1 on Mleelnno* f To
not this m'sipadlng? Whatever hearing
Foreign Missions may have had on the
Increase of these Items f ?) It leaves the
real onestlon untouched and the loss to
Home Missions unexplained.
Another item wnien he wisely overlooked
Is the result of the Laymen's
Convent'on held here In February, 1910,
followed by an every-member canvas for
Foreign Missions, this canvass being repeated
In February, 1011, notwithstanding
the fact that February hnd been
designated by our church courts as the
month for Home Missions. The result
for the two years Indicated little more
than a transfer of funds. Foreign M'sslons
gaining $3.18G. and Home Missions
loosing f2-7S1 fthpse figures taken from
our treasurer's books).
We are not fighting Foreign Missions,
but our plea Is for methods that will
not Injure other causes. What Injures
Home M'sslons to-day, will hurt Foreign
Missions to-morrow. He Is not a wise
master builder who centers everything
on the super-structure to the neglect,
or Inlurv of the base. The sooner we al
low each cause to stand on Its own
merits, each working In harmony and
fairness with the other, the better It
will be for the whole church. I leave
the matter with our readers.
W. H. Miley.
ORIENTAL FR VCDS.
From time to time our community
is visited by men of swarthy sk'n and
oily tongues, who Introduce themselves
as pIoii3 missionaries from Persia. Turkey,
Syria, and elsewhere in the distant
East.
Usually they travel In the Biblical
way, two and two, affect a ministerial
dress and wear a clerical collar, buttoned
at the back of the neck.
With unctious grace and adroit skill.
they Importune you to give them money
with which to build churches, schools,
orphanages and hospitals in their native
land. They are abundantly provided
with certa'n formidable looking
documents written In Arabic, which you
are at liberty to read (?), purporting
to be credentials of their trustworthiness
from some high ecclesiastic In the
remote orient. They may also show
some papers in English, which are
claimed to be genuine testimonials
from certain well known ministers of
prominent churches and from state officials,
certifying to their good character.
(329) 15
Royal
in iviaK?s inc unest, ugni- \r
1 est,best favored biscuit, '
hot-breads, cake and
pastry. Renders the
food more digestible
and wholesome.
ABSC^TEtJ^PURE
These fellows are hard to get rid of.
They hang on to you with the pertinacity
of a leech, In the effort to extort
the coveted dollar from your pocket.
Don't give them a cent! You can set
them down, with hardly a single exception,
as out and out frauds?religious
fakers who are preying upon the unsophisticated
sympathy and unsuspicious
credulity of generous-hearted
people.
The undecipherable credentials and
the nlflln testimonials tSol
are forgeries, pure and simple, and
merely parts of the game with which
to "take in the suckers."
Our country is swarming with these
wily Asiatics, who look upon the
churches of America, and Justly so, it
would seem, as rich harvest fields
where golden grains are easily reaped
for the mere asking.
The missionaries on the grounds, and
the denominational bonrds of our different
churches in the United tSates,
are constantly warning our people
through the ' ellglous paper not to
waste their good money on these artful
pretenders.
Not a dollar that they get from voj
ever goes to the objects for which they
claim to be gathering It In.
On the contrary, these unscrupulous
scoundrels return to their country loaded
down with their "rake-Ins," to live
In ease and luxury. Their abundant
success encourages other "batches" of
their countrymen to head for America,
to repeat over and over again the same
looting process.
We have good reason to believe that
Keyser has been found an "easy mark"
by these Oriental mendicants, and It Is
about time that we should say to them
when they appear at the door or try to
invade our churches. "Pass on!" Or
better yet, turn them over to the po'lce
for attempting to get money on false
pretenses.
When you have gifts for benevolent
and missionary purposes, be sure to put
them In the church collection basket,
and then you can be confident that they
will mnvo a Inn tr nti'hrtrlvnrl r>Vionnnln
and reach the legitimate objects for
wh'ch you designed them.
The above warning Is prepared at the
request, and with the endorsement of
the Ministerial Union of Keyser.?The
Echo.
Respert fully.
M. B. Lambdln.
Let the first act on waking be to
place yourself, your heart, mind, faculties,
your whole being. In God's hands.
Ask him to take entire possession of
you, to be the guide In your soul, your
l'fe, your wisdom, your strength.?Mrs.
H. L. S. Lear.
God does not demand Impossibilities.
Do what you can.?St August!**.