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OREIGN Mission receipts continue to fnll
oif at a distressing rate. The amount re
ceived by the Executive Committee during Sep
tember was $40,840.01. This was $5,114.29
less than the receipts for the same month last
year. For the six months ending September
:UHh the total amount received was $53,675.20,
less than last year. If the falling off continues
:il the same rate during the next six months it
will amount for the year to about $180,000.
This, in addition to the deficit of $251,000,
with which this year was begun will put the
committee into a very bad situation. There
eiiines from every one of our mission fields a
pathetic cry for more men and women to tell
the heathen of the way'of life, and the oppor
tunities for work that will bring direct results
in the salvation of souls were never as great
lint reinforcements cannot be sent out, when
the receipts are falling off. The Church and
every member of it ought to take this matter
earnestly to God in prayer that we may all be
guided to know what is our duty.
WAR at the time of this writing seems
to be looming np in the Near East
Turkey seems determined to bring on a war, into
which many nations will probably be drawn.
The trouble all grew out of the fact that Tur
key was not satisfied to by the decesion
of the other governments on the question of ter
ritory which it was required to give up. We
feel that the Allies dealt very generously with
the Turks, but naturally they are not satisfied.
The trouble is that that there has been no
power to enforce the decisions of the Allies.
When Turkey undertook to regain the terri
tory tbat had lxjen taken from it, it was left to
little, weak Greece to defend the action of the
Allies. Much is being said as to where the
responsibility for this state of affairs lies. Some
hold Greece responsible, some hold France re
sponsible, others place the responsibility on Eng
land. Our belief is that the United States is
responsible for this condition of affairs in the
Near East, and for many other unsatisfactory
eonditions in Europe. When this country went
into the war, it was not merely the men and the
equipment, sent to France that aided in speedily
bringing the war to a close. One of the most
effective means of helping the Allies was the
policies advocr.tcd by our Government, espe
cially in the demand for united and centralized
authority. When the war closed, the nations
?f the world looked to the United States for
leadership. This was not primarily because
?f its strength, but because the nations
recognized the high principles that had led this
nation into the war. It "had no selfish motive,
and was not seeking the acquisition of territory
?r of influence. The plan for the League of
Nations proposed by President Wilson appealed
very strongly to the nations of the world and
they looked to the United States to take the
l?ad and make it effective. But the politicians
of our country prevented our Government from
fill filling its duty in the case. The result has
heen that the League has been largely a failure.
There have been jealousy and lack of faith
among the nations composing it. There has
l^een no member of it that could stand out as a
strong leader in whom all the others had eon
fidenee, as would have been the case had the
United States joined as heartily in establishing
peace as it did in entering the war.-*" It would
have cost us some money and the use of some
men, but not half the money that has been lost
by the unsettled condition of the world, and in
stead of a few men on guard in world police
force, there may be the loss of vast numbers, if
another war is started. It is certainly not
probable that we can keep out of another war,
if many nations are engaged in it. The fact
that the United States did not go into tho
League caused it to fail to take the stand it
should have taken in the affairs of the world.
The failure of the League to function has made
the other nations lose all fear of it. They
realize that there is no way to enforceits edicts,
and so they feel that they can do as they choose.
As the course pursued by the United States has
brought about this ptate of affairs, are we not
largely responsible for the Turkish massacres
that have added another blotch to Turkey's
blackened escutcheon? Sins of omission may
be just as real and just as dire in their con
sequences as sins of commission.
LITERARY Digest readers for some weeks
?were given page after page of reports .of
a "straw ballot" taken by that publication in
regard to the prohibition law, whether it should
be repealed or modified. The Digest claimed
to have gotten its lists to whom ballots were sent
from the telephone books of the country. It
claims to have sent out 10,000,000 ballots to
these names chcsen indiscriminately. One of
the strange things is that the Digest says that
church people have more than their proportion
of telephones, and yet it is very evident from
investigations made that they did not get their
proportion of ballots. It was claimed that a
million of these ballots were mailed to the citi
zens of New York state. The Anti-Saloon
League sent a request to the pastors of that
state to make an effort on September 17th to
find, at their most representative services, how
many adult voters were present, the number of
those having telephones and the number who
had received the Digest ballots. In a few days
reports had been received from 377 churches.
In 03 of these no ballots had been received. In
00 others one or two had been received. Of the
29,3G4 voters counted in these churches, only
1,900 had received ballots. The Digest claimed
that ballots had been sent to 38.7 per cent, of
the church voters. This would have meant that
of those counted by the pastors 11,363 ought
to have received them. It seems strange what
became of all the rest of the ballots that were
said to have been mailed to the members of these
churches, if as the Digest claimed, they were
mailed impartially to people of all classes in all
parts of the country. An interesting fact in re
gard to the whole matter is. the very small per
centage of the ballots said to have been sent out
that were returned. This balloting does not at
all show, as the Digest claimed, that a large pro
portion of the people of this country, probably
a majority, is in favor of the repeal or modi
fication of the prohibition law. The failure of
about 9,300,000 people out of the 10,000,000
to return the ballots rather shows that they are
?not only satisfied with the law, but that they are
also satisfied that no successful effort can be
made to change it.
European princesses have often
been passed by by the yonng princes of that
part of the world, and the yonng men have
come to America for their wives. In most cases
it has been rich wives that they have sought,
and there have been a plenty of American girls
who have been willing to sell themselves and
their fortunes for a title that sometimes has
only been one in name. Now it seems that
some of the European princesses are trying to
turn the tables on their Aiuerican sisters. We
see that two of them have advertised for Ameri
can husbands. The Christian Statesman says:
"They stipulate that they must have wealthy
education and refinement." This paper adds:
"But there are sixteen million princesses already
in America. They are American girls. And
if any American man wants a princess who is
more likely to remain a princess in his estima
tion, and more likely to be a real wife at the
same time, he had better pick one out of his own
neighborhood." One great trouble about mar
riage at the present day is that the essential and
God-required condition ? love ? ia so often left
out of consideration. This is largely the cause
of the frightful increase in divorces and other
troubles that break up the homes of this coun
try.
PRESBYTERIAN PROGRESSIVE PRO
GRAM is the most important part of the
Church's work, save the preaching of the gospel,
for this is the systematizing of all the various de
partments of its work. The Stewardship Com
mittee has just issued a little booklet setting
forth the various features of this Program. This
Manual is quite interesting and will prove of
inestimable value to pastors and officers, if they
are intending to carry out the Program in their
churches. If it has not already been received
it can be secured from the Stewardship Com
mittee, 410 Times Building, Chattanooga,
Tenn.
HOME MISSIONS somehow seems never to
have gripped the heart of the Church as
foreign missions have. This is due probably
to the fact that there is less romance connected
with it, due to its being so much nearer home.
And besides it is generally true that there is
less knowledge of the home mission work and
its needs. What the Church needs greatly is
to study this subject more carefully. Novem
l?er 12th-10t.h is Home Mission Week, and the
Atlanta office has prepared an excellent, pro
gram with abundant material for a good and
interesting meeting. It would l>e well if the
Woman Auxiliary, the Christian Endeavor So
ciety or some other organization in the Church
would send for this material at once and take
time to prepare and present the program fully.
Economically this country loses tre
mendously in the deaths by murder and
automobile accidents. If the 21,500 whose
lives are lost in this way had an average earn
ing capacity of $1,500 a year, the financial loss
for the year is more than half a billion do
lars. This would pay the costs of enough" po
lice officers and courts to go very far toward
protecting the many innocent lives that are
now destroyed. lie who fails to do his full
duty in protecting life is guifty*of its loss.