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Robert W. Woodruff
Library
Randall K. Burkett
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
Printed by
Lisle-Carey Pres*
Ewen Building, Foreign Mission Board of the National
Baptist Convention of U. S. A.
701 South 19th St. Philadelphia, Pa.
Copyright Applied For.
THE WHITE PERIL
BY
W. H. MOSES,
Pastor of Zioi* Baptist Church,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Corresponding Secretary of the National Baptist
Convention of U. S. A., Author of "The Life of our Lord.
Christ as a Sunday School Scholar—The Origin and
growth of Negro Baptist Churches—The Reconstruction
Program of Colored American Baptists.
INDEX
CHAPTER I.
THE WHITE PERIL
The Peril of Subjugation 2
The American Indian—Recent subjugation, subju¬
gation and exploiting the darker races by the
Sword 6
Struggle in the Congo, Belgium in the Congo 10
A comparison of Islam and Christianity 13
Islam less a peril than white subjugation 16
The White Peril of racial discrimination and unjust
segregation 17
Peril of vice and diseases of Christian nations. Chris¬
tian civilization degrading native races 20
From the black man's village to the white man's city 25
Liquor problem in Africa and the aftermath of
Christian civilization 31
CHAPTER II.
LOOK ON THE FIELDS
Area of Asia, Africa and the Isles of the Sea 32
Comparison—Popualtion of the darker races,
Countries and area of black people 33
Natural resources of Asia—the wealth of Africa—
African Forests, African Praries 36
Mineral wealth of Africa, Great Asiatic and African
Cities 38
Streets of Cairo—Asiatic cities and population 39
Dutch Indies—Turkey 43
People of Asia and Africa not all savage—Souls
or gold? 45
VIII.
CHAPTER I EI.
THE GREAT AWAKENING
Missionary extension began with the reformation
in Europe 46-
Catholics- and Protestants contending for the world
field, and principle missionary events from 1517
to 1904 . 47
Status of Protestant missionary Societies with map 58
Status of Catholic's Missionary Societies in Africa . . 65
America, Canada, West Indies, South America, Asia,
Ceylon, Turkey, Europe, Malaysia, Oceania, Aus¬
tralia, and New Zealand 65
The decisive hour in Christian missions a stupen¬
dous awakening 69
Japanese progress, leader of the Orient—Recent
years in China—Improvements 71
New educational system—Conditions in India—
Turkey a marvel 76
South African Outlook—Advance in Egypt—Results
in Central Africa 80
Africa educationally plastic—Possibilities of the
situation 82
Only limitation 84
CHAPTER IV.
TAKING STOCK
Christianity in the Orient 85
Mohammedan invasion—Mohammedanism on the
march 93
Islam in India, China, Russia and Malays 9S
Comparative results, comparative quality, German
culture 98-
IX.
.A map of results 98
White heroes of modern missions—Lullius, Exavier,
John Elliott 99
Zieger.balg, Egede, Zinzendorf, Schwartz, Carey,
Morrison, Mills, Judson 101
Gardner, Williams, Livingstone, Duff, Mott, Patton
and Crawford 102
White Christians chief contribution to Foreign
Missions 102
World-wide exploration—World-wide exploration . . 103
World-wide Communication—World-wide civili¬
zation 105
World-wide Assimilation—World-wide emancipa¬
tion 110
World-wide preparation and World-wide organiza¬
tion 119
CHAPTER V.
THE NEW ADVANCE
•Christian American Negro Leadership 125
Protesting results of Negro leadership in the states
from David George to E. C. Morris—An apology
for the Negro church—Church defined—Tenden¬
cy to racial Christianity—Negro Baptist Church
greatest organization in the world for Negro up¬
lift—White preachers not Negro prototype 129
Much credit to white, more to blacks 130
Anti-Bellum Period—Negro Baptist churches came
from the quarters 131
Early opposition to Negro Baptist churches—Why
permitted by whites 132
.Anti-bellum preachers had healthy hearts and were
original 133
X.
David George the father of Negro Baptists 134
Historic Disciples of David George 134
Pioneer preachers of the South, before the war—
Northern Baptists who kindled the fires 136
African Baptists older than African Methodists ... 137
Negro American Baptists nearly as old as white
Baptists 139
Negro antedates white Baptists in many places ... 140
States attempt to suppress Negro Baptists before
the war 140
Negro Baptists, the American pioneers in modern
missions 141
The great revival period—Sound in doctrine—Har¬
vest of souls 144
Insisted on experience of grace 145
Great Church Building Period 145
A comparison—Southern white help—Sacrifices of
our fathers 146
Roll call of church builders 149
Present period of denominational enterprises 151
Tthe new voice calling for team work—Missions, the
watch word—call for men of a statesman vision
of the whole world field 151
The men and the hour—The fight on in earnest—Or¬
ganization 153
Young people—Home Missionaries—Foreign Mis¬
sionaries—Publishing Concern—Training Depart¬
ment—960 years work in ten years 155
Churches and Sunday Schools organized—Educa¬
tional Institutions 158
Negro Baptists opportunities—Prophetic vision—
Present Status 162
XI.
The work of Native preachers 164
Afracander—Crowthers—Moolu—Moolu's religion 165
The Apostle of the Congo—Paul's first convert—
Passion for souls 168
Khama—Khama's relation with England—Suppres¬
sion of native drink 172
State Building—Madagascar—The time when the
land was dark 174
Uganda—Character of the people—Pinkerton's sum¬
mary 176
Uganda native martyrs—Uganda church in 1911 . . 177
A nation in a day—Ngoniland—Transformation—
Congo basis 179
Remarkable responsive—African interior easily won 181
Protest of Asiatics and Africans and the assuming
of leadership in the advance 182
Darker races without wicked race prejudice 189
CHAPTER VI.
OUR PROGRAM
The formation period in Israel 190
Jews never slaves—Against Autocracy—Threaten¬
ing disintergration 192
Protest against divine rights of kings—Conflict—
Soul of prophecy 196
Pivotal period—World not run right—People know
—Judgment 198
Seven years program for National Baptist Conven¬
tion suggested 200
The Aim—Not thrusting a program—inviting co¬
operation 201
Her right to take the initiative—Time at hand .... 201
XII.
Make the local church efficient—Can have no other
Object
Adds no new burdens
The object—Evangelism first—First things first
The goal is in reach and God wills it—Five mission¬
aries
We can get the missionaries—Forty thousand Bap¬
tists in college—Five thousand in divinity schools
Colleges and schools up to the standard
Government on Negro colleges—Missions and Edu¬
cation
Forty millions should be raised in seven years ....
Poor showing of white Baptists—Negro Baptists not
due credit
Another correction—Colored Baptist resources—
Dollar per member
Representation fees—Resources from schools and
Publications—Benefit Boards—Summing up . . .
The Method—No more new organizations—One
National Convention
U. S. Government on Negro Baptist Divisions ....
Perfect and utilize present plan of arganization ... 221
The General National Committee—The National
Executive 221
The National Boards—The supreme national forces 223
Methods of the new program in action—What to do
—Literature . 224
National and state officers—National and State
Journals 225
Evangelism—Individual effort—Group service—
Evangelistic service 226
Evangelistic services in S. S.—Preaching—Educa¬
tion 226
XIII.
Educational • Equipment—College Education—So¬
cial service 228
Call for workers—How to promote social service—
Giving 229
Underlying principles—The old methods—Every
member canvass 230
Minimum.—Putting it where it belongs—Prayer—-
Prayer and program 230
CHAPTER VII.
THE HOPE OF AFRICA IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER
Inevitable black African States 233
Black European Subjects—Democracy in Africa . . 234
The spirit of the League of Nations 235
Subjugation defeating segregation—Church back to
first principles 236
Constructive program for Africa 236
Two problems—Serious situation—First problem . . 239
So.id foundation—North Africa—Destroying Na¬
tives 244
Church and state—Correcting evils—regenerating
the whole man 247
Getting a well planned program—Schools—Guinea
Coast—Germans
From World Democracy to World Brotherhood .... 252
First, a more effective proclamation of fundamental
verities 254
Second, a new sense of world responsibility
Third, a resolute effort to understand what Chris¬
tian social order in America should be 255
Fourth, a swiftly increasing co-operation among
the churches 257
XIV.
INTRODUCTION
The design of the work contained in the White
Peril, by Dr. W. H. Moses is to give a condensed
•exposition of the great question of missions and
its significant phases since it has assumed its
present shape and tendency. Dr. Moses has ex¬
ercised the privilege of using his own judgment
in determining facts and weighing policies and
conditions, and has not failed in submitting
them to the test of analysis, to face the logic of
his own conclusions.
Any book following a period of war runs its
thought usually along lines that will help in the
task of reconstruction; but in the White Peril,
as we read a real voice cries to us from many of
its pages to not only adjust our missionary en¬
deavors to the Christ Spirit, but, to retrieve past
errors and to pick up threads of a work now
much entangled of a task once well begun.
The thirst for the blood of their fellow crea¬
tures has awakened for many the grosser pas¬
sions, fitting their thought to the most material
and direful outlook. For others the misery of
the years covering the time of the war just pass¬
ed has spun their hearts great love into a gossar
mer web with the Christ radiance that umbrellas
the world.
Rapidly has the wheel of life revolved, and
many have passed to a larger task and left to
the brotherhood the unfoldment of a plan that
points to an hour when the waste and barren
places of the earth shall sing of one God for all
men.
XVI.
We feel intensely the joy attendant upon the
indwelling of the Great Spirit, who is marking
our individual destinies and Christian efforts at
this time, through a democracy that teaches sim¬
ple brotherhood; and we feel in close touch with
the guiding spirit of the author's work in closing
our introductory thought with these lines:
THE VOICE OF GOD
My head was resting on the cosmic heart,
Remote I was from all things else apart.
I heard the whisper of a mighty force
That holds all things within their course.
A voice spake out from the silent years,
"The God of all men bids dry thy tears.
Know thou forsooth that the colcw of skin
Is used by me to perfect the blend;
I need prismatic shades to perfect the whole
All races for this light come into the fold.
Those far behind in the cosmic plan
I watch and tend, hold by the hand;
And those removed from rich estate
Shall one day come within the gate.
I hear the black man's piteous moan;
His prayers come white before my throne-
Agonizing cries for space to live,
To do his work, and his children give
Their thoughts to minds expansive build
And not be hedged in against their will:
With prejudice strong, like a wave of fury
It yields not to voice of court or jury!"
The voice of God was faint though calm,
And whispering said: "I am thy balm
For sore bleeding wounds thou must bind up
Race strife remove from this thy cup,
Then, drink 'yes drink' drink to the dregs!
Refill thy cup for him who begs."
LENA TRENT GORDON.
XVII.
PREFACE
The prime facts setting forth the "WHITE
PERIL," which is threatening the darker races
of the world is largely a re-statement from the
Forward Mission Study Course, under the Mis¬
sionary Educational Movement of the U. S. and
Canada. They are from such eminent authori¬
ties as W. S. Naylor, John Mott, Patton, White,
Hartzell, Oldham, and other writers for the
Forward Missionary Study Course; to whom
acknowledgement is here made.
The Peril is, that the darker races in general,
and the black race in particular is in danger of
political, industrial, social and economic slavery
or extermination by the white Christian nations
of the world.
The Negro group, in Africa and America, is
being ground to death between the upper and
lower mill stones of white organized capital and
labor; both of which have excluded them from
their respective groups and made it impossible
for them to form a strong political, social, indus¬
trial and economic group among themselves.
The white races of the world, are in peril
from the reaction of their own perverted Chris¬
tian attitude toward the darker races of the
world; both by the numerical strength of the
darker races and the disposition of the white
races to destroy each other over the spoils from
exploited countries of the darker races.
The hope of the world in general, and the
darker races in particular, is the propagation
of unperverted Christian principles throughout
the world; regardless to the names by which
the God of justice, mercy and love is called.
XVIII.
The American colored group of churches is a
protest against white American perversion of
Christian principles when applied to black p eo-
ple. That independent colored group of Ameri¬
can Methodists and Baptists has practically
evangelized their American racial group.
Dr. L. K. Williams has well said:
"In temperament the Negroes are a religious
people. They have 9% of their total wealth in¬
vested in church property, while the wealthiest
race has but 3% of its wealth thus invested.
The Negro believes in the true God more than
5,000,000 being members of "Old Line Church¬
es," being converted and sustained therein at a
cost per capita that is marvelously low. By the
latest figures, 3,018,341 Negroes belong to Bap¬
tist churches, this being the largest Baptist
group in the world, and 300,000 more than all
Negroes found belonging to all churches of all
other denominations.
Hitherto the most pronounced tendency of
church life among Negroes has been to promote
individual subjective feelings and Godward re¬
lations, but now the call is for that and for the
gospel that recognizes and is adjusted to exist¬
ing human needs and conditions, and emphasiz¬
es the importance of correct manward relations-
The efficient church must help to solve the daily
problems of its members and followers."
The time has come for this independent color¬
ed American group to join the unprejudiced
white Christians of the world in helping to
change the spirit of many missionaries who
have carried a perverted gospel of humiliation
to the darker races. We must have missionaries
who will insist that black people of Africa and
XIX.
the whole world be given what is given to oth¬
ers, to make them fit for citizenship in the king¬
dom of God anywhere on the face of this earth;
and that they be -allowed to live like free men
on the streets of the world, as well as the streets
in heaven.
In spite of the White Peril, we have tried to
show in this book that there is hope for the dark¬
er races in general, and the Negro group iin
particular.
The fact that such eminent world wide men.
as mr. Mott, are calling attention to the White
Peril, and demanding that if Christianity has a
better civilization and a bigger spirit of brother¬
hood than Mohammedanism, it must show it to¬
ward the darker races of the worldis hopeful.
The further fact that the darker races of the
world have been given a voice and a vote in the
proposed League of Nations, which promises
protection to people in first stages of civilization
is a rainbow in the clouds, for those wTho have
been sitting in the "reign of the shadow of
death."
But the supreme star of hope is that the world
war, which was launched by political and com¬
mercial oligarchies, became the war of the com¬
mon man, protesting and fighting against the
exploitation and control of the many, by the
few.
And we have witnessed the closing of the
book of kings and the opening of the book of
the people. And these groups of toilers, such
as the unions of Great Britian have formulated
demands that the interests of the native of Af¬
rica, be safe-guarded and promoted; and that
the governments controlling in Africa from
XX.
hence forth must make the natives interest &
paramount consideration, and there must be
opportunities for educational and industrial ad¬
vancement, and opportunity of ultimate politi¬
cal self determination and control.
The above with the American Federal Coun¬
cil of Churches of Christ and the Inter-Church
Movement with a unified program for the
spreading of unperverted Christian principles
should move the colored Baptist group of Chris¬
tian, of the National Baptist Convention, to
work out a unified statement of their whole de¬
nominational task, and invite all Churches, As¬
sociations, Conventions and individuals to co¬
operate in a constructive, cumulative, intensive
program of advance, so large and so compell¬
ing, as to arrest attention, unify our forces and
activities, and challenge our men of large re¬
sources, and stir our whole people with a splen¬
did enthusiasm for the kingdom of God; Aim¬
ing to develop every church into an evange¬
listic and social force in its community, and a
resultant mighty impact of our whole denomi¬
national life upon the nation and the world-
W. H. MOSES
Philadelphia, Pa.
June 12, 1919.
XXI.
CHAPTER L
Topics for Mission Study Classes.
THE WHITE PERIL
AIM—To realize the need for haste in spread¬
ing unperverted Christianity, in view of white
domination of the world with unjust economic,
political, industrial and social discrimination
against the darker races and the awful amount
of corruption and filth introduced among them
by Western civilization.
(1) Are the white nations of the world
Christians?
(2) Has Christian civilization saved the
American Indian ? if not; why not ?
(3) Has the white race ever evangelized a
darker race any where?
(4) Did Christian nations start to propagat¬
ing the faith by the sword?
(5) How does Christian subjugation of Mo¬
hammedan nations today differ from Mohamme¬
dan subjugation of European Nations in the
Dark Ages?
(6) How does the taking of Africa from the
Africans differ from taking America from the
Indians?
(7) Are Central and South African natives
better off or worse since the coming of Christian
nations from Europe among them?
(8) Why does the Native welcome Mo¬
hammedan Missionaries more readily than white
Christian Missionaries?
XXII.
(9) How does segregation in Africa differ
in principle from Negro segregation in America
and the "Indian reservations" of the West?
(10) What hardships do the labor unions of
Africa and the world work on the darker races?
(11) How does white control of industry
and trade keep the darker races in economic
bondage ?
(12) What diseases have Christian nations
carried to Africa?
(13) How does the misery and disease of
Christian African cities compare with the native
villages?
(14) What effect is the liquor traffic of the
Christian nations having on the Africans and
other darker races?
(15) What effect will "The White Peril"
have on the white nations whose destinies are
being bound up more closely with the darker
races through the New Internationalism that is
sweeping the world?
(16) Do you think that, the old appeal of
"salvation after death" will arouse the churches
of this generation; or inspire the darker races
to receive our religion which denies them Chris¬
tian fellowship in God's family here and now,
and threatens their subjugation or extinction?
Topics For Mission Study Classes Based on
XXIII.
Chapter II.
Topics for Mission Study Classes
LOOK ON THE FIELDS
AIM—To realize the vast resources of men
and material waiting to be developed ; to be
blessed and to be a blessing to those who bring
light and love and life more abundantly, in view
of the unparalelled present international situa¬
tion should the darker races take the torch of
science without the spirit of Christ to avenge
what they regard as an arrogant and unjust in¬
trusion to deprive them of right to life, liberty
and the pursuits of happiness in their own coun¬
tries, and in God's great world.
(1) Compare the white population of the
world with the colored.
(2) Compare population of Asia and Africa
with Europe and America.
(3) Compare population of China with the
United States.
(4) Compare population of Japan with
British Isles.
(5) Compare population of dark with white
British subjects.
(6) Compare population of Africa with
Germany.
(7) Compare areas of white countries with
those of darker races.
(8) Compare countries of the darker races
and area.
XXIV.
(9) Compare natural resources of Asia with
those of Europe.
(10) Compare natural resources of Africa,
with those of the United States.
(11) Name the principle cities in Asia and
compare them with cities of Europe.
(12) Did civilization have it's birth in Eu¬
rope or Asia or Africa?
(13) From the present promise of unuse 1
natural resources and population where will
civilization likely center in the near future?
(14) Of what practical use can be made of
the fact that, all the great religious faiths had
their beginning in Asia and Africa and that the
Bible characters and history are primarily
Asiactics and Africans?
(15) What argument would you use to
arouse the churches to the vast possibilities and
perils of the fields of the world?
Topics For Mission Study Classes Based on
XXV.
Chapter III.
Topics for Mission Study Classes
THE GREAT AWAKENING
AIM—To realize the challenge of the present
possibilities to immediate action; in view of
missionary preparation of all branches of the
Christian Church, the stupendous awakening of
the darker races, and their determination to ob¬
tain the purest science and the holiest religion
to be found in the "World League of Nations."
(1) Name, some of the principle events
which mark the beginning of the Catholics and
Protestant Christians contending for the fields
of the world from the beginning of reformation
to the present.
(2) Compare the status of Protestant and
Catholic missionary activity according to their
societies for the spread of Christianity.
(3) Compare Japanese progress in the last
fifty years with that of the most advanced races
of the world.
(4) How does Japan compare with the five
strongest nations of the world?
(5) Compare the progress of Japan with
that of China.
(6) What are the signs of an awakening in
India?
(7) Compare the progress of Turkey with
that of Russia.
(8) What are the signs of Africa awaken
ing?
XXVI.
(9) How does Africa compare with Japan,
China and India as to being educationally plas¬
tic for Christianity?
(10) What are the threatening perils of the
present awakening, if the Christian nations do
not respond to it with . unperverted Christian
principles of human brotherhood, justice and
«quality?
(11) To what extent do you regard the
Japanese, as being Christian in spirit, if not in
name?
(12) Did the Christian Nations in the League
of Nations exhibit more of the spirit of Christi¬
anity than Japan and China?
(13) In view of the national, racial, social,
economic, political and religious revolution that
is shaking the old order of things to their foun¬
dation, do you think Christians will insist, as
much on the name and doctrines of Christianity
in the future as upon the spirit of Jesus Christ?
XXVII.
Chapter IV.
Topics for Mission Study Classes
TAKING STOCK
AIM—To realize what Christianity has ac¬
complished in Asia and Africa after a trial of
two thousand years under white leadership and
to correct our errors and prepare for the great
modern Christian advance, in view of the fact
that Mohammedanism has more disciples than
Christianity and is still "on the march" in Asia
and Africa, Russia and the Isles of the Sea; us¬
ing the indirect means offered by the Christian
nations to propagate the Mohammedan faith
and spirit.
(1) Compare the foot-hold which Christiani¬
ty had in Asia and Africa before Mohammedan¬
ism was born with the foot-hold that Christianity
has in Europe and America today.
(2) What made the Christian Church fail in
Asia and Africa?
(3) When was the Mohammedan invasion
at it's height?
(4) Is Mohammedanism advancing more
rapidly in Foreign Fields than Christianity to¬
day?
(5) Compare the equipment, money and
men furnished by white Christian on foreign
fields with that of colored Christians.
(6) Name some of the white missionary
heroes of the Christian faith to the darker
races of the world.
XXVIII.
(7) What are the missionary advantages of
Christian nations' world-wide exploration?
(8) Name some missionary advantages of
world-wide communication.
(9) Name some of the advantages of world¬
wide Christian civilization.
(10) Name some missionary advantages of
world-wide assimilation.
(11) Name some advantages of world-wide
emancipation.
(12) Name some of the providential advan¬
tages of world-wide preparation.
(13) Name some missionary advantages of
world-wide organization.
(14) What are the perils of world-wide
exploration, civilization, assimilation, emancipa¬
tion, preparation, organizaton and communica¬
tion, if the Christian spirit is not exhibited?
XXIX.
CHAPTER V.
Topics for Mission Study Classes.
THE NEW ADVANCE
AIM:To realize the responsibility of colored
leadership in the new advance of Christianity
among the darker races; in view of the accom¬
plishments of Independent American Negro
Churches, native African apostles and the
growth of the spirit of nationalism among the
darker races, and their protest to Foreign
Christian leadership in the new world order-
1. Two thousand years of white Christian
leadership in Asia and Africa, and the result
compared with Negro leadership of Negroes.
2. The achievements of Negro Baptists be¬
fore the war.
3. The work of David George.
4. Negro Baptists the pioneer in modern
missions.
5. Negro Baptists Revival Period.
6. Negro Baptist Church Building Period.
7. The period of denominational enterprise.
8. Present status of Negro Baptists.
9. Material advancement of American Ne¬
gro Baptists.
10. Some African apostles and what they
did.
11. The spirit of Nationalism in Asia and
Africa.
12- In view of the present race prejudice,
how should white and colored Christians co-op¬
erate in evangelizing the darker races?
XXX,
CHAPTER VI.
Topics for Mission Study Classes.
AIM: To realize the importance of Colored
American Baptists adopting a definite program
of advance commensurate with the numbers and
wealth in view of the fact that the spirit of
Christ is being poured out on all flesh, condemn¬
ing the way the world is being conducted; point¬
ing out the need of the spirit of Christ in socety,
and the determination of people to righten the
world at any cost.
1. The spirit of democracy in early Jewish
and Christian religion.
I. What is Prophecy?
3. Outpouring of the spirit in modern times.
4. Aim of a National Program.
5. Add no new burdens-
6. The object of the National Program.
7. Baptists and Pedo-Baptists giving com¬
pared.
8. Negro Baptist Schools.
9. Need of more perfect union.
10. Methods of the National Program-
II. Baptists and General Education.
12. The place of prayer, in the General Pro¬
gram.
XXXI.
CHAPTER VII.
Topics for Mission Study Classes.
HOPE OF AMERICA IN THE NEW WORLD
ORDER
AIM: To realize the possibilities of great
black African Christian states in spite of the
threatening "White Peril" which destroyed the
Aborigines of Australia, and the Hottentots and
Kafirs of Suth Africa; in view of the present pro¬
test of the white missionaries of the world, and
the promise of protection to native races by the
league of white and colored nations of the world
and the message of the Federal Council of
Churches of Christ in America.
1. What are the hopeful signs of great black
African states?
2. What are the promising signs in the Con¬
tinental Constructive Program for Africa?
3. What are the hopes of church and state
co-operating in the redemption of Africa?
4. What would you suggest as being the
basis for a more effective proclamation of the
fundamental Christian varieties?
5. How can we increase a new sense of
world responsibility in our churches?
6. What efforts can be put forward to bet¬
ter understand the kind of Christian social order
America should have?
7. How can we increase co-operation among
the churches of the various denominations of the
world?
XXXII.
CHAPTER I.
THE WHITE PERIL
"Remember, O, Lord what is come upon us:
consider and Dehoid our reproach. Our inheri¬
tance is turned to strangers, our house to aliens.
W e are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are
widows. We have drunk our waters for money,
our wood is sold unto uS. Our necks are under
persecution: we labour and have not rest.—We
gat our bread at the peril of our lives because
of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin was
black like an oven because of the terrible fam¬
ine. They ravish the women of Zion, and the
maids in the cities of Judah. Princes are hung
up by their hands: the faces of the elders were
not honored.—The joy of our heart is ceased;
our dance is turned to mourning.—"Turn thou
us unto thee, O, Lord and we shall be turned ;x
renew our days as of old." Lam. 5 :l-22.
1- Wilson S. Naylor a white professor of
Bible Literature in Lawrence College, wrote a
book in 1912 for the Forward Mission Study
Courses, under the direction of the Misionary
Education Movement of the United States and
Canada, called "Daybreak in the Dark Conti¬
nent" in which he makes this statement: "It is
a shock to the self-complacency of the white
man to reflect that millions of the world's pop¬
ulation are threatened with a white peril that
is very real and potent." "Christian civiliza¬
tion without Christ is worse than Paganism."
2
THE WHITE PERIL
"The state of morals among some Europeans is
scarcely whisperabie. It is awful, th*e amount
of corruption and filth introduced by them."
(a) THE PERIL OF SUBJUGATION—The
darker races of the world believe that it is the
fixed policy of the white Christian nations of
the world to subjugate them and exploit their
countries and force them to accept the humiliat¬
ing doctrine of racial inferiority, or exterminate
them. Japan, China, Africa and the Isles of the
Sea, dread the coming of white Christians among
them for that very reason. For two thousand
years the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been propa¬
gated by white Europeans and Americans, or
under their leadership.
As to how well Christianity has worked
among the white races let the "World War. over
the spoils of the conquered countries of the dark¬
er races' speak for itself."
As to what the white Christian nations have
done for the Darker Races, the destruction of
civilization in Central America, the segregated,
degraded American Indian, the destruction of
the native races in Australia ard the Isles of the
Sea, and the record of white European nations
in Africa, tell a sad and discouraging story of
perverted Christianity.
THE AMERICAN INDIAN—When Colum¬
bus discovered America, he wrote Louis De Sant
Angel thus: "I write this to tell you how in thir¬
ty days I sailed to the Indies with the fleet that
the illustrious King and Queen, our Sovereign,
gave me, where I discovered a great many is-
THE WHITE PERIL
3
lands, inhabited by numberless people; and of
all I have taken possession for their Highnesses
by proclamation and display of the royal stand
and without opposition." "Directly I reached!
the Indies in the first Isle I discovered, I took by
force some of the natives-" "They are still with
me and still believe that I came from heaven."
"They have no religion or idolatry, except that
they believe all power and goodness to be ini
heaven."—"In all these Islands the men seem
to be satisfied with one wife. They are said to<
make treaties in marriage with women. "They
are people of very handsome appearance. They
are most ingenius men. Both men and women
as soon as they were reassured about us, all
came bringing something to eat and to drink,
which they presented with marvelous kindness.
They never refuse anything that is asked of
them. They even offer it themselives, and show '
so much love that they would give their v»ery
hearts." "I am so friendly with the King of that
country that he was proud to call me his broth¬
er and hold me as such. I have taken possessions*,
of all these islands for their highnesses, who can*
command them as absolutely as the Kingdoms
of Castle."
Since Columbus wrote the above on February
15,1493, about those innocent, peaceable, lov¬
ing and happy people, they have been subjugat¬
ed, enslaved, degraded and finally in most cases
exterminated.
Christianity has been handicapped in Asia
and Africa from the earliest Christian era to the
present; because the civil governments of her
propagators have attempted to subjugate the
4
THE WHITE PERIL
darker races by the sword without holding out
to them full fellowship in the universal Chris¬
tian brotherhood.
EARLY SUBJUGATION—Mohammedanism
doubtless got it's example of forcing it's faith
upon people by the sword) from the biggoted
Christian fathers of Europe and North Africa.
Dr. Patton, our accepted authority on mod¬
ern Missions, says: "As Christians we should
have a clear philosophy of the failure of the
North African branch of the Christianity; so
that we may help save our religion from a sim¬
ilar calamity in the future- Probably the les¬
son had to be demonstrated at some time, in
some place for the benefit of the church univer-
salj and especially for those sections of the
church which are emerging out of paganism.
"A diagnosis of the situation reveals our fa-
,tal defects in North African Christianity. In
the first place the North Afrcan church was a
disputing church. A large part of its time was
taken up with the squabbles over doctrinal mat¬
ters of a more or less technical nature. Its
leaders were more given to intellectual pride
than to humble mindedness. In those days
what an African Bishop did not know about the
nature of the Supreme Being, an angel wouldn't
care to inquire into. Christianity was, in the
mam, an intellectual proposition. Orthodox}",
of the knife-ed^e variety, was the supreme end
of man. From this condition it was but a step
to the use of physical force. It is ominous to
read that in th:* early days of struggle between
Christianity and heathenism, mobs of monks
gathered to destroy the pagan temples. One of
THE WHITE PERIL
5
these xiiobs, instigated by Cyril, the patriarch of
Alexandria, stripped and tore to pieces the beau¬
tiful Neo-Platonic philosopher and priestess, Hy-
patia, immortalize by Charles Kingaley- It is
still ir.ore ominous to fnd that heathenism was
finally crushed out, or supposed to be, by gov¬
ernment edict. In the second place, the church
was a divided church. This was an inevitable
outcome of the bitter controversies. Parties
sprang up like weeds, each one calling the other
heretics. The dominant faction would brutally
persecute its fellow Christians. As early as
Augustine's time the impression made upon the
world was of a split Christianity, since nearly
half of the 500 bishops who met at Carthage
were in the opposition, being known as Dona-
tists. Thus the church was hopelessly weak¬
ened, its energy being dissipated in factional
strife rather than against the common foe. How
stupid and how wicked it all looks to us a thou¬
sand years after! Perhaps some of our differ¬
ences today will appear stupid and wicked to
later generations.
The North African church, furthermore, was
a formal rather than a vital church. The glori¬
ous soul-life, the personal connection with God
through prayer, and with man through service,
so characteristic of the early Christians, became
buried under an elaborate system of rites and
ceremonies. Christianity was a performance,
not a life- Even the rites of heathen temples,
with not a few of their degrading superstitions,
gained a foothold among the members of the
Church of Christ. What with thei rimages and
their relics, there was little to choose between
and some of the heathen devotees.
6
THE WHITE PERIL
It goes without saying, as our fourth count,
that this church was a non-missionary church.
Back from th coast lived native tribes steeped in
idolatry and given over to all the base practices
of paganism. Yet the African Christians cared
not. Their thought was turned in upon them¬
selves. The church had ceased to be army for
spiritual conquest, and had become a debating
society. Like some churches today it had turned
its back upon a perishing world. Zealous for
the truth, it yet denied the fundamental principle
of our religion. It became unorthodox in the
sphere where orthodoxy involved the very life of
the church. Such is our diagnosis- Intellectual
pride, party strife, foramlism, self-engrossment
—these all spell death to organized religion in
any age. History contains no greater lesson
than this."
~ RECENT SUBJUGATION.—The following
from our official Foreign Mission Study Course
by Dr. Patton, certainly must appeal to the Mo¬
hammedans as propagating the Christian faith
by the use of the sword:
"On March 30, 1912, the Sultan of Morocco,
sitting in his capital at Fez, signed the treaty
which established the power of France through¬
out his nation. Since then the tri-color has
waved over the land of the Moors from the ports
'Of the Atlantic to the high peaks of the Atlas
range. On October 15, 1912, Mohammed V,
Sultan of Turkey sitting in his palace on the Bos¬
porus, signed the treaty of Lausanne, which re¬
linquished to Italy the valley of Tripoli. Today
the red, wjhite, and green banner floats over this
immense area from the Benghazi to Fezzan.
THE WHITE PERIL
7
In December, 1914, on the occasion of the
entry of Turkey into the war on the side of the
Central Powers, Great Britain deposed the Khe¬
dive of Egypt, who was ruling in the name of the
Turkish Sultan, and who had become overfond
of that connection- She placed on the throne,
with the title of Sultan, Hussein, an uncle of the
former khedive, and formaily declared Egypt
to be a protectorate of Great Britain.
Thus within five years Mohammedanism has
lost control of the three states which remained
to it in North Africa. Should Turkey some day
forfeit her independence—and there are those
who think she has done so already—not a self-
governing country will be left of all the lands
once ruled by the followers of the Arabian
prophet. These are days of the rapid disinter-
gration of Mohammedanism as a political pow¬
er. It would be a serious mistake, however,
for us to assume that Islam is everywhere losing
her grip upon the thought and life of the people.
In Persia, in India, and even in Turkey it may
be true, but alas! not in Africa. The tiers of
states which are washed by the Mediterranean
—Morocco, Algeria, Tripoli, Egypt—is the
stronghold of the Mohammedan faith- For
twelve centuries this rival religion has been en¬
trenched throughout this region, and it shows
but slight evidences of yielding today. On the
contrary, it is from the North African states as
a base that Islam is carrying on her active mis¬
sionary propaganda throughout the Sudan and
beyond. How all this came to b^e is a lesson of
first importance to every Christian."
8
THE WHITE PERIL
SUBJUGATION AND EXPLOITING OF AF¬
RICA BY THE SWORD.—I quote again from
our standard Text Book on Africa by Dr. Pat-
ton :
"We are going to take a square look at this
matter of European rule. It is a complicated
problem, and many things have been said on
both sides; but there can be no question as to
the place of responsibility. The responsibility
lies at the door of the nations which have de¬
prive the Africans of their land. The scram¬
ble for Africa, which began with the opening
up if the Congo basin by Stanley and the enter¬
ing in of Germany in 1884, came to an end with
the passing of Morocco to France, in 1912. Of
the black man's Africa there remain now only
Abyssinia on the east, and little Liberia on the
west. War may change the alignment of ter¬
ritory, and adjustments may be made from time
to time by treaty; but nothing points to the re¬
turn of the Africans into control in any part of
the continent- Europe is in possession and must
give an account of herself."
STRUGGLE FOR THE CONGO.—Dr. Patton
says: "Considering the continent from the
standpoint of the struggle between Islam and
Christianity we have spoken of Central Africa
as the "zone of Christian advance." From the
standpoint of the dominant religion, it might
with more propriety be called the "zone of pa¬
gan supremacy;" since in this section we have
the largest area of pagan barbarism to be found
in the world. India is non-Christian, for the
most part, but India has a civilization dating
THE WHITE PERIL
9
from very ancient times. There is no evidence
that the natives of central Africa have ever
known a state higher than that they now occu¬
py. Through all the changes of history they
have lived on in virgin simplicity untouched by
the currents of the world's life. There are ap¬
proximately 40,000,000 natives in this zone, and
whether we consider them in the mass or as in¬
dividual human beings, their appeal to the sym¬
pathy of the Christian world is pathetic beyond
words to express.
Central Africa is tropical Africa- The sun is
directly overhead and its rays beat down in a
merciless and unremitting fashion Even where
the high elevation brings cool nights and occa¬
sional frosts, the days are intensely warm. Rain
is abundant in its season and except for a nar¬
row strip on the western coast, south of the Con¬
go, the region is devoid of desert. This is the
country of the mangrove and the palm and all
the picturesque features of tropical life. It is
the paradise of hunters, where lions, leopards,
rhinos and elephants disport themselves, and
where antelope and deer abound in endless va¬
riety and unbelievable numbers. Somewho read
these pages will say, "We have come to real
Africa at last."
Yes, it is real Africa, because it is the black
man's Africa. The white man is not tempted
to linger in these parts. Aside from the uplands
of the coast and the tableland of Angola, cli¬
matic conditions render colonization from Eu¬
rope undesirable, if not impossible. There will
always begovernment officials, plantation over¬
seers, and, of course, missionaries, who will be
able to maintain themselves by the aid of fre-
10
THE WHITE PERIL
quent furloughs and rigid attention to health,
but so far as white people generally are con¬
cerned, over the Congo valley and lake country
God has hung the sing, "Keep Out-" This much,
at least of the earth's surface is to be the undis¬
puted abode of the dusky members of the race.
This is the Africa of Livingstone and Stanley,
and it is rendered peculiarly sacred to Christian
people because Livingstone's heart lies buried
under an oak at Chitambo's, near the southern
border. This is the Africa of the great lakes
and the mighty Congo. It is the Africa for
which the European powers have scrambled as
for no other part of our planet. A glance at
the map will show that in this zone we have the
whole of German East Africa, the whole of
Uganda, a larg part of British East Africa, more
than half of Rhodesia, all of Angola, all of the
Congo Free State, all of the French Congo,
practically all of the Cameroun, together with
Southern Nigeria and the entire Guinea coast.
Its natural resources in the forests the farm
lands and the mining regions, mark the zone as
one of extraordinary wealth. Add the fact of
accessibility on account of the lakes and streams
and you have the basis for a sure prophecy of a
great development in coming years."
BELGUIM IN THE CONGO John Mott
says: "The most flagrant example of a so-
called Christian government using its power and
machinery directly to defraud, to oppress, and
to degrade natice races because of greed, is that
of Belguim in its relation to the Congo. On the
unimpeachable testimony of foreign missionar¬
ies and travelers, and even members of the Com-
THE WHITE PERIL
11
mission appointed by the Belgian Governiii6tit
to, investigate conditions, there is still in opera¬
tion in the Belgian Congo a system of organized
oppression and plunder, in order to increase the
output of rubber and other products for the
benefit of a commercial company, which is only
a covering name for the Belgian State. The
land of the people has been largely taken in vio¬
lation of communal and tribal rights- The peo¬
ple have been reduced to misery. For the prof¬
it of the State they have been and still are
forced to gather the products of the land thus
taken from them, and the pay granted is miser¬
ably poor. No refusal is allowed, and the most
diabolical methods have been employed by the
subordinate agents of the State to enforce obe¬
dience. Homes are broken up as a result of
members being forcibly taken away and com¬
pelled to go into the forests to gather rubber.
Father Yermeerseh sums up the condition of
great numbers of the inhabitants in the words,
"immeasurable misery." Without doubt, un¬
der the old regime which obtained at the time
of Stanley's last visit, before the European in¬
fluence became dominant, the tribes were infin¬
itely happier and more prosperous than at the
present time. It is hoped that under the new
King of Belgium necessary reforms may be ef¬
fected.
It is a sad, but inevitable fact, that as a rule
the masses of non-Christian people, and even
many of their leaders, do not discriminate be¬
tween the genuine Christians who come from
Western countries, such as missionaries and sin¬
cere and worthy Christian laymen in commer¬
cial and government pursuits, and the vicious
12
THE WHITE PERIL
representatives of the West who go among
them. It is not strange, therefore, that the fol¬
lowing challenge is a typical expression of the
opinion of a great multitude of Asiatics and Af¬
ricans: "You come to us with your religion.
You degrade our people with drink. You scorn
our religion, in many points like your own, and
then you wonder why Christianity makes such
slow progress among us. I will tell you. It is
because you are not like your Christ."
A COMPARISON: ISLAM AND CHRIS¬
TIANITY.—Dr. A. S. White in his "Develop-
ment of Africa," says: "Islam, or Arab influ¬
ence advances with the sword in one hand and
the Koran in the other, as it appears to us-
Christianity or European influence, advances
with the sword in one hand and the Bible or
a case of gin in the other—as it appears to tire
native mind. It is no use quarreling, the com¬
parison is a just and faithful one-"
Dr. Naylor says: "For instance, the Congo
Free State w^as oringinally organized under the
guardianship of the King of Belguim with the
avowed purpose" not to create a Belguim prov¬
ince, but to establish a powerful Negro State."
Whatever the original intention of King Leo¬
pold, the persistent practice of the Belgium ad¬
ministration of the Congo Free State soon repu¬
diated every fait promise a^nd made the Congo
a "slave state," a more fitting title. Instead of
developing a powerful Negro state, Belgium oc¬
cupied the Congo Basin in force and reduced th*e
people to the worse form of slavery." (Day¬
break In the Dark Continent, page 121.)
THE WHITE PERIL
13
ISLAM LESS A PERIL THAN WHITE SUB-
JUGATION.—It is almost universally admitted
that Islam conquest by tfoe sword is less a peril
to the darker races than white subjugation by
the sword. The final test is not what Christian¬
ity professes, but what it does in practice, after
a trial of two thousand years under white Euro¬
pean leadership.
We will allow Dr. Patton's official text book
for Christian churches of the Occident t© tell
the story in his own words:
"By their fruits ye shall know them." "Let us
now take a look at Mohammedanism as it has
actually worked out in this region. We have
spoken unsparingly of the faults of the North
African branch of the Christian church; let us
deal as frankly with the system which took its
place. Mohammedanism is a religion of the
desert. It aros^e in the midst of Arabian sands,
was developed by Bedouin and today boasts the
place of its origin as the religious center of the
world. Mohammedianism has in it both the
mystery and the hardness of the desert. On
the one hand, it allures; on the other hand, it
repels. It emphasizes the unity of God, but it
is the unity of an arbitrary cruel sovereign, like
B^edouin chief. Need we wonder if the fruit¬
age of this religion suggests the desert also?
The first effects of Islam in North Africa were
undoubtedly beneficent. It came likle a breath
of life upon a decaying civilization. Commerce
was revived the arts and sciences were quick¬
ened- We must not forget that civilzation owes
a large debt to Arabia for mathematics and as¬
tronomy. North Africa naturally shared in the
14
THE WHITE PERIL
revival of culture which followed in the wake
of the Saracen armies. Religiously, this is to be
noted : th'e use of images and pictures was ruled
out of worship as smacking of idolatry, and a
simple service of prayer in the mosque took the
place of the barren ritual of the church. The
heathen tribes wer^e sought out, and their idola¬
try, so offensive to the Mohammedan, became a
thing of the past. This may have been done
with a high hand; but we must put it over
against the indifference of the church."
The Arab traders, driven from their nefarious
traffic, turned to general trade as a substitute.
They became importers of guns, gun-powder,
cloth, tools, anything the African desired, re¬
ceiving ivory, rubber, ostrich feathers, and oth¬
er products in exchange. This required a rever¬
sal of attitude on their part toward natives.
Sincle mutual trust is the basis of commerce, the
proud Arab sought the friendship of the humble
African. He became very condescending. He
was anxious to receive the despised natives into
the fellowship of his world-conquering religion.
"Let us be brothers. We have much to offer you.
We can protect you from your enemies; we can
give you standing among the great people of the
earth; we can teach you the faith of the one true
God; Mohammed is the prophet of God.)
Can we wonder that such arguments
proved enticing to many a native King? More¬
over, the Arab has not failed to keep his word.
He actually receives his black brother into his
tent, he shares with him his faith and his civili¬
zation. He is not troubled with race prejudice.
He is a true friend so long as the African gives
him the monopoly of friendship and the privi-
THE WHITE PERIL
15
lege of trade which goes therewith. Other high¬
er motiv-es will appear as we proceed; but bear
in mind that the economic factor has a promi¬
nent place in this strange situation-"
"In addition to the general considerations ad¬
duced above, there are certain special reasons
why the Moslem advance is making such rapid
progress. P'irst of all is the simplicity of the
Mohammedan creed: "Lailaha-illa-'lluhu; Mu-
hamrnadu-Rasulu-'allah." (There is no God but
God; Mohammed is the apostle of God.) Five
times a day, whenever Islam goes, the muezzin
summons the faithful to prayer in words sub¬
stantially similar to the creed. The fundamen¬
tals of this religion are few and they are in¬
grained in the soul of every disciple. It is an
easy faith to understand, an exceedingly easy
on-e to pass along. Reduced to its lowest terms
the Mohammedan message is this: "We have
the one true God; the one true prophet; the one
true book; the one true brotherhood." "Add
now, as a clinching consideration, the fact of
certain obvious advantages in the acceptance of
Islam.
It offers at once to the African tribe political
stability, associaton with other organized peo¬
ples, commercial activity, and a measure of civi¬
lization. To the individual African, should he
attend a government school, the new faith be¬
comes a passport to government, employment
In certain sections only Mohammedans ar-e hir¬
ed by the powers that be. With so many advan¬
tages in his favor, can we wonder that the Mo¬
hammedan Missionary is winning his way? Th<«
wonder would seem to be that Christianity has
any chance whatever in these regions." I was
16
THE WHITE PERIL
once addressing a convention of American Ne¬
groes on the perils of Islam in Africa, when one
of their prominent bishops took me aside and
informed me that he considered it a distinct ad¬
vantage for his people in Africa to be Islamized,
since in that way they would become prepared
for Christianity as the final stage in their pro¬
gress. This accords with the view of some Eu¬
ropean officials who have laboured in Africa.
Captain Grr, of Northern Nigeria, is quoted as
saying: "Even if it be true that Islam lays a dead
hand on a people who have reached a certain
standard of civilization, it is impossible to d^ny
its quickening influence on African races in the
backward state of evolution. Among the pagan
tribes of Northern Nigeria it is making its con¬
verts every day, sweeping away drunkenness,
cannibalism, and fetishism; mosques and mark¬
ets spring into existence, and the pagan loses
his exclusiveness and learns to mingle with his
fellow men. To the Negro, Islam is not sterile
or lifeless. The dead hand is not for him." Mr.
E. D- Morel, whose books on the Congo atroci¬
ties have attracted such attention, maintains
that Africa will undoubtedly become a Moham¬
medan continent, and that it is right and good
that it should be so. We must admit that Islam
brings certain immediate advantages to the peo¬
ple of trophical Africa. The Mohammedan con¬
vert stands up straight-er, he holds his head in
the air, he has attained self-respect; he has put
off certain disgusting practises; he has taken
on a certain degree of civilization—not a few;
counts in its favor."
THE WHITE PERIL
17
WHITE PERIL OF RACIAL DISCRIMINA¬
TION AND UNJUST SEGREGATION—Christi¬
anity has also freen handicapped among the
darker races by segregation and racial discrimi¬
nation. Let Dr. Patton speak again in our offi¬
cial book for Mission Study:
"At every point in his work the Missionary is
confronted by the race problem, which in Africa
takes on an exceedingly acufc-e form. Probaoiy
in no part of the world do the passions and
prejudices wjhich separate race from race reach
a greater intensity than here. This is particu¬
larly true of South Africa, where the whites are
bound to possess the land and to rule in then-
own way and for their own ends, although the
blacks outnumber them four to one. We consid¬
er that there is something of a race problem in
our own United States, but this is a mild affair
compared to the strained relations between
whites and blacks in c-ertain sections of the
Union of South Africa. Nor is it confined wholly
to these two races. In recent years Hindus and
Chinese in considerable numbers have been
brought to South Africa for work on tbe planta¬
tions and in the mines, and these people hav.e
met with scant courtesy on the part of their
white neighbors. A prominent church in a cer¬
tain city of South Africa was recently holding
a revival service when two Hindus wandered m
and innocently took their seats among the in¬
quirers. Consternation fell upon the preacher
and people alike and the proceedings were
stopped while the intrud-ers were summarily
ejected. Those precious white oeop^ vere 'in-
willing even to be "sav-ed" in the presence of
18
THE WHITE PERIL
"the heathen." Apparently this was no place
"to get religion" tor those who needed it most,
or did they ne^ed it most?
The pec pie of South Africa have a good case,
on governmental and economic grounds against,
importing Orientals in large numbers. As with
us in the United States, tb-ey have enough of a
race problem without this new complication.
But the intensity of feeling revealed by this in¬
cident, and by others which might be cifred, in¬
dicates the special and peculiarly difficult form
which the problem takes in the leading African
colonies. In Portuguese territories the more
friendly, or shall we say easy-going ideas of the
Latin races prevail, and the African is not de¬
barred from lucrative and responsible positions-
Portuguese who marry native women, and there
are many such, regard their children as essen¬
tially white, and s^end them to the home country
for education. In the other European colonies
the lines of race are drawn with a rigidity un¬
known in other parts of the world. South Af¬
rica solicits the blacks with great earnestness
for work in the mines, on the docks, and in the
homes as domestic servants; but renders it ex¬
ceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for them
to succeed in the trades and higher callings.
The trade unions are well organized and they
watch with jealous eye every movement which
tends to bring the Africans into competition
with their own members. An enterprising Zulu,
of my acquaintance, who became a skilled cob¬
bler, and set up a shop in Durban, was boycotted
by the entire white population. As his fellow
Zulus are not addicted to the use of shoes, his
enterprise was brought to an untimely end.
THE WHITE PERIL
19
Had he been satisfied with being employed by
a white man, even though that white had never
handled a piece of leather, he could have plied
his trade without hindrance; but on no account
must he be allowed to get on for himself. From
this unjust and cruel position it is but a step to
where the African is shut out from skilled labor
of every kind in behalf of the white population.
There are those in South Africa who realize the
ridiculous position in which they are placed in
this matter. They say, "Here we are at one
moment calling the natives good-for-nothing hea¬
then, little better than the beasts, and in the
next moment raising barriers against them for
fear they will deprive the white man of his job."
Behold an illustration of the truth that selfish¬
ness knows no reason.
In addition to the fear of competition on the
part of native laborers there is the dread of na¬
tive uprisings which is never entirely absent from
the white man's mind. Bloody uprising have
characterized the early days of the European
rule in every colony on the continent, and the
possibility of their recurrence is by no means
eliminated to-day. It is at this point that the mis¬
sionaries can be of special service, since they
uniformly inculcate loyalty to the existing gov¬
ernment. The British authorities have come to
place such a high estimate upon this service that
they make liberal grants for mission schools and
not infrequently entrust the entire structure of
native education to missionary leadership. A
prominent British official is on recor das saying,
"One missionary is worth more than a battalon
of soldiers.."
20
THE WHITE PERIL
The race problem is a complicated and tortu¬
ous subject. It varies greatly in different parts
of the continent, but in almost every section it
embarrasses the work of the misionary. The
prejudice against skilled native laborers creates
a special problem for our industrial schools. If
the more we educate the Africans in the trades,
the less the white people care to have them
around, is such education desirable? The an¬
swer depends upon whether African missions are
to be conducted primarily for the whites or for
the blacks. If the African needs our arts on his
own account and has an inherent right to them,
there is nothing for us to do but to go on and
give him every possible chance, in the expecta¬
tion that in the process of time Christian for¬
bearance and love on the part of both races will
bring about such adjustments as are desirable.
PERIL OF VICES AND DISEASES OF CHRIS¬
TIAN NATIONS.—The perilous effect of the
vices, and diseases of Christian nations among
the darker races is universally admitted to be
worse than any form of paganism.
We will take the testimony of fairminded, ex¬
perienced white men to tell how the fine native
races of South and Central Africa have been
ravished and degraded and exterminated in the
name of Christian civilization. Dr. Patton says:
"The American Board work among the Zulus in
Natal and Zulu land is noteworthy because of
the character of the people. The Zulus are the
most aggressive and warlike of the African
tribes. Solidly built and of more than average
height, they are said to be the finest piece of
muscle on the face of the earth." In speajking
THE WHITE PERIL
21
of the Central Africa races, Dr. Patton also says:
"Scientists would not class these people as Sav¬
ages, but as Barbarians, since they use tools
used from native ore."
_ You are surprised to find the people kindly
disposed. They conduct you to the palaver-
house in the center of the village and bring you
gifts of manioc, yams, and bananas. It is much
in your favor that you come from the mission sta¬
tion, since these people long ago learned the dif¬
ference between a missionary and a trader. By
their deepest nature they are law-abiding, inof¬
fensive, and friendly, stirred to anger only when
fearing war or when treated with injustice. If
this staement is doubted, let it be noted that
Great Britain maintain her rule throughout the
colony of Gambia by means of seventy-five native
policemen and soldiers. In Nyasaland she has
the immense force of 135 native soldiers! Can
that achievement be equaled in any other part of
the world?
CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION DEGRADED
THE NATIVE RACES.—Dr. Patton tells the
Christian world what the native thinks of West¬
ern Civilization when applied to him."Strange to
say, the native does not seem to appreciate what
is being done for him by his rulers- It is not that
he denies these things, but that certain other
things occupy his mind, and bulk much larger
than the benefits of civilization. This is partic ¬
ularly true of those aspects of civilization which
infringe upon his personal liberties. To begin
with, the contemptuous attitude of the white
man is gall and wormwood to his soul. He is a
human being and he resents the sjambok (a
22
THE WHITE PERIL
large, thick whip made of rhinocerous hide),
which is the badge of the white man, and this
instrument of torture and relic of slavery he uses
with cruel and contemptuous frequency. In
some of the cities the natives are not allowed on
the sidewalk, and along all the trails the natives
flee in terror from the white traveler or hide in
the bushes until convinced that the foreigner is
a friend, not a foe. In every possible way the
African is made to feel his "inferiority."
Then there is the hut-tax. As a rule a tax of
not less than one poun dis placed on each native
hut. This seems to him a tremendous sum, and
in many instances such is the case. That he re¬
sents the imposition only marks him as human.
The Zulu uprising in 1906 was caused by the
British government's adding a poll-tax to the
hut-tax. This was a cruel exaction, and the
Zulu was driven nearly wild with rage. His
mind worked in this way: "They have taxed
my hut; they have taxed my cattle; they have
taxed everything I own; and now they are tax¬
ing my head. Well, let them take my head. I
am for war."
One day when I was passing through Gaza-
land, says Dr. Patton, "several native chiefs
w'aited upon me with a long string of requests,
at the head of which was the plea that I should
pay their taxes, and if I was unwilling to do
this, that I should use my influence to have the
taxes remitted by the government. I saw this
was rankling in their breasts as a great injus¬
tice."
Another galling restriction under which the
native chafes is the limitation of travel. By all
the ties of his blood he is a hunter or a trader,
THE WHITE PERIL
•23
yet, living in "his own land," he finds himself
shut up in a district and not allowed to pass its
borders without a permit, secured only with dif¬
ficulty. It is bad enough to be considered
merely a taxable commodity, but by this law he
feels himself a slave. And slave he is in those
parts of Africa where enforced labor prevails.
It is true the old slavery has gone, but often an
industrial slavery takes its place.
The case is stronger yet. It has been said
that the history of commerce may be traced by
the weeds which have grown up along its path¬
way. The history of civilization in Africa may
be traced by the diseases which spring up in
its track.. The cattle pests, which bear particu¬
larly hard upon the live stock of the natives,
were unkonwn or were restricted to certain lo¬
calities unti lthe railroad and steamboat spread
the germs far and wide. The African accuses
the white man of bringing these things, and he
names them over; rinderpest, tick-fever, east-
coast fever, each one a terrible indictment- The
native stands gazing sadly at his empty cattle
kraal. The magistrate, passing by, remarks,
"Build a dipping-tank." The native replies,
"Give me back my herds."
To the cattle pests we must ad certain human
disorders, like tuberculosis, smallpox, and the
veneral diseases to w'hich the African is pecul¬
iarly susceptible, and which have worked sad
havoc. When the black man brings in this ac¬
cusation, what is the white man to say? In
South Africa the breaking down of tribal and
family restraints is a serious thing. Even the
white settlers are beginning to recognize this.
Paganism had its laws and its sanctions. Crude
24
THE WHITE PERIL
as these were, they formed a certain basis for
society* they were vastly better than nothing.
European law1 abolishes these, but has been un¬
able to put anything effective in their place. The
result is that certain tribes are more immoral
than before civilization came.
What shall we say of the unjust and cruel
wars of suppression in which every European
power has engaged, of punitive expeditions
which have been little better than massacres?
How about the Congo atrocities? The things
Europe has done under this category are a dis¬
grace to civilziation. They will rankle for gen¬
erations in the African breast.
® The land question in the South African Union
is so intricate that it can barely be mentioned;
but the intelligent African will put it well to the
front. A law has been passed making it a crim¬
inal offense to sell or transfer land to a native.
The purpose is to force the natives on to the "lo¬
cations," or native reservations, where paganism
is rampant, or else to become the serfs of the
white men. The African is not to have a home
on his own continent! This would appear to be
the limit of the white man's meanness and op¬
pression. Can we wonder that the educated na¬
tives, rising up in a mighty protest, voted to send
a deputation to London in hope of enlisting the
sympathy of Parliament and the King? The won¬
der is that under such rank injustice they re¬
mained loyal; that when, shortly after, the
Great War broke out, they decided to hold their
grievance in abeyance and to enlist for the de¬
fense of the empire. Today thousands of these
protesting Africans are fighting the battles of
White men, in distant parts of .the continent.
THE WHITE PERIL
25
Britain loves fair play, and when peace comes,
the cannot fail to restore these loyal subjects-
to their rights.
FROM THE BLACK MAN'S VILLAGE TO
THE WHITE MAN'S CITY—Dr. Patton ac¬
cepted text book on Missionary education says;
"It is the old story of the finding of gold; of the
rushing in of eager, unscrupulous men; of the
springing up of cities in the wilderness; of the
exploiting of the weak by the strong. Only, in
South Africa, we are to add diamonds to gold.
Of all the upheavals in native conditions and life
which civilization has brought to Africa there is
none to compare with this. Has there ever been
such a landslide from the outer world, such a
revolution in the life of a quiet people? As,
late as 1885 herds of antelope were roaming
over the veldt where Johannesburg now stands.
To-day we find a great modern city, with asphalt
pavements, electric cars, and public buildings
which would be a credit to Omaha or Denver-
Johannesburg is the center of a mining district,
kowii as "The Rand," which is some forty miles
in length and has a population of close to 500,-
000. Forty per cent, of the world's gold comes
from this region. The output per month runs
as high as $17,000,000.
With the owners the problem is largely one of
labor—how to persuade the natives to exchange
their indolent village life has been overcome by
offering special inducements in the way of good
pay and short terms of service. Some 300,00®
natives are steadily employed at Johannesburg
and along the Rand, and these natives are gath¬
ered from e.very tribe south of the Zambezi, and
26 THE WHITE PERIL
even from regions farther away- Since they
come and go at short intervals, we may esti¬
mate that not less than half a million blacks
each year come under the influence of this one
industrial center.
Consider wjhat this means to the African in
the way of changed environment and exposure
to the worst evils of civilization. Johannes¬
burg has been called "a university of crime,"
and the epithet seems deserved. The Rev.
Frederick B. Bridgman, a life-long student of
governmental and economic conditions in South
Africa states the case under th efollownig three
heads:
"(1) These tens of thousands who are thrust
into the novel and complex environment of a
modern city are young men, sixteen to twenty-
five years old. Very few are past thirty. (2)
They are wholly removed from family and trib¬
al restraints. Moreover, the new conditions of
life at the gold fields appear to place a premium
on unbridled license. At the mines the natives
are housed in compounds or barracks where
from 2,000 to 6,000 males live a segregated ex¬
istence. Those engaged in the city find living
quarters as best they can, and this usually means
drifting into slum areas of the worst type- (3)
Of course, to such a mining eenter and frontier
town as Johannesburg there inevitable gravi¬
tate many of the worst crooks and criminals of
Europe and America. There seems to be no
depth to which low-down whites will not de¬
scend in order to separate the native from his
hard-earned cash. The result is that we find
natives succumbing to drunkenness, gambling,
robbery, murder, sodomy, and prostitution. To
THE WHITE PERIL
27
the vices of heathenism, the heathen are now
adding the crimes of civilization."
To Johanesburg we must add Pretoria, Kim-
berly, Durban Cape Town and various smaller
cities where similar conditions prevail. Every¬
where in South Africa economic changes of a
revolutionary character bear heavily upon na¬
tive life. The working out of this problem just¬
ly, scientifically and in the spirit of Christ will
have much to do with the future of the African
race.
How, then, stands the case for secular civili¬
zation? The problem is a highly complicated
one because so many personal and social factors
enter in. It is not a problem in mathematics,
but in sociology. Possibly no two persons
would place the same values upon the various
items we have been considering; but as to the
main issue there should be no divergence of
judgment. Clearly civilization finds itself
on the wrong side of the account: 'It has
brought more evil than good to the African. The
plain and ugly fact is that in many parts of Afri¬
ca the natives would be better off, physically
and morally, if European enterprise had never
come. The best authorities do not differ on
this subject. There aie those who fear that
our so-called Christian civilization will make ag
bad a mess of things in South Africa as Islam
has made in North Africa. This is a startling
judgment for Christian nations to consider. A
prominent missionary said, "While we must bal¬
ance the good and evil effects of civilization,
yet for my part I consider the real peril to Af¬
rica, south of the equator, to be civilization and
not Islam." Mr- Gibbons in his invaluable book,
28
THE WHITE PERIL
"The New Way of Africa," remarks: "Unless
they (the natives) are given the moral founda¬
tion upon which to build, material prosperity
that comes with European control is to aborigin¬
al races certain destruction—a rapid disappear¬
ance following deterioration."
When the shocking conditions and atrocities
011 the part of the French concessionaries on the
Congo came to light, the Comte de Brazza de¬
clared that he would never have explored this
country and brought it under European con¬
trol had he realized what suffering and dis¬
aster European penetration was going to bring
to the natives. M. de Bazza died on the west
coast of Africa, broken-hearted through brood¬
ing over these things. Great Britain bears strong
testimony to the evils of colonial civilization,
when she refuses to have the Basutos and
Bechuanos come under South African control.
She regards these tribes as the wards of the em¬
pire and she declines to pass them over to the
Union, realizing that they will receive scant jus¬
tice at the hands of their white neighbors,
should they ever become integral parts of the
dominion.
LIQUOR PROBLEM IN AFRICA AND AF¬
TERMATH OF CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION.
—John Mott says: "It would be difficult to men¬
tion a part of the non-Christian world where the
liquor traffic is not increasing, but its most fear¬
ful ravages are to be found in the ports and
hinterland of Africa. The Anglican and Roman
Catholic bishops in different parts of Africa bear
testimony both to the spread of this traffic and
also to its demoralizing influence. Special pub-
THE WHITE PERIL
29
lie attention has recently been called to this sub¬
ject as a result of the discussion evoked by the
Report of the Government Committee regard¬
ing the Liquor Traffic in Southern Nigeria, val¬
ued at about one-fourth of the value of the to¬
tal imports of that colony. It is significant that
liquor is often used for currency. Drunkenness
is very prevalent in different parts of the colony,
especially in those most exposed to European
influence. Not only the men, but also the wom¬
en and the children are addicted to it, and it is
said that in many places possibly the women
drink more than the men. Bishop Johnson re¬
cently told of visiting a school of seventy-five
children between the ages of eight and sixteen,
when on inquiry he found that only fifteen of
them had not been drinking gin. The desire for
drink has become so dominating that cases are
not infreq.uent of parents pawning their chilr
dren to get money to spend for liquor. Bishop
Oluwole gave testimony before the Government
Committee of Inquiry, in 1909 to having seen^a
girl pawned for $37. One of the most striking
indications of the spread of the Liquor traffic is
the fact: that even Mohammedans have become
addicted to the intemperance. Facts similar
to these about Nigeria could be given with ref¬
erence to many of the other colonies and pro¬
tectorates of Africa. Among the Pacific Islands
too, while the situation has improved in some of
them there are other groups where the liquor
traffic is exercising as deadly an influence as in
any part of Africa- One of the most damaging
and serious facts of all is, that for purposes of
revenue, this traffic is often directly promoted
by colonial governments, and in other cases is
30 THE WHITE PERIL
a law, not well enforced, prohibiting the sale
of liquor to natives. In Nigeria the traffic is
permitted under restrictions. Portugal rules
out distilled beverages, but permits light liquors
and w$nes. Colonial governors realize the de¬
structive effects of alcohol upon native character
and health, and would gladly be rid of the traf¬
fic; but financial considerations stand in the
way. In Southern Nigeria the importation of
spirits furnishes fifty per cent, of the revenue.
Rum pays a duty of 200 pe rcent., and gin a duty
of 300 per cent.; and yet these deadly liquors
are shipped into the country in almost unbe¬
lievable amounts.
The sinning nations are principally Holland,
Germany, Great Britain, and the United States-
The British Board of Trade reports that during
the year ending in April 1916, there were im¬
ported into British West Africa 3,815,000 gal¬
lons of spirits. During 1914-15, from the port
of Boston, there were shipped to the West Coast
of Africa 1,571,353 gallons of rum. There Is
no pushing of this evil upon the shoulders of
Europe. America is too deeply involved for
that. The question is often asked, "Cannot
something be done to stop the shipping of liquor
from the United States to African ports?" Yes;
Congress could pass a prohibitory law on the
subject; but without international action it
would be ineffective, since American vessels can
not be prevented from transshipping liquor to
vessels of other nations. For instance, it would
be esay and remunerative for American liquor
merchants to ship to Lisbon or the Azores and
there tranship in Portuguese bottoms to African
ports. No American law could prevent this
THE WHITE PERIL
31
under present circumstances. What we need
is an international agreement such as prevails
in respect to certain Pacific islands and the Con¬
go State. The urgency of this question is such
that it should engage the attention of the Ameri¬
can government at the earliest possible moment.
The evil is one of colosal magnitude, threaten¬
ing the very existence of the West Coast tribes."
And now that the white man's whiskey is be¬
ing outlawed in his own lands, there is danger
of the liq.uor lords increasing the evil among
the darker races, like Christian England increas¬
ed opium eating in China, and like the United
States of America, Holland, Germany and other
Christian nations with guns in Africa's face are
drugging her with gin, while her children are
being robbed of their home-land and damned
soul and body, like the passing American Indian.
Let us not forget that:
"The lawjs of changeless justice bind
Oppressor with oppressed
And close as sin and suffering joined
We march to fate abreast."
32
THE WHITE PERIL
CHAPTER II.
LOOK ON THE FIELDS.
"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for
they are whit^e already to harvest." John 4:35.
1. Asia, Africa and the Isles of the sea are
the homes of the darker races and the chief
Foreign Mission Fields of the world.
(a) AREA The area of Asia and Africa
is hard to conceive.
There are fifty-two million square miles of
territory in all the world; of that amount
Europe, North and South America and Aus¬
tralia constitute twenty-three million two hun¬
dred and fifty-four thousand eight hundred and
ninety-three square miles. Asia, Africa and
the Isles of the Sea constitute the remaining
twenty-nine million two hundred and forty-
five thousand one hundred and seven square
miles of the area of the world.
COMPARISON—Africa ranks second among
the Continents in size. It contains five
thousand miles North and Scruth and four thous¬
and five hundred miles East and West. It is
three times the size of Europe, half as large
again as North America or the size of North
America and Europe combined. Asia is the
largest of the Continents. It is one third larger
than Africa. Asia and Africa combined is more
than seven times as large as Europe or nearly
three times as large as Europe and North
America combined.
THE WHITE PERIL
(b) POPULATION OF—The Blue Book of
DARK RACES —Missions and oth¬
er Authorities give Asia the following popula¬
tion by countries.
Square miles People
Chinese Republic 4,277,170 438,214,000
Japan with Formosa 161,113 25,624,098
India (British) 1,766,642 294,361,056
Afghanistan 215,400 5,000,000
Barein Islands 300 80,000
Baluchristan 132,315 1,050,000
Bokhara 920,000 1,250,000
Ceylon 25,333 3,573,333
French India 196 272,000
French Indo China 363,000 15,000,000
Korea 82,000 10,000,000
New Guinea 313,000 1,000,000
Hawaii 6,449 191,909
Micronesia 190,000
Oman 82,000 1,500,000
Kiva 22,320 800,000
Nepal 54,000 4,000,000
Persia 628,000 9,000,000
Asiatic Russia 6,564,778 22,697,000
Siah 195,000 6,686,846
Tibet 463,200 6,430,000
Asiatic Turkey 650,097 17,683,500
British Borneo 96,000 1,839,527
Dutch East Indies 587,000 34,000,000
Malecca 26,000 1,250,000
Phiilipine Islands 122,000 7,572,000
Melanesia 575,000
Pollynesia 10,000 217,720
>The above non-Christian lands of Asia are
nearly all Yellow, Black or Brown and are
classed among the darker races.
34
THE WHITE PERIL
COUNTRIES, AREA AND BLACK PEOPLE.
The following are the countries, areas and
population of Africa and the Island, homes of
black pople, just as Europe and America are
primarily the homes of the white people of the
world.
Square miles People
Abyssinia 150,000 10,000,000
Alegria 184,477 2,231,850
Angola 480,000 4,119,000
British Central Africa 42,217 997,217
British East Africa 350,000 4,038,000
British Somaliland 68,000 500,000
Congo Independ't State 900,000 30,000,000
Dahomey 60,000 1,006,000
Egypt 400,000 9,734,000
Ereitreea 88,500 450,000
French Congo 450,000 10,000,000
French Guinea 95,000 2,200,000
French Somaliland 46,000 189,000
Gambia 4,569 91,000
German East Africa 384,000 10,000,000
German West Africa 322,450 205,000
Gold Coast & Colony 71,000 1,486,000
Italian Somaliland 100,000 400,000
Ivory Coast 116,000 2,000,000
Kamerun 191,000 3,500,000
Lagos 28,910 1,500,000
Liberia 35,000 2,060,000
Madagascar 227,750 2,706,661
Mauritius 705 370,000
Morocco 210,000 5,500,000
Nigeria 370,000 25,000,000
Portuguese E. Africa 301,000 3,120,000
THE WHITE PERIL
35
Portuguese Guinea 6,220 1,009,000
Rio De Oro 243,000 1,000,000
Rio Muni 9,000 40,000
Sahara 1,500,000 2,500,000
Senegal 200,000 3,200,000
Senegambia 210,000 3,000,000
Sierra Leon 34,000 1,077,000
Basutoland 348,000
Bechuanaland 210,000 200,000
Cape Colony 267,000 2,405,000
Natal 42,000 1,009,000
Orange River Colony 48,000 365,00
Rhodesia 264,000 880,000
Transvaal 112,000 1,354,000
Sudan 950,000 3,500,000
Togoland 33,000 900,000
Tunis 51,000 1,900,000
Tropoli 400,000 1,300,000
Uganda 80,000 3,950,000
Haiti 10,220 2,029,700
Santo Domingo 19,325 673,611
Mexico 767,000 13,545,462
Guatemala 48,290 1,647,300
Honduras 46,250 587,000
Porto Rico 3,435 1,118,012
Nicarauga 49,200 600,000
Salvador 7,255 1,707,000
Paraguay 98,000 631,348
Making a grand total of one billion one hun¬
dred and twenty-five million nine hundred and
twenty-one and ninety-nine dark people in their
repective countriees.
There are only one billion and six million
people in the whole world. Thus there are
more than two dark people to every white per¬
son in the world. There are more than sixteen
THE WHITE PERIL
dark people in Asai,- Africa, Central America,
and the Isles of the Sea to every white person
in North America.
(c) NATURAL RESOURCES—Asia is the
richest Continent on the globe. The vast min¬
eral resources of China and other Asiatic coun¬
tries have scarcely been touched. Farming is
still primative throughout the Orient. Rail
Road Building has hardly more than begun.
Commercial possibilities of Asia are stupendous.
Labor is plentiful; ready arid waiting to be em¬
ployed to enrich the whole world. Asia is wait¬
ing to bless and be blessed by Western business
men.
THE WEALTH OF AFRICA—It is when our
vision penetrates the mysterious depths and
possibilities of Africa that our enthusiasm be¬
gins to kindle. Africa, second only to Asia in
size, yet preserved through the ages from being
exploited by the malfactors of wealth; waiting
for the fullneses of time when the reign of Kings
would give place to the reign of the people.
"What lakes and rivers." The wonderful Vic¬
toria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza the reservoirs
of the Nile where civilization had its birth.
Tanganyka stretching itself out and forming
the great Congo River. And Lake Chad out
yonder in the Great Sudan remaining fresh with¬
out an outlet. There is Lake Nyasa forming the
Zambezi River, and many other rivers and
lakes of less commercial value.
AFRICAN RIVERS—The Continent is water¬
ed by four great rivers which take their rise in
the lake region of the Central Plateau. The
THE WHITE PERIL
Nile running North, the Congo running West,
the Zambezi running South and the Niger which
ranks third in size draining the vast territory-
lying to the North of the Gulf of Guinea a
thousand miles into the desert of Sahara. The
immense size of the river is indicated by the
rich Delta which extends one hundred miles in¬
land.
These great rivers are not only navigable for
thousands of miles but the water falls are wait¬
ing for developing electric current for great
manufacturing centers.
AFRICAN FORESTS—A ssociated with
these great water ways are the valuable African
forests in virgin beauty and fertility waiting to
be used wisely by the world which has ravished
the woods of Europe and America. The great
Congo Basin is heavily forested throughout, as
are the other vast river bottoms. The luxurance
of the undergrowth and tangle of the creepers
and paracites and vines makes it so dense in
some sections that the rays of the sun never
reach thle ground. " Detached from trophical
woodlands of great density and beauty, are
found great forests on the mountain slopes
in various parts of the continent. The
authorities say: "The world has yet to discov¬
er the value of African tropical forests. Red
and brown mahogany is much sought after, but
other woods, equally as beautiful are unknown
in Europe and America. Mr. Author Ornor the
forester of the American Board at Mount Salina,
Rhodesia, has listed over twenty-three whose
wood takes on a beautiful color and finish. In
Mt. Salina forest, mahogany grows ten "and
THE WHITE PERIL
twelve feet in diameter and two hundred feet
tall. The valuable rubber trees and nut bear¬
ing oil trees alone make Africa of great com¬
mercial value to the world.
AFRICAN PRARIES—On the plateau, where
the forest is thin are the great Savannas; the
great grass country for which Africa is famous.
In the prarie sections of the Sudan, the Lake
country, West Africa, South of the Congo belt
the grass grows so astonishingly high until one
riding on horseback for miles the grass waves
high above his head. The wild animals indi¬
cate the possibility of the greatest cattle coun¬
try in the world.
It has been said by reliable authority that
African soil is rich and productive enough to
furnish every article of food for the whole
world.
MINERAL WEALTH OF AFRICA—Dr. Pat-
ton says: "The mineral wealth of Africa passes
all computation. Johannesburg produces one
third of the world's gold supply. Ninety per
cent of our diamonds come from Kimberly and
the other min'es of South Africa. In these
treasurers the continent of Africa stands su¬
preme. When we add the copper deposits of
the Katanga district on the upper Congo, said
to be the greatest in the world, the iron and tin,
the coal of various sections, the oil and gas be¬
ing uncovered by the prospectors we are in¬
clined to agree with these who claim that the
natural wealth of Africa is equal to that of any
of the two continents. What this means in the
way of commercial development in coming years
is not difficult to imagine."
THE WHITE PERIL
39
The voice of the Great Christ is echoing
through the ages saying: "Lift up your eyes
and look on the fields; for they are white al¬
ready to harvest. And he that reapeth receiv-
eth wages; and gath er fruit to eternal life ; that
both he that sow'eth and he that reapeth may re¬
joice together. I sent you to reap that where¬
upon you have bestowed no labour; other men
have laboured and have entered into their la¬
bours."—John 4:35-38.
GREAT ASIATIC AND AFRICAN CITIES—We
are prone to think of Foreign Mission Fields, as
great undeveloped jungles without cities and
towns, like Europe and America. We readliy
remember the great cities of Asia, but we rare¬
ly ever think of Africa as a Foreign Mission
Field offering great opportunities for Christian¬
izing the natives in great modern cities like
those of Europe and America.
STREETS OF CAIRO—Patton says: "World
travelers never forget their first view of Orien¬
tal life. When they land at their first port and
the blaze of the Eastern Color and strange cus¬
tom burst upon them they know it is an epoch
in their lives."—Some times it is Smyrna, some
times Constantinople, sometimes Bombay or
Yokahoma, br.t the effect always entrancing;
the impression never wears off." "The streets
of Cairo—who will attempt their description."
"It is when you enter old Cairo and penetrates
the naize of it's streets and passage ways—of
it's Bazaars, that the historic breaks down and
you are told to come over and see for yourself."
Cairo with its population of 650,000 is Africa's
great city." Cairo is the point of departure for
40
THE WHITE PERIL
the great pagan areas of Central Africa; a
hundred million pagan blacks seem to beckon
to you when you ascend her towers. Cairo is
also the vestibule to the wonders of Egypt."
"From the ramparts of Cairo you can see not
only the countless houses and Mohammedan
Churches or Mosqu^es of the city, but the broad
stream of the Nile and far off on the verge of
the Libyan plateau rises the great Pyramids
and the gray forms of those other monuments
of an antiquity so remote that they were hoary
with age when Abraham journeyed to Egypt
from Canaan..
Cairo is a city of electric lights, street cars,
rail roads and steamboats, good public schools
and libraries. It as at the seat of the Great
Mohammedan University with ten thousand
black students from all parts of the Mohamme¬
dan world. This university was founded 251
years before Columbus discovered America.
It would be well to compare the following
African cities and population twenty years ago
with the progress of American cities of the same
population.
Algiers 95,784 Fort Louis 52,749
Oran 85,081 Fez 140,000
Zanzabar 55,000 Durban 60,446
Cape Town 200,000 Tunis 170,000
Cairo 600,000 Johannesburg 102,176
Alexandria 319,766 Kano 100,000
Tanta 57,289 Bida 90,000
Llorin 50,000 Yokaba 50,000
There a hundred of other Railway and Sea
Port Towns in Africa from ten to fifteen thous¬
and inhabitants to say nothing of villages with
settlers from all parts of the world.
THE WHITE PERIL
41
ASIATIC CITIES—These Asiatic cities had
the following population twenty years ago:
Shanghai 380,000
Bokhara 75,000 Hankow 300,000
Ceylon Fuchau 636,000
Colombo 158,093 Amoy 96,000
China Hong-kong 283,975
Canton 1,600,000 Chengtu-fu 800,000
Pekin 1,000,000
DUTCH EAST INDIES.
Surabaya 142,980 Karachi 116,163
Batabia 115,567 Madura 105,984
Samarang 84,266 Trichinopoli 104,721
India Baroda 103,790
Calcutta 1,125,000 Pashawar 95,147
Bombay 776,000 Dacca 90,542
Madras 509,346 Jabalpur 90,316
Haibarabad 448,466 Lashkar 89,154
Lucknow 264,049 Rawalpindi 87,688
Rangoon 234,881 Multan 87,394
Benares 209,331 Ambala 78,638
Delhai 208,575 Mirzapur 79,862
Lahore 202,964 Rampur 78,758
Cawnour 197,170 Bhopal 77,023
Agra 188,022 Calicut 76,981
Ahmadabad 185,889 Shajahanpur 76,458
Mandalay 183,816 Bhagalpur 75,760
Allahabad 172,032 Sholapur 75,283
Amritsar 162,429 Moradabad 75.123
Jaipur 160,167 Faizabad 75,085
Bangalore 159,046 Ajmer 73,829
Howrah 157,594 Gaya 71,288
Poona 153,320 Salem 70,621
Patna 134,785 Aligarh 70,434
42
THE WHITE PERIL
Bareilli
131,208
Nagpur
127,724
Srinagar
122,618
Surat
119,306
Meerut
118,129
Darbhandah
66,244
Gorakpur
64,148
Jodpur
60,437
Hubli
60,214
Muttra
60,042
Combaconam
59,673
Moulmier
58,446
Bellary
58,247
Sialkot
57,956
Trivandrum
57,882
Tanjore
57,870
Negapatam
57,190
Kolhapur
51,373
Alwar
56,771
Jhansi
55,724
Navanagar
53,844
Patiala
53,545
Coimbatore
53,080
Bikanir
53,075
Cuddalore
52,216
Cuttack
51,346
Japan
Tokio
1,440,120
Osaka
821,235
Kioto
353,139
Nagoya
244,145
Kobe
215,789
Yokahama
193,762
Hiroshima
122,306
Nagasaki
107,422
Mysore
68,111
Jalandhar
67,735
Farukhabad
67,338
Imphal
67,093
Saharanpur
66,254
Kanazawa
83,672
Sendai
83,32-5
Hakodati
78,040
Fucuoka
66,190
Korea
Seoul
196,646
Malay States
Kuala Lumpor
(Selangor)
77,234
Persia
Teheran
250.000
Tabriz
180,000
Ispahan
80,000
Baku
112,253
Kerman
70,000
Phillipine Islands
Manila
297,154
Russia in Asia.
Tiflis
160.646
Tashkend
156,414
Astrakhan
112,880
Koland
82,054
Yeaterinoslav
61,906
Namangan
61,906
Samarkand
54,900
Tomsk
52,430
Irkutsk
51,434
Si am
Bankok
600,000
Turkey
THE WHITE PERIL
43
TURKEY.
Smyrna
Baghdad
201,000 Adrianople
145,000 Brusa
140,000 Ceasarea
81,000
76,303
72,000
65,000
61,000
60,000
Damascus
Aleppo
Beirut
Solonica
127,150 Kerbela
118,000 Mosul
105,000 Mecca
There are hundreds and hundreds which de¬
serve to be mentioned along with these above
cities; many of which were flourishing: cities
before Western Civilization was born.
Thus the foreign missionary who may not de¬
sire to work among the backward people in the
rural districts and jungles of Africa may now
find splendid opportunities for service in Asiatic
and African cities.
PEOPLE OF ASIA AND—The people of
AFRICA NOT ALL SAVAGE—Asia and Af¬
rica should not be looked upon as hordes of
savages entirely without God in the world;
simply because they may have never heard of
the name of Jesus; or that they are slow to ac¬
cept Christianity which has in most cases been
perverted, when practiced by Western white
people among Asiatics and Africans. The very
Scriptures which testify of Christ were written
primarily about people of Asia and Africa,,
rather than about people of Europe and
America.
In going to Asia and Africa with a clearer
revelation of God, the Western people of Eu¬
rope and America are returning to their own
"Because that which may be known of God is
44
THE WHITE PERIL
manifested among them; for God has shown it
unto them. For the visible things of Him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, be¬
ing understood by the things that are made;
even His eternal power and Godhead."
Rom. 1:19-20.
"For He made of one blood all races to
dwell upon the face of the earth; having pro¬
vided proper methods for their guidance in
searching after God—if they would feel and
find Him—an yet He is not far from any one of
us; for in Him we live and move and have our
being." Acts 17:25-27.
SOULS OR GOLD WHICH?—The souls of
more than a billion Black, Brown and Yellow
people in Asia Africa and the Isles of the Sea
are worth more to the civilized nations of the
world than the gold, brass, Iron, coal and oil to
be carried from their countries.
It means much to a mere handful of people
in Europe and America in these days of annihi-
latoin of distance that puts every man at his
neighbor's door as to whether the dark people
of the earth shall be taught to love all men or
be provoked to- hate them. When the whole
world is talking and fighting about democracy,
equality, self-respect and comradship, civiliza¬
tion must in self defence promote the religion
of justice and love, as preached and practiced
by Jesus of Nazareth.
The people of non-professing Christian Con¬
tinents may not readily accept the Christian
dogmas of Europe and America, but they are
ready to reecive the spirit of Christ whenever
and wherever exhibtied. Asia and Africa are
THE WHITE PERIL
45
ready to extend the hand for full fellowship in¬
to the Christian family on the basis of equality,
justice and love, but woe betide the world when
the East fully awakes and grasps the torch of
science and Western civilization without the
spirit of the Christ, to avenge what it regards
as an arrogant intrusion to rob two continents
of their right to life, liberty and the pursuits of
happiness on this earth.
"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for
they are white already to harvest."
46'
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CHAPTER III.
THE GREAT AWAKENING
"Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion!
put on thy beautiful garments O, Jerusalem, the
holy city; for from henceforth there shall no
more come unto thee the uncircumcised and the
unclean. Shake thyself from the dust, loose
thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive
daughter of Zion." Isa. 51 :l-2.
"O Lor,d God of hosts, visit all the heathen;
do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors-
Psalm 59:5.
1. The awakening of the Modern Mission¬
ary Spirit marks a new epoch in the history of
the world.
(a) MISSIONARY EXTENSION—T h e
BEGAN WITH THE RE- modem
FORMATION Mis¬
sionary Spirit began two hundred and seventy-
five years before Carey preached his famous
missionary sermon and organized the Baptist
Misisionary Society in 1792. The Spirit of
modern Missions may be reckoned from the
Reformation, October 31,1517, when the follow
ers of the Roman Catholic faith protested and
began to manifest the religious principles and
policy of the despised sect of Baptist who kept
the fires of the Apostolic faith which was first
delivered unto the saints, burning upon the al¬
tars of men's hearts during what is called "The
Dark Ages."
THE WHITE PERIL
47
CATHOLIC AND PROTES- The following
TANTS CONTENDING FOR chronological
THE FIELDS OF THE WORLD events show
the beginning of both Catholic and Protestant
activity in Missionary Extension which has
steadily increased until the present.
1517 Commencement of the Reformation,
October 31.
1535 Erasmus advocates Missions.
1542 Francis Xavier in India; 1549 in Ja¬
pan. (Roman Catholic.)
1579 Matteo Ricci in China (Roman Catho¬
lic.)
1588 Sir Walter Raleigh's donation for
Missions in America.
1602 Dutch East India Company attempts
conversions in Malaysia and Ceylon.
1606 Robert de Nobili, Jesuit Missionary in
India.
1622 Roman Propaganda founded June 21.
1637 Roman Missions suppressed in Japan.
1646 John Eliot, Missionary to Red Indians.
1648 House of Commons under Cromwell's
auspices, proposes to engage in Missions.
1649 New England Company founded.
1691 Society for advancing the Christian
Faith, founded in England.
1698 British East India Company's Charter
enjoins provision of Chaplains.
1698 Society for promotion of Christian
Knowledge founded.
1701 Founding of the Society for the propa¬
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
1705 Tranquebar in South India-Missiona¬
ries sent by the King of Denmark (Danish-Halle
Mission.)
48
THE WHITE PERIL
1721 Greenland—Mission of Hans Egede.
1732 First Moravian Missionaries to West
Indies, Greenland.
1735 South America.
1744 David Brainerd among Red Indians.
1750 Schwartz joins Danish Mission in
Tranquebar India.
1758 Kiernander in Calcutta.
1765 First ordination of a Negro, Philip
Quaque, (Society for the propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts.
1792 Carey's sermon on Missions; Baptist
Missionary Society founded.
1793 Carey arrives in Bengal, India.
1793 Religious Tract and Book Society of
Scotland founded.
1795 London Missionary Societ founded.
1795 Ceylon and Cape Colony annexed by
England.
1796 Edinburgh and Glasgow Missionary
Societies.
1796 Polynesia—Tahiti occupied by Lon¬
don Missionary Society.
1797 Netherlands Missionary Society found¬
ed.
1798 Cape Colony, South Africa entered by
London Missionary Society.
1799 Church Missionary Society establish¬
ed, April 12th.
1799 Religious Tract Society founded.
1802 Crimean Tartars in Russia taught by
Scottish Missionary Society.
1804 March 7th, Idea of the Bible for all
men given practical effect and British Foreign
Bible Society established.
1804 Church Missionary Society sends first
THE WHITE PERIL
49
Missionaries to West Africa, near Sierra Leone.
1805 Henry Martyn in India.
1806 Ceylon-Baptist Missionary Society.
1807 China—Robert Morrison of London
Missionary Society begins his work.
1808 London Society for promoting Christi¬
anity among the Jews, founded.
1810 September 5th, American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions founded.
1818 Burma entered by Adoniram Judson
(for American Baptist Missionary Union.
1813 American Board of Commissioners foi
Foreign Missions; Missionaries arrive at Bom-
bay,, India; Marathi Mission.
1813 Wesleyan Methodist Missionary So¬
ciety organized.
1813 East India Company Charter renewed
with Wilberforce's "pious clauses" which al¬
low missionaries to go to India.
1814 Organization of the American Baptist
Missionary Union.
1814 Netherlands Bible Society founded.
1814 First Chinese convert baptized by
Robert Morrison.
1814 New Zealand Mission, Samuel Mars-
den, Church Missionary Society.
1816 Sierra Leone Mission organized.
1816 American Bible Society founded.
1816 Basel Missionary Seminary opened.
1818 Madagascar Mission of London Mis¬
sionary Society commenced.
1818 Revival of Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
1819 Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church organize in the U. S. A.
50
THE WHITE PERIL
1819 Turkey (Syria) Missions of the Ameri¬
can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis¬
sions.
1819 Siberian 'Mongols-Missions of London
Missionary Society at Selinginsk (Baikal.)
1819 Hawaiian Islands—Missions of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions.
1820 Tasamani—Mission of the Wesieyan
Methodist Missionary Society.
1820 Buenos Aires—First Protestant ser¬
vice estalbished by Mr. Thomson, Agent of the
British and Foreign Bible Society, November 19.
1821 Missionary Society of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of U. S. A. organized.
1821 Bible Christian Missionarj^ Society,
(England.)
1821 Danish Missionary Society formed.
1824 Berlin Missionary Society organized.
1824 Methodist Missionary oBard organiz¬
ed in Canada.
1824 Paris Eanngelical Missionary Society
founded.
1825 American Tract Society founded.
1827 Gold Coast-West Africa—Mission of
the Basel Society.
1827 Rhenish Missionary Society organized.
1829 Cape Colony and Namaqualand, South
Africa-Rhenish Society.
1829 Church of Scotland Foreign Missions
Committee appointed.
1829 First Scotch Missionaries to India;
Alexander Duff and John Wilson.
1832 Board of Foreign Missions of the Re¬
formed Church in America (Dutch) organized.
THE WHITE PERIL
51
1833 Free Baptist Foreifeii Missionary So¬
ciety organized.
1833 Persia-Nestorian Mission of American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
begins.
1833 Ludhiana, North India Mission of
Presbyterian Church in United States.
1834 Slavery in the West Indies abolished.
1834 Henry Lyman and Samuel Munson
killed in Sumatra (American Board of Commis¬
sioners for Foreign Missions.)
1835 Fiji Islands—Mission of Wesleyan
Methodist Missionary Society.
1836 North German, Gossner and Leipzig
Missionary Societies founded; also Kaiserswerth
Deaconess Institute.
1837 Church of Scotland Women's Associa¬
tion for Forein Mission organized.
1837 Board of Foreign Missions of the Gen¬
eral Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church
of North America founded.
1837 Board of Foreign Missions of the Pres¬
byterian Church in the United States of Ameri¬
ca (North.)
1839 John Williams killed at Erromanga,
November 20th .
1840 Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, Foreign
Missions.
1840 Presbyterian Church in Ireland For¬
eign Missions.
1841 David Livingstone in Africa.
1841 Foreign Mission Board of the General
Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
the United States.
1841 Einburgh Medical Missionary Society
organized.
52
THE WHITE PERIL
1842 Borneo Mission of the Rhenish Society.
1842 Primitive Methodist Missionary So¬
ciety (England.)
1842 Opening of Chinese Ports after First
Opium War.
1842 Woman's Society for Education of Wo¬
men in the East formed in Germany-
1843 Free Church of Scotland Foreign Mis¬
sions Committee organized.
1843 Woman's Foreign Missionary Society
of the Free Church of Scotland foundeed.
1844 Patagonian Missionary Society found¬
ed. 1864 named South American Missionary
Society.
1844 Presbyterian Church in Canada begins
Foreign Missions.
1845 Krapf and Rebmann of Church Mis¬
sionary Society begin East African exploration,
(Mombassa Region.)
1845 Foreign Mission Board of the Southern
Baptist Convention (U. S. A.)
1846 Board of Missions of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in the U. S. A., South.
1846 Baptist Convention in Canada begins
Foreign Missions.
1847 Melanesia, Beginning of Mission work
in Solomon Islands (now Melanesian Mission.)
1847 United Presbyterian Church of Scot¬
land begins Foreign Missions.
1847 Presbyt erian Church of England be¬
gins Foreign Missions.
1847 Mennonite (of Holland) Missionary
Society formed.
1849 Moskito Coast (Nicaragua) Missions
of Moravians begins.
THE WHITE PERIL
53
1849 Hermannsburg Missionary Society
(Germany) formed.
1851 Capt. Allen Gardiner's death in Tierra
del Fuego.
1852 Punjab Mission of Church Missionary
Society begun.
1852 Zenana Bible and Medical Mission
founded in England.
1852 Micronesia Mission of American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
1852 Cumberland Presbyterian Board of
Missions formed.
1853 American Commodore Perry enters
harbor of Yedo, July 8th.
1853 United Brethren in Christ organize
Missionary Society.
1854 Egypt—Mission of Board of Foreign
Missions of the United Presbyterian Church of
North America begins.
1854 Japan opened by the American Treaty,
March 31st.
1855 Ladakh in the Himalayas; Tibetan
Mission of the Moravians.
1855 Java Committee founded in Holland.
1855 Australasian Methodist Society found¬
ed.
1856 Treaty of Paris making peace between
Russia and Turkey; permission for education
and for Bible circulation in Arabic and Turkish.
The most telling blow ever given Islam.
1856 Reformed Presbyterian Synod (N. A.)
forms Board of Foreign Missions.
1856 Swedish National (Fosterlands) Mis¬
sionary Society.
1857 Sepoy Mutiny in India; the country
then coming under direct control of the British
Government.
54
THE WHITE PERIL
1857 United; Methodist Free Churches be¬
gins Missions.
1858 Speke discovers the Victoria-Nyan-a.
1858 Treaty of Tientsin openes interior to
China.
1858 Universities Mission to Central Africa,
founded.
1858 Netherlands Missionary Union found¬
ed.
1859 Utrecht Missionary Union founded.
1859 American Missionaries (Episcopal and
Presbyterian) tenter Japan.
1859 Methodist New Connection Missionary
Society.
1859 Finnish Missionary Society formed.
1860 Woman's Union Missionary Society of
America founded and the Epoch of Woman's
work for women begins.
1860 National Bible Society of Scotland
formed.
1861 Indian Female N. S. and I., Society
(now Zenana Bible and Medical Mission.)
1861 Presbyterian Church in U. S. (South)
begins Foreign Missions.
1861 Haiti Mission of the Domestic and
Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the United States begins.
1861 Nyasaland Mission of the Universities
Mission to Central Africa.
1861 First Protestant Christian converts
baptized in Japan.
1862 Sumatra Mission of the Rhenish Mis¬
sionary Society.
1863 Manchuria Mission of the Scottish
United Preebyterians.
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-5-5
1864 Zanzibar Mission of Universities Mis¬
sion.
1865 China Inland Mission organized.
1865 Salvation Army organized.
1865 Formosa—Lission of the Presbyter¬
ian Church ci' England.
1865 Paris Evangelical Missionary Society
comes to the aid of London Missionary Society
in French Is ands of Polynesia.
1866 Friends' Foreign Mission Association
(England) formed.
1867 General Council of Evangelical Lu¬
therans organized Foreign Mission Board.
1867 German Evangelical Synod of N. A.
organized Mission Board.
1868 Revolution in Japan; security for Mis¬
sions begins.
1870 American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions transfers Missions in Persia,
Syria, and Gaboon region to the Board of For¬
eign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
U.S. (North.)
1870 First Woman Physician goes to India.
1871 Bishop Patterson killed at Santa Cruz,
Melanesia.
J 871 New Guinea Mission of London Mis¬
sionary Society.
1872 First Protestant Church organized in
Japan.
1873 Removal of Anti-Christian edicts in
Japan.
1873Death of Livingstone rouses England to
care for Africa.
1873 American Friends' Foreign Missionary
Board formed.
56
THE WHITE PERIL
1874 Swedish Church (Kyrkans) Mission¬
ary Societey founded.
1874 Nyasaland Missions of Scotch Presby¬
terian Churches.
1875 Foreign Christian Missionary Society
(Disciples) formed. Also Swiss Romande Mis¬
sionary Society.
1876 Uganda Mission of Church Missionary
Society and Tanganyika Mission of London Mis¬
sionary Society begin.
1876 Chifu Convention further opens in
China. Extensive journeys of Chnia Inland Mis¬
sion men begin.
1877. Breklum (Barotseland) Mission of
Paris Evangelical Missionary Society.
1877 Nippon Kirisuto- Kyokwai (Presby¬
terian) Church of Christ in Japan formed Union.
1878 Congo Free State Baptist Missionary
Society and Regions beyond Missionary Union.
1879 Swedish Missionary Society (Missions-
for bundets founded.)
1879 Roman Catholic Missions in Uganda.
1880 Church of England Zenana Missionary
Society organized.
1881 Reformed Church in the U. S. (German)
Foreign Missions begin.
1881 Epoch of general attention to Medical
Missions begins hereabouts.
1882 Free Methodists of N. A., organize For¬
eign Mission Board. Also Neukirchen (Ger¬
many) Mission Institute.
1884 Korea-Mission of Board of Foreign Mis¬
sions of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States (North.)
1884 General Evang. Prot. Missionary Society
(Germany) formed.
THE WHITE PERIL
.57
1885 German New Guinea-Mission of Neuen-
dettelsau Society.
1885 Bishop Hannington killed in Uganda
October 29th.
1886 Student Volunteer Missionary Movement
founded in America.
1886 Christian Church (U. S.) organizes Mis¬
sionary Society.
1886 Arabia-Mission at Aden of Ion Keith-
Falconer; now Foreign Mssions Committee of
the United Free Church of Scotland.
1886 German East Africa Missionary Society
formed.
1886 Kumi-ai Association of Congregational
Churches in Japan.
1887 Nippon Sei-Kowai (Anglican Japanese
Church) organized.
1888 General interdenominational Missionary
Conference in London.
1889 Paris Missionary Society comes to the
aid of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Pres¬
byterian Church in the U. S. (North) in the
French Congo.
1890 Arabia-Mission at Bahrein (now reform¬
ed) Dutch Church in American Board of For¬
eign Missions.
1891 Fund (16,000) raised by Church Mission¬
ary Society friends for British East Africa Com¬
pany to save Uganda.
1892 Zambesi Industrial Mission founded
(England.)
1892 Student Volunteer Missionary Union or¬
ganized in England.
1894 British Protectorate proclaimed in Ugan¬
da, August 18th.
1895 China defeated by Japan in war..
58
THE WHITE PERIL
1895 First woran Missionaries for Uganda.
1895 Massacre of R. W. Steward and others
at Ku-cheng, August 1st.
1895 Epoch of general extension of Industrial
Training in Missions begins about this time.
1896 Paris Evangelical Missionary Society
comes to the aid of the London Missionary So¬
ciety by taking a share of the Madagascar Mis¬
sions on the French conquest of the Island.
1897 Christian and Missionary Alliance form¬
ed (U. S.)
1898 British conquest of Khartum; overthrow
of Mohammedan reactionists.
1899 Philippine Islands opened to Protestant
Missions.
1899 Treaties recognize Japan as on a parity
with Western Powers.
1900 Ecumenical Missionary Conference in
N^ew York, April.
1900 United Free Church of Scotland Foreign
Missions.
1900 Massacres of Missionaries and Native
Christians in China.
1900 Siege of Pekin Embassies; Missionaries
and Chinese Christians aiding in defence ; Japan
joins Western Powers in the relief expedition,
1901 April 6, James Chalmers and Oliver F.
Tomkins, London Missionary Society killed at
Goaribari, I., New Guinea.
1904 War between Russia and Japan.
(b) THE STATUS OF PRO- The Blue Book
TESTANT MISSIONARY of 1907 gives
SOCIETIES us some idea of the organiz¬
ed status of Protestant Foreign Missionary en¬
deavor. Nearly all of the following agencies
THE WHITE PERIL
lave made great advancement during- the past
decade. In reading these statistics, it would be
well to remember that it is difficult to get an in¬
telligent conception of Missionary endeavor by
mere statistics. When we remember that,
prior to 1792 or before Carey preached his
famous Foreign Mission sermon out of which
fTew the Baptist Missionary Society, there was
scarcely any organized Foreign Mission endeav¬
or, these statstics reveal a new era of Foreiega
Mission endeavor and a miracle of achievement.
<c) STATUS OF CATHOLIC—Protestant Mis-
MISSIONARY SOCIETIES— sionary ac¬
tivity evidently provoked the Roman Catholic
Church to greater Missionary endeavor, as the
following Catholic Societies for the propagation
of the Gospel will show.
AFRICA
In General—Cistersians (Trappists,) Rome.
Company of Mary, St. Laurent, sur Sevre,
France.
ABYSSINIA—Lazarists, Paris.
ALGERIA—Algerian Missionary Society, Al¬
giers.
BENIN—African Missionary Society, Lyons.
BRITISH BECHUANALAND—Oblates of St.
Francis de Sales, Troyes, France.
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA—Algerian Mis¬
sionary Society, Algiers.
CENTRAL AFRICA—African Missionary So-
cietey, Verona.
CONGO FREE STATE—Algerian Missionary
Society, Algiers. Belgian Foreign Missionary
60
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Society, Scheut-lez-Bruxelles Sacred Heart of
Jesus, Rome.
DAHOMEY—African Missionary Society,
Lyons.
EGYPT—African Missionary Society, Lyons.
Franciscans, Minor, Rome.
ERITREA—Franciscans (Minor Capuchins)
Rome.
FERNANDO PO—Children of the Immacu¬
late Heart of Mary, Paris.
FRENCH CONGO—Holy Ghost and Sacred
Heart of Mary, Paris.
FRENCH COLONIES—Holy Ghost and Sac¬
red Heart of Mary, Paris.
FRENCH GUINEA—Holy Ghost and Sacre(
Heart of Mary, Paris.
GALLAS—Franciscans (Minor Capuchins,)
Rome.
GERMAN EAST AFRICA—Alegrian Mission¬
ary Society, Algiers.
GERMAN SOUTH WEST AFRICA—Holy
Ghost and Sacred Heart of Mary, Paris.
GOLD COAST—African Missionary Society,
Lyons.
IVORY COAST—African Missionary Society,
Lyons.
KAMERUN—Pious Society of Missions (Pal-
lotins,) Rome.
MADAGASCAR AND ISLAND S—Holy
Ghost and Sacred Heart of Mary, Paris.
Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
La Salette, La Salette.
Premonstratensians (Norbertins,) Rome.
NATAL—Oblates of Mary the Immaculate,
Paris.
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61
NIGERIA, SOUTH—Holy Ghost and Sacred
Heart of Mary, Paris.
ORANGE RIVER COLONY—Oblates of
Mary the Immaculate, Paris.
PORTUGUESE WEST AFRICA—H o 1 y
Ghost and Sacred Heart of Mary, Paris.
RHODESIA—Jesuits, Friesole, near Flor¬
ence.
SAHARA—Algerian Missionary Society,
Algiers.
SENEGAMBIA—Holy Ghost and Sacred
Heart of Mary, Paris.
SEYCHELLES ISLANDS—Franciscans (Min¬
or Capuchins,) Rome.
SIERRE LEONE—Holy Ghost and Sacred
Heart of Mary, Parisr
SOUTHERN ZANZIBAR—Basilians of Ba¬
varia, Munich.
SUDAN—Algerian Missionary Society, Al¬
giers, English Ensign Foreign Missionary So¬
ciety, Mill Hill.
TOGOLAND—Foreign Missionary Society
of German-Holland, (Societey of the Divine
World.)
TRANSVAAL—Oblates of Mary the Immac¬
ulate, Paris.
TRIPOLO—Franciscans, Minor, Rome.
TUNIS—Algerian Missionary Society, Al¬
giers.
UBANGI—(Upper Congo) African Mission¬
ary Society, Lyons.
UGANDA—Algerian Missionary Society,
Algiers.
ZANZIBAR—Benedictines (St. Ottilien,)
Bavaria. Holy Ghost and Sacred Heart of Mary,
Paris.
62
THE WHITE PERIL
AMERICA
AMERICA—Franciscans, Minor, Rome. Ma-
rists, Lyons.
ALASKA—Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
BRITISH COLUMBIA—Oblates of Mary
Immaculate, Paris.
UNITED STATES—Augustinians, Rome,
Augustinians of the Assumption, Paris.
Basilians, Annonay, France.
Benedictines, Monte Casino.
Carmelites, Rome.
Cistercians (Trappists,) Rome.
Dominicans, Rome.
Fathers of Mercy, Paris.
Foreign Missionary Society of German-Hol¬
land, Steyl, Holland (Societj7, of the Divine
World.)
Franciscans (Minor Capuchins,) Rome.
Franciscans (Minor Conventuals,) Rome.
Holy Cross, Le Mans.
Holy Ghost and Sacred Heart of Mary, Paris.
Jesuits. Fiesole, near Florence.
Josephite, Society, Baltimore.
La Salette, La Salette.
Lazarists, Paris.
Oblates of Mary Tmmaculate, Paris.
Oblates of the Sacred Heart, Pontigny,
Yonne, France.
Passionists, Rome.
Paulists Fathers, New York.
Pious Society of Missions (Pallotins) Rome.
Precious Blood, Rome.
Premonstratensians (Norbertins,) Rome.
Redemptorists, Rome.
Resurrectionists, Rome.
THE WHITE PERIL
63
Sacred Heart Missionary Fathers, Issoudun.
St. Charles Missionary Fathers, Piacenza.
Salesians of Turin, Turin.
Servites, Rome-
Society of the Divine Saviour, Rome.
Sulpicians, Paris.
CANADA
Basilians, Annonay, France.
Cistercians (Trappists,) Rome.
Company of Mary St. Laurent, sur Sevre,
France.
Dominicans, Rome.
Eudist Fathers, Rennes.
Franciscans (Minor Capuchins,) Rome.
Holy Cross, Le Mans.
Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
La Salette, La Salette.
Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Paris France.
Premonstratensians (Norbertins,) Rome.
Resurrectionists, Rome.
Sulpicains, Paris.
ST. ALBERT—Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
p3»ris
ST- BONIFACE—Oblates of Mary Immacu-
la.tB Paris
SASKACHEWAN—Oblates of Mary Immac¬
ulate. Paris.
WEST INDIES
SURACOA—Domincians, Rome.
HAITI—Company of Mary, St. Laurent, sur
Sevre, France.
JAMAICA—Jesuite, Fiesole, near Florence.
WEST INDIES—Children of Mary Immacu¬
late, Vendee.
64
THE WHITE PERIL
SOUTH AMERICA
BRITISH GUIANA—Jesuits, Fiesole, near
Florence.
CHILE—-Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
DUTCH GUIANA—Redemptorists, Rome.
FRENCH GLIANA—Holy Ghost and Sacred
Heart of Mary, Paris.
PATAGONIA—North and South—Slesians
of Turin, Turin-
SOUTH AMERICA—Pious Society of Mis¬
sions, (Pallotins,) Rome.
ASIA
ARABIA—Franciscans (Minor Capuchins,)
Rome.
CHINA—Augustinians, Rome.
Cistercians (Trappists,) Rome.
Dominicans, Rome.
Belgian Foreign Missionary Society, Scheut-
lez-Bruxelles.
Paris Foreign Missionary Society, Paris.
German-Holland Foreign Missionary Society
(Society of the Divine Word,) Steyl, Holland.
Foreign Missionary Society, Rome.
Milan Foreign Missionary Society, Milan.
Franciccans, Minor, Rome-
Lazarists, Paris.
MONGOLIA—Belgian Foreign Missionary
Society, Scheut-lez-Bruxelles.
ILI—Belgian Foreign Missionary Society,
Scheut-lez-Bruxelles.
KOREA—Paris Foreign Missionary Society,
Paris.
THE WHITE PERIL
65
CEYLON
COLOMBO—Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
Paris.
JAFFNA—Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
Paris.
KANDY—Benedictines (Sylvertrian,) Rome.
VERAPOLY—Carmelites, Rome.
FRENCH INDO—CHINA
CAMBODIA—Paris Foreign Missionary So¬
ciety, Paris.
TONGKING—Cominicans, Rome.
AGRA—Franciscans (Minor Capuchins,)
Rome.
ALLAHABAD—Franciscans (Minor Capu¬
chins,) Rome.
ASSAM—Society of the Divine Savior, Rome-
BOMBAY—Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
BURMA—Paris Foreign Missionary Society,
Paris. Milan Foreign Missionary Society, Milan,
COCHIN—Paris Foreign Missionary Society,
PflrflS
COIMBATORE—Paris Foreign Missionary
Society, Paris.
DACCA—Hily Cross, Le Mans.
HAIDARABAD—Milan Foreign Missionary
Society, Milan.
KAFIRISTAN—English Foreign Missionary
Society, Mill Hill.
KOTAYAM—Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
KRISHNAGAR—Milan Foreign Missionary
Society, Milan.
LAHORE—Franciscans (Minor Capuchins.)
Rome.
MADRAS—English Foreign Missionary So¬
ciety, Mill Hill.
G6
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MANGALORE—Jesuits, Fiesole, near Flor¬
ence.
MYSORE—Paris Foreign Missionary Society,
Paris.
NAGPUR—St. Francis de Sales of Annecy,
Annecy.
PONDICHERRY—Paris Foreign Missionary
Society, Paris.
QUILLON—Carmelites, Rome-
TRICHINOPOLI—Jesuits, Fiesole, near Flor¬
ence.
WESTERN BENGAL—Jesuits, Fiesole near
Florenece.
VIZAGAPATAM—St. Francis de Sales of
Annecy, Annecy.
JAPAN—Paris Foreign Missionary Society,
Paris.
PERSIA—Lazarists, Paris.
SIAM—Paris Foreign Missionary Society,
Pars.
TURKEY
ARMENIA—Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
Mechitarists (Benedictines,) Venice.
Augustinians of the Assumption, Paris.
BAGDAD—Carmelites, Rome-
JERUSALEM—Algerian Missionary Society,
Algiers.
MARDIN—Franciscans (Minor Capuchins,)
Rome.
MESOPOTAMIA—Domincians, Rome.
PALESTINE—Cistercians (Trappists,) Rome.
SYRIA—Franciscans, Minor, Rome.
Lazarists, Paris.
EUROPE
ENGLAND—Benedictines, Monte Casino.
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67
Carthusians, Grande-Chartreuse.
Cistercians (Trappists,) Rome.
Company of Mary, St. Laurent, sur Sevre,
France.
Oratorians.
Passionists, Rome.
Servites, Rome.
GREECE—Oblates of St. Francis de Sales,
Troyes France.
NORWAY—Premonstratensians (Norber-
tins,) Rome.
ROUMANIA—Franciscans (Minor Conven¬
tuals,) Rome.
Passionists, Rome.
TURKEY IN EUROPE
ADRIANOPLE—Franciscans (Minor Conven¬
tuals,) Rome.
Lazarists, Paris-
Resurrectionists, Rome.
BULGARIA—Lazarists, Paris. Franciscans
(Minor Capuchins,) Rome.
CRETE—Franciscans (Minor Capuehins,)
Rome.
CONSTANTINOPLE—Franciscans (Minor
Conventuals,) Rome, Lazarists, Paris.
NICOPOLIS—Passionists, Rome.
MALAYSIA
BORNEO—English Foreign Missionary So¬
ciety, Mill Hill.
MALAYSIA—Paris Foreign Missionary So¬
ciety, Paris.
NEW GUINEA—Sacred Heart Missionary
Fathers, Issoudun.
$8
THE WHITE PERIL
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS—Augustinians, Rome
Dominicans, Rome, Franciscans, Minor Rome.
GERMAN NEW GUINEA—German-Holland
Foreign Missionary Society (Society of the Di¬
vine Word,) Steyl, Holland.
OCEANIA
CENTRAL OCEANIA—Marists, Lyons.
FIJI ISLANDS—Marists, Lyons.
HAWAII—Sacred Heart of Picpus, Paris.
MARQUESAS ISLANDS—Sacred Heart of
Picpus P&ris#
MELANESIA—(Solomon Islands) Marists,
Lyons.
MICRONESIA—Sacred Heart Missionary
Fathers, Issoudun-
NEW CALEDONIA—Marists, Lyons.
NEW POMERANIA—Sacred Heart Mission¬
ary Fathers, Issoudun.
SAMOA—Marists, Lyons.
TAHITI—Sacred Heart of Picpus, Paris.
AUSTRALIA
COOKTOWN—Augustinians, Rome.
Benedictinees, Monte Casino,
Cistercians (Trappists,) Rome.
Jesuits, Fiesole, near Florence.
Pious Society of Missions (Pallotins,) Rome.
NEW ZEALAND—(Wellington and Christ
Church,) Marists, Lyons.
(2) The Missionary Awakening of the
Churches in Christian lands is rewarded by a
great awakening of the Darker Races; anxious
to receive the best that Christianity has to offer'
THE WHITE PERIL 69
THE DECISIVE HOUR IN—There is no
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS—greater authority
on this subject than John Mott, who has the
following to say on the changing conditions and
plasticity of non-Christian nations.
A STUPENDOUS AWAKENING—"Through¬
out the non-Christian world there are unmistak¬
able signs of the awakening of great peoples
from their long sleep. Through the whole of
Asia a ferment is in process, which has spread
from the intellectual leaders, and is fast taking
possession of the masses. It affects over three-
fourths of the human race, including peoples of
high intelligence and ancient civilization. The
leaders are concerned with questions of eniight-
ment, of intellectual and social freedom, of
economic development, and of national effici¬
ency. In all history there has not been a period
when such vast multitudes of peeople were in
the midst of such stupendous changes, economic,
social, educational, and religious. Among in¬
numerable multitudesof the inhabitants of the
non-Christian world the forces of youth and age,
of radicalism and conservation, of growth and
decay, are seething and struggling for the mas¬
tery. As we survey the unparalleled situation
in these lands, the question is forced upon us,
"What is to be the issue of it all?"
JAPANESE PROGRESS—It is difficult to be¬
lieve that two generations ago Japan was even
more completely closed to Western influence
than was China. She was then under a feudal
form of government, divided into clans - those
of the warrior clan, the Samurai, were intense-
70
THE WHITE PERIL
]y devoted to their Lords and jealous of the
other clans. The rights of the common people
were greatly restricted- One policy was rigidly
enforced—exclusion of the foreigner and of
foreign customs. No Japanese was permitted
to leave the country, and any who escaped were
not permitted to return. Not until 1868 did a
Revolution make the Emperor actual as well as
nominal head of the nation. In 1871, the feudal
Lords voluntarily surrendered their rule, and,
at the advice of a missionary, an embassy was
sent to Western lands to observe and report.
This tour led to the systematic appropriation of
Western ideas, culminating in a constitutional
government proclaimed in 1889. Since then
Japan has proved herself, in some respects, the
most brilliant nation in the world. She has
achieved greater progress in one generation
than any other country has achieved in two, if
not in three generations. She has gone to
school to the whole world and has learned her
lessons with remarkable facility. Seldom does
the traveler find himself upon an ocean steamer
that he does not discover among his fellow-pas¬
sengers one or more Japanese—not going about
the world in search of pleasure, but journeying
with serious intent to study some institution,
some movement, some process, some experience
of another nation or people, determined to make
the larger knowledge tributary to the expand¬
ing greatness of their own country. Open-mind-
edness is their characteristic as a people. Some
have feared that their recent victories would
make them proud, but those who have been in
touch with Japan have received an opposite im¬
pression. They have found that the Japanese
THE WHITE PERIL
71
have rather been humbled and solemnized by
their victories, and have come to have an in¬
creased sense of responsibility. Possibly never
has Japan manifested greater eagerness to
learn from other nations and to increase her ef¬
ficiency than during the period which has elaps¬
ed since the Russian War. The view enter¬
tained in some quarteers that Japan has at last
become fixed is incorrect. She has not ceased
to go to school. Her time of transition has not
wholly passed and profound changes are still
taking place, if not so rapidly as before.
LEADER OF THE ORIENT—The fact must
not be lost sight of that influences from Japan
extend over the whole Orient. The leaders of
the Japanese Christian Student Movement em¬
phasized this fact in a cable message which
they sent to the Student Volunteer Convention
in Nashville, in 1906, "Japan is leading the
Orient, but whither?" Even more aptly do these
words express the position of Japan today than
at the time when the message was sent.
The most casual traveler sees how Japan is
becoming an increasing factor in the commercial
and industrial developments of the Far East,
and the great steamship agericies of America,
Britian, and Germany feel the pressure of this
fact increasingly. Japan is profoundly influenc¬
ing the economic changes, not only of Korea,
but also of China. Her voice has become the
most influential in the political councils of the
Far East. To a far greater extent than most
people realize she has taken the leading posi¬
tion in the promotion of the educational move¬
ment on the mainland of Asia. True it is that
72 THE WHITE PERIL
Japan is leading the Orient. The Eastern nations
are following the West, and what Japan has suc¬
ceeded in doing today the others will do tomor¬
row. The advance of Japan is a prophecy of
what will follow throughout the nations of the
East.
RECENT YEARS IN CHINA—For four thous¬
and years, China has been the same unchanging
Empire, entirely self-centered and self-satisfied,
with a profound contempt for everything for¬
eign. Yet today she too has turned her face
from the past and begun to learn from other na¬
tions. The changeless is giving way to the
changing, and the changes are bewildering in
their number and variety. She has made a more
radical adjustment to modern conditions within
the last five years than has any other nation,
not excepting Korea, -vThose who have studied
the great changes that came over Japan will re¬
member that she made no such advance in the
first ten years after she began to adopt Western
civilization as China has made during the last
five years- Sir Robert Hart, the eminent civilian
and sabacious observer of things Chinese, in
commenting on the recent changes in China,
said, that during the first forty-five years of his
residence in China the country was like a closed
room, without a breath of fresh air from the
outside world, but that the last five years re¬
minded him of being in a room with all the win¬
dows and doors wide open and the breezes of
heaven sweeping through. Dr. Griffith John,
one of China's greatest Missionaries, on starting
back from his last furlough, in speaking to a
group of Christian workers in America, said
THE WHITE PERIL 73
that if the recent changes which had taken place
in China had been attended with the bloodshed
which characterized the late Russian Revolu¬
tion, the eyes of the civilized world would be
fixed upon China, and nothing would hold back
Christian nations from going to her relief. Pres¬
ident Lowry of the Peking University insists
that the change which has come over China
within the last decade has been so great that it
is "almost impossible to describe the contrast
with the past without seeming extravagance of
language." He regards it as "one of the most
sweeping and radical revolutions ever effected
in any great nation in the history of the world."
IMPROVEMENTS—Only twenty years ago
the telegraph system of China was confined to
a few wires binding together the port cities;
novt a net work of 26,000 miles of telegraph
lines, connecting with 490 telegraph offices, is
spread over the empire. For thousands of years,
rivers and canals were the principal channels
of communication in this country, but in recent
years the railway has come in as the great rival.
In 1895 there were but 200 miles of railway in
China; now there are 4170 miles in operation
and 9000 miles more projected. The journey
can now be made in a train de luxe from Peking
to Hankow in the heart of China in thirty-six
hours, whereas six years ago it would have re¬
quired fully forty days by Chinese carts. Steam¬
er lines cover a distance of 8000 miles. The
Yangtse from Hankow to Shanghai sustains a
greater traffic than any other river in the world
for an equal distance- All the great port cities
of China and some of those along the inland
74
THE WHITE PERIL
rivers are being rapidly modernized, and re¬
mind one of the crowded commercial ports of
the West. Great modern industrial plants are
being rapidly established in and near the large
interior cities, as well as at the ports. In Han¬
kow alone not less than 25,000 men are employ¬
ed in such establishments. Shanghai, which a
generation ago was comparatively but a river
village, today has a tonnage in its harbor next to
that of Liverpool. Only a few years ago there
were no modern post offices; now they are to be
found in 3500 towns and cities, and the number
is increasing day by day. In many cities the
rush-light has been superseded by the electric
light. The fear of "boring into the pulse of the
dragon" is being lost by those who are anxious
to exploit the mineral wealth of the country.
NEW EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM —Even more
remarkable than the sending abroad for study
of her own young men and young women, has
been the rapid transformation of the system of
education in China. In 1905, by one stroke of
the vermilion pencil, the Empress Dowager
abolished completely and forever the competi¬
tive examination system which had been in op¬
eration for two thousand years. The old ex¬
amination halls are already falling into ruins
©r have been torn down to make way for mod¬
ern schools. The Imperial Government has is¬
sued in five volumes a complete set of regula¬
tions which include a curriculum of studies bas¬
ed largely upon that of Japan, which is in turn
based on American and European models- With¬
in the last five years the Imperial Government
has not only sent educational commissions to
THE WHITE PERIL 75
Europe arid America to make a careful study
of educational systems of the West, but has also
taken to heart the results of their investigations.
An increasing number of American and Euro¬
pean educators have been invited by provincial
and municipal governments, as well as by Chi¬
nese gentry, to help to establish modern institu¬
tions of learning in different parts of the coun¬
try. A far larger number of Japanese teachers
liave been secured for the same purpose. It is
estimated that at one time there were as many
as one thousand Japanese co-operating in the
educational reforms thronghout China. Mod¬
ern schools and colleges are springing up like
mushrooms all over China. In the Province of
Chihli there are already scores of thousands of
students and scholars in these modern institu¬
tions. In Peking alone there are 200 institu¬
tions with 17,000 students. In each of four oth¬
er cities in China there are already over 10,000
students of modern learning. Scores of girls
schools have sprung up in the different parts of
China, and nothing in the general awakening
of the country is more momentous than this
change in the status and education of women.,
CONDITIONS IN INDIA—India, in common
with all other lands in the East, is in a state of
change and unrest. Great and surprising trans¬
formations have taken place in the past few
years, changes which many did not expect to
see occur until another quarter of a century had
elapsed- Among these, one notes the growing
sense of concern on the part of many outside
the Missionary and Christian community over
the ills which afflict the great masses of the peo~
76 THE WHITE PERIL
pie of this land—ills intellectual, social, and re¬
ligious. Quite apart from the political move¬
ment and agitation throughout India the multi¬
tudes are in the midst of marked social and in¬
dustrial developments and transformations. It
is true that there are large areas of country in¬
habited by scores of millions of agricultural
people, who are as yet largely untouched by the
new spirit of change and progress, but the sig¬
nificant fact is, that the higher and more influen¬
tial classes have been profoundly affected by it.
These classes and castes, which for ages have
had undisputed authority in India, are now seek¬
ing with eagerness to increase their efficiency
and to broaden their power. The educated
Hindus, and increasingly the educated Moham¬
medans, have naturally been most profoundly
influenced by the modern civilization as a re¬
sult of their knowledge of the English language
and their contact with the outside world. It is
remarkable also that individuals from the low¬
est castes and from the outcasts are, under the
influence of Christianity and education, emerg¬
ing from their inferior position in Indian society,
and are aspiring to places of prominence and
influence.
Moreover, there are unmistakable signs in
different parts of India of the break-up of the
system of caste, which has done more to hold
back the progress of Indian society and to hin¬
der the advance of Christianity than any other
-cause.
TURKEY A MARVEL—Of no other country
in the recent or remote past could it be said so
truly as it can be said of Turkey, that it is a na-
THE WHITE PERIL 77
tion born in a day. On July 24, 1908, the reac¬
tionary Sultan, Abdul Hamid, who had reigned
since 1876, was forced by the Progressive Party
of young Turks to grant a constitution and call
a Parliament. The marvelous change came un¬
expectedly and with lightning-like rapidity. No
correspondent, missionary, consul, or ambassa¬
dor had predicted it- In some respects it was
the most extraordinary revolution which has ev¬
er taken place among either an Asiatic or a Eu¬
ropean people. Within the course of a few
weeks Turkey passed from the most absolute
despotism to one of the progressive countries of
the world. The young Turks carried with them,
from the Christian races, the Jews, and even un¬
civilized tribes, to many of the Mohammedan
leaders and parts of the army, and won the sym¬
pathetic and enthusiastic approval of every for¬
eign nation. Abdul Hamid has finally been de¬
posed and succeeded by Mehmed V., a man of
liberal views.
The peacefulness and moderation character¬
izing the first stage of this revolution, that of the
summer of 1908 were as notable as its sudden¬
ness and completeness. All admit that the
young Turks at that time showed great restraint,
poise, and ability. Many predicted a day of
terrible retribution, should those who had suf¬
fered under the old government ever get the
reins of power into their own hands. Moreover,
the reactionary movement of the spring of 1909,
seemed to afford additional justification for
such forebodings, but although terrible blood¬
shed and cruelty characterized that awful evo¬
lution of religious fanaticism and reactionary
jealousy in Cilicia, subsequent events have
78
THE WHITE PERIL
clearly shown that the progressive forces which,
under the leadership of the Young Turk party
accomplished the early revolution and are still
in the ascendant, are of such strength and in¬
fluence as to give promise of leading the move¬
ment of progress from strength to strength-
Although the Turkish Revolution took place
so recently, the changes which it has accom¬
plished seem almost incredible. The autocracy
has been done away with, a constitutional gov¬
ernment has been established, the once forbid¬
den words: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Jus¬
tice." the proclaiming of which a few years ago
would have sent a man into banishment or to
death, are now freely spoken.
The system of spies, in connection with which
there were said to have been over 40,000 in Con¬
stantinople alone, has been abolished. The gall¬
ing restrictions of the censorship have been re¬
moved. The freest agitation of political ques¬
tions is permitted in the press and in the public
meetings.
Interesting educational changes are taking
place. Under the old regime, knoweldge was
dangerous and men hid it. Now, it is coming
to light. Meetings for the discussion of all sorts
of questions, political and otherwise, are held
in mosques and churches, in halls and public
squares. The number of periodicals has already
been greatly multiplied. It is said that over
two hundred news papers have been started in
Constantinople alone- The changes are affect¬
ing powerfully the social life. There could be
no better indication of this than the changing
social degradation of Mohammedan women
which had been one of the greatest barriers to
THE WHITE PERIL 79
the advance of Turkey. The new movement car¬
ries with it the education and emancipation of
women- No one, three y-ears ago would have
dreamed of Turkish women attending public
meetings, but that is a common practice now.
SOUTH AFRICAN OUTLOOK—It is not nec¬
essary to call attention to the economic, social,
and educational development of the native
races of South Africa, which development,
along with the political evolution, has advanced
steadily through the past two or three genera¬
tions. Suffice it to state that in no period has
the progress been more marked, judged by ev¬
ery test, than during the last two decades- This
progress is observable in almost every part of
what is known as the sub-Continent, the part of
Africa lying south of the Zambesi.
ADVANCE IN EGYPT—The facts regarding
the transformation of Egypt during the last two
of three decades are also well known. The in¬
dustrial and educational advances which have
been made within this period have been indeed
marked. Egypt, formerly one of the w*orst gov¬
erned countries of modern times, has now a gov¬
ernment which may be characterized as stable,
enlightened and efficient. The transformations
which have taken place in the Upper Nile por¬
tion of the Sudan within the last five years con¬
stitute one of the most encouraging examples of
progress to be found in any part of the non-
Christian world. Good railways and roads have
been made; modern methods of agriculture and
forestry have been introduced ; industries have
been established; a sound financial system has
been put into operation; the country is adminis-
80
THE WHITE PERIL
tered with justice; a good school system, lead¬
ing up to the efficient Gordon College, has been
created; social evils have been abolished, in¬
cluding slavery and polygamy., No region had
sunk to a lower depth, socially and economically
yet few sectoins of fhe non-Christian world give
brighter signs of promise.
RESULTS IN CENTRAL AFRICA—-Even in
the great heart of Africa the streams of modern
progress are moving with increasing momentum,
only a generation ago, at the time when Stanley
met Livingstone, the vast region of Central Af¬
rica, covering a territory of over two million
square miles, was practically unknown. An ex¬
amination of the map of Africa of that time indi¬
cates there a blank with the exception of the
coast lines. In the intervening years that whole
region has been explored and is now well known
and the new maps show the river system, moun¬
tains, lakes, cities, and towns- This whole re¬
gion is now divided among European powers,
and is coming into the light of civilization. Thir¬
ty years ago there were no railways in this great
territory, Now 1,200 miles of railway are in op¬
eration, and 1,000 miles more are under con¬
struction. It took Stanley 104 days to make the
journey from the East Coast to Victoria Nyanza,
whereas, it can now be made by rail in comfort
within three days. Railways lead toward the
heart of Africa, not only from the East Coast,
but also from the West, the North, and the
South. About twenty years ago, in Uganda, the
only avenues of communication were foot paths.
Nov/ broad roads, on which the Governor is able
to use his motor car, intersect the country in ev-
THE WHITE PERIL 81
•ry direction. On the inland rivers and lakes,
the steamer lines cover a distance of nearly
7,000 miles. In this territory also over 5,000
miles of telegraph are in operation. A modern
postal service is extending in every principal di¬
vision of interior Africa. Bishop Tucker has
ponted out that when he first reached Uganda
they were obliged to wait eight or nine months
for a home mail, but now there is a weekly ser¬
vice. In the year 1907, the mails of British East
Africa and of the Congo carried three million
letters and parcels-
AFRICA EDUCATIONALLY A PLASTIC
FIELD—Educational progress is also evident.
Not a few tribes and peoples have within a gen¬
eration acquired a written language and the be¬
ginning of literature. Many hundreds, if not
thousands of schools under government and
missionary auspices, may now be found through¬
out this expanse, where at the time of Living¬
stone's journeys there were none. In Uganda
alone there are in these schools over 30,000
boys and girls. There are also large sales of
school books and Christian literature in the ver¬
naculars. With the exception of the Belgian
Congo with its terrible abuses and parts of
French Africa in which an unprogressive poli¬
cy is maintained, the advancement of interior
Africa has been of such extent and character as
to constitute a ground for great hopefulness for
the future. It reveals the larger part of a vast
continent in the beginnings of transformation
from ignorance, barbarism, and superstition, in¬
to the light of modern civilization, and as time
advances the transformation will become more
82 THE WHITE PERIL
and more complete. Owing to the simpler char¬
acter of the primitive African peoples, this con¬
tinent is in many respects the most plastic part
of the world, and will be during this generation
the most readily susceptible to whatever influ-
eneces are brought to bear upon it.
POSSIBILITIES OF THE SITUATION—An'
aw'akened church and a waiting world shows
that the spirit of God is being poured out on all
flesh for world-wide redemption.
THE ONLY LIMITATION—Because John
Mott is an accepted authority I prefer to have
him tell us in his own words:
"The Missionary possibilities of the Christian
Church today are boundless- What limits their
realization? There is in the Christ-given Mis¬
sionary purpose of the Church nothing which
limits these possibilities, for that purpose is
broad enough, in its scope, to embrace the entire
non-Christian world and to meet the whole
range of needs of each human heart of the hu¬
man race. The needs of the non-Christian na¬
tions and races present no such limitation; their
need is great enough extensively to require all
that Christian lands can give them, and the op¬
portunities they present are sufficiently wide
and inspiring to call forth the self-denying de¬
votion of all of Christ's true followers. Nor do
the times in which we live suggest a limit to the
missionary possibilities of the Church. In no
preceding generation or decade has the Church
been confronted throughout the non-Christian
world with such a coincidence or synchronizing
of crises, providences, and favoring conditions.
And there is no limit to God as to what He might
THE WHITE PERIL 83
accomplish, through His children, for the exten¬
sion of His Kingdom on earth. The only place
where such limitations exist is in the lives of
Christians. They, by their lack of vision, by
their lack of whole-hearted consecration, by
their lack of efficient resolution, by their lack of
heroic self-sacirfice, and by their lack of trium¬
phant faith, prevent the complete realization of
God's sublime purposes for the world. Of how
many are the words spoken in olden times still
true, "they limited the Holy One." The present
is the time when Christians everywhere should
rise above all that would hinder the mighty
manifestation of Christ in the missionary work
of the Church.
It is a decisive hour for the non-Christian na¬
tions. Far reaching movements—national, ra¬
cial, social, economic, religious are shaking
them to their foundations- These nations are
still plastic. Shall they set in Christian or pagan
molds? Their ancient faiths, ethical restraints,
and social orders are being weakened or aban¬
doned. Shall our sufficient faith fill the void?
It is a decisive hour for the Christian Church.
If it neglects to meet successfully the present
world crisis by failing to discharge its responsi¬
bility to the whole world, it will lose its power
both on the home and on the foreign fields and
will be seriously hindered in its mission to the
coming generation. Nothing less than the ade¬
quacy of Christianity, as a world religion, is on
trial.
It is indeed the decisive hour of Christian
missions. It is the time of all times for Chris¬
tians of every name to unite with quickened loy¬
alty and with reliance upon the living God, to
84 THE WHITE PEftIL
undertake to make Christ known to all men,
and to bring His power to bear upon all nations.
It is high time to face this duty and with serious
purpose to discharge it- Let leaders and mem¬
bers of the Church reflect on the awful serious¬
ness of the fact that times and opportunities
.pass. The Church must use them or lose them.
The sense of immediacy and the spirit of reality
are the need of the hour. Doors open and doors
shut again. Time presses. "The living, the liv¬
ing he shall praise Thee." Let each Christian
Wsolve and so act that if a sufficient number
oi others so act, this generation may not pass
away until every one has had an adequate op¬
portunity to know of Christ.
THE WHITE PERIL
85
CHAPTER IV.
TAKING STOCK
"Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the way, and
seek and ask for the old paths." "Because my
people hath forgotten me, they have burnt in¬
cense to vanity and they have caused them to
stumble in their ways from the ancient paths,
to walk in paths, in a way not cast up: to make
their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing;
every one that passeth thereby shall be aston¬
ished, and wag his head."—Jer. 6:15; 18:15-16.
"Oh God the heathen are come into thine inheri¬
tance."—Psalm 79:1. "How doth the city sit
solitary, that was full of people, how is she be¬
come as a widow among the provinces, how is
she become tributary." "Her adversaries are
the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord
hath afflicted her for the multitude of her trans¬
gressions: her children are gone into captivity
before the enemy." "Jerusalem hath grievously
sinned: therefore she is removed; all that hon¬
ored her, despise her, because they have seen
her nakedness; yet she sigheth and turneth
backward." "The adversary hath spread out
his hand against all her pleasant things; for she
hath seen that the heathen entered into her
sanctuary."—Lam. 1:1-10.
(1) Two thousand years have passed since
the followers of Jesus Christ started propagat¬
ing the Gospel, in Asia and Africa and it is now
time to take stock, correct our errors and pre¬
pare for the great modern Christian advance.
CHRISTIANITY IN THE ORIENT—It must be
remembered that Christianity started in Asia
86 THE WHITE PERIL
and Africa 622 years before Mohammedism was
born. As to how well it was established, we will
let Dr- C. H. Patton tell us:
"If we could go back to the days of the saint¬
ly Augustine, and could visit Alexandria, Cy-
rene, Carthage, Hippo, and the other cities of
the coast, w£ would say, "Christianity is so
strongly established in this region that its over¬
throw is inconceivable." We would find hun¬
dreds of bishoprics, great churches with their
endowments, extensive monastries, clergy of va¬
rious ranks, impressive rituals, fasts and feasts
in great abundance, and an all-round develop¬
ment of church service and life. Alexandria in
the Fifth Century was one of the great capitals
of the empire. The ancient Caesareum, convert¬
ed into a church, w'as one of the noblest struc¬
tures in the city, being marked by two obelisks,
known as Cleopatra's Needles. We read that
there were no less than 600 monastries in the
neighborhood of Alexandria. Egypt for centu¬
ries was the most splendid seat of Oriental
Christianity.
In North Africa proper, that is, the coast re¬
gion aside from Egypt and Cyrenaica, the sit¬
uation was somewhat different. In this vast do¬
main, of which Carthage was the-capital, Chris¬
tianity was strong in leadership and fairly
strong in numbers; but it possessed no such
powerful organization as most writers have
supposed- We read of six church provinces be¬
ing formed in the reign of Diocletian (284-305)
notwithstanding his fierce edicts against Chris¬
tianity and the resulting persecutions. In the
year 411, a conference was called at Carthage
over doctrinal difficulties, attended by more
THE WHITE PERIL
87
than 500 bishops. These bishops, however,
were hardly more than pastors, since in Augus¬
tine's time the parishes numbered a little over
five hundred- Augustine, himself, if we may
judge from one of his sermons, presided over
about a dozen priests and deacons. The
strength of the church in North Africa was pri¬
marily the strength of towering personalities,
like Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine, to
whom the Roman world went to school. Under
their leadership considerable progress was made
in the conversion from heathenism of the Berber
tribes; but these tribes, never loyal to Rome,
were not over zealous in behalf of the Roman
Church. Many of these peoples had strong
leanings toward Judaism. Yet, after due allow¬
ance is made for these facts, when we consider
the extent of the North African Church, and es¬
pecially when we take in view the splendor of
the establishment in Egypt, it would seem that
Christianity should have been able to withstand
any assauHs, from within or without. As a mat¬
ter of fact, it went down with a crash before the
Mohammedan invaders."
THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION—Con¬
cerning the invasion of Mohammedism into the
Christian territory, Dr. Patton says:
"The man primarily responsible for the sub¬
jugation of North Africa and for the annihila¬
tion of the church, boasted the name of Amr-
ibn-el-asi- In spite of his name this man was no
"hyphenate." He was an Arab, of the most fa¬
natical brand, knowing but one allegiance—the
faith of Islam. Back of him towered the per¬
sonality of Mohammed, dreamer, fanatic, des-
88 THE WHITE PERIL
pot, only six years in his grave, but raging like
a simoon from the desert in the soul of his lieu¬
tenants. There can be no more striking com¬
mentary upon the power of this movement
which burst upon the world from the heart of
Arabia, than the fact that Amr-ibn-el-asi invad¬
ed Egypt in 640 A. D., with a force of only
4,000 men. Apparently one Arab was equal to
ten Egyptians. In fact, Alexandria surrendered
without a struggle, and shortly the entire Nile
Valley was in the possession of the invaders.
There followered an extensive immigration from
Arabia, and in almost incredibly short space of
time, the proud structure of Roman civilization
and Christian institutions became a thing of
the past. The loss of the collection of ancient
manuscripts in the great library of Alexandria,
the largest in the ancient world, is everywhere
recognized by scholars as one of the tragedies
of history. The story goes that Akba, who raid¬
ed Morocco, rode his horse far out into the surf
and cried, "Great God, if I were not stopped by
this raging sea, I would go to the nation of the
West, preaching the unity of thy name and put¬
ting to the sword those who would not submit."
This is rather too melodramatic to be true, but
it suggests the fierce impetuosity which every¬
where characterized the North African inva¬
sion.
The year 711, is usually given as the date
when the entire North Coast was in the hands
of the invaders. In the same year Tarik, a Ber¬
ber Prince, who had been converted to Islam,
landed at Gibraltar with 12,000 men and com¬
menced the invasion of Europe.
THE WHITE PERIL 89
In all this territory we are to bear in mine!
that Christianity went down as completely as
did Roman Government and law. To the Arab
conquerors, as also to many of the Berber tribes,
the two were bound up in the same bundle. It
is quite conceivable that the church might have
maintained herself under a Moslem governmnet;
but this was not to be. The plain fact is that
Christianity was wiped out in North Africa, and
in the Nile valley remained only in two strug¬
gling and degenerate branches of the church.
Islam glories in this fact today and is not averse
to throwing it in the* face of the Christian who
seeks to maintain the superiority of his religion."
MOHAMMEDISM ON THE MARCH—"The
region lying immediately South o^ the Sahara,
some 700 miles wide, and stretching from the
Atlantic to the Red Sea, a distance of 4,000
miles, is known as the Sudan. Since the Anglo-
French agreement of 1904, the Eastern section
is called the Egyptian Sudan, the Western sec¬
tion (apart from certain maritime colonies) is
known as the French Sudan- This vast area,
for the most part fertile and areable, is inhabit¬
ed by a large number of war-like tribes. The
population is placed by some authorities as high
as 40,000,000. The name comes from an Arab
word meaning "the country of the blacks."
We associate this region with the second Mo¬
hammed, appointed by Allah for the extermina¬
tion of the infidels; the exploits of Emin Pasha,
who was rescued in so dramatic a fashion by
Stanley; the tragic death of Genereal Gordon;
and with the brilliant military achievements
which brought Kitchner his fame. Of late the
90 THE WHITE PERIL
Sudan has come into prominence in religious cir¬
cles because of the rapid advance of Moham-
medism. Throughout this region in recent years
Mohammedan "missionaries" have been exceed¬
ingly active annexing tribe after tribe, until now
by far the larger part of the Sudan has been
preempted for that faith. These tribes might
have been won to Christianity had our Mission¬
aries been on hand to present the message. But
Christianity was conspicuously absent, while Is¬
lam was on the ground in the persons of multi¬
tudes of traders on fire with fanatic zeal. Ac¬
cording to Mohammedan ideas, every Moslem
is a missionary. Be he prince or slave, sailor or
merchant, wherever he goes he is expected to
proclaim his religion. If Africa as in no other
part of the world the Moslem approaches this
lofty ideal- He is a missionary, not as one sent
by a society or board, such as we have in Chris¬
tian lands, but as one impelled by zeal for the
prophet of God. The fact that today the larger
part of the Sudan is Mohammedan ground at¬
tests the power of a witnessing faith.
In the opinion of many missionary leaders the
Mohammedan advance in Central Africa consti¬
tutes the greatest crisis before the Christian
Churches today. The World's Missionary Con¬
ference at Edinburgh,, in 1910, after reviewing
the situation in every land, called particular at¬
tention to what is going on in the heart of Afri¬
ca. "The absorption of native races into Islam
is proceeding rapidly and continuously in prac¬
tically all parts of the continent." The confer¬
ence at Lucknow, India, called in 1911 to con¬
sider exclusively Moslem problems, issued defi¬
nite suggestions for the meeting of this crisis. A
THE WHITE PERIL 91
chain of mission stations across Africa was pro¬
posed for the holding back of the Moslem ad¬
vance, and the mission boards were called rapon
to unite their efforts in such a movement. Im¬
mediate, concerted action they considered! es¬
sential if the situation is to be saved. Other au¬
thorities might be quoted, all urging: the critical
nature of this Mohammedan drive. The Rev.
William J. Boone, writing in "The Internation¬
al Review of Missions," maintains that the whole-
strategy of missions in Africa should be viewed:
in relation to Islam. In this chapter we are to
study the facts of the case, inquire into the caus¬
es, and consider certain remedies."
"We are to remember that Islam in Africa has
always had its hinderland. Hardly had the
Arabs established themselves in the coast region
before they began pushing into the interior. In
the Sahara they naturally found themselves
much at home, and being born traders they were
not slow to press into the populated sections
and annex the people, possibly 800,000 of them,
to their religion and civilization. They appear
to have introduced the camel into this region;
at any rate, they soon opened up caravan routes
from the interior to the various coast cities and
made large use of the Nile for reaching the
Eastern Sudan.
When the Portuguese navigators explored
the East coast in the Fifteenth Century, they
found rich Arab cities along the coast as far
South as Sofia, near the mouth of the Zambezi.
These coast cities were undoubtedly built by im¬
migrants from across the Red Sea. A century
earlier, the Arabs had crossed the Sudan and
had established themselves in Kordofan, Bar-
92
THE WHITE PERIL
fur, Wadai, and other states. From all these
centers they carried on an extensive trade in the
twin industries, ivory and slaves, which every¬
where have brought such woe to the Africans.
In the Western Sudan the Moslems seem to
have made their impression even before they
were established in the East. On the upper
waters of the Niger there was a remarkable
tribe, with a long line of kings, and maintaining
a capital known as the Songhai. This tribe was
converted to Islam about 1010. The Songhai,
in turn, converted the great Fula tribe, which'
occupied the region South of Timbucktoo. This
was in the Twelfth or Thirteenth Century. The
Songhai also won over the Mandingos of Sene-
gambia on the West coast. The Fulas, becom¬
ing aggresive, invaded the region to the East of
the Niger, subduring and converting the Hausa
people, who, as traders, are a mighty factor in
spreading Islam today. So it went on, until
Mohammedanism dominated not leses than one-
third of the people of the continent. All this
happened from 900 to 300 years ago. At the
very time when the crusaders of Europe were
endeavoring to wrest from the original seats of
Christianity from the Moslems, the Moslems-
were quietly taking possession of the Sudan.
Writers and speakers who dwell upon the peril
of Islam in Africa often over-look this history of
unchecked conquest, which runs back so m^nv
centuries. Islam is no new thing to the tribes
North of the Congo-
The startling thing in the situation is the new
religion impetus which has come to the Arabs
and to the converted tribes, as the result of mod¬
ern conditions. Having remained quiescent for
THE WHITE PERIL 93
some three centuries, the hosts of Islam once
more are on the march. The remaining sections
of the Sudan are being won over, tribe by tribe,
and Mohammedan missionaries are pressing
Southward into the Congo country and along
the two coasts. Nigeria, one of the richest and
most populous sections of the continent, is now
two-thirds Mohammedan. The Swahili, the
dominant tribe in British East Africa, are be¬
coming Mohammedan. The Swahili, being the
artisans of East Africa, are in great demand in
the interior. They carry their religion where-
ever they go. In German East Africa one sixth
of the population has recently become Moham¬
medan. Even in Nyasaland, below German East
Africa, not less than 50,000 natives have lately
been converted to Islam. To make matters
worse we are learning now of Chrsitian villages
in West Africa which, under the pressure of
Mohammedan neighbors, have deserted Christ
and gone over to the rival faith.
Until the facts were made known at the Edin-
burg Conference, Christian people had no idea
of this new Mohammedan peril. They are be¬
ginning now to realize that all Central Africa
is threatened, that this is not a matter of the
neglect of the church five years ago, but of the
neglect of the church today. The missionary
movement of the church had not begun or even
been dreamed of when Islam won her initial
victories in the Sudan; but this new advance
finds the churches supposedly girded for the
task of winning the world. Surely we must
move quickly if we are to save the situation in
Central Africa.
94
THE WHITE PERIL
ISLAM IN INDIA, CHINA, RUSSIA AND
MALAYS-—In India, the country having the
largest Mohammedan population, there is a re¬
naissance of Islam. The power of the prophet
is still great, and Islam is ready to receive and
seal perpetually, as her own, Hindus of low
caste who lose faith in their own religion or seek
to better their condition. They are pushing their
propaganda, sending out preachers and work¬
ing hard to convert the low caste and outcast
people. In some parts of the country large
bodies of these depressed classes and also num¬
bers of the hill tribes have gone over to Islam.
Their advance in India is proved by an increase
in the Mohammedan population in India of
about six millions in the ten years preceeding
the last census. Dr. J. C. R- Ewing of Lahore,
expresses the belief that unless the church avails
itself of the marvelous opportunity now pre¬
sented by the tens of millions of low caste peo¬
ple, within the next ten years the bulk of those
who have not been given a status in relation to
the Hindus, will have become Mohammedan.
While there is no serious danger that China will
become a Moslem state, Mohammedanism is
there also manifesting fresh interest and vigor.
By correspondence the mullahs are kept in touch
with the political and religious movements of the
world of Islam, and by the visits of Moslem mis¬
sionaries from Arabia and elsewhere, efforts are
constantly made to revive the faith. Moreover,
in other parts of China in Chihli, for example,
there are similar indications of activity.
The Moslems of Russia are showing great
zeal. There are indications that the Pan-Islam¬
ic movement has reached Bokhaar and Kabul,
THE WHITE PERIL 95
as well as Orenburg and Tiflis. Not only is there
discussion of social reform in the Moslem press
of Russia but the Tartar paper, Terjuman, re¬
cently contained a proposition calling for a Pan-
Islamic Congress to discuss the reformation of
Islam-
In the East Indies, Islam, which for a long
time was but a mere veneer, is daily becoming
a more pervasive and dominant faith. It is ad¬
vancing rapidly and persistently, absorbing step
by step the existing remnants of heathenism.
Greatly increased travel to Mecca, brought
about by better means of communication and
lower rates, is establishing Mohammedanism!
among the Malays. The returned pilgrims be¬
come henceforth ardent defenders and propaga¬
tors of the faith. In Sumatra, Islam is advanc¬
ing into hitherto pagan territories and unless the.
Church promptly does more to meet the desire
for education and enlightenment, there is dan¬
ger that the population will more and more
accept Mohammedanism. In Java, Mohamme¬
danism shows new life in the establishment of a
Moslem university, and in the production of
an edition of the Koran in Japanese. The in¬
tercourse between Java and Mecca is extremely
active, thousands of Javanese annually making
the pilgrimage. The number of teachers of the
Koran is multiplying greatly. Not less than
20,000 Arabs are carrying on an effective and
profitable propaganda in the East Indies as
teachers of Islam. The inhabitants are coming
more and more under the influence of Moham¬
medanism and are thus being made less acces¬
sible to the work of the Dutch missionaries- The
same great movement is in process in Celebes,
96 THE WHITE PERIL
Hew Guinea, the Philippines, and other islands
and groups of islands.
Two forces are contending for Africa—Chris¬
tianity and Mohammedanism. It dominates
Africa on its western half as far south as 10 de¬
grees North latitude, and on its eastern half, as
far south as 5 degrees N.; and it is ever pushing
Is conquests beyond its own territory, not only
down the East Coast but also into the interior
and to tribes on the West Coast. If things con-
linue as they are now tending, Africa may be¬
come a Mohammedan continent. Mohammedan¬
ism comes to the African people as a higher re¬
ligion than their own, with the dignity of an ap¬
parently higher civilization and of world power.
It is rapidly received by these eager listeners.
Once received, it is Christianity's most formida¬
ble enemy. It permits a laxity of morals, in
some cases worse than that of heathendom. It
sanctions polygamy- It breeds pride and arro¬
gance, and thus hardens the heart against the
Word of God. It is spread by those who do not
differ essentially from the natives in their ideas
and customs, whereas Christianity, until a force
©f native workers can be prepared, must be
spread by Europeans who differ greatly from
the natives.
The absorption of native races into Islam is
proceeeding rapidly and continually in practi¬
cally all parts of the continent. Convincing
evidence of this fact has been presented by
missoinaries along the Nile, in East Central Af¬
rica, in Southeast Africa on different parts of the
West Coast, in Northen Nigeria in the Sudan, in
different parts of the Congo Basin, in parts lying
soutn of the Congo, and even in South Africa,
THE WHITE PERIL 97
Mohammedan traders are finding their way into
the remotest parts of the continent, and it is
well known that every Mohammedan trader is
more or less a Mohammedan missionary. Where
ever a Mohammedan penetrates he makes con¬
verts to Islam. Paganism is doomed. As has
been said above, animistic faiths crumble quick¬
ly before any higher and more dogmatic faith
throughout Africa, and Islam is pushing hard
to win the pagan states and peoples-
COMPARATIVE RESULTS.—The following
statistics show that the believers in the Asiatic
religions not only have followers in every Con¬
tinent, but that they have three hundred and
fifty-two million and four hundred more follow¬
ers of their faith than Roman Catholics, Protes¬
tants Baptists, and the Eastern Catholic church
combined.
COMPARATIVE QUALITY—We all know
that the principle of Christianity constitutes the
foundation stone of all that is highest and best.
And other foundations can no man lay than that
is laid which is Christ Jesus the Chief among
ten thousand and all together lovely. But pro¬
fessing Christian principles is one thing and the
practice of those principles is another. And it
is not him that sayest Lord, Lord, but he that
doeth the will of the Father who is the most
Christian.
GERMAN CULTURE German culture,
which Was the craze of the Occident less than
a decade ago, is repudiated by the followers of
the Christian faith throughout the world. And
people of all faiths have help to crush it out, and
98 THE WHITE PERIL
reconstruct the western world; Asia and Africa
not only dread what is called German culture,
but they dread what they regard as the same
tendency in all the so-called Christian nations.
(4) In spite of the handicaps the white he¬
roes of the Christian faith have worked wonders
in modern missions for the darker races- (a)
The Foreign Mission equipment in men, money
and Missionaries is nearly all to the credit of the
white Christians of Europe and America.
The following official statistics issued by the
COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AND COUN¬
SEL OF FOREIGN MISSIONS CONFERENCE
OF NORTH AMERICA, December, 1917:
WHITE HEROES OF MODERN MISSIONS—
The white Christians have not only furnished
money and equipments for foreign missions, but
they have given some of the noblest types of
missionaries, the world has ever witnessed; Paul
himself not excepted.
Raimundus Lullious was a nobleman of Ma-
jaca, born in Palma 1236, who suddenly re¬
nounced the world and divided his estate among
his kin, and became the first missionary to the
Mohammedan. In 1292, just five centuries be¬
fore the English Baptist Missionary was organiz¬
ed under the inspiration of Carey, he landed in
Tunis and preached Christ when it was a crime
punished by death. He was cast into prison and
driven out of the country, but in 1307, he return¬
ed to Africa where he was again imprisoned.
Dr. George Smith says of him: "No church,
papal or reformed has produced a missionary
so original in plan, so ardent and persevering
in execution, so varied in gifts, so inspired by
THE WHITE PERIL 99
the love of Christ as this saint of seventy, whom
the Mohammedans stoned to death on the 30th
of June, 1315"—the first martyr to die for the
sake of the dark continent.
Francis Exavier, the first Roman apostle to
the Indies, who lived from 1506 to 1552, pre¬
ceded Lull and Carey by five centuries, planted
the Gospel in fifty-two different Kingdoms*
preached through nine thousand miles of ter¬
ritory and baptized over a million persons! He
died off the coast of China on the Island of San-
cian, or St. John. Pierson says: "No life since
Paul's has shown such ardor and fervour, such,
absorbing zeal for the great glory of God, such
self-forgetting, self-denying passion for souls of
men, as that young saint of Navarre, whose
withered relics are still adored in the church of
Bon at Genoa."
•» John Elliott, wftio lived from 1604-1690, was
first apostle to the North American Indians.
Southey pronounced John Elliot, "One of the
most extraordinary men of any country." Pear¬
son says: "We claim for him a certain priority
of pedigree in this apostolic succession. In a
particular sense he was on this side of the sea,
father and founder of modern Missions; for it
-,vas his life and work that moved and moulded
Davis Bernard, James Brainerd Taylor, Jonathan
Edwards, Adoniran Judson, as also William
Carey and others who followed him."
Baron Enst Von Wells, the pioneer to Dutch
Guiana is another who about 1616, issued his
invitation for a society of Jesus to promote
Christianity and the conversion of heathen¬
dom."
100 THE WHITE PERIL
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, who lived from
1683 to 1719, was the Pioneer to India is anoth¬
er. Pierson says: "For courageous faith, and
patient faithfulness, for keen insight and prac¬
tical wisdom, for untiring industry and deep de¬
votion, few missionaries anywhere have equaled
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg."
Hans Egede, the apostle of Greenland (lived
from 1686 to 1758) is another.
Count Von Zinzendorf, who lived from 1700
to 1760, who was the Great Moravian Apostle
of Christianity, who w'ent from his marriage al¬
ter with loins girt and staff in hand to help save
"■a--lost world.
- Christian Friederich Schwartz, who lived
from 1726 to 1798, founder of the Native Chris¬
tian Church in India, is another. Bishop Heber
■describes him as "One of the most active fear¬
less and successful missionaries who have ap¬
peared since the Apostles."
There is our world wide Baptist William Carey,
•who lived from 1761 to 1834, and is justly called
the Pioneer in Organized Missions. When he
died at seventy-three, he had for half a century
been the leading spirit in modern missions to the
darker races.
Robert Morrison, who lived from 1782 to
1834, was the apostle to China, who in 1818, laid
the foundation for the Anglo-Chinese College,
and translated the scriptures into the Chinese
lEn^UE^G
Samuel J- Mills, who lived from 1783 to 1818,
was' founder of Missions in America. He
was the man who leaped into the saddle and
swam streams and endured rains, waded
swamps, hungry, drenched, daring wild beasts
THE WHITE PERIL
101
who explored the half-settled South West and
laid the foundation which won it for Christ.
There is also Adoniran Judson, who lived
from 1788 to 1850, the great Apostle to Burma.
When Judson died hundreds of Baptized Bur-
mans and Karens were sleeping in Jesus and
over seven thousand survived in sixty-three
churches under the over sight of one hundred
and sixty-three missionaries, native pastors, and
helpers. Judson had finished his Bible trans¬
lation, compiled a Burmese dictionary and laid
the basis of Christian character deep down in
the Burman heart."
Captain Allen F. Gardner is another who
lived from 1794 to 1851. He was the Pioneer of
Tierra Del Fuego. In 1834 he went to Zulu
land in South Africa and when driven from
there by the war between the Dutch farmers and
the natives, he went to New Guinea. He was
the man who answered the assertion by Darwin
that the Feugians was the missing link and could
not be Christianized- Darwin later confessed,
"I could not have believed that all the mission¬
aries in the world could have made the Fuegins
honest."
John Willims, the apostle to the South Seas,
who lived fro ml796 to 1839, was another won¬
der and martyr to missions.
David Livingstone, the hero of Blantyre, who
lived from 1813 to 1873—the African Pioneer
out ranks all others as Africa's Apostle. He
sought primarily to explore and develop the
whole continent, devise facilities* for travel and
traffic, and abolish the awful curse of slavery^
102
THE WHITE PERIL
His motto was for Africa—"The end of geo¬
graphical feat is the beginning of the true enter¬
prise."
Among his last memorable words were, "All
I can do in my loneliness is, may Heaven's rich
blessing come down on every one—American,
Englishman or Turk—who will help heal the
open sore of the world."
The natives buried his heart in Africa and
embalmed his body and carried it a thousand
miles to the coast and thence to West Minister
Abbey in England. And his tomb on two con¬
tinents will be the shrine whither many fond
hearts shall travel, and generations through
long ages will proudly visit.
Alexander Duff, who lived from 1805 to 1878,
was the Pioneer of Education in India. He ranks
among Carey and Livingstone as one of the great
missionary triad of the new age- He was not
only the founder of the University of Calcutta
and editor of the Review,, but a man whose
life has felt throughout the nation.
The names of John Mott, and our own Dr.
Patton, Dan Crawford and other white contem¬
poraries of our times, belong with the heroes of
the faith who are working wonders for the sal¬
vation of the darkerraces.
WHITE CHRISTIANS' CHIEF CONTRIBU¬
TION.—White Christians have prepared the
way for the new Christian advance among the
darker races primarily by their wonderful con¬
tribution to world-wide exploration, communi¬
cation, civilization, assimilation, emancipaton,
preparation and organization.
THE WHITE PERIL
103
Dr. Pierson says: "Keeping in mind that our
theme is missions, we select seven of the remark¬
able features of our own age, all of which are
gigantic in character and cosmopolitan in ex¬
tent, and which constitute in our day the seven
wonders of the world.
lV WorldhWide EXPLORATION.
If we are to preach the Gospel to every crea¬
ture we must first go into all the world, and this
has not been possible to any previous age as it
is to ours, for all the world has not hitherto been
accessible or even known. At last the track¬
less pathways of the oceans have been crossed
and the penetralia of all the continents reached-
Land and sea yield up the secrets of six thousand
years. Navigation and exploration have been
so thorough that we feel sure that no continent
is unveiled, nor even one island undiscovered.
The frozen poles have been forced to unbar the
gates of their ice castles and the flag of the tri¬
umphant explorer is unfurled on their crystal
battlements. For the first time since the world
began man knows his own habitation and do¬
main.
All this is full of meaning. When God set
Canaan before His people, His word was:
"Every place that the sole of your feet shall
tread upon, that have I given unto you." That
law is general. Every land of promise waits
for possession, arid possession hangs on appro¬
priation. The first condition of a world's evan¬
gelization is its exploration; and, because the
prows of our ship« Dlough^ng furrows in every
sea, have made the vast oceans harvest-fields of
commerce; because the dauntless explorer has
104
THE WHITE PERIL
pierced Asiatic jungles -and African forests,
traced the rivers to their source, and scaled the
mountains to their brow; because the exclusion
and seclusion of hermit nations has been invad¬
ed and the veil rent in twain before their closely-
guarded fanes and shrines; because the public
sentiment of mankind forbids locked gates and
sealed ports, the way is open as never before
for the Gospel chariot.
2. -h World-wide COMMUNICATION.
This naturally follows, but not of necessity,
for doors, wrested or wrenched open by sheer
force, are closed almost as soon as opened. In
this case, however, the iron bars of resistance
have been broken down, and the two-leaved;
gates have yielded to the gentler touch of di¬
plomacy as well as to the harsher hand of war,
—to the still small voice of commerce as well as
the louder threat of compulsion. Bonds of union
have been braided out of mutual treaties, and
barriers that stood firm for ages have been razed
to the ground or fallen like Jericho's walls with¬
out a blow:
Facilities for mutual contact and communica¬
tion are so multiplied and marvelous, that we
scarcely recognize our own world. Within the
century steamship have diminished distance by
shortening time to less than one-tenth of the
period required for ocean voyages. Steam car¬
riages across the continent so swiftly that the
limited express needs but a continuous track to
run round the globe in three weeks; and the
black-horse not only climbs the steep moun¬
tain side but bores his way through forests, and
dares alike Sahara sands and Siberian snows.
THE WHITE PERIL
105
The postal union bears letters and papers from
the great centers to the remotest outskirts of
the earth in six weeks; and the telegraph wire
and ocean cable yoke God's lightning to human
thought flash news to the ends of the globe; and,
threading the vast body politic with its mysteri¬
ous system of sensor and motor nerves, electric¬
ity makes the whole world thrill with instanta¬
neous intelligence.
Now, at last, there are no distant lands, no
foreign peoples; the whole world is one neigh¬
borhood; those who Were afar off are brought
nigh. Once, to love one's neighbor meant to
love him who lived next door; but now every¬
body lives next door—and by that law we must
love the race of man. Communication such as
this, making possible a contact so constant, so
sympathetic, so universal, never entered into
the wildest dreams o fthe ancients, and to our
grandfathers would have seemed incredible-
Had Carey forseen and foretold what one cen¬
tury has made real, his prediction would have
ranked him among madmen. The tales of the
Arabian Nights are outdone in extravagance by
actual facts. God has, through modern science,
given to man the magic wand, the magic lamp.
The genius of nature, with all his mighty forces
w*aits to do our bidding, helping us to carry out
the last command of our Lord.
3. WORLD-WIDE CIVILIZATION-
This comprehensive term includes all that
builds mankind into a compact state or civil so¬
ciety—intelligence and industry, enterprise and
education, manners an dmorals.
106
THE WHITE PERIL
Barbarism is the burglar of history; its deeds
of Wrong, robbery, violence, are of the night,
an dcannot abide in the day which dawns when
civilization sheds its light- In the flush of the
morning, blushing for shame, it seeks the cover
of darkness. Such crimes against God and man
as infanticide and cannibalism, such orgies of
lust and blood as the rites of Juggernath and
the Meriah groves; such cruelties as those of the
torture rack and suttee pyre, are things of the
past.
>Eduaction is a revolutionist, overturning intel¬
lectual errors and superstitious faith. Cuvier
knew too much to fear the ghost with horns and
hoofs that came to his bed and growled out, "I
w£!l eat you!" He cooly surveyed the sheeted
form, and said to himself, "Horns and Hoofs!
Humph! Graminivorous, not carnivorous! That
beast feeds on grass and grain, and won't eat
me." And so the comparative anatomist went
to sleep. Knowledge is power. It destroys ev¬
en where it does not construct. The Hindu can¬
not study astronomy and geology without seeing
his absurd sosmogomy fall in ruins; yet that cos¬
mogony is so built into his religious system that
the two fall together, and he loses faith in the
Yedas. The Chinese study geography and his¬
tory, and learn that the Middle Kingdom must
reconstruct its map of the world and its notions
of the race of man; for the Celestial Empire but
one among many great teachers. The Siamese
cannot look into medical science without the up¬
rooting of hoary superstitions; nor the degrad¬
ed Hottentot learn common facts about the
earth, air and wiater, without finding that the
witches he fears are not human beings nor de-
THE WHITE PERIL
107
mons, iDut miasma and malaria, to be exercised
by scientific drainage and sanitary conditions-
Civilization is in our day the forerunner of
missions, not only in casting up a highway and
gathering out the stones, but in putting into the
hands of Christian and Protestant peoples the
balance of power.
That those nations were the most enlightened
form of Protestant Christianity prevails hold the
;sceptre that sways the world, there is no doubt.
Theis sovereignty is a conceded fact. The pil¬
lars of the world's throne are wrought not of
brute force but of brain force; the granite col¬
umns of character and culture, intelligence and
integrity. Great Britain and the United States,
the giant empire of the East and the great re¬
public of the West joined by Prussia, the Protes¬
tant Kingdom of the continent of Europe, wtield
jointly an influence which Papal, Pagan and
Moslem powers, combined, could not resist.
Such a fact bears the stamp and seal of God's
design, and its bearing on world-wide missions
cannot be measured.
4. WORLD-WIDS ASSIMILATION.
Communication promotes actual contact and
communion. The interiourse of travel and the
interchange of trade have begotten new rela¬
tions and suggest a new science which Lieber
calls Catallactics—the exchange of thoughts.
There has come to be a new trade in ideas, a
commerce of sentiments- Hermit nations emerge
from their cell and shell- From the sunrise
kingdom your Japanese pour into western chan¬
nels to absorb the secrets of occidental progress,
108
THE WHITE PERIL
and in their reflow, bear back the new ideas they
have required. China sends her younger states¬
men to study at the centres of Christendom the
problems of human progress, and bring back
their solution. The gods of the Celestial Empire
actually asks questions of the foreign devils!
Confucius, the Chinese Pope, no longer wears
the tiara of infallibility. He who shook Ms own
hand now shakes ours, respects the head that
wears no queue, and the feet that are shod with
elastic hide instead of unbending wood.
The barriers between peoples are down.
Barriers of language once more impassable than
mountains or oceans are silently crumbling. In
Yokohoma and Hong Kong, Cairo and Cape¬
town, Calcutta and Constantinople, English is
spoken; it is becoming the court-language of the
world- Thousands in India and Japan flock to
hear like Julius Seely and Joseph Cook, who
use only their own mother tongue and in some
of the capitals of the Orient a translator or in¬
terpreter is becoming so far unnecessary.
Barriers of mutual misunderstanding and sus¬
picion are falling. Acquaintance dissipates
false impressions. The "foreign devils" are
found to be brothers; there is no evil fascina¬
tion iii their eye, no curse in their speech, no
fatality in their touch. Trust takes the place of
distrust, and love the place of hate.
The era of universal peace seems to be at
hand. Men are learning the divine lessons that
war is based not only on a bad principle, but a
bad policy, and that O'Connell was not far
wrong in stoutly maintaining that "no social
revolution is worth one drop of human blood."
Generous forbearance, mutual concession,, fra-
THE WHITE PERIL
109
ternal conference and impartial arbitration,
may settle any controversy without striking a
blow. War is a serpent, with a crush in its coils,
a fang in its jaws, and a sting in its tail. Its ve¬
nom heats the blood for generations. France
has never forgotten nor forgiven Waterloo, and
the memory of conflicts more remote than the
Crimean War, the Battle of Plassey, or even the
fall of Corfttantinople, rankles still; for though
men die, nations survive- Waste of treasure and
of life are bad, but waste of good feeling and
kindly relation is worse.
God sits at his loom. With many shuttles He
weaves into one fabric the threads of national
life; and in the woof and warp the blood-red
threads are getting scarce. Peaceful compacts
guard the rights and promote the concord of
men. Trade and travel bring men together,
and they come to know each other, and to feel
that war must be no more. In 1884, in Berlin,
fourteen nations sent representatives tothe con-
ferenece that gave a constitution to the Congo
Free State. That conference marks perhaps the
first parliament of man and forecasts the federa¬
tion of the world; for Protestant, Catholic,
Greek and even Mohammedan communities had
delegates there. The various congresses and
conferences connected with the Columbian Ex¬
position would have been impossible half a cen¬
tury ago; so marked was their testimony to the
assimilation going on among men, that there
seems risk of losing sight even of some vital dis¬
tinctions.
110
THE WHITE PERIL
5. WORLD-WIDE EMANCIPATION.
This is another marvel of this age. From the-
fall of man until now, human slavery has been
the fatal for of the best good of the race; equal¬
ly bad for master and slave. The nightingale!
will not sing in a cage until its eyes are put out.
The light of man's intelligence must be quench¬
ed, the eyes of his intellect blinded, before he
will submissively wear his bonds. Hence the
castle of human bondage has been built upon
the base-blocks of ignorance and degradation,
and buttressed with oppression and compulsion.
But, even when blinded, Samson was a safe
victim of tyranny only while his hair was kept
shorn; and so, close in the steps of human know¬
ledge and enlightment, has followed the upris¬
ing of man in behalf of his fellow-man; if the
slave or serf did not burst his own bonds, civili¬
zation has broken them for him.
Great Britain could not further share this
crime of the age without relapsing toward bar¬
barism, and so British intelligence and integrity
sounded the tocsin that on that memorable first
day of August, 1838, pealed out liberty in Ja¬
maica. It wias not Clarkson and Wilberforce,
but the "Mabna Charta," and the Bible, that
original charter of human rights, that put be¬
neath the walls where human beings were im¬
prisoned, a lever mightier than that of Archime¬
des. Even despotic Russia had to grant at least
a inimical release to her serfs; and the late four
years' conflict in America could not end while
upon one slave there was left an unbroken fet¬
ter; those four millions of bondsmen vrere God's
"contraband of war."
THE WHITE PERIL
111
Who but He has brought it about that not one
enlightened nation dares openly to espouse
slave traffic or maintain slave labour? Tha
market for human bodies and souls has long
bee*n transferred from London and New York to
Cairo and Constantinople- The voice of man¬
kind is heard saying, "Away with fetters!" and
appealing for a parliament of man in which
there shall be no commons, but all shall sit as
peers!
Emancipation means more than bodily free¬
dom; it brings individualism. Knock from the
body its shackles and the mind begins to be free.
Men begin to learn and think, to reflect and rea¬
son. Speech bursts its bonds and the dumb ton¬
gue is loosed. Instead of a mass in which indi¬
viduals are lost, each man learns that he is him¬
self a born sovereign rather than subject, having
a little empire of his own. He begins to assert
himself and his inalienable right of self-rule. He
learns the dignity and majesty of mind, and that
no chain ever forged is strong enough to bind a
thinker. He learns the grandeur of reason, and
that truth is resistless like the waves of the sea,
mighty enough to wreck the strongest bark of
falsehood and grind to powder the age-long
rocks of error. And so today we see intelligence,
that great agitator, striding over the vast steppes
of Asia and river highways of Africa, scattering
the seeds of social revolution; and a bloodless
warfare of ideas is going on, before which
strongholds of error and injustice are falling.
When man begins to be free in body and mind
he learns also the divinity of conscience. God
has decreed that no human device of tyranny or
torture shall suffice to kill or curb man's moral
112
THE WHITE PERIL
sense; and the cell, the rack, the axe, the stake,
have proved powerless to change that decree-
Though, blinded and made the sport of foes, con¬
science* is still a giant, that has but to get hold
of the pillars of Dagon's temple, to lift them
from their foundations and bring down to the
dust the fabric of organized oppression and re¬
gal wrong. Dr. Francis W. Upham says: "The
conscience is the servant only of God, and is not
subject to the will of men. Through his words,
this truth which reaches to social as well as re¬
ligious institutions, has an indestructible life. If
it be crucified it will rise again. If bured in the
sepulchre the stone will be rolled away, and the
keepers become as dead men."
Never before has liberty, both civil and religi¬
ous, reigned among men so widely and wisely.
The consequences are most significant touching
the work of missions. For example : In most
lands, persecution for religious opinion is al¬
ready done away, or if it still survives it is a relic
of a barbarous age, hiding in the darkness and
resorting to the secret weapons of the assassin.
Enlightened civilization which shut the gates of
the arena also put out the fires of the stake-
Years since in China, the last of the mission¬
ary martyrs who died by government decree,
were beheaded. Where in Spain the dungeons
of the Inquisition stood, harvests for God are
growing out of the ashes of saints. India may
ostracise, but dare not execute converts. All
this forecasts that wider emancipation » of the
soul of man, when such self-conscious sovereign
ahall learn to be the willing subject of the Lord
THE WHITE PERIL
113
of all, and find his highest freedom in the service
of a higher Master. That will be the world's
year of Jubilee.
WORLD-WIDE PREPARATION—"In one
sense, all that has been said of other wonders
implies preparation. But there is one aspect of
the present condition of the world which implies
a preparation in itself so peculiar that it needs
intended reference; namely, the obvious and
providential furnishing, of facilities exactly
adapted for, and preparatory to, a world-wide
work of evangelization. These of themselves
serve to introduce a new era.
There is a divine meaning in the fact that this
century, most prolific of missions, has been also
most fertile in invention, of all ages; the one
great epoch of discovery, not only in political
and social developments, but in general progress
in art and science, leaving behind all other cen¬
turies. The leading statesman of Britain is cred¬
ited with saying, that social advance has moved
on such flying feet that in the first fifty years of
the Nineteenth Century, all previous history was
outrun; that even this was surpassed by the
next twenty-five, and this again by the rate of
progress of the next ten. If Mr. Gladstone's es¬
timate be correct, one decade of years from 1875
to 1885, witnessed a forward stride of the race
more gigantic than all the previous ages of his¬
tory.
This is doubtless no exaggeration. Certainly
since the world began no such epoch of improve¬
ment has been known. We have seen huge
strides, leaps forward which make all past ad¬
vance seem like a snail's pace. During the years
114
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of this century the movement onward and up¬
ward seems even to those who are borne on and
up by it, incredible.
To appreciate this fact, we need to stop long
enough to study comparative history. This is
the world's golden age so far as invention and
discovery, intelligence and material progress,
can bring it. Measured by achievement, each
year is a century. This is the age of railway and
steamship, photograph and phonograph, tele¬
scope and microscope', spectroscope and spect
rum analysis; audiphone and microphone, pe¬
troleum and analine days; steam printing press
and machine typsetter; typewriter and sewing
machine; of the discovery of forty new metals,
and the revolution of chemical science; of the
ocean cable and the signal service; of anaesthet¬
ics, and a score of new sciences and arts, of
cheap postage and the universal postal union;
of newspapers, magazines and popular litera¬
ture; of machine work instead of handwork; of
free schools and universities for the people; of
giant explosives and gigantic enterprises. Most
wonderful of all, this is the age of electricity^
which already serves man as motor, messenger
and illuminator, is to be applied to forging as
well as plating metals and no one knows to how
many other uses.
In Robert McKenzie's graphic sketch of "The
Nineteenth Century," he calls this feature of our
times "the great outbreak of human inventive¬
ness which left no province of human affairs un-
visited." With strange and startling suddenness
men's eyes opened to see how rude and crude
were previous methods and appliances, and at
the same time those eyes became endowed with
The white peril
115
a scientific insight and foresight almost super¬
human. Man became not only scientist but
seer; before him limitless paths of possible pro¬
gress stretched toward a goal so advanced, yet
so entrancing, that the enchanting vision quick¬
ened the pace of the whole race, as though men
had on the mythical "seven-league boots," or
the winged sandals of Mercury.
Wherever a high civilization has shone, man¬
kind has felt the thrill of a new passion for in¬
vestigation and improvement- See the human
form become practically transparent, as the
speculum, stethoscope, larynoscope, opathalmo-
scope, microscope, and electric lamp guide the
physician and surgeon in searching the darkest
hiding places of disease. Lithotomy gives place
to lithotrity. Limbs, once amputated, are now
straightened and strengthened. Since 1815, the
treatment of the insane has undergone a revolu¬
tion as radical and significant as the new era of
conservative surgery. Machinery now works
cotton and wool, metal and wood, and new mo¬
tors do our planing and carving, hammering and
rolling, sowing, mowing, plowing, reaping,
threshing and binding.
We do not appreciate all this glory of achieve¬
ment, because the wonders of the age dazzle
our eyes and dull our vision.
Let us glance once more at the electric tele¬
graph. As the earth's rotation on its axis takes
a full day, points on its surface at antipodes to
each other are twelve hours apart, reckoning by
the sun. But telegraphic signals flash instan¬
taneously, and so far out run the sun's apparent
motion that an afternoon message, cabled from
London, is read in San Francisco in the morning
116
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of the same day, and there are points further
westward where we might have the paradox of
publishing news of an event twenty-four hours
before it takes place! This prompts Mackenzie
to rank the telegraph as the first human inven¬
tion which is obviously final. In the race of hu¬
man improvement, steam may give place to
some yet mightier power, as gas is already su¬
perceded by a better method of lighting; but,
"no agency for conveying intelligence can ever
excell that which is instantaneous. Here for
the first time the human mind has reached the
utmost limit of its progress."
This unparalleled progress belongs mostly to
the half century now nearing its close. During
fifty years the more prominent achievements of
the age have been reduced to practical form Al¬
most the entire system of railway is the product
of this brief period. The first sun-picture dates
back but sixty years, just before the death of
Daguerre, from whom it took its name, and al¬
ready we have a score of new applications of
this principle. These inventions alone link the
ages together, ushering in a new era of art and
letters, making the sun himself the artist and
sculptor of the coming era- Already the sun's
ray has wedded the delicate lens, and given
birth to misroscopic photography; so that dur¬
ing the siege of Paris pages of the London Times,
photographed upon a square inch of surface,
were borne by carrier pigeons to the French
capital, there to be magnified and reproduced.
And it would seem that the sunbeam, already
used for a pencil and chisel, is about to surpass
THE WHITE PERIL 117
the pigments of the painter, using sensitized
paper in place of canvass and giving colour as
well as form.
The phonograph, at first a scientific toy, has
become an automatic clerk, recording and re¬
peating a message, and has begun to be used
for that difficult, the analysis and reproduc¬
tion of animal sounds and utterances; and it
makes possible for future egenerations to hear
words and voices of dead orators and states¬
men, poets, and preachers- It is within this
half century that the spectroscope has brought
other orbs near enough to analyze their light
and learn the substances burning in their pho-
toshperes; and the invaluable service of the
spectroscope in refining and working metals,
shows its possible utility in manufacture.
Anaesthetics, which render medical and sur¬
gical treatment comparatively painless and so
reduces human suffering to a minimum, is so re¬
cent a discovery that many yet living remember
its well-nigh tragic begining in Edinburgh in
1847. The giant explosives—nitroglycerine,
dynamite, giant powder, etc., have already uis-
placed older and tedious methods of clearing
the earth's surface of stumps and debris, and
opening its veins of metal and mineral. Deli¬
cate photo-meters, every form of monster ma¬
chinery or delicate mechanism, belong to this
age; while science teaches us drainage and irri¬
gation, analysis and enrichment of the soil and
secrets of fertility, turns deserts into gardens,
and makes every spot available for building a
habitation and earning a livelihood.
If such be the process of this half century,
nothing which men may imagine to do seems im-
118
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possible in the new era just opening, when
science promises to navigate air as well as sea
and build ships to master winds as well as
waves. Forms of force hitherto unknown are
now undergoing experiment. Secrets, hidden
even from this century, are yielding to human
investigation, and a decade of years may witness
a revolution greaeter than that which even in
our day has turned the world upside down.
We have laid stress upon this march of human
improvements, not so much because of the light¬
ning pace of this advance, as because of its ob¬
vious connection with God's providential pur¬
pose. It is one great sign of the times. It marks
this as the golden age of opportunity. A wiorld's
evangelization is not only possible but practica¬
ble, with a rapidity proportionate to progress in
other directions. On the pages of history in
large letters it is written that the periods of most
marked progress exactly synchronize with the
eras of most active missionary effort. Clear as
the weather signals in the sky, is this glowing
sign of God's plan in this generation. His mind
is the vital spring of man's intellectual life. He
is the fountain of life, and in His light do we see
light. It was He who kept a continent veiled for
five thousand years, rending the veil only when
a reformed Church with an unchained Bible was
ready to enter it and make it the theatre of new
gospel triumph. It was He who locked nature's
secrets within her dark chambers, until a mis¬
sionary church was aroused to yoke to His char¬
iot the new forces and appliances. God is sure¬
ly speaking. To the reverent ear the still small
voice is more impressive than peals of thunder.
"Behold I have set before thee an open door."
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119
An open door to the nations—the world before
us; an open door into Nature's Arcana, wSth all
her machinery and forces to do our bidding. Op¬
portunities are matched by facilities equally
great- Never such a work to be done, never such
tools to work with. What responsibility, if such
opportunity be lost and such facilities lie unused.
The last of these seven modern wonder is:
WORLD-WIDE ORGANIZATION—Organi¬
zation is the watchword of the Age. Never be¬
fore was there such a period of practical union
among men for all the ends of material, intellect¬
ual and social improvement. Organization is
rapidly extending and far-reaching; its triumphs
are so multiplied and magnificent that they con¬
stitute the peril of the age, threating to erect a
despotism whose iron sceptre shall be resistless
and remorseless. Already the Giant is on the
throne; he lifts his finger, and great railway
systems are locked in inaction; factory wheels
stop, ships lie in the docks, buildings wait for
workmen, mines remain unworked; labor's hun¬
dred hands are chained and action is exchanged
for petrifaction. Man has created a Franken¬
stein, and knows not how to manage the mon¬
ster.
While we cannot deny the risks attending or¬
ganization in reckless hands, we must confess
both its widespread influence, and its great utili¬
ty when under rational control. What master
organizations the church already commands as
helpers! The Youn<? Men's Christian Associa¬
tion is an example, the creation of the last half
century, yet a hu*?e banyan, whose original root
was in British soil, but throwing out branches
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on all sides, across continents and oceans into
new countries, bending down to take root in
papal, pagan, moslem and heathen communities,
until there remains scarce a land in any clime
where this gigantic and beneficient growth has
not reached.
The Young People's Society of Christian En¬
deavour is a yet younger giant, fourteen years
old, yet in rapidity of growth, daring enterprise,
boundless influence and burning enthusiasm,
leaving already behind it any other organization
ever known on this planet.
Let these illustrate the genius of the age when
everybody organizes- Barristers arid judges,
physicians and surgeons, artists and artisans,
underwriters and undertakers, cabmen and cart-
men, shoe blacks and newsboys—every learned
profession and every form of work resorts to or¬
ganization. Were there some new trade today
with only two engaged in it, they would begin
by drawing up articles of association and form¬
ing a co-operative union.
The reason is plain. Men will dare attempt,
and can together accomplish, what no one would
try to do, or could do, alone; and so they resort
to association effort. Great and manifold ad¬
vantages spring from co-operation. When hand
joins hand, the weak and timid get strength and
courage, and momentum is imparted to a move¬
ment in which individual forces are combined
and concentrated. Great enterprises are possi¬
ble only to an epoch of organization, and so we
find business schemes pushing triumphantly to
the very borders of civilization.
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121
Compare present history with past records.
Before the time of Christ, isolation was the law.
Nations had little touch with each other. Uni¬
versal empires were the aggregates of separate
states, held together by those iron bands which
conquest imposes and despotism rivets- The
mity was that of frost, not of fire and fusion. To
gather strange peoples under one sceptre, or
conglomerate empires into one huge monarchy,
insures no unity. Barriers are not broken down,
and there is no sympathetic bond or brotherhood
any more than between Jews and Samaritans.
How changed the whole aspect of affairs! We
stand in the blazing focal centre of world-wide
enterprise. Discovery sends its heralds to
trumpet its triumph from rising to setting sun.
Invention yokes to its car, steam and lightning,
and flies as on the wings of the morning to the
uttermost parts of the earth and sea. Many run
to and fro; and knowledge is increased. Ma¬
terial advance has its million messengers who
haste to do its bidding. Thus the world's Mes¬
siah, which bids disciples go into all the world
and proclaim to every creature the good tidings
of human improvement; and forthwith go the
myriad missionaries of invention and discovery,
needing no second summons. The swiftest ships
and carriages are not fleet enough conveyances
for the new apostles of science and art. They
dare the sea with its tempest and tornado; defy
forest and jungle, river and mountain, plague
and famine, hot sands and frozen bergs- And
all for what? To tell men of the oil-lamp and
the sewing machine, the time piece and the par¬
lor organ; to sell ribbons and calicoes, fire-arms
and rum-jugs, soap and flour, at the earth's ends.
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push their conquests by organizing and co-op-
Trade and traffic, agriculture and manufacture,
erating; and so, in quarters most remote, in in¬
land hamlets as well as populous cities, and on
islands a half century ago unknown, you may
find today all the appliances of enlightened so¬
ciety.
The theme loudly enforces its own lesson and
appeal. To world-wide missions, organization
and co-operation are essential. Shall the Church
be slow to learn the lesson of the age? And her
Master wait for willing feet to run on His er¬
rands of grace, His mission of mercy and salva¬
tion?
It is true the childlren of light have already
resorted to organization effort in missions. Will¬
iam Carey Was the pioneer, not of missions so
much as of organization; and since his day, this
has become so distinctive a feature of Church
activity that the marked success attained since
1792 is traceable to association work. By organi¬
zation it has already come to pass that, al¬
though we have not absolutely reached every
nation, still less every creature, our network of
missions stretches round the globe and covers
the earth.
And yet, in many quarters, how large are the
meshes and how far apart the cords of network.
We have more than one hundred and seventy
missionary boards and societies, and over one
hundred and ten missionary organizations con¬
trolled by women; and these all, nearly three
hundred, are the outcome of this century past,
and most of them of the last fifty years. Yet
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123
what are even these among so many! We have
but begun as yet our work of the world's evan¬
gelization.
The old command of Christ echoes down the
long aisles of the ages, Evangelize! And the
new voice of Providence that speaks through
events in this missionary era, peals out, Organ-
ze! Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy
stakes. A love that is like God's, must multiply
and extend a thousandfold its lines of holy effort,
and drive ten thousand times as many stakes
deep down into the intelligent conviction and
unselfish affection of Christ's disciples.
»God leaves His Church without excuse or
even pretext, if missions be not prosecuted as a
world-wide enterprise. In a sense never thought
of when that promise was spoken, the Lord is
wtith us—with us, unlocking the gates of hermit
nations, battering down the walls of China, un¬
sealing the ports of Japan and Korea, cleaving
a path to the heart of Africa—with us to un¬
chain the human mind and reveal the secrets of
nature. We may now go into all the world, and
every man in his own tongue give the word of
God.
There was never such a work for the time, nor
such a time for the work. The opportunities and
facilities offered to us jnake even ,» such a task
easy and such a load light, turning weights into
wings and burdens into pinions, to the willing
soul. Knowing God's reason, the fullness and
fitness of His appointed time, it is also man's op-
124
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portune hour, high time to awake out of sleep,
and the world's critical hour of need and want.
Dull and dead, indeed, must he be who sees not
the signs of the times, hear not the voices that
call and the signals that sound, and heeds not
the approaching end of the age! The Captain
of our Salvation is blowing a blast on His bugle
—everything echoes His command, Forward!
Why do we delay?
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125
CHAPTER V.
THE NEW ADVANCE.
"The people who sat in darkness saw a great
light; and to them which sat in the regions of
the shadows of death is light sprung up." Matt.
4:16. "Arise and shine for the light is come and
the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." They
sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters
shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see,
and flow together, and thine heart shall fear
and be enlarged; because the abundance of the
sea shall be converted unto thee." And the sons
of strangers shall build up thy walls. For the na¬
tion that will not serve thee shall perish." The
sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bend¬
ing unto thee; and all those that despise thee
shall bow themselves down at the sole of thy
feet." Violence shall no more be in the land;
nor waste nor destruction on thy borders; but
thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates
Paradise. Thy people also shall be all righte¬
ous; they shall inherit the land forever the
branch of my planting, the works of my hand
that I may be glorified. A little one shall be¬
come a thousand and a small one a strong na¬
tion. I, the Lord, will hasten it in his time-"
Isa. 60:1-22.
1. The new advance of unperverted Christi¬
anity among the darker races will be under the
inspiration and leadership of the darker races.
CHRISTIAN AMERICAN NEGRO LEADER¬
SHIP—Strange as it may seem to those who
have not taken the time to investigate, it is never-
126
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theless true that, the greatest modern advance of
Chrisianity among Negroes has been under the
leadership of American Negroes.
South Africa is the zone of Christian consoli¬
dation, like North Africa is the Mohammedan
zone of consolidation. Christianity started in
Africa nearly two thousand years ago, and
Mohammedanism about seven Centuries ago.
Mohammedanism has more than 50,000,000 na¬
tive African Converts and Christianity a little
over two million, not including the Coptic faith.
White Christians have had the best sort of op¬
portunity to develop Christianity in Africa. For
more than 260 years the blood of three great
people—British, Dutch and Hugenots has blend¬
ed in South Africa.
The Union of South Africa is a self-governing
Nation and a part of the British Empire. It is as
large as the United States, East of the
Mississippi- "Its chief cities are modern in
every respect- The country is overwhelmingly
Protestant. The white churches are large in
numbers and equipment and aggressive."
What have they done for the redemption of
the natives in all these years? The following
from the report of the African Conference on
the Occupation of Africa, December 1917, will
throw some official light on the subject, as a
whole: "Unless otherwise indicated, all the
statements refer to work among Negroes." "The
organized Protestant churches number 6,767 as
compared with 3,308 Catholic churches."
"The Protestant communicants and baptized
non-communicants including children, 1,231,240
as compared with 1,053,457 among the Catho¬
lics."
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127
The above refer to the whole native black
Christians and Churches, including baptized
babies of Catholic and other Pedo-Baptist
Churches. As small as the number is we will
show further on that, the major portion of those
are the results of black native evangelists; who
have protested against the perverted teaching
of Jesus Christ, as practiced by white Christians
toward the darker races in general and the Ne¬
gro race in particular.
RESULTS OF NEGRO CHRISTIAN LEAD
ERSHIP IN THE STATES—Distinctive Ameri¬
can Negro churches grew out of the protest of
Negro Christians against the white churches
perversion of the principle of Christian fellow¬
ship when applied to black people. The African
Methodist branches are conspicuous examples.
The principles and policy of the Baptist church¬
es made a formal protest, like the A- M. E.
Church, unnecessary, but the Negro Baptist
Churches are just as distinct.
In 1913 the Negro Baptists celebrated their
"Fifty Years of Freedom" in the Thirty-third
Session of the National Baptist Convention at
Nashville, Tennessee, and the following histori¬
cal address was delivered by the writer, dealing
with the origin and growth of Independent Ne¬
gro Baptist Churches in the United States.
FROM DAVID GEORGE TO E. C. MORRIS—
This Thirty-third Annual Session of the National
•Baptist Convention in the "Fiftieth Year of Our
Freedom," is a fittting time for us to survey the
hundred and thirty-nine years of Negro Baptist
Church history, from the time of David George
to the time of E. C- Morris.
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AN APOLOGY FOR THE TERM NEGRO
BAPTIST CHURCH—On account of possible
criticism of the term, "Negro Baptist Church,"
excluding the spirit of Christian brotherhood
in its full sense an apology may not be out of
place.
UNIVERSAL CHURCH DEFINED—The uni¬
versal Christian Church, as you know, includes
a vast number of organized Churches, each of
which partakes of the character and vitality of
the whole; aiming at unity with the purpose of
bringing the whole world under the dominion
of Christ by free convictions expressing the spir¬
itual liberty of its component parts; consistent
with difference of conditions and environments
with Christ as the inspiring guide to men, both
in their duties to God and obligations to hu¬
manity.
THE TENDENCY TO RACIAL CHRISTI¬
ANITY-—In each Christian era there has been
a tendency toward national and racial Christi¬
anity responding to the awakening thirst for
righteousness and truth and the desire that it
be propagated by the people to be
Christianized.
The Negro Baptist Church is an evidence of
flexibility of Christianity, and its tendency to
adjust itself to our cosmopolitan communities
Joes not lessen the fact that we are intergral
parts of the body of Christ in which there is
neither Jew nor Greek, bond or free.
Our labors must be pointed and effectual
along lines of approved racial organizations
and alliances or be lost in a vague universalism.
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129
THE NEGRO BAPTIST CHURCH THE
GREATEST NEGRO ORGANIZATION IN THE
WORLD—The Negro Baptist Church, in my
opinion, is the greatest and most promising in¬
stitution in the World for temporal and eternal
salvation of our race, because it reaches the
race as no organization is able to reach it. Ne¬
gro Baptists have dedicated more property to
God for the race than any other organization
in the world. They have more educated Ne¬
groes actively engaged in Christian work than
any other organization. And the strength and
beauty of it is, that they have organized, built
and own many and varied institutions which
they operate from stem to stern- The determi¬
nation to do this is a precious legacy handed
down from our fathers, who in the dark days
of slavery took the seed of the Gospel and sow¬
ed in tears the result of which is the harvest we
are reaping today.
THE WHITE PREACHER NOT THE PRO¬
TOTYPE OF THE NEGRO PREACHER—The
prototypes of the princely Negro Baptist
preachers, professors and reformers, who are
marshaling the forces of today, are not to be
found in the white preachers, of the past cen¬
tury, but in those crude, earnest and firy ante¬
bellum cabin preachers. For every since the
African found on the American shores a friend
in the lowly Jesus, the tide of our religious life
has been rising; some waves have gone farther
up the shore and some back into the sea. but
the tide has ever risen and will continue to rise,
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rise, rise, by our own might; rise because we
have been chosen for the knighthood of service
by the Almighty.
MUCH CREDIT DUE WHITE MEN, WO¬
MEN AND CHILDREN—While much credit is
due White Baptist preachers, North and South,
for the magnificent success which has crowned
the efforts of Negro Baptists, but, in my opinion,
more credit is due to the white women and
children of the South, who took the slaves at
their knees and taught them the warf and the
woof of Christianity, than to any other external
agency.
MORE CREDIT IS DUE THE OLD NEGRO
FATHERS—We are primarily indebted to our
fathers, who laid the foundation of what we are
doing today. American white Christians have
never attempted on a large scale to evangelize
the Negroes of this country. From the very
first the Negro Baptists have been foremost in
the evangalization of their race in this country.
In support of the above, let me call your atten¬
tion to four periods in the history of the Negro
Baptist Churches:
(1.) The Ante Bellum Period.
(2.) The Great Revival Period-
(3. The Great Church-Building Period.
(4. The Present Period of Denominational
Enterprises.
^HE ANTE-BELLUM PERIOD—The histo¬
rians tell us that in the mixed churches of the
ante-bellum period- the Negro members had no
voice in the affairs of the church except > in
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131
the reception and discipline of their own
race. It was inconsistent with the institu¬
tion of slavery for a servant to discipline his
master. Baptist Churches have always been
democratic. There are no priestly orders—min¬
isters are solemnly set apart without official
distinction or authority one over the other. Min¬
isters and laymen are admitted into churches on
the same basis.
Master and slave often sat under the same
sermon and sometimes special services were:
held for the slaves by white ministers, and some
times Negro churches had white pastors. But.
the fact that it was unlawful to teach Negroes,
the Scriptures and the principles of Baptist,
democracy or to allow them to have equal voice
in the discipline of the mixed churches of the
ante-bellum period show that they v/ere never
an organic part of the white Baptist Churches..
THE NEGRO BAPTIST CHURCHES CAME
FROM THE QUARTERS—The real Negro Bap¬
tist church was born in the log cabin of the
quarters covered with slabs and having dirt
floors, stick chimneys and seated with stumps*
stools and rails, and lighted with pine torches.
There the multitude met from miles around,
when the day's work was done, and told God
their troubles; not knowing for what to pray,,
as they ought, the Spirit made intercession for
them as with groans they uttered the desire of
their souls, which in words thev could not so
well express. There, our fathers vowed their
vows, and said that if God wonld p*rTe them
bread to eat and clothes to wear, then Fie
would be their God.
132
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EARLY OPPOSITION TO NEGRO BAP¬
TIST CHURCHES—Well-meaning Christians
were opposed to the early efforts of Negro Bap¬
tists working out their own salvation- It was
said that they were ignorant and incompetent,
that they were the laughing stock of the world,
and that much evil grew out of their gatherings.
There was much truth in this. But our fathers
felt that of two evils they would choose the
lesser. They also felt that if they could not en¬
joy full fellowship with their white brethren,
nor find scope for the exercises of their spiritual
gifts they would exercise the fundamental Bap¬
tist principle, that the individual soul of every
believer is competent to deal with God; and
they held their independent meetings, though
they had to pay the penalty of lacerated back
at the hands of the midnight patrol.
WHY IT WAS PERMITTED BY WHITE
CHRISTIANS—It was permitted without pub¬
lic protest on the part of the white Baptists be¬
cause they themselves were being persecuted
on account of their stand for religious liberty
in America, and because they were laboring
under the same delusion from which so many
well-meaning Christians have not yet recovered,
namely, that the Negro is incapable of working
out his own salvation without being closely
nursed by the white race.
There are numbers of white and Negro
Christians today who seem to forget that he
whom the Son sets free is free indeed and that
the gospel must have a free scope to develop a
fruitful religious life.
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133
THE ANTE-BELLUM PREACHERS HAD
HEALTHY HEARTS—Our burden-bearing-
fathers, who blazed the way for the Negro Bap¬
tist Churches of today, were earnest souls with
healthy hearts, strong feelings and vivid imagi¬
nations; they were men upon whom the burden
of life weighed heavily; and who sighed and
prayed for this day, and longed for the promise
which tarried in the distance till their sad
hearts drove them forth in the midnight hours
in search of an eye to pity and a strong arm to
save ; they were plain self-helping sons of the
plantation struggling upward to racial manhood
and to God
THEY WERE ORIGINAL PREACHERS—
They did not believe in a stereotyped gospel
nor a hearsay religion. They believed in people
knowing God for themselves. If God had mani¬
fested himself to Moses and Elias in the moun¬
tain and Daniel in the lion's den, they expected
Him to manifest himself to them- In those dark
days, when the race stood in the background of
American civilization with bruised backs and
bleedng hands, fatherless outcasts in a country
dedicated to liberty and domineered by the dev¬
il of bondage, while Paine and Ingersol told
them to curse God and die, and Douglass began
to think God was dead, our Christian fathers
ever hopeful said: "Though He slay me, yet will
I trust Him."
DAVID GEORGE, THE FATHER OF NEGRO
BAPTISTS.—There were men of marked ability
in the Negro Baptist Churches, North and South
long before Emancipation. Rev. David George,
134
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of Silver Bluff, S. C-, will rank well among the
leading churchmen of any race of modern times.
He was pastor of the first Negro Church of any
kind on the American continent. He was pastor
of the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, of Aiken, S.
C., in 1774.
In 1778, David George carried fifty members
from the Silver Bluff Baptist Church on account
of the Revolutionary War, to Savannah, Ga.,
out of which was organized the First African
Baptist Church of Savannah.
In 1780 he was preaching in Charleston, help¬
ing to sow the seed from which the great Morris
Street Baptist and other churches have grown.
In 1782, David George sailed from Charleston
to Nova Scotia, where he preached for ten years
to the Negro people who had gone from the
States, He organized the first African Baptist
Church of Shelburn, and preached at Burch
Town, Ragged Island and in St- John's, New
Brunswick.
In 1792, David George carried twelve thous¬
and Negro people to British Central Africa and
started the Colony of Sierra Leone. And one of
the first things he did in that country was to or¬
ganize a Negro Baptist Church.
Bill's history enrolls David George among the
pulpit pioneers of Canada. Dr. Brooks well
says: "Had the Silver Bluff Church done noth¬
ing more than produce this earnest Christian
factor in the planting of a colony under the
British flag, it would not have existed in vain."
HISTORIC DISCIPLES OF DAVID GEORGE
—The Silver Bluff African Baptist Church gave
the world, Rev. George Lyle, who pastored thai:
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135
part of the Slver Bluff congregation which went
to Savannah during the Revolutionary War. In
1784 he organized the First African Baptist
Church of Kingston, Jamaica, British West In¬
dies. Cook's history says: "The first Baptist
preacher in Jamaica was a black man, who,
though a slave,, had been pastor of a Baptist
Church in Georgia. He was brought to Jamaica
in 1782."
Silver Bluff Baptist Church gave the world the
Rev. Jesse Peters, who revived the Silver Bluff
Church after the Revolutionary War and trans¬
ferred its place of meeting on account of perse¬
cution, across the Savannah River into Augusta,
Ga., where it became the present Springfield
congregation, the oldest Negro congregation of
any kind on the American continent. Benedict's
History says: "This church seems to have been
raised up by Jesse Peter, a black preacher of re¬
spectable talents and amiable character."
The Silver Bluff Church gave the world the
gifted Henry Francis, the founder of the Oge-
chee Baptist Church on the Ogechee River, four¬
teen miles from Savannah, in 1803. Rev- Andrew
Bryant wrote of him in 1800, saying: "Another
dispensation of Providence has greatly strength¬
ened our hands and increased our means of in¬
formation. Rev. Henry Francis, lately a slave
of the widow of the late Col. Leroy Hamman, of
Augusta, Ga., has been purchased by a few hu¬
mane gentlemen, of this place, and liberated to
exercise the handsome ministerial gifts he pos¬
sesses among us, and to teach our youth to read
and write. Rev. Francis has been in the minis¬
try fifteen years."
136
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AMONG THE PIONEER PREACHERS OF
THE SOUTH, BEFORE AND IMMEDIATELY
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR—Were Cunningham,
Jasper, Gary, and King of Virginia; Cowan,
Morris,, Boykin, Wallace and Brockenton of the
Carolinas; Bryant, Marshall, Inman, Bryant,
Walker, Dwelley and Quarles of Georgia; Mar¬
tin, Dunbar, Black and Epps, of Mississippi;
Saunders, Kelley, Nelson Merry, Owen and Van-
derval of Tennessee; Hath, Gaddie, Campbell,
and Dupree of Kentucky; I. S- Campbell, J. J.
Rhineheart, Rev. Cobbs, Sheldom, Watlow, Mas-
sey, McPherson, Venerable, Yates and Boyd of
Texas, and other powerful preachers in every
section of the South.
STRONG NEGRO BAPTISTS OF THE
NORTH BEFORE EMANCIPATION—There
were strong Negro Baptists in the North long
before the Emancipation. Among them were
Revs. J. B. Marcham, Thomas Paul, Sampson
White, Leonard Grimes, William Thomason,
William Clayton, Jeremiah Asher, Theodore D.
Miler, Rufus Perry, Duke William Anderson
and others who organized the American Mis¬
sionary Convention, the present New England
Convention, in 1846.
THESE WERE THE MEN WHO KINDLED
THE FIRES—The minds of our fathers became
an incarnated longing to begin and go on articu¬
lating forever in their service to God. They
were the heralds of a better day, after a long
dreary night. They felt the fires of freedom
burning in their bosoms and muttering like a
THE WHITE PERIL
137
charged thunder storm. The day of their re¬
demption was drawing nigh; the dogs of war
were turned loose, and the Lord bade the race
stand still and see the salvation of God. Those
responsible for the black man's bondage had to
atone therefor with blood. Their wives were
made untimely widows and their children
orphans, and their land desolate for the nation's
greatest sin—human slavery. And with a
mighty hand, God shook the shackles of slavery
from Ethiopia's blameless race, and our fathers
went forth into freedom's light, saying:
"O freedom, O freedom,
I love thee, I love thee!
"And before I'd be a slave
I'd be buried in my grave,
And go home to my father, and be free."
AFRICAN (BAPTISTS OLDER THAN AFRI¬
CAN METHQDISTS.—It was thought for a long
time by some people that the African Methodist
Episcopal denomination was the first denomina¬
tion in modern times to organize independent
Negro churches. Extreme modesty and indiffer¬
ence about the matter permitted the error to
find its way into some histories without protest.
And while we do not wish to give the facts in the
spirit of boasting, nor to make any unfavorable
comparison, it is a fact that there were several
large historic independent African Baptist
churches in this country a generation before the
African Methodist Church was organized- What
is called the historic period of the A. M. E.
Church is reckoned from 1778 to 1816. During
that time Allen's class of forty Negroes was
138
THE WHITE PERIL
under the St. George M. E. Church (white) of
Philadelphia, Pa. The Convention was not call¬
ed to organize the A. M. E- Church until 1816.
The First African Baptist Church, of Silver
Bluff, S. C., was organized in George Golphin's
mill, Aiken County, S. C., twelve miles from
Augusta, in 1774. That was fourteen years be¬
fore Allen organized his class and forty-two
years before the convention was called in 1816
to organize the A. M. E. Church-
The Springfield Baptist Church of Augusta,
Ga., is forty-two years older than the A. M. E.
Church. The First African Church of Savannah,
Ga., is thirty-seven years older than the A. M- E.
Church; the First African Baptist Church of
Kingston, is thirty-two years older; the Second
Church of Savannah, Ga-, is twenty-eight years
older; the First African Church of New Provi¬
dence, is twenty-five years older and had eight
hundred members wrhen Bethel was born; the
African Baptist Church, of Shelby, is thirty-
four years older; the First Baptist Church,
Sierra Leone, is twentv-four years older; the Ixi-
dependert Church of Boston, the Butte Street
Church of Norfolk, and the Harrison Street
Church of Petersburg, Va., are eleven years old¬
er; the Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York,
is eight years older; the First African Baptist of
Philadelphia, is seven years older than the A.
M. E. Church. And we could name others of
less prominence.
All indications point to the probability that
the A. M. E. Church was inspired by the success¬
ful Independent African Baptist Churches to
"go, and do likewise."
THE WHITE PERIL
139
NEGRO BAPTISTS NEARLY AS OLD AS
WHITE AMERICAN BAPTISTS AND METHO¬
DISTS—The first white Methodist meeting
house in America was dedicated October 30th,
1768; that was just six years before the Silver
Bluff African Baptist Church of South Carolina,
was organized in 1774. "In 1762, when the
great Baptist persecution began in Virginia,
there were only three thousand Baptists, black
and white, in the whole country." That was
only twelve years before the Silver Bluff Church
was organized. And a large number of those
must have been Negroes, because Baptists were
exceedingly unpopular among the white Ameri¬
cans in those days. It was the period of perse¬
cution.
In 1845, twenty years before the Emancipa¬
tion, the First Baptist Church, of Charleston, S.
C., where the First white church was organized
in the South, reported six hundred and forty-
three members of whom thirteen hundred and
eighty-two were Negroes.
The First Baptist Church of Georgetown, S.
reported eight hundred and thirty-one, of
whom seven hundred and ninety-eight were
Negroes-
The First Baptist Church of Beaufort, S. C.,
reported three thousand three hundred and
twenty-three members, of whom two-thirds
were Negroes.
The Sunberry Association reported four thou¬
sand and three hundred members, of whom less
than fhTe hundred were white.
The Central Association, of Mississippi, re¬
ported t>e s»me year, 1845, two thousand mem¬
bers of whom more than one-half were Negroes
140
THE WHITE PERIL
NEGRO ANTEDATES WHITE BAPTISTS
IN SOME PLACES.—In Petersburg, Va., the
Negro Baptists antedated White Baptists by
many years. In 1848, they had three churches
in that city with two thousand five hundred
members. In 1846, the First African Baptist
Church of Richmond, Va., had two thousand
members- In 1848, the Bryan Baptist Church,
of Savannah, Ga., had twelve hundred members.
In 1845, the Springfield Church of Augusta, Ga.,
(the original Silver Bluff Church of South Caro¬
lina,) had eleven hundred and forty-three mem¬
bers. In 1846, the First African Church of Lex¬
ington, Ky., had eleven hundred members. And
so we could name many others in the North and
West with strong memberships, aside from those
who had their names on the roll of whit$
churches, though they generally worshipped,
either in the independent Negro churches or the
cabin meetings where the Negro churches were
not available.
THE STATE ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS IN-
DEPENDENT NEGRO MEETINGS.—In 1800,
sixty-five years before Emancipation, Negro con¬
gregations and churches had become so strong
until the legislature of South Carolina imposed
restrictions on religious meetings of the Negro
people, that these independent Negro congrega¬
tions were doing good work is shown in the fact
that the Charleston Baptist Association (white)
petitioned the legislature the following year to
repeal the laws against them, and renewed the
petition the following year, 1802, with some de¬
gree of success. The Negro Baptists were or-
THE WHITE PERIL
141
ganized to help themselves as early as the white
Baptists, North or South, were organized to help
them-
Before the American Home Mission Society
was organized in 1832, the Negro Baptists of
South Carolina and Georgia had established
churches from Canada to the West Indies. Be¬
fore that great society began work among the
freedom of the South, our old fathers had taken
the leading part in bringing four hundred thou¬
sand Baptists into the Baptist fold.
NEGRO BAPTISTS, THE PIONEERS IN
MODERN FOREIGN MISSIONS.—Nine years
before the Baptist Missionary Society of Eng¬
land was organized in 1792, and sent out Will¬
iam Carey to India, Moses Baker and George
Gibbons, two Negro Baptists, left America in
1783 as voluntary missionaries to the West In¬
dies.
Twenty years before the American Baptist
Missionary Union was organized in 1814, and
sent out Judson to Burma, Rev. Hector Peters,
and Sampson Colbert, two more Negro Baptists
left America in 1790 as voluntary missionaries
to West Africa.
Twelve years before the white Methodist
Church sent out its first foreign missionary in
1833, Lott Carey had bought his freedom and, in
company with Rev. Collin Teague, left America
in 1821 as voluntary missionary to Liberia, Af¬
rica.
In other words, Negro Baptists were doing
foreign mission work nine years before the
American white Baptists and fifty years before
the white Methodists.
142
THE WHITE PERIL
When the first gun of freedom was fired at
Sumpter, 3/ C-, in 1861, the Negro Baptists had
been preparing for freedom eighty-seven years.
When the great revival period began in 1862,
the Negro Baptists were the best prepared de¬
nomination in all the world to bring Negroes to
Christ. And today, the Government census of
1910 shows that Negro Baptists have a million
more members than all other Negro denomina¬
tions combined.
THE GREAT REVIVAL PERIOD.—From
about 1862 to 1882 there was a great Pentecos¬
tal awakening among Negroes from Canada to
Mexico. Churches and cabins were crowded
with sinners seeking salvation. Christians were
burdened about the salvation of souls. Nearly
every home was a semi-house of public prayer
for inquirers after salvation. Nearly every
Christian was working on some particular sin¬
ner. They often made the words of their songs
as they sang, and they sang as they felt- When
they could find no words to express their deep¬
est emotions they found relief that comes from
the Negroes' melancholy moan—m-m-m-m-m-m-
m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m!
In the cotton bottoms of Mississippi the cane-
brakes of Louisiana, the rice swamps of the Car-
olinas and the tobacco fields of Virginia, could
be heard the fathers calling the race to Christ in
such plaintive and soul-stirring melodies as this:
"Steal away, steal away,
Steal away to Jesus;
Steal away, steal away,
I ain't got long to stay here."
THE WHITE PERIL
143
The abuse of wealth and power about them,
the mad and greedy rush for gold that sacrific¬
ed the souls and bodies of black men to Mam¬
mon disgusted them. All that was mere "world¬
ly success. The higher strivings of the race
were expressed in the song:
"Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
You may have all the world,
Give me Jesus."
THEY WERE SOUND IN BAPTIST DOC¬
TRINE.—The preachers stood behind their
crude pulpits and told the simple story of the
Cross, closing with the cardinal doctrines of the
New Testament: "Ye must be born again;" "Re¬
pent ye, for the Kingdom is at hand;" "He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved;" "He
that believeth not shall be damned;" "Son of
Man, can these dry bones live?" etc.
They kept at it till thousands of sinners were
convicted of sin, and for days and weeks and
months they went with heavy hearts and hung
down heads hunting for the Lord; meditating
day and night over the washtub, at the plow,
and in the fields in the silent woods and dreary
graveyards. When the light of truth flashed in
their souls and kindled a flame of sacred love in
their hearts they went into ecstacies or religious
raptures. They went from house to house as
they did in apostolic days saying: "Glory to God
and the Lamb forever." "I looked at my hands
and my hands looked new; I looked at my feet
and they looked so too. My feet have been
plucked out of the mire and the clay and placed
144
THE WHITE PERIL
on the rock of eternal ages where the winds
may blow and the storms may rise but nothing
shall frighten me from the shore- I have been
redeemed, I have been redeemed, and washed
in the blood of the Lamb, I am free, I am free;
free to live and free to die; free in Jesus' name."
THE GREAT HARVEST OF SOULS.—The
world gathered around our churches and meet¬
ing houses and made fun of our fathers, but they
kept pressing the race into the Kingdom, leav¬
ing the worldly-wise and prudent out.
From 1862 to 1882 the Negro Baptists in¬
creased one hundred per cent. And the Negro
population increased fifty per cent. In 1862
there were four hundred thousand colored Bap¬
tists in America. In 1882 they had increased to
eight hundred thousand. From 1882 to 1906
the Negro Baptists increased from eight hun¬
dred thousand to two millions, two hundred and
sixty-one thousand, six hundred and seven, ac¬
cording to the Government statistics. While the
race has increased less than fifty per cent since
1882 (certainly not more than fifty per cent)
Negro Baptists have increased nearly three hun¬
dred per cent since 1882. And that does not in¬
clude either the Free Will Baptists of the
Primitive, nor Camelite Baptists, neither do Bap¬
tists count babies nor probationists as church
members. Thus you see that more than two-
thirds of the entire Negro population of America
are under the influence of Negro Baptist
churches- Two and one-half million Negro
Baptists placed two yards apart, four abreast
would make a line over six hundred and forty-
two miles. If we place them the same distance
THE WHITE PERIL
145
apart single file, the line would be over two
thousand and five hundred miles long. It would
reach from Charleston to Spartanburg, S. C.,
more than twelve times. The line would extend
across the continent from Charleston through
Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Indian
Territory, Northern Texas, New Mexico, Arizo¬
na and California to the Pacific Ocean, and then
have enough to extend up the Atlantic coast
through North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and
Delaware to Trenton, N. J.
INSIST ON AN EXPERIENCE OF GRACE.—
That vast number was converted under the
preaching of black men; not white men. They
insisted on an experience of grace told in the
candidates' own words and in his own way to
the satisfaction of the whole church. Those con¬
verted went everywhere witnessing for the Lord-
And wherever Baptists went to work for a few
months they started a Baptist Church. They
did not wait to be called to preach or be li¬
censed, or to be sent by some Board, they simply
exercised the privilege of every Missionary Bap¬
tist to start a church wherever and whenever
one saw fit.
Nearly all Negro Baptist Churches have been
started by laymen and local preachers. And
when they have grown strong enough they have
called some ordained ministers to labor for them
wholly in word and doctrine.
THE GREAT CHURCH-BUILDING PERIOD.
—Quite naturally that vast number of converts
had to be housed and built up in the faith. While
the revival period has not closed and never will
close, so long as men are being born, yet the
146
THE WHITE PERIL
winning of souls is no longer the whole burden
of the iNegro Baptist Churches. The Negro -bap¬
tist began buiiamg churches in 1774 and built
an average of about four churches a year for
one hundred years before the Emancipation. At
the close of the war there were about four hun¬
dred churches and 400 thousand members. All
of the four hundred thousand members did not
belong to Independent Negro Churches; some
of them belonged to the white churches, though
they in reality worshipped primarily with the
Negro congregeations, whether in Negro church¬
es or in the cabin meetings.
From 1862 to 1882 they built three thousand
more churches at a cost of three million dollars,
but mcst of these were temporary buildings-
Nearly all of the large Negro congregations
have built or remodeled their churches since
1882.
A COMPARISON WITH AFRICAN METHO¬
DISTS.—Thus the church-building period may
be reckoned from in 1882 to 1902. During that
period the Negro Baptist Churches increased
over 500 per cent. The government statistics of
1906 show1 that Negro Baptists have eighteen
thousand five hundred and thirty-four (18,534)
churches, the value of which is twenty-four mill¬
ion, four hundred and thirty-seven thousand,
two hundred and seventy-two (24,437,272) dol¬
lars. That does not include the Free Will and
Primitive Baptists.
The African Baptists have ($13,133,783)
dollars more church property than the African
Methodist, and nineteen million six hundred and
four thousand and sixty-five ($19,604,065) dol¬
lars more than the Zion Methodist Church.
THE WHITE PERIL
147
WHAT THEY DID A YEAR—The Negro
Baptists built on an average, 633 churches a
year for twenty-four years (between 1882 and
1906,) raised and paid on them an average of
eight hundred and ninety-three thousand, one
hundred and 78 thousand ($893,178.00) dollars
each year. They dedicated on an average, 12
churches every Sunday for twenty-four years
and paid seventeen thousand, one hundred and
seventy-six ($17,176-00) dollars on them each
Sabbath, besides paying the preachers and keep¬
ing up expenses.
THE SOUTHERN WHITE PEOPLE HELP¬
ED.—It must be said to the everlasting credit
of the white poeple among whom we live, that
while they did not give much through any or¬
ganized channel to build Negro churches, they
have given Negroes of all denominations thous¬
ands of dollars to help build their churches. All
kinds of white people gave to help build Negro
churches. They gave without letting their left
hand know what their right hand did. Some of
them gave Negroes more money to build church¬
es than they gave to build their own churches.
The Southern people have never been prejudic¬
ed to Negroes having good churches-
THEY HELPED MUCH INDIRECTLY TO
BUILD NEGRO CHURCHES.—The Southern
business men granted us business favors to build
our churches. I dare say, there is not to be
found a respectable Negro church building in
this country that had not been financiered by
some white business concern. They granted us
loans and took care of our church papers when
148 THE WHITE PERIL
we did not know how to ha*ndle notes and bonds~
The white women helped through their ser¬
vants; they gave them money; and in spite of
the very poverty caused by the war they divided
food and fagot with their black sisters and gave
them the encouraging words that inspired the hi
to sacrifice for the upbuilding of God's Kingdom.
THE GREAT SACRIFICE OUR FATHERS
MADE.—The world never witnessed greater
Sacrifice than Negro Baptists made to build their
churches. They had no such help as was given
the Negro Congregationalists, Presbyterians,
Methodists, Episcopalians and Catholics. The
race came out of slavery crude, without a week's
rations, a change of garment, homeless and
without a dime, struggling for existence beside
the strongest race of modern times, in a country
devastated by the war, and a reconstruction ag-
grevated by aliens, and the readjustment of the
whole economic system of the South. The men
worked for less than fifty cents per day and the
women for less than 25 cents; there were no big
salaries for any one; they ate corn bread and
molasses, and considered themselves .fortunate
when all the family had enough of plain food.
The women wore cotton dresses to church and
the men "Kentucky Genes-" They went bare¬
footed two-thirds of the year, and wore brogan
shoes to church while trying to buy stock and
send their children to school and buy homes.
They made sacrifices that should make us
ashamed in these days of plenty. More than
once thousands of our people have given their
last penny on the church debt, not knowing from
whence the next meal would come.
THE WHITE PERIL
1491
THE GREAT SACRIFICING NEGRO DEA¬
CONS AND TRUSTEES.—The self-sacrificing
deacons and trustees deserve double honor.
They gave their time and talent freely and of¬
ten carried the notes for the whole church year
after year and kept their personal credit weigh¬
ed down to the waters edge on church notes so
they could not borrow for themselves at the
banks. Every church can point to some good
deacon and trustee who stood shoulder to shoul¬
der with their pastors in the great church-build¬
ing period.
NONE SACRIFICED SO MUCH AS THE NE¬
GRO BAPTIST PREACHERS—The Negro
Baptist pastors have the glory of the greatest
suffering in building up the house of the Lord.
In those days there was but little salary prom¬
ised ; people had not been educated up to the
point of paying preachers anything much. They
often went without the little they did promise
wJhen building debts were pressing. The pastor
was always put off till these debts were settled.
He had to turn his hand to every single thing
that was to be done about the building. Many
of them wore themselves out, suffered all kinds
of reverses and died of neglect and want. Yet
they rejoiced that they were called to the king¬
dom at such a time, to help build up the first Ne¬
gro churches of modern times.
THE ROLL CALL OF THE BUILDERS.—I
wish I could call the roll of the worthy Negro
Baptist builders. I would like to tell of Dixon,
Wisher, Wynn, Morris, and Simms, of New
York; Creditt, Jordan, Johnson, Jones, Fox, and
150
THE WHITE PERIL
others, of Pennsylvania; Johnson, Alexander,
and Watkins of Maryland; Bishop Johnson, Tay¬
lor, Howard and others of Washington; Holmes,
Jasper, Wells, Binga and others of Richmond;
Bowling, Armstead, Spiller and Dixon of Tide¬
water, Va.; Jordan, Smith, Ashburn and Madi¬
son of Middle Virginia; Morris, Gordon and
Tyree of Lynchburg, Va.; Burke, Brown, Jones,
and Fox of the Vriginias; Hall and others of
that great state of Negro Baptist churches.
I would like to tell of Wallace, Whitehead,
Tobin and others of Union S. C-; Bayfor, Mills,
Earl Leak and others of Spartanburg; Brawley,
Maloy and others of Greenville ; McMorris, Rob¬
ertson, Moore, and others of Anderson; Oliver,
at Belton, and Honea Path, Daniels at Prince¬
ton; Marshall at Greenwood and Ninety-six;
Wallace, at Newberry; Dunbar, Daniels and
Baylor, at Columbia; Gilmore and Hall at Rock
Hill; Chisolm, Bowen and Daniels, at Chester;
Boykin, at Camden; Williams at Rock Hill;
Brochenton, at Darlington; Prince at Bennetts-
ville; Roberts at Florence; Bacote at Society
Hill; Nix at Orangeburg; Calahan, Watson, and
Jones at Bon well; Pinson and Johnson at Sump-
ter; Kemp and Jenkins at Charleston; Walden
and Ford McKenney and Holman of Florida;
Carter, Bryant, Williams, Johnson, Walker and
others of Georgia; Goodgame, Fisher, Stokes,
Maderson, Walker and others of Alabama;
Campbell, Light, Williams, Barbour and others
of Texas; Morris, Robinson and others of Arkan¬
sas ; Bacote, Hurst, and others of Missouri and
Kansas; Carter, Vann, Hurst and others of
Tennessee; Fisher and Thomas of Illinois;
Shepherd of North Carolina and thousands of
THE WHITE PERIL
151
others equally worthy of mention but the story
cannot be properly told until we all meet in the
general assembly of the church of the first born
in heaven.
THE PRESENT PERIOD OF DENOMINA¬
TIONAL ENTERPRISES—The revival arid
church-building enthusiasm has given first place
to the present period of denominational enter¬
prises. Our state and national missionaries can
no longer be spared to run revivals and build
churches. The church that cannot pay for its
own building and repairing now is generally
considered too weak to exist alone, or take too
much upon itself. Very little money can be col¬
lected now from the public for church building.
The pastor who raises one hundred dollars today
for missions or education is honored more by the
denomination than the pastor who raises a
thousand dollars for his local church. No minis¬
ter can hope to gain prominence or even ordi¬
nary recognition if he neglects his denomination¬
al work.
THE NEW VOICE CALLING THE CHURCH
TO TEAM WORK.—The spirit of God is calling
the churches to move in a mass and undertake
the large task of world-wide missions- The con¬
sciousness of the Negro Baptist Church today is
being awakened and directed almost wholly to¬
ward the unification of all Baptist forces for the
purpose of deepening and widening the influ¬
ence of the gospel.
MISSIONS THE WATCHWORD OF THE
CHURCH TODAY.—Home Missions are taking
the form of going after the churches of the
152
THE WHITE PERIL
whole country and uniting them in the State
and National organizations and alliances to
build institutions of learning and prepare work¬
ers for world-wide evangelization. Education¬
al missions include the publishing and circula¬
tion of Christian literature and creating senti¬
ment as well as operating institutions of learn¬
ing. It includes the organization of mission
study classes and training Sunday School work¬
ers as well as preaching on foreign fields. This
task of giving the world the gospel is too large
to be attempted by any one church. No one or
two churches can hope to build or equipt and op¬
erate a college that will meet the demand of this
day and generation. "The work is large and
great and we are separated on the wall, one far
from the other, and whatsoever place ye hear
the sound of the trumpet resort ye thither."
THE CALL FOR MEN OF STATESMEN'S
VISION OF THE WHOLE FIELD—The de¬
nomination is calling for men of the broadest
vision, the highest culture and noblest spirit of
self-sacrifice. The call is for organizers and ed¬
ucators with a statesmen's grasp of the entire
missionary situation; statesmen-like in compre¬
hending the whole range of missionary purpose;
instinctively carrying the churches of the denom¬
ination beyond the bounds of their neighborhood
their country and generation making them feel
that they stand here individually and collective¬
ly trustees of the gospel for the whole world.
THE HOUR AND MEN.—For this period God
gave us Simmons, Hayes Washington, Booker,
Brown, Abner, Homes, Hope, Diggs, Creditt,
Brawley, Hall, Starks, Nickolson, Amiger, Gil-
THE WHITE PERIL
153
bert and gave us Morris, Isaac, Jordan, Bur¬
roughs, Griggs, Jenkins, Layton, Fox, Boykin,
Fisher, Ford, Raiford, Durham, Brown, Moore,
Tyrel, Howard, Bowling, Gaivin, Burke, John-
eon, Gordan, Lee, Taylor, Brooks, Lancaster,
Walker, Searcy, Frank, Steward. Bacote. Mitch¬
ell, Crenshaw, Clark, Carroll, Parrish, Pennell,
and Coran, Caston, Steven, Love, Lyons, Ewen,
Lee, Jones, Vassar, Garnett, Fuller, Townsend,
Ellington, Barbour, Bacote, Wilson, Pius, Jones,
Mitchell, Robinson, Hurt, and hundreds of oth¬
ers who have been agitating and stirring up the
churches to undertake that larger kind of mis¬
sionary work commensurate with the task
which confronts the churches today.
THE FIGHT IS ON IN EARNEST.—It is a
herculean task to organize eighteen thousand
Independent Democratic Baptist Churches into
district associations, state and national convers¬
ions when we have not authority to bind a single
church into any organization, or to make them,
do a single whit more than either desire to do.
But the fight is on in dead earnest.
Separate Associations and Conventions began
to spring up in 1838, when the Wood River As¬
sociation of Illinois was organized. Conventions
began to be formed in 1846 when the New Eng¬
land Convention was organized.
Then the North Carolina Convention in 1866,
Virginia Convention in 1867, Arkansas Conven¬
tion in 1868, Kentucky and Mississippi Conven¬
tions in 1869 and the Conventon of Georgia in
1870 and so on in rapid succession.
ORGANIZATION—The eighteen thousand,
eight hundred and ninety-five churches, accord-
154
THE WHITE PERIL
ing to Dr. Bacote's report for 1910, have been
organized into 660 district associations, 95
state conventions and one national convention*
. .YOUNG .PEOPLE'S .ORGANIZATIONS.—
There are eighteen thousand, nine hundred and
seventy-eight Sunday schools. They have been
©rganized into five hundred and fifty-seven dis¬
trict conventions. And they are being organiz¬
ed into one great Sunday School Congress. There
are ten thousand Baptist Young People's Unions
in the local churches, and twelve thousand mis¬
sionary societies.
HOME MISSIONARIES.—There is an aver¬
age of one missionary to every district associa¬
tion, and there are 660; one for every district
Sunday School Convention, and there are 557;
one for each state convention, and there are 95;
the Home Board of the National Baptist Conven¬
tion has 43, making one thousand five hundred
Negro Baptist missionaries on the home field.
FOREIGN MISSIONARIES.—The Foreign
Mission Board has one hundred and thirty-five
missionaries and native helpers,, making in all,
1,635 missionaries on the home and foreign
fields- There are 17,635 ordained ministers,
825 Negro Baptist teachers in our schools
200,000 Sunday School teachers making the
churches 220,113. This means that the Negro
Baptists have more ministers and missionaries
than the largest branch of colored Presbyter¬
ians or Episcopalians has members, according
to t>>e United States Government statistics of
1906,
THE WHITE PERIL
155
After a hundred and thirty-nine years of Ne¬
gro Baptist church history, the name and glo¬
rious works of David George on two continents
have been unearthed by that scholarly pastor,.
Dr. Walter H. Brooks, of Washington, D. C.
And in this fiftieth year of our Freedom, the
representative of the largest body of Negro
Christians in the world rises to call him blessed.
David George was without a peer in Negro
Baptist Church history until E. C. Morris appear¬
ed upon the Baptist horizon as a national organ¬
izer.
THE PUBLISHING BOARD OF THE NA¬
TIONAL CONVENTION—In 1896 the Nation¬
al Baptist Convention begun the publication of
Sunday school literature. It started without a
dime, in the city of Nashville where we were
wholly unknown in the business world, and
have built the largest Negro Publishing concern
in the world, and one of the greatest publishing
plants of the country regadless of race or de¬
nomination. The plant is worth over three hun¬
dred and fifty thousand dollars. The Negro
Baptists furnish everything for a church from an
enevope to a bell, everything for the Sunday
School from a card to Commentary, and every¬
thing for the preacher from a Bible to a baptiz¬
ing suit.
They have printed and circulated thousands
and millions of periodicals. ***** The Corres¬
ponding Secretary of both the Home Mission
Board and the Publishing Board has worked
wonders on the Home Field.. He was the first
Negro Baptist who found a working basis be¬
tween the National Baptist Convention and the
156
THE WHITE PERIL
Great Southern Baptist Convention, and induced
the white Baptists of the South through their
Home Board to contribute thousands of dollars
through the Home Mission Board.
In addition to that the Home Board has built
a line of Negro Baptist Churches from the Atlan¬
tic to the Pacific in the Panama Zone which is
the strategic point of the whole world. That
property is paid for and it is invaluable; both in
money and as a great Christian base of opera¬
tion.
SUNDAY SCHOOL TRAINING DEPART¬
MENT—In addition to that they organized a
splendid Sunday School Training Department,
and started the Galeda and Metoka Classes and
capped the climax by organizing the Glreat Ne¬
gro Baptist Sunday School Congress which meets
annually in different sections of the United
States of America for inspiration and high class
instruction in Sunday School methods.
Miss Joanna P. Moore is regarded as one of
America's greatest Home Missionaries. And her
great missionary work consists very largely in
writing personal letters to people.
Well, if one person had received and attempt¬
ed to answer all letters received and answered
by the Board these sixteen years; answering an
average of fifty letters per day and working
three hundred days in the year, it would take
190 years to write the letters they have written
in sixteen years.
If one missionary would distribute an average
of ten pounds of Christian literature per day,
which is a great deal more than any missionary
under our Boards averages, and if such a mis¬
sionary had started when Christ ascended to
THE WHITE PERIL
157
Heaven and kept right at it every since, working
an average of three hundred days each year, he
would not have distributed as much of the word
of God as our Secretary distributed in sixteen
years.
If a person had started to working at a dollar
per day for one hundred and sixty years before
Columbus discovered America, he would have
worked an average of three hundred days per
year every since and given every dollar of his
money from that day to this, he would not have
given as much as has been given the denomina¬
tion in the past sixteen years-
If they had done nothing more than raised
and paid that amount on missionary colportage
work the denomination would owe him a debt
of endless gratitude. But while doing all that
missionary work for the denomination in sixteen
years we have added an average of more than
$21,875.00 each year for sixteen years, to the
property holdings of the Negro Baptists. In oth¬
er words our Secretary paid his own salary and
the salary of a hundred other Christian work¬
ers, but has turned over daily to the denomina¬
tion an average of more than seventy-two dol¬
lars per day above all expenses for evety day he
has been employed by the Board.
960 YEARS WORK IN 10 YEARS—If a mis¬
sionary had begun preaching 540 years before
Columbus discovered America, and if he had
preached every Sunday from that day to this,
he would not have preached as many sermons
as the Negro Boards caused to be preached in
sixteen years. In other words, the sixteen years
158
THE WHITE PERIL
of missionary work is equivalent to one preacher
having preached every Sunday for more than
980 years.
CHURCHES AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS OR¬
GANIZED.—If a missionary would organize one
church or Sunday School every month in the
year, it would take him more than 119 years to
organize as many churches as they have organ¬
ized indirectly in sixteen years.
If a preacher representative of the National
Baptist Convention would visit one association
a week, in the interest of the work it would take
him more than 798 years to visit the associations
and conventions which the Board caused to be
visited in the interest of the work during these
sixteen years of service.
If a missionary traveled an average of ten
miles a day in giving the world the gospel, it
would take him more than 452 years to travel
the distance the Board has caused to be traveled
in the interest of the gospel during these sixteen
years-
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.—Negro
Baptists own and operate' 250 High Schools and
Colleges, 95 of which reported in 1910 a proper¬
ty value of $3,625,328, and a yearly expenditure
of $304,224; 18,044 students; 825 teachers and
hundreds of graduates.
Some of them are among the best schools of
the South, not in brick and mortar, but in actual
work. After all, the university is not in the
buliding, but in the instructors. The Greeks
taught in the groves. Our graduates are meas-
THE WHITE PERIL
uring up to the requirements of the states far
white teachers and other professional people.
Selma University, of Alabama; State Univer¬
sity, of Kentucky; Virginia Seminary and Col¬
lege of Vrginia; Roger Williams University and
Howe Institute, of Tennessee; Arkansas Baptist
College of Arkansas; Guadalupe College of
Texas; Western College of Missouri; Florida
Baptist College, of Florida; Friendship College,
of South Carolina; Morris College and others
have given the denomination ample returns for
every dime invested and every word spoken in.
their behalf.
NEGRO BAPTIST OPPORTUNITIES.—God
is evidently in control of the affairs of men, and
Christ is allied to every branch of his church-
Christ is calling the Negro race on to the religous
world through a new life and a wider field of
usefulness. The door of opportunity swings
wide and he invites us to grasp the boundless
advantages directly before us; to teach the Ne¬
gro's torpid mind to think; to inspire his fiery
heart to love; his withered hand to work for God
and humanity; to help the race rise and stand
upon its feet and exemplify the principles of
Christian manhood by attempting and operating
great enterprises for God and the race- God
has unquestionably linked the race on to the rer-
ligious world through the Baptist church and
given each individual sufficient latitude for the
utmost expansion of his possibilities.
A PROPHETIC VISION As I think of the
future in the light of the past and present a
picture comes before me, the truthfulness of
160 THE WHITE PERIL
which makes me feel like calling it prophecy. It
is the glorious triumph of the gospel in the twen¬
tieth century. A few more swings of the pen¬
dulum of time and the century clock strikes
twelve; it is high noon. The world is tired of
divisions in the kingdom of Christ. People every
where are appealing to the word of God as the
court of last resort on all questions of faith and
practice. The Baptism of John is universally ac¬
cepted as the basis of Christian union. The
vision of the world-field, "white unto the har¬
vest," has burst upon the whole church; she be¬
holds the new times and seasons, the new signs
and wonders and hears the new voice of this
new age of missions.
Missionary ignorance has given place to infor¬
mation; indifference is changed to interest; self¬
ishness has given place to self-sacrificing of
both men and means. The blackest race for ages
farthest down and most unjustly treated, is lead¬
ing the world in contending for that broad
brotherhood for which Jesus stands- Race prej¬
udice and unjust discrimination are apologizing
and dying as slavery died. The darker races are
being respected and loved as brothers. Each
government is making much of all races under
its dominion. The Panama Canal is cut and
Eastern commerce is coming from the West. The
country is threaded with steam and electric
railroads. People are gliding along in automo¬
biles and airships—distance almost annihilated.
Agriculture is a fine art. The people own the
land and tend it skillfully; white and black
Christians are prosperous and happy; to be too
rich to work is to be disgraced and scorned by
the wise; reasonably rich Negro planters, mer-
THE WHITE PERIL
161
chants, bankers and mechanics are too common
to cause comment or excite jealousy. There is
an army of ministers and missionaries on the
home and foreign fields- Africa is coming by
leaps and bounds. The Cape to Cairo road is
carrying diners and sleepers, and millions of
tons of freight. Mighty cities are connected by
branch roads on the earth and in the air. Pro¬
fessional Negroes from all parts of the world
are finding larger openings among Africa's mill¬
ions. There are thousands of beautiful Negro
churches; one at every station on the Pan-
American Railroad from Alaska to Cape Horn;
from Norfolk to California, including Cuba, Por¬
to Rica, Barbados, Africa and the Isles of the
Sea.
Each district of all the states owns a first-class
Academy. All the states own several well
equipped and endowed colleges. Union and
Shaw Universities, Bishop and Benedict Cal-
leges Atlanta, Spelman and other schools of the
Home Mission Society are owned and operated
by Negro Baptists. The National Theological
Seminary is the pride of the race. There is a
mammoth brick administration building in the
center of the grounds with a mighty dome fac¬
ing the east and the grounds are studded with
all necessary buildings of a well equipped semi¬
nary. The well paved walks, the rich beds of
finest flowers, the grassy well kept lawns, the
beautiful shrubbery and shady trees make it an
ideal place for study- Students are coming in
annual pilgrimages from all parts of the South
America, Africa and the Isles below us, to study
the science and arts and be instructed in the
mysteries of true religion and applied Christiani-
162
THE WHITE PERIL
ty. David George, E. C. Morris, Williams, Sim¬
mons, Gregory, Hayes, Burroughs, Fox, Graham,
Griggs, E. W. D. Isaac, L. G. Jordan, Lott Carey,
John Cole and others, who saw that day coming
in the distance and uncompromisingly proclaim¬
ed it, were misunderstood and slandered in their
clay on account of their zeal to lay the founda¬
tion broad and deep, and their self-sacrifice to
Hasten it. Their names shall be embalmed in
our richest memories and their tombs shall be
the shrine to which our fond hearts shall travel,
and generations through long ages shall proudly
visit.
For, if in the future as in the past men con¬
tinue to prize noble gifts used for the highest
purposes, to applaud lofty speech used for the
upbuilding of humanity and the advancement of
the race,
Then o'er their mounds,
A sanctity shall broode,
Till the stars sicken;
At the day of doome-
PRESENT STATUS.—The statistician of the
National Baptist Convention says: "We are
quite sure from the incomplete records here giv¬
en that there are over 3,000,000 colored Bap¬
tists in the country. The religious census of the
United States in 1906 shows that the American
Negro religious membership of 3,685,000 ; 2,350-
000 are Negro Baptists, leaving 1,331,000 to be-
iivided among all other religious bodies. Of
che Baptist 2,261,607 were in the National Bap¬
tist Convention. In other words; the National
Baptist Conventions' membership in the South
THE WHITE PERIL 163
in 1916 was 2,154,955. There were in addition,
about 55,000 Baptists not identified with the Na¬
tional Baptist Convention, so in round numbers
there were 2,261,000 in the South in 1916 ac¬
cording to government census.
Dr. Victor M. Masters states that, from 1906
to 1917, white Baptists had increased 38 per
cent, and it is generally believed that colored
Baptists have had a similar growth. He also
calls attention to Mr. Samuel L- Rodges, Director
of Census at Washington saying, that the pres¬
ent religious census not yet complete, shows
27,000 Negro Baptist churches. This is proof
almost to demonstrate that the Negro Baptists
have been making steady and large growth in¬
stead of decreasing during the past eleven years.
I think we may safely say, as will be confirmed
in the forth-coming census, there are 2,777,000
colored Baptists in the National Baptist Conven¬
tion and about 474,000 otherwise, making a
grand total of 3,077,000 colored Baptists in the
country. Number of churches 32,500; number
of Sunday Schools, 27,000; value of church
property $25,500,000.
the last census was taken; of which the inde¬
pendent branches of Colored Methodists consti¬
tuted 1,149,406 communicants, with 12,912
churches according to the A. M. E- Year Book
of 1918.
And if they had increased in proportion to
the Baptist during the last eleven years as the
present incomplete census will show, then there
were not less than two million Independent
Methodists in the United States with 15,000
churches, worth not less than $15,000,000.
164 THE WHITE PERIL
The Independent Colored Baptist Metho¬
dist Christians in the United States have not less
than 42,000 churches valued at $4Qr0>OO*Q00
with a membership of 5,077,000 or nearly one-
half of the entire colored race in the U- S. A.
And those churches reach 98 per cent of the en¬
tire race which is normally Christian in faith, and
practice.
Of the 250 Baptist denominational schools: and
colleges operated for Negroes the colored Bap¬
tist own and operate all of them but nine which
are supported primarily by the American Bap¬
tist Home Mission Society of New York. They
to&d an enrollment in 1910 of 18,044 students
while those operated by the Home Mission So¬
ciety for Negroes had an enrollment of 2684
students.
The Independent Negro Methodists own and
operate schools with an enrollment of
Thus the Independent Negro Christians oper¬
ate schools with an enrollment of
MATERIAL ADVANCEMENT—The mater¬
ial advancement of the race in America under
the inspiration of the Negro leadership may be
judged from the following.
The Government statistics show that the Ne¬
groes own and rent primarily in the Southern
United States 42,259,247 acres of farm land val¬
ued at $1,104,496,287.00.
We ask that the above be compared with the
265 years work done under white leadership in
South Africa and other parts of Africa.
WORK OF NATIVE PREACHERS.—Not oi;-
ly has the Negro in America led in Christianiz¬
ing his own race, but the native preachers in Af-
THE WHITE PERIL
165
rica have been the leading factors n the evange¬
lization of natives. The report of the African
Congress held in New York, 1917 says: "When
the first American Missionaries began work in
Natal, it was ten years before the first converts
was won. When the Rodesian Branch of the
work was founded in 1893 the end of the first
ten years found two flourishing churches estab¬
lished with a membership of about 200. "The
real secret of the quicker results no doubt is due
to the fact that trained Zulu Evangelists ac¬
companied the pioneers." "Every phase of our
Mission work, from the great social service in-
terprise in the gold fields of Johannesburg to the
humblest out station where the raw heathen
from the Kaals sit under the untombi tree on
Sunday and watch the strange doings of the
Omakolwa (believer)—every portion of it is de¬
pendent for its success upon the efficiency and
faithfulness of the trained native pastor and
evangelist."
AFRICANER—Dr. Taylor has the following
to say about great African Evangelists and
Christian leaders in His Daybreak In the Dark
Continent."
Africaner Was a Hottentot desperado of
Namaqualand. With a few hundred followers
he terrorized alike the neighboring tribes and
the Dutch farmers. The government at Cape
Town offered $500.00 reward for his arrest or
death- It was under the patronage of such an
outlaw that Moffat opened his first mission in
1818. The white settlers had regaled the ears
of the young missionary with the predictions
that he would be made a target for the arrows
166
THE WHITE PERIL
of the small bay savages his skin would be used
for drum-heads, and his skull for a drinking cup.
One kindly mother-heart, with an odd mixture
of harshness, yearned over Moffat's youth: "Had
you been an old man, it would have been noth¬
ing, for you would have died, whether or no;
but you are so young, and going to be a prey to
that monster!" Within a year after these dire
forebodings Moffat, with Africaner disguised as
his attendant, was again among the Dutch farm¬
ers. He was taking the Hottentot chief to Cape
Town to demonstrate to the government the
marvelous fact that the savage had been sup¬
planted by a new man in Jesus Christ. It had
been reported that the missionary had fallen a
victim to the cruel whim of his bloodthirsty pa¬
tron. That the love of God should have con¬
quered Africaner seemed beyond credence- Here
was and is complete proof that God's power to
transform life is not limited. The range of that
power is from the uttermost sin to the uttermost
righeousness. After five years of faithful
Christian life, Africaner gave his people his
death-bed charge (1882:) "We are not what
we were savages, but men, professing to be
taught according to the gospel. Let us then do
accordingly. My former life is stained with
blood, but Jesus Christ has pardoned me. Be¬
ware of falling into the same evils which I have
frequently led you. Seek God, and He will be
found of you to direct you."
CROWTHER.—-Samuel Adjai Crowther. is
another conspicuous trophy of African Missions.
Born of the relatively inferior Yorubas, west of
the lower Niger, he was captured by Fulah Slav-
THE WHITE PERIL
167
ers in 1821, traded for a horse, consigned to a
Portuguese slave ship, liberated by an English
man-of-war, placed in a mission school at Free
Town, Sierra Leone, taken to England to com¬
plete his education, sent as a missionary to his
own people along the Niger, consecrated Bishop
of the Niger in Canterbury Cathedral in 1864,
transferred to his eternal reward December 31,
lo91. Such, in brief, is the biography of an Af¬
rican slave and Christian freeman—one of the
,ie^t missionary characters of the nineteenth
century-
MOQLU.—The average, every-day commoner
of Africa, when a true Christian, also presents a
wholesome example. Drummond's journal re¬
cords the fidelity of Moolu, one of his attendants
in his journey through East Central Africa. Of
the first meeting with this man he writes: "I
cherish no more sacred memory than that of a
communion service in the little Bandawe chapel,
when the sacramental cup was handed to me by
the bare black arm of a native communicant,
and,, ' he adds, with that simplicity and sincere
humility which made his such a charming per¬
sonality, "a communicant whose life, tested af¬
terward in many an hour of trial with me, gave
him, perhaps a better right to be there than any
of
IVIOOLU'S RELIGION.—Drummond habitual¬
ly held an informal Sunday evening service with
hi3 man, and Moolu sometimes "undertook the
sermon." "He discoursed with great eloquence
oi the Tower of Babel. The preceding Sunday
he was waxed equally warm over the Rich Man
168
THE WHITE PERIL
and Lazarus; and his description of the rich man
in terms of native ideas of wealth—"plenty of
calico, plenty of beads!"—was a thing to re¬
member. I never saw Moolu do an inconsistent
thing. But I could trust him with everything.
He was not 'pioushe was neither bright nor
clever; he was a common place black; but he
did his duty and never told a lie. The first
night of our camp, after I had gone to rest, I re¬
member being aroused by a low talking. I look¬
ed out cf my tent; a flood of moonlight lit up the
forest; and there kneeling upon the ground,
was a little group of natives, and Moolu in the
canter, conducting evening prayers. Every
nKht afterward this service was repeated, no
matter how long the march or how tired the
men. I made no comment. But this I will say:
Moolu's life gave him the right to do it. I be¬
lieve in missions, for one thing, because I believe
in Moolu."
THE APOSTLE OF THE CONGO.—Paul, the
"Apostle of the Congo," was another of these
"common place blacks." The Rev. Henry Rich¬
ards tells his story. "There was one man, the
son of a chief, who did all that he could to op¬
pose the gospel. He would take his drum and
some wine and begin to dance, to call the people
away from the service. The weak ones would
sometimes go and join in the dance. The sound
of the drum seemed to electrify them; it remind¬
ed them of Pagan times- Sometimes, when this
man, whose name was Nloko (meaning 'acurse')
could not draw the people away from the meet¬
ings, he would come in and drive - them out by
making a great commotion." But the time came
THE WHITE PERIL
it>y
when this Saul, "yet breathing out threaten-
ings," heard the heavenly voice and experienced
a radical conversion. "Nloko was baptized. I
gave him the name of Paul, because his exepr-
ience was so much like that of the Apostle. The
man seemed to be full of the Holy Spirit." He
was eager to preach. He asked for the hardest
place, one where it had previously been impos¬
sible to gain admittance for the gospel. After
some preparatory training he went to Kinkanza.
The people would not receive him. He then
pitched his old tent outside the Pagan town and
began his siege- Cold and dampness and hun¬
ger were his companions, but he was steadfast.
PAUL'S FIRST CONVERT.—For months
there were no converts. Finally one man dared
to say, "I am a Christian." Immediately he was
rejected by his townspeople. Then Paul had a
neighbor. A small hut was built near his tent
and the new convert moved in. Gradually the
little community grew. A chapel accommodat¬
ing 300 people was built. This little company
of Christians, just from Paganism themselves,
were soon sending teachers to other towns and
paying their expenses-
PASSION FOR SOULS.—"All that Paul seem¬
ed to think of was souls; he dreamed of souls and
how he could win them. Of course, "concludes
Mr. Richards, "We have not many Paul's. He is
a born preacher. No man's prayers seem to help
me as much as his. I am astonished at the man's
power. He preaches the gospel of the Cross.
That is what breaks down the Pagan." Before
Paul died (1902,) his church numbered 600
members, all converted under his personal evan-
170 THE WHITE PERIL
gelism- This number includes none of the con¬
verts in the towns where his missionary teachers
had gone. His people continue to carry the mes¬
sage across the Congo to their heathen neigh¬
bors, and its influence is widening.
KHAMA.—King Khama of Bechuanaland,
South Africa, is a living witness to the fact that
the power of the gospel can make great and
good men from material that many despise and
in an environment that would test metal of the
finest temper. Having eagerly responded to the
gospel message, for years he endured the bitter¬
est sort of persecution. His father wTas both
chief and sorcerer, and wished Khama to be¬
come his successor in the double office. Through
innumerable petty annoyances, continual calu-
my and murderous treachery, Khama bore him¬
self as a dutiful son, except where filial obedi¬
ence crossed godliness, with forbearance, gentle¬
ness, patience, and dignity. His steadfastness
to Christ never wavered- The people were not
slow to discover the superior quality of the son,
and, after some years of conservative hesitation
chose Khama as chief in his father's stead
(1872.)
KHAMA'S RELATIONS WITH ENGLAND.
—The country having been opened to trade un¬
der the protection of England, Khama, in 1895,
visited Great Britain and made an "interesting
and impressive progress through England and
Scotland." With the humility of a truly great
character Khama recognized and acknowledged
the influence of Christianitv and its exponents
upon himself. At one crucial neriod in his re¬
lations with England he turned to Mackenzie,
THE WHITE PERIL
171
whom, as a loved friend, he welcomed again
among his people after years of separation, say¬
ing: "I shall lean on you as in the olden time;
stop me if I go wrong."
The firm, straightforward simplicity of this
South African "Alfred the Great," as he is some
times called, may be illustrated by his position
•on the liquor question. It puts to shame the
weak duplicity of leaders and peoples in lands
which for a much longer time have been inheri¬
tors of the gospel. The white man's drink was
prohibited from crossing the boundaries of
Bechuanaland. Native beer was also abolished.
These prohibitive laws were actively effective-
They were rigidly enforced, and severe penal¬
ties were visited upon offenders.
The white traders forced Khama to strenuous
legislation—a bit of statecraft worthy the pub¬
licity it has received. Liquor dealers elsewhere
are credited with pertinacity. Khama found
that his opponents lived up to the reputation of
the fraternity. Warning followed warning.
Still the law was violated. Finally, tried be¬
yond further endurance, Government crystaliz-
ed in Khama's figure, took control and launched
a philippic. J. D. Hepburn, who acted as inter¬
preter, gives the ultimatum as he heard Khama
pronounce it: "Take everything that you have-
Take all that is yours and go. I am trying to
lead my people to act according to that Word of
God which we have received from you white
people, and you show them an example of wick¬
edness such as we never knew. You, the people
of the Word of God! Go; take your cattle and
leave my town, and never come back again." On
the ground of old friendship, one dealer pleaded
172
THE WHITE PERIL
for pity. Khama flashed back: "Friendship!
You know better than any one how much I hate
this drink. Don't talk to me about friendship.
You are my worst enemy. I had a right to ex¬
pect that you would uphold my lawis, and you
bring in the stuff for others to break them. You
ask for pity and you show me no pity. No; I
have had enough of such pity- It is my duty to
have pity on my people, over whom God has
placed me, and I am going to show them pity to¬
day. That is my duty to God.'*' And the drink
went. To the British Administration he wrote:
"I dread the white man's drink more than the
asseganies of the Matabele, which kill men's
bodies and is quickly over; but drink puts devils
into men and destroys their souls and their
bodies forever. It's wounds never heal. I pray
your Honor never to ask me to open even a little
door to the drink."
SUPPRESSION OF NATIVE BEER DRINK¬
ING.-—The struggle over the native beer making
and drinking aroused deep antagonism. "At
one time/' said Khama, "I thought there was
nothing but death in front of me, but they could
not conquer me."
STATE BUILDING.-—The years of state-
building which succeeded Khama's accession
to the chieftainship resulted in the conversion
of an entire savage tribe into a peaceful, agri¬
cultural, Christian people. Well built houses
displaced rude huts. The home-thought has
taken root. The Bechuanas are not all Chris¬
tians. All Americans are not. The Bechuanas,
however are a demonstration of the effect of
Christian missions. Some still cling to their Pa-
THE WHITE PERIL
173
gan ideas, although Pagan practices were long
since abolished by law. To pass from Bechuana-
land before Khama to Bechuanaland with
Khama was like passing from Dante's Inferno
to his Paradise.
MADAGASCAR—The success in Magagas-
car represents the power of the gospel over a
mixed race in which the Negro blood is present,
but not dominant. The Malagasy are more
Malay than Negro. Within four months after
the first missionary party of six arrived in Mad¬
agascar, five had died of fever. But David
Jones, the one survivor, tenaciously held on, won
the friendship of King Radama, and inaugurated
a most marvelous work. The king admitted
further missionaries, on condition that some
should be artisans. The introduction of skilled
mechanics deeply impressed the Malagasy. Af¬
ter almost a century they still speak of Canham,
the tanner; Chick, the smith; Rowlands, the
weaver; and, above all, of Cameron, the master
workman. The last named was a many-sided
inventive genius. He lived until 1875. When
Queen Ranavalona decided to banish the mis¬
sionaries, Cameron secured a five years' delay
of the sentence. The Queen did not care for any
more "book teaching/' but desired something
which to her mind was more practicable- "Can
you teach my people to make soap?" she asked.
Within a week's time Cameron returned with
a specimen of his soap—a very effective mission¬
ary agency.
FIRST FIFTEEN YEAR'S WORK.—The mis¬
sionaries were expelled from Madagascar in
1835. A summary of the fifteen years' work
174
THE WHITE PERIL
shows that the Hova language had been reduced
to written form, the Bible had been translated,
elementary school books had been prepared,
several small Christian churches had been or¬
ganized, 10,000 or 15,000 pupils had passed'
through the one hundred mission schools and
30,000 people had learned to read.
"THE TIME WHEN THE LAND WAS
DARK."—The quarter of a century from 1835
to 1862 is called in Madagascar "the time when
the land was dark." This at least indicates an
appreciation of the light which had been intro¬
duced by the missionaries and which had partial¬
ly been eclipsed by their banishment. Persecu¬
tion produced "a noble army of martyrs."
Christians went to their deaths "with faces shin¬
ing like those of angels." Not less than 1,900
persons were persecuted in various ways in
1849- Of the eighteen martyrs, four were of
noble births, and were burned.
CHRISTIAN FORTITUDE.—The more Queen
Ranavalona persecuted, the more the Christians
multiplied. Hilltops, remote forests, caves and
tombs served as meeting places. After twenty-
five years of persecution there were four times
as many Christians as at the beginning. The
missionaries found (1862) about 6,000 who not
only had not given up their faith, but most of
whom had made their confession during this
reign of terror. Eight years after the renewal
of the work of the statistics of growth appear in¬
credible. By 1867 there were 92 congregations,
with 13,682 adherents; in 1870, 621 congrega¬
tions and 231,759 adherents. Such rapid growth
precluded thorough training as to the^meaning
THE WHITE PERIL
175
and obligations of Christianity. But the signifi¬
cant thing is that it meant a definite break with
Paganism and a readiness for the gospel. In
1895,, after twenty-five years of further ingath¬
ering, there were 2,004 congregations, 96,000
church members, 120,000 in Protestant Mission
schools, and 375,000 adherents- With the final
occupation of Madagascar by the French, in
1896, the Roman Catholics became the persecu¬
tors of the Protestant Christians and the number
of adherents decreased. But the result has been
that by the elimination of those who would not
suffer for Christ's sake the standard of evange¬
lical Christians has been raised. In 1909 there
were 280,000 Protestant communicants and ad¬
herents.
UGANDA.—Lest any should think that the
responsiveness and steadfastness of the Mala¬
gasy to Christianity may be due to the slight
proportion of Negro blood in their veins, the Ba-
ganda on Lake Victoria are cited. They, too,
are a mixed race, but remain predominantly
Negro. In 1875, Henry M. Stanley sent from
Uganda his famous "Challenge to Christendom.7'
King Mtesa had asked for missionaries for his
people. Would Christians respond to this cry
from the heart of Africa?
CHARACTER OF PEOPLE.—The people in
whose behalf this challenge was sent were de¬
scribed by Stanley himself as "crafty, fraudful,
deceiving, lying, thievish knaves, taken as a
whole-." Women and children as well as slaves
were property. Polygamv was common. The
people were victimized by belief in witchcraft.
Violence was rife. Punishment and death were
176
THE WHITE PERIL
often accomplished by fearful torture. Human
life was held cheap. A subject might be shot to
test a gun. Cannibalism was probably occassion-
ally practiced. Human sacrifice was often a
wholesale slaughter. Mtesa's father had been
accustomed to sacrifice great numbers of his sub¬
jects whenever religious caprice or personal
vengeance dictated. Mtesa himself offered two
thousand captives in sacrifice to his father's spir¬
it, and later commanded a similar butchery in
order to propitiate the evil spirit that was caus¬
ing his own illness.
PILKINGTON'S SUMMARY.—In 1896, less
than twenty years after the advent of the first
missionaries, Pilkington could write his remark¬
able and worthily oft-quoted summary: "A hun¬
dred thousand souls brought into close contact
with the gospel—half of them able to read for
themselves; two hundred buildings raised by
native Christians in which to worship God and
read His word; two hunrded native evangelists
and teachers entirely supported by the native
church; ten thousand copies of the New Testa¬
ment in circulation; six thousand souls eagerly
seeking daily instruction; statistics of baptism,
©f confirmation, of adherents of teachers, more
than doubling yearly for the last six or seven
years, ever since the return of the Christians
from exile; the power of God shown by chang¬
ed lives—and all this in the center of the thick¬
est spiritual darkness in the world! Does it not
make the heart reel with mingled emotions of
joy and fear, of hope and apprehension? Well
may Christian hearts rejoice with trembling as
THE WHITE PERIL
177
they hear of it! Well may they labor in prayers
for such possibilities, either of magnificent suc¬
cess or heart-breaking disaster !"
UGANDA NATIVE MARTYRS.—Moreover,
the Uganda church itself had its roll of native
membership written in martyr's blood. Its early
history is a recital of the most sublime faith amid
terrible persecution and torture- They had
"trials of cruel mockings and scouraging, yea,
moreover of bonds and imprisonments—they
were sown asunder; were tempted; were slain;
being destitute, afflicted, fomented, (of whom
the world was not worthy;) they wandered in
deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves
of the earth. And these all, having had a wit¬
ness borne to them through their faith, received
not the promise, God having provided some bet¬
ter thing for us, that they without us should not
be made perfect."
UGANDA CHURCH IN 1911—According to
the census of 1911, 200,733 enrolled Protestant
Christians in Uganda. The Church of England
had 179,000 baptized Christians (6,051 having
been baptized during the year.) The contribu¬
tions of the native Christians were $22,000.
There are 15 training institutions, with 411 stu¬
dents, and 166 schools, with 55,000 scholars.
The demand for copies of the Scriptures increas¬
es: 1,737 Bibles, 7052 New Testaments, and
8,278 portions were sold. Mr. Roosevelt in 1910,
wrote of the people: "Many thousands of them
are sincerely Christians and show their Christi¬
anity in practical fashion by putting conduct
above ceremonial and dogma." Native mission¬
aries are going to surrounding tribes-
178
THE WHITE PERIL
'"A NATION IN A DAY."—"A nation in a
day!"' Into the somber, blood-stained tapestry
of Pagan life the new thread of a mighty Love
has been woven. This wonderful thread can be
traced, now dividing and intertwining, not knot¬
ted and tangled and shredded, now, except to a
keen eye, lost sight of, though only to reappear
in clearer design, marred here by ruthless hands,
stained , there with marytr blood, but finally
dominating the whole,, until the fabric grows
firm and enduring, and the pattern distinct and
chaste and beautiful. As these thirty years pass
in review, one is conscious that the Word of the
Lord comes to His own today as clearly as His
message to Zerubbabel: "Who art thou, O great
mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt be¬
come a plain." And as the heart bows in deep
thankfulness for the fulfilment of this promise
in dark Africa there speaks through the silence
the voice of Him who sitteth on th ethrone : "Not
by an army, nor by power, but by My spirit,
saith the Lord of Hosts."
NGONILAND.—In 187-5 the Ngoni were a
plundering*blood-thirsty tribe. They raided for
sustenance and slaughtered for pleasure. They
terrorized other natives of the region to the West
of Lake Nyasa. The remnants of these almost
annihilated tribes fled for protection to the Liv-
ingstonia Mission. This led Dr. Laws to propose
to settle a missionary among the wild Ngoni
themselves. Dr. Elmslie's story of his own twen¬
ty years' life among them reveals the awful de¬
pravity and brutality of this people.
THE WHITE PERIL
179
TRANSFORMATION.—J. W. Jack vividly
portrays the transformation after a few years of
missionary work. "The rock of unbelief and in¬
difference, which at first remained non-riven, in
spite of repeated strokes, has at last been shat¬
tered. Both chiefs and people have become
friendly to the mission. The national war-spirit
is broken. The brutal raids upon the Tonga and
other defenseless tribes have entirely ceased.
Spears and Clubs are being exchanged for the
Word of God. The lives of the missionaries are
no longer in danger. The horrible practices of
the native doctors are giving place to the arts
of true medicine. Savage creatures who have
lived all their days for plunder and profligacy,
whose hearts have never known principle or
virtue, or decency, are being born again by a di¬
vine power, are giving up their degraded habits,
and are sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and
in their right minds. All this, too, in little more
than a decade of time! And without any secu¬
lar force to help, with no aid whatever from
army or civil adminsitration, and with the per¬
sistent savagery of the land as an opponent! It
is surely a triumph as splendid as any ever
achieved by the force of arms. It is a change of
stupendous as when the peaceful staff of Moses
broke in shivers all weapons of war and the ten
thousand spears of Pharoah. It is a marvel pow¬
er, greater than any belonging to this lower
world."
CONGO BASIN.—The typical African of the
Congo Basin also has shown a remarkable readi¬
ness to receive the erospel and a staunch loyalty
to the faith. The "Pentecostal on the Congo" is
180 THE WHITE PERIL
no more a fact of history than is the unswerving1;
faithfulness and missionary zeal of these eon-
verted Pagans—some of them formerly canni¬
bals-" "When an African will give up his super¬
fluous wives, will reject an easy opportunity to
steal, will confess a sin which entails sure and
disagreeable punishment, will relinquish ven¬
geance against a foe," there can be no doizbfr as;
to1 the mighty transformation in his life. And
Such Africans are adding to the Congo church
daily those who are being saved. "The native
Christians from the first have adopted as a ear-
principle of church membership that every
member should personally engage in some form
of Christian service." This explains their
abounding liberality, their self-support, their
high standard of morals, their spirit, and their
record of conquest. The Rev. Henry Richards,
of the American Baptist Mission on the Congo,
answers the query as to "what kind of Christians
the Africans make, if they really give up their
Paganism and become civilized," by this state¬
ment: "We have fifteen hundred church mem¬
bers at our station, and, as far as I can judge, we
have as spiritual and devoted a church as you}
will find anywhere. As a whole, they compare
favorably with any other body of Christians."
REMARKABLE RESPONSIVENESS.—Ver¬
ne r points out that the Congoese are even more
responsive to Christianity than are the Baganda.
Among the latter, the growth of the church has
been a hundred-fold in ten years' time. In the
Kassai Valley of the Congo basin "the growth
has been a hundred-fold in five years' time, and
this, too, when the political power, contrary to
THE WHITE PERIL
181
the case of Uganda, has not been vested in the
government to which the missionaries belong.
When Lapsley landed at Luebo (1891) there
was not a Protestant native Christian in a thou¬
sand miles. Now there are nearly two thousand.
There have never been more than ten missiona¬
ries actively at work there at one time, but they
have been so besieged with calls from far and
near that they have been physically unable to re¬
spond. The Baluba slaves, who once thought
that Luebo (before missionaries came) was
synonymous with all the horrors of torture and
death, now hail it as the haven of freedom and
peace. Where the murderous shouts of Canni¬
bals once rang through the forest, the sound of
the church bell proclaims the call to worship
and the songs of Zion resound across the clear¬
ing."
AFRICAN OF INTERIOR EASILY WON.—
It is in the interior, beyond the vicious influence
of corrupt civilization and demoralizing trade,
that the Afrcan is most easily won to Christiani¬
ty, and once thoroughly won endures hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. In less than
a generation large districts such as those de¬
scribed have discarded barbarous practices, just
as converts in Christian lands leave off bad hab¬
its, and have adopted the manners and some of
the arts of civilization. Thirty years ago there
was not a convert in all Central Africa, today
there are over 90,000; thirty years ago no
churches and schools, today over 2,000 places of
worship and instruction; thirty years ago no pu¬
pils, today about 300,000 receive religious and
182
THE WHITE PERIL
secular training; thirty years ago no native
evangelization, today above 100 ordained and
over 3,000 native helpers, who are carrying the
gospel to their Pagan brethren- The forces are
now organized in several strong centers. Chris¬
tianity has gathered mimentum. Who will at¬
tempt to prophesy the cumulative results that
may reasonably be expected within the next gen¬
eration ?
If the above is true of the African, it is a
hundred-fold more manifest among the darker
races of Asia and the Isles of the Sea.
PROTEST OF ASIATICS AND THE ASSUM¬
ING OF LEADERSHRIP IN THEIR CHRISTIAN
ADVANCE.-—The following is from John Mott's
Mission Study Books of the Decisive Hour in
Christian Missions: "Out of these remarkable
movements among the nations, one feature
emerges so noticeable as to merit special consid¬
eration. At first these changes which are taking
place were largely involuntary, and in many cas¬
es were forced upon unwilling people, but now
they are becoming a part of a national, aggran¬
dizement. Since the war with Japan and Russia
all parts of the non-Christian world, but espec¬
ially in Asia, this National spirit has been grow¬
ing and associated with it, a spirit of racial pride
and an antagonism. In almost every country it
is the expression of the growing self-conscious¬
ness of the people. They are learning to be
proud of the past. They believe that they have
ability and resources to make their own contri¬
bution to the life of the world- They wish to pre¬
serve their individuality and independence and
THE WHITE PERIL
183
to be true to their own national and racial char¬
acteristics. They are beginning to feel that they
have a right to stand along side of the great
Nations of the West, not as inferiors, but as
equals. Accordingly the resent of all foreign
domination and sentitive as to the influence
of all things foreign. They wish to be allowed
to work out their own destiny, and are forming
high conceptions of what that destiny is. They
are becoming more and more ambitious and con¬
fident in their own powers and ability, and are
no longer willing to move quietly on, but are de¬
termined to succeed and become great and inde¬
pendent.
There are many illustrations of the growth of
this spirit of nationalism in the non-Christian
world. We have seen how it has manifested it¬
self in emancipating Japan by sheer force of
merit from an extra-territorial position among
nations and finally in making her the dominant
power in the East. In China there is now an¬
other marked example of growing consciousness
of nationality and of a desire to acquire national
independence and power. We find this spirit
exhibiting itself in various ways. One of the
viceroys has prepared a book on patriotism
which has been circulated by the hundreds of
thousands of copies—more than any other book
save the Scriptures- Any articles bearing on
the subject of nationalism are appearing in
Chinese periodicals. There are frequent refer¬
ences to "our country" in the newspapers and in
speeches. The use of the Chinese flag on modern
school buildings and the singing of patriotic
songs in the schools are other illustrations. So¬
cieties have been formed to debate uolitical
184 THE WHITE PERIL
questions especially the relation of China to
other nations. The boycott against American
and other foreign goods, the creation of a mod¬
ern army, now numbering over 200,000 men, and
the riots occurring from time to time, are also
facts pointing eloquently and unmistakably to
the expansion of the national spirit.
Not less significant is the attitude to Christi¬
anity adopted by some of the leading Chinese
reformers, who have been imperfectly instruct¬
ed. The awakening of a national spirit in China
tends to close minds and hearts to everything
connected with the foreign teacher.
Without doubt the officials are indirectly do¬
ing much to prevent the people from accepting
Christianity. Apparently they cannot free their
minds from the conviction that the missionary
movement is after all only another form of po¬
litical activity. They have had experience in
the past with certain forms of Christianity, par¬
ticularly the Roman Catholic which abundantly
explains the strength of their conviction. It is
not strange, therefore, that it is openly an-
nouncd in Chinese newspapers that the program
of the New China must be to recover China's sov¬
ereign rights and to extinguish the Church-
China fears any teaching or movement which
centers abroad. Her sentiment is no more
against Christianity than against railways and
mines worked or superintended by foreigners.
In fact, she is more eager to redeem her railways
and mines than to expel Christians. The spirit
of restiveness under dominant foreign influence
manifests itself, further, not only in the political
and commercial relations of China, but also in¬
side the Chinese Christian Church itself. At
THE WHITE PERIL
185
conferences in three of the principal cities, at¬
tended by the leading Chinese pastors and Chris¬
tian teachers, oine of the chief reasons given by
them to explain why more of the ablest Chris¬
tian students do not enter the ministry was the
strong feeling of dissatisfaction with the subor¬
dinate position held by native pastors.
Many Indian reviews and other periodicals
have been started within recent years to promote
the development of the Indian national or patri¬
otic spirit, some of which are edited with ability
and exert a wide influence. Even the Indian
papers which are most loyal to the Government
are devoted more than ever to the discussion of
such questions. An immense amount of litera¬
ture is being published in a very cheap form,
both in the vernacular and in English, treating
the social, industrial and political aspects of
nationalism, and this literature is being circu¬
lated broadcast in all parts of India. The In¬
dian National Congress, as heretofore, devotes
itself largely to the discussion of the political
phases of the national movement, and within
the past few years, an increasing number of pro¬
vincial and district conferences have been held
for the purpose of discussing and agitating simi¬
lar questions. The recent acts of violence, al¬
though limited to a very small section of Indian
society, may be regarded as unfortunate exhi¬
bitions of the same national spirit- Among the
masses there is a growing feeling that they
should be treated with more consideration and
justice by Europeans. This feeling has shown
itself, as it did not even ten years ago, in bitter
complaints concerning any unjust treatment in
railway trains, on steamships, and also on plan-
186
THE WHITE PERIL
tations and in offices. Even in the Christian
Church this independence and rebellion against
unequal treatment is manifested. There is a
keen feeling of dissatisfaction with reference to
the government of the churches, and the Indians
are strongly demanding that they have a more
responsible part. So much do they resent their
present subordination, that their feeling has of¬
ten become anti-missionary. Rather than be sub¬
ject to a foreigner, they are sometimes content
to be without help.
Africa as well as Asia affords illustrations of
a growing national and racial patriotism.
Nationalism in Egypt is in most respects a pro-
Moslem movement and therefore intensifies the
dislike of the Egyptian towards the foreigner
and the Christian. It tends to fan the flames of
fanaticism, both in the cities and in the pro¬
vinces, and this makes it much more dangerous
than it is in other parts of the world. In South
Africa the movement may be characterized as
racial rather than national. Among the native
Christians it manifested itself in a special way,
known as the Ethiopian Movement- This was an
effort to establish an African Church indepen¬
dent of the control or supervision of foreign mis¬
sionaries and it attracted to itself some of the
loyal and genuine Christians as well as those
who were disaffected and unworthy. It served
to undermine the former trust of the colored
people in white missionaries and eventually,
through becoming entangled in politics, resulted
in such dangerous tendencies as to call forth re¬
pressive governmental measures. As a result
of lax practice with regard to baptism and
the want of searching church discipline, the
THE WHITE PERIL
187
movement has declined in spiritual power and
no longer wields its former influence. Owing
to various causes there has been a growing an¬
tagonism between the white and black races in
South Africa, outside as well as within the
church. New racial hopes have been stimulated
in the hearts of the people of South Africa even
by so remote a cause as the victories of the
Japanese, and besides this, some of the regula¬
tions and disciplinary measures employed by
different colonial governments have served to
drive the colored people definitely into the arms
of the Mohammedans and have brought about a
iraternization involving political as well as re¬
ligious anger. The war in German Southwest
Africa has also embittered the feelings of the
Cape Colored people against everything Euro¬
pean, while the antagonism of race and color
has recently been rendered more serious, inas¬
much as the new Constitution of the Union of
South Africa withdraws from the colored people
certain rights hitherto tacitly conceded to them,
and because the Parliament of the Union has the
power to deprive the colored people of further
privileges. This retrogressive action has stirred
the feelings of the half-castes to the depths, and
has kindled a fire which cannot easily be extin¬
guished.
> It is difficult to specify the causes of these
great upheavals in all these countries. The
leaven of Western civilization has for many
years been slowly penetrating the Asiatic con¬
sciousness and what is now coming to light is
largely the result of this process- It has been
greatly accelerated, however, by the growing
commercial intercourse of today, the streams of
the white peril
travel between East and West, and the migra¬
tions of students. We cannot exaggerate, for
example, the influence upon China of the return
of Chinese students from Tokyo and the West,
with their minds full of science and Western
methods, but their hearts burning because of
what they have learned of the Opium War with
England, and of what they regard as the unjust
exclusion acte of America, Canada, and Austra¬
lia, of the seizing of their territory by Russia,
Germany, France and Japan, and of the build¬
ing in their own capital city of legations, which
are like a fortress, stocked with munitions of
war and manned with foreign troops. The as¬
cendancy of the West, so bitter to the Asiatic,
has emphasized the value of a new and better
conception of nationality. The progress, victo¬
ry, power of the Empire of the Rising Sun have
become known and have been discussed in the
marts of China, the bazaars of India, the Khans
of Persia and Turkey, and even in the caravan¬
saries of Arabia and Africa, and have powerful¬
ly stimulated national hopes and ambitions and
led to great changes in national outlook and
practice. As a writer in "The Spectator" has
pointed out, "by some inscrutable means of tem¬
peramental communication, the aspirations of
one country are quickly adopted by another,
however different in intellectual and political
equipment they may be." Even so Japan's am¬
bitions and successes have kindled like aspira¬
tions in other lands and have led to this rest¬
less movement and this conscious copying of the
West. But a far more potent cause has been the
sense of the value of the individual and the de¬
sire for genuine liberty and progress which
THE WHITE PERIL
189
have been awakened and developed in men
through the knowledge of the Christian Scrip¬
tures, through the proclamation of the mission
of Chrirst to man, and through the Christ-leav-
ecied institutions, ideals and practices of the
West. It is this discovery of the worth and
rights of the individual man that has made pos¬
sible, for example, the ignoring of caste by such
numbers of the educated classes in India, and it
is this which alone has caused the movement
among the native races in Africa. In many lands
the Christian missionanry has been the pioneer
of all the subsequent development, and where-
ever Christ has come, He has led men to look up
to new ideals and to set new value on things.
This goes towards explaining the orgin of the
whole movement. The Chinese, the Indian, and
the African are seeking to shape their nations
to achieve great destinies, because they are
learning from the West the lesson which Christ
taught them, the dignity and inherent greatness
of every human life, and are realizing thereby
what they can become. Without doubt, as in
Korea, so in many another land, Chrisitanity
has furnished the principle transforming influ¬
ence and power."
THE DARKER RACES WITHOUT WICKED
RACE PREJUDICES.—The darker races of the
world will lead the moral forces of the world be¬
cause the dark races are without that bitter race
prejudices which denies to other races absolute
equality. Japan is leading the Christian na¬
tions of the world in contending for the funda¬
mental principles of Christian brotherhood;
predicated on liberty, equality, justice and fra-
190 THE WHITE PERIL
ternity, and all the darker races of the world
are lining up behind her on that principle. Even
though the leaders of the world will accept the
righteousness of Japan's position on "equality
of races," the rank and file of white people who
have been rooted and grounded in the teaching
that they are superior to other human beings
and have been appointed by heaven to rule
them, will be the last to practice the doctrine
of "the equality of races." They must be taught
that truth by the precept and example of the
darker races in the New Christian Advance.
THE WHITE PERIL
191
CHAPTER VI.
OUR PROGRAM
"The men of Issachar had understanding of
the times, to know what Israel ought to do."—
1 Chr. 12:32.
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD
The historical setting of the above passage is
in the reconstruction period of Israel under
David.
(a) The formative period of the national
life of Israel under the Judges had been marked
by wars with Pagan Nations from the fall of
Jericho until the kingdom was established under
Saul.
The crowning of Saul marked the closing of
the formative period. Israel had become a na¬
tional power with whom the nations of the
world had to reckon; not because of her military
power, but because of her democratic ideals
which were destined to leaven the lump of the
Kingdoms of the world and establish the reign
of the people.
Abraham was the Father of Democracy. It
was the spirit of God which spoke in his soul
saying: "Now the Lord had said unto Abraham;
get thee out of thy country, and from their kin¬
dred, and from thy father's house, unto a land
that I will shew thee ; «I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse them that
curseth thee; and in thee shall the families of
the earth be blessed." Gen. 12:1-3.
192 THE WHITE PERIL
JEWS NEVER SLAVES
The principles of Democracy were bred in the
bones of the Hebrew race- Every person felt
himself the equal of any one in the world. That
Jew who said to Jesus "We hav^e never been
slaves to any one,'" expressed the National sen¬
timent of the Hebrew race. Israel was a victim
to economic slavery rather than bond or chattel
slavery.
AGAINST AUTOCRACY
Abraham left Chaldea to escape autocracy
and the race never would assimilate with the
autocratic system of the world. When Jacfob
and Joseph died in Egypt they asked that their
bones would be carried to the land of Canaan
when the tribes would return.
The adoption of Moses into the Royal family
of Egypt did not get out of him the spirit of
Democracy which Jochabed, his mother, bred
in him. It's written: "Moses refused to be call¬
ed the son of Pharaoh's daughter and forsook
Egypt; not fearing the wrath of the King, but
endured as one who sees the invisible.
When they migrated to Canaan, the land was
not gobbled up by the leaders, but belonged to
the tribes of the commonwealth of Israel. The
divine right of kings had place in the political
life of Israel. Every man regarded himself as
a king and a priest unto God. Aaron, himself,
was only regarded as the proxy of every man in
Israel. It was that fact which made Israel a pe¬
culiar people. And Israel stood out as a thorr^
in the flesh of the autocratic kingdoms of the
world.
THE WHITE PERIL
193
When Babylon broke up the kingdom of
Israel and carried the inhabitants away to be as¬
similated into her monarchial system, she gave
the leaders of Israel first places in Babylonian
provinces, but they refused to be swirved a hair's
breadth from the principles of Democracy as
breathed by the spirit of Abraham-
Israel's poet expresses the feeling of the race,
in these words: "By the rivers of Babylon, there
we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remember¬
ed Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows
in the midst thereof.
For there they that carried us away captives,
required of us a song; and they that wasted us
required of us mirth, saying: "Sing us one of the
songs of Zion." How shall we sing the Lord's
song in a strangs land. If I forget thee, O, Jeru¬
salem, Let my right hand forget her cunning. If
I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to
the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem
before my chief joy."—Psa. 137 :l-6.
Such was the National Spirit of Israel inter¬
preted by her great religious poet.
THREATENING DISINTERGRATION
(b) But the National Spirit of Israel came
near breaking down through internal strife,
which manifested itself in the struggle of Dem¬
ocracy under Judge Samuel against the rise of
Autocracy under the leadership of Saul, who
represented that party in Israel which wanted
kings like the other nations.
194
THE WHITE PERIL
Samuel represented the old land mark, Dem¬
ocracy and reign of the people set by Abraham
when he left Urr, Chaldea, looking for a city
with foundations whose builder and maker is
God-
PROTEST AGAINST DIVINE RIGHT
OF KINGS
Samuel protested against the growing spirit
of autocracy in these words: "This will be the
manner of the king that will reign over you; he
will take your sons and appoint them for him¬
self ; for his horseman and his chariots; for
some shall run before his chariots; and he will
appoint him captains over thousands and cap¬
tains over fifties; and will set them over his
grounds to ear and reap his harvest, and to
make his instruments of war, and instruments of
chariots. And he will take your daughters to be
his confectionaries and to be his cooks and to be
his bakers. And he will take your fields and
your vineyards: even the best of them, and giva
them to his servants. And he will take the tenth
of youi" seed, and your vineyards and give them
to his officers and his servants; and he will take
your men-servants and your maid-servants and
the best young men and your servants and the
best young men and your asses and put them to
work. And he wrill ask the tenth of your sheep;
and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry
out in that day, because of your king which ye
have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear
you in that day."—1 Sam. 8:11-18.
But Samuel's arguments was of no immediate
avail.
THE WHITE PERIL
195
The context says: "Nevetheless the people
refused to obey the voice of Samuel. The Lord
and Samuel being good Democrats, temporarily
yielded to the wishes of the majority and ac¬
quiesced in the voice of the people."
For the context says: "Samuel heard all the
words of the people and rehearsed them to the
ears of the Lord. And the Lord said unto Sam¬
uel: "Hearken unto the voice of the people and
make them a king. 1 Sam. 8 :19-22.
The yielding of Democracy to Autocracy was
temporary until sentiment of democracy could
be cultivated among the people.
Samuel proceeded at once preparing to devel¬
op a democratic ruler from among the working
classes in the person of David, the young sheep-
herder to succeed Saul.
Samuel's chief objection to Saul, was his dis¬
position to spare autocratic rulers like Agag,
whom Samuel hewed in pieces before the Lord
in Gilgal. 1 Sam- 15:15.
Samuel was not a neutral. The context says:
"And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the
day of his death. 1 Sam. 15 :35.
Stained relation between Samuel and Saul
marked the beginning of the re-action and final
triumph of Democracy under the popular young
Captain David, of whom the people said: "Saul
has slain his thousands and David his ten thou¬
sands." 1 Sam. 18:7-
The death of Saul and the coming of David
to the throne marked the beginning of the re¬
construction period of the Kingdom of Israel
and the advancement of the Kingdom of God
on earth through the ages.
196
THE WHITE PERIL
CONFLICT.
(c) The context implies that the various
tribes in the vortext of conflicting opinions were
uncertain as to what should be Israel's National
policy.
The reaction from extreme Autocracy under
Saul to Democracy under David threatened na¬
tional integration that would have made them
an easy prey to the Pagan Nations who werd
opposed to any and all factions or groups in Is¬
rael advancing. Each tribe seemed to be fear¬
ful of losing its liberty and autonomy through
National Union.
The Kingdom of Israel which was the expon¬
ent of the Kingdom of God was saved through
the prophetic insight of the tribe of Isaachar,
who had understanding of the times, to know
what Israel ought to do.
The porphetic insight of Isachar is the emi¬
nent and transcendent spirit of God in Christ,
revealed in the souls of men and the history of
the world. The principle repeats itself over and
over in a never increasing fullness- For it is
written that, no prophecy is of any private in¬
terpretation. "The testimony of Jesus Christ
is the spirit of prophecy, and this text is the em¬
bodiment of the spirit of Jesus Christ in the his-
bodiment *of the spirit of Jesus Christ in
the history of the world." The men of
Isachar had understanding of the times to
know what Israel ought to do." 1 Chron. 12 :
32.
THE WHITE PERIL
197
SOUL OF PROPHECY.
That is a practical definition of prophecy. The
soul of the prophecy is understanding the times
to know what to do. Prophecy is not primarily
for-telling but telling forth.
It is written: "It shall come to pass in the
last days says God, I will pour out my spirit on
all flesh and your sons and daughters shall
prophecy and your young men shall see visions
and your old men shall dream dreams-
The thought there is, that the Lord will pour
out his spirit on all men and enable them to
understand the times to know what they should
do in their day and generation.
The Lord will pour out his spirit on laymen as
well as preachers; and sinners as well as saints.
For sinners too are made to understand the
times in which they live to know what to do with
respect to the reign of God on earth as in Heav¬
en.
It is written: "He was the true light which
enlightens every man coming into the world.''
John 1:9.
This is the condemnation that light has come
into the world and men love darkness rather
than light. John 3:19.
The thought is that everybody has bright mo¬
ments which are birth hours for better things-
That's why Jesus said travel along while you
have the light so that darkness may not over¬
take you. While you have the light, believe in
the light that ye may be children of light. John
12:35.
Christ branded many people of His day and
generation as being hypocrites because they
could read the signs of the weather and pre-
198
THE WHITE PERIL
tended they could not read the signs of the
times, that they might know what to do.
PIVOTAL PERIOD.
(2) Now the fundamental principle which
the men of Isaachar understood was :that the
years in which they were living were pivotal
upon which decades and centuries would turn.
(a) They understood that God was pouring
out His spirit on all flesh in shaping the trend
of national and international life of the world.
The flood tide of the spirit revealed to all
classes, reproving the world of sin, and of right¬
eousness and of judgment." John 16:8.
WORLD NOT RUN RIGHT-
That is to say, both saints and sinners realize
that the Kingdom of God on earth was not be¬
ing run right. Sinners could see it as Well as
saints. They hardly knew how they knew, but
they knew that they did know.
And we are living in one of those great flood
tides of the spirit which has guided the world
into all truths; when all classes of people real¬
ize that society has gone mad and that the spirit
that is ruling the world is condemned.
There is no more helpful sign of the times
than the criticism directed against organized1
Christianity by people who do not profess to be
Christians.
The spirit has revealed unto them the
ideals of Christ which a: ng perverted by
the professors of Christi in our day and
generation.
THE WHITE PERIL
199
PEOPLE KNOW
They have not only convicted the world of
sin, but of righteousness. That is to say, the
people in general not only know that the world
is not being run right, but the spirit of Christ
that is being poured out on all flesh has revealed
unto them what ought to be done, to righten it.
JUDGMENT.
They have not only convicted the world of sin
and of righteousness, but all men are in the spir¬
it to convict the world by judgment. That is to
say, the world is in the spirit to righten things by
appealing to the court of last resort which is
war to the knife.
The majority of men have reached the piont
where they feel themselves called of God to
execute His judgment if it causes their cruci¬
fixion.
This hour in Human History is critical, chal¬
lenging and decisive. We are challenged by
the tremendous, even appalling facts in the
present world situation. We are challenged by
an unparalleled national and and international
emergency. We are challenged by the new
open doors and the new desperate needs:" of
our race and the world. We are challenged,
by the possibilities of Divine judgment upon our
churches, and upon our organized denomina¬
tional life. No church or Denomination can
succeed if its message and spirit are not positive,
aggressive, courageous, heroic. There comes
a time When the master is compelled to say to
200
THE WHITE PERIL
a recreant leadership "The Kingdom of Heaven
is taken away from you and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof-"
These men of Isaachar combined their proph¬
etical insight with their practical common sense,
and decided that the first religious and prophet¬
ical duty of Israel was to unify herself under a
thoroughly democratic Kingctom. They saw
that the tribes of Israel should cease fighting
among themselves and unite for the common
good.
The context says: "Now the Philistines
fought against Israel and the men of Israel fled
from before the Philistines and fell down slain
in Mount Gilboa—then all Israel gathered
themselves under David under Heaven saying:
"Behold we are thy bone and flesh." 1 Sam: 10:
1; 1 Sam. 10:1-11-1.
The men of Isaachar decided to wage a war
of righteousness to the death for freedom and
justice.
The context says: "They were armed with
bows and could use both the right hand and the
left in hurling stones and shooting arrows." 1
Sam- 12 :2.
But they also saw that they should quicken
the spirit of evangelism throughout the Nation
or freedom itself would serve no good purpose.
The context says: "And David consulted with
the captains of the thousands and of the hun¬
dreds and with every leader. And David said
to all the congregation of Israel: "If it seems
good unto you and that it be good unto you, and
that it be of the Lord our God, let us send
abroad unto brethren everywhere, that are left
in the land of Israel and with them also of the
THE WHITE PERIL
201
priests and the Levites which are in their cities
and suburbe, that they may gather themselves
unto us; and let us bring again the ark of God
to us, for we inquired not of it in the days of
Saul and all the congregation said they would
do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all
the people." 1 Chron. 13:1-4.
Now, Brethren, since it is true that "no proph¬
ecy is of private interpretation but that whatso¬
ever things were written afore times were writ¬
ten for our learning," does it not seem to you
that the principles of this text and context is re¬
peating itself? Is not this a reconstruction pe¬
riod in the history of the world? Do you not
feel and know the years in which we are living
are pivotal and that decades and centuries will
turn upon the program of each denomination
and the world.
I earnestly feel a prophetic sense of the criti¬
cal importance of the times out of which should
grow:
A SEVEN YEARS PROGRAM FOR THE
NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION OF THE
U. S. A.
(3) THE AIM :of the seven years' program
should be to develop every church into an evan¬
gelistic and social force in its community and a
resultant mighty impact of our whole denomina¬
tional life upon the nation and the world.
NOT THRUSTING A PROGRAM.
We do not mean that the National Conven¬
tion should thrust any kind of program upon in¬
dependent Baptist Churches.
202 THE WHITE PERIL
INVITING CO-OPERATION.
We simply mean that the National Conven¬
tion should work out a unified statement of our
whole denominational task and invite all the
churces, associations, Conventions and individ¬
uals to co-operate in a constructive culminative
intensive program of advance so large and so
compelling as to arrest attention and unify our
forces and activities challenge our men of large
resources and stir our whole people with a
splendid enthusiasm for the Kingdom of God.
HER RIGHT TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE.
The propriety of the National Baptist Conven¬
tion taking the initiative in preparing such a
program ip predicted on the fact that the Na¬
tional Baptist Convention has already given
nominal national unity to the colored branch of
North American Baptists.
The U. S. A. Government, the North Ameri¬
can Baptist Alliance and the American Federa¬
tion of Churches, and the World's Baptist Al¬
liance all recognize us under the denomination¬
al name of the National Baptist Convention of
the U. S. A.
There are several factions of the National
Baptist Convention, but they are all National
Baptist factions-
And the National Baptist program of general
advance should be big enough to include all fac¬
tions.
THE TIME IS AT HAND.
(b) We are of the opinion that the revo¬
lution in the colored branch of the Baptist de¬
nomination has conducted us beyond the multi-
THE WHITE PERIL 203
furious and disrupted period of board domina¬
tion and unsubmissive minorities who have er¬
roneously assumed that a government of the
people is a government in which all that is
done is the will of each. A practical govern¬
ment by the majority of the people is a govern¬
ment by the majority of the people. For a long
time insubordinate minorities have made it dif¬
ficult for the National Convention to put into ex¬
ecution a uniform and decisive denominational
wish. But sentiment express on the Peace Com¬
mission's report indicate that an overwhelming
majority of all factions are ready to form a de¬
nominational will to join in a firm, harmonious
national program; cosmopolitan enough to in¬
clude all Baptist organizations and individuals
without destroying their local autonomy, yet
provential enough to put the organic representa¬
tives of the Convention in a position to deter¬
mine ; for the churches they represent directly,
or indirectly, how and by whom strictly National
Baptist denominational enterprises shall be con¬
ducted.
MAKE THE LOCAL CHURCH EFFICIENT.
(c) The new National emphasis in the seven
years' program should be to make every local
church an efficient force in its community for
salvation and righteousness.
CAN HAVE NO OTHER OBJECT
(d) The National Baptist Convention right¬
ly understanding its own purpose of existence
could have no other object of existence than to
establish and serve the local churches. Its Sun¬
day School literature, denominational journal,
204 THE WHITE PERIL
its educational and missionary endeavors are
iOnly avenues through which each efficient local
church serves and is being served in building up
the Kingdom of God. There is no way in which
the Kingdom of God can be more speedily intro¬
duced than by the development in every com¬
munity where there is a Baptist church, an
evangelical and social force consistant with our
denominational genius and spirit.
IT ADDS NO NEW BURDENS
(e) The seven years program of the Nation¬
al Baptist Convention would add no new bur¬
dens to the local churches, but it would bring
more help by bringing together in a comprehen¬
sive form the various factors which go to make
up the sum of denominational endeavors to fulfil
the supreme. command of Christ to preach the
gospel to every creature. The convention en¬
ables us to work at one task and each support
the efforts of the other. The program should be
based upon the principle of all for each and
each for all.
In my opinion, such a program would bring a
new power and effectiveness to the whole de¬
nomination. And as Secretary Burroughs has
so well said: "One great National Organization
to send it's life's blood to the very finger tips of
the whole denomination is a matter to which we
should begin to seriously consider and plan to
meet bravely and intelligently."
2 THE OBJECT: of the seven years program
should include every essential means to give the
local churches spiritual vision evangelistic pow¬
er and social passion that will project the ideals
THE WHITE PERIL
205
of Jesus into national and international human
relationship to the very ends of the earth-
EVANGELISM FIRST
(a) The first National Baptist goal should
be seven million colored Baptist disciples of
Christ by 1925.
FIRST THINGS FIRST.
Evangelism is the Alpha and Omega of all
our missionary and educational activities; it is
both the means and the end of all Christian en¬
deavors. Evangelism and education are differ¬
ent sides of the same subject. Evangelism made
our churches, made our denomination and made
lis "members of the body of Christ. And if evan¬
gelism fails to replenish our churches every¬
thing will soon wane and perish.
THE GOAL IS IN REACH AND GOD WILLS IT
This goal is within moderate reach, if each
church will adopt its portion with an all domi¬
nating passion which says with Paul: "This is
how I run, not being in any doubt as to my goal."
1 Cor. 9 :26. An average of twenty new mem¬
bers a year to every hundred old members will
put the denomination away over the top by
1925.
FIVE THOUSAND MISSIONARIES
(b) The second National Baptist goal should
be to increase our missionary forces to five thou¬
sand men and women preaching to all people
in all parts of the world the unsearchable riches
of Christ by 1925.
206 THE WHITE PERIL
FIVE THOUSAND MISSIONARIES
Colored American Baptist are challenged by
the new" national and international open doors
and desperate needs in this decisive hour of hu¬
man history; to answer "Africa's call of the
blood" to give her millions a man's chance in
this world; a call to colored men to help and be
helped in this "New Land of Promise," whose
natural resources and its native people are be¬
ing fought over by the European Nations to ex¬
ploit. We need missionaries, practical men and
women with a statesman grasp of the whole sit¬
uation.
Mi.13 Burroughs has well said : "Africa is cc-m-
into her own. She is to have Christian states¬
men Ircm among her own kingly sons. Her
children in this land will go speedily with the
message that will heal the open sore made by
the nations of the earth which have been goug¬
ing into her vitals for gold and diamonds, ivory
and rubber.—"The pity is that we haven't five
hundred Africans in American Colleges ready
to go back at the close of the war." It must not
be forgotten that the colored American needs to
be a missionary to help change the spirit of
many of the missionaries who are carrying a per¬
verted gospel of humiliation to the darker races.
We must have foreign missionaries who will in¬
sist that the black people of Africa and the
whole world be given what is given others to
make them fit for citizenship in the Kingdom of
God on earth.
WE CAN GET THE MISSIONARIES
It is not too much to ask for five thousand
missionaries on the field by 1925; it is within
THE WHITE PERIL 207
reasonable reach of our branch of the denomi¬
nation- There are six hundred colored Baptist
District Associations under the nominal jurisdic¬
tion of the National Baptist Convention.
Each association can if will, furnish one for¬
eign mission teacher of some kind and a preach¬
er annually for seven years. That would be
8,400. Ebenezer of Pittsburgh, Pa., furnishes
a missionary and pays his salary. Metropolitan
Baptist Church of New York is doing the same
thing. There are thousands of churches who
should be able to give the denomination a mis¬
sionary, if the others help to give the money.
There are many large churches and associations
which will furnish the missionary and the mon¬
ey, if the denomination earnestly asks them.
"The only thing is needed is men of vision in the
pulpits—men who will see this as the biggest
chance that we have ever had to demonstrate
our love to God and our love to our fellow men."
We. need more men like Pastor Brown, and we
can just start to making them now. Prevailing
prayer and a baptism of the Holy Spirit and
missionary education will born a nation of such
men in a day-
FORTY THOUSAND BAPTISTS IN COLLEGE
(c) The Third National Baptist goal should
be forty thousand Baptist young men and wom¬
en in Baptist Colleges and Universities and
Theological Seminaries by 1925.
NEED OF EDUCATIONAL PASSION
The one great need just now is an educational
passion that will inspire every one of our young
208 THE WHITE PERIL
people to secure the highest possible training.
An educational passion like that of our fathers
immediately after the Civil War.
Statistics indicate that, that Baptists in gener¬
al and colored Baptists in particular are less in-*
terested in the education of their children and
their preachers than are most Christians. That
ought not to be so- We must wipe it out in the
next seven years. Why should not the next gen¬
eration of colored Baptist be among the best ed¬
ucated people in the world?
Baptists are strenuous believers in Democra¬
cy ; it is the peculiar heritage of the Baptists. If
we would increase the efficiency of our democ¬
racy and make our due contribution to national
and international development, we must have
an educated constituency. People will have
contempt for our numbers unless we properly
develop ourselves and work in proportion to our
numbers.
FIVE THOUSAND IN OUR DIVINITY
SCHOOLS
There should not be less than five thousand
students in our Theological Seminaries. And at
least five hundred of them should be African
ministerial students.
I quote the following from the U. S, Govern¬
ment report: "The home of the ignorant preach¬
er is not an example for a backward people, and
the influence of the churches and dissension and
strife is postively demoralizing. This is one
reason why we have such an alarmingly small
number of young men in our Theological schools.
The intelligent young Negro is simply disgust¬
ed and looks with contempt rather than favor or
THE WHITE PERIL
209
respect upon a calling so degraded by the wil¬
ful acts of its representatives." That is not the
whole truth, but there is some truth in it that
should be heeded. It is a striking fact that less
white young men are entering the ministry than
colored. And some of the denominations with
the highest standard of the old-fashion minister¬
ial scholarship.
"It is necessary that we bear in mind that the
biggest need in Africa after the war will be a
Christian statesmanship and a Christian church
that will match the statesmanship and mission¬
ary enterprise of any other Oriental field."—
There will rise out of this crisis a leadership
above price, clear and far-visioned who will in¬
sist that Christian Democracy be interpreted in
terms of a day's work and a square deal."
Then shall come to pass the sayings of the
prophet: "The wilderness and solitary places
shall be glad for them, and the deserts shall re¬
joice and blossom as a rose."
MEASURE UP TO THE STANDARD OF
AMERICAN COLLEGES
(d) The Fourth National Baptist goal
should be to make our Negro Baptist Colleges!
and Secondary Schools measure up to the high¬
est American standards-
GOVERNMENT REPORT ON NEGRO
COLLEGES
The United States Government's report on
Negro education says: "Hardly a colored col¬
lege meets the standards set by the Carnegie
Foundation, and the North Central Associa-
210 THE WHITE PERIL
tion." "Only three institutions, Howard Uni¬
versity, Fisk University and Meharry Medical
College, have student bodies, teachers' force,
and equipment and income sufficient to warrant
the characterization of College." That would
make us feel humiliated beyond measure, if we
happened not to know that but very few white
colleges in the whole country measure up to the
above standard.
But regardless to the standard of theN white1
colleges, our colleges must by all means be
made to measure up to the highest American
standard of colleges. We can do it and we must
do it, we will do it. That shall be no excuse for
with-holding support from Negro Baptist
schools, as has been done in the past.
MISSIONS AND EDUCATION
The terms "Missions and Education" are
meant to include every phase of our denomina¬
tional work for which money is to be raised by
and in the respective local churches for their
districts, states, country and world-wide enter¬
prises.
Money raised for Christian education at
home o rabroad is missionary money, for wThich
the whole denomination should receive credit,
as home or foreign mission money according to
where it was used.
Money for Church Extension is missionary
money whether it is given to be used on home
or foreign fields.
* Money given to an evangelist is missionary
money whether the evangelist labors on home
pr foreign fields.
THE WHITE PERIL
211
Money given for the support of aged ministers
or laymen is missionary money, given those who
have served on the mission fields here or yonder
at some time-
The National B. Y. P. U. is strictly a mission¬
ary and educational enterprise designed to serve
the local churches everywhere. And money
given to foster it is missionary and educational
money, as truly as that given to send a mission¬
ary to Africa or anywhere else at home or
abroad.
Money given the National Home Mission
Board is also educational money in its truest
sense. Our Home Board is engaged in that wid¬
er educational work which makes the intensive,
restrictive educational work possible.
The National Baptist Publishing Department
with its Sunday School literature, religious
books and papers is strictly a denominational
missionary and educational enterprise.
Missions and education include things which
we have been treating as unrelated or even
competative. It is now time that we were get¬
ting a unified statement lof our whole denomina¬
tional task- And that whole denominational
task is no more the task of the State and Nation¬
al Officers, Missionaries and educators than it
is the task of the humblest church. The Nation¬
al Officers and Missionaries, etc., are not the
master of the pastors and people of the local
churches but their servants to Jielp extend their
labours into larger spheres of the Kingdom of
God while making the local churches more effi¬
cient.
212 THE WHITE PERIL
FORTY MILLION SMALL AMOUNT TO
RAISE IN SEVEN YEARS
Forty million dollars from all sources for all
purposes in seven years is a very small average
for missions and education when we compare
our present large numbers and resources with
that of other colored denominational branches
of the Christian church.
The colored Baptists nominally represented
by the National Convention, constitute 63.9 per
cent of the colored Christians in the United
States. Yet out of 507 colored denominational
schools the colored Baptists have only 134, op¬
erated by themselives and the white members
of their denomination, while the 36.1 per cent
representing aM other denominations have 373
operated by themselves and white members of
their denomination-
The 63.9 per cent colored Baptist Christians
hold property valued at only $4,692,039.00.
The 36.1 per cent other colored Christians
hold property valued at only $11,435,466.00.
The 63.9 per cent colored Baptists raised for
currenrt expenses only $486,775.00.
The 36.1 per cent of the colored Christians
raised for current expenses, $1,430,461-00.
That is, the white and colored Christians
raised for current expenses of the colored Bap¬
tist schools an average of little more than 22
cents p„er member.
The white and colored Methodists gave for
current expenses for colored Methodist schools
an average of little more than 45 cents per mem¬
ber.
THE WHITE PERIL
213
The white and colored members of other de¬
nominations gave for current expenses an aver¬
age of nearly $6.40 per member. ($947,511.00.)
In other words the colored Baptists constitut¬
ing 63.9 per cent of all colored Christians rais¬
ed for current expenses of their schools an av¬
erage of only 22 cents per member-
On the other hand the non-Baptists colored
Christians constituting only 36. 1 per cent of ail
colored Christians contributed for current ex¬
penses of their local schools an average of $6.40
per member.
If colored Baptists and their friends were giv¬
ing in the same proportion they would contribute
to current expenses of their schools $143,850,-
000.00 by 1925.
POOR SHOWING OF WHITE BAPTISTS
If white Baptists were giving in proportion to
white Pedo Baptists, we would more than raise
that amount in seven years:
Out of a total of $486,775.00 given for the
current expenses of 134 colored Baptist schools
the white Baptists, North and South combined,
contributed only $186,853.00 which is little
more than one-half per cent per member for
each colored Baptist in the United States.
On the other hand, the white Pedo Baptists
gave $2,183,353.00 or an average of $1.71 for
each colored Christian in the Pedo Baptist
Churches.
A COMPARISON
While the Negro Baptists contributed for the
current expenses of their schools, $299,922,00
each year.
214 THE WHITE PERIL
And the non-Negro Baptists contributes for
the current expenses of their schools, $1,330,308.
NEGRO BAPTISTS NOT GIVEN DUE CREDIT
The government's report on Negro Education
very unfortunately gives the American Baptists
Home Mission Society credit of owning and con¬
trolling property which should be credited to
the schools owned and controlled by Negro Bap¬
tists. Out of 134 colored Baptist schools, the
Home Mission Society is given credit of owning
and controlling 24, while the fact is the society*
owns and controls only 9, while the Negro Bap¬
tists own and control the other 125.
The government report should not say that
the American Baptist Home Mission Society
owns and controls Selma University, Arkansas
Baptist College, Florida Baptist Academy,
Americus Institute, Jeruel Academy, Walker
Baptist College, State University, Coleman Col¬
lege, Leland University, Western College and
Institute, Thompson Institute, Waters Institute,
Roger Williams University, Howe Bible and Nor¬
mal Institute, and Tide Water Institute. Every
one of those schools are owned and operated by
the Negro Baptist Denominational Boards and
the society contributes only $15,081.00 to the
maintenance of those schools.
The schools which are owned by the Society
and controlled by them, assisted by colored Bap¬
tists are Morehouse College, Spellman Seminary,
Jackson College, Shaw University, Benedict Col¬
lege, Bishop College, Union University, Storer
College and Hartshorne Memorial College,
itfhich have a total enrollment of 2,684 on which
the Society spends annually $69.60 for each stu¬
dent.
THE WHITE PERIL
215
The other 125 colored schools owned and con¬
trolled by colored Denominational Boards have
an enrollment of 14,102 by account of the
United States Government upon which they
spend $2-10 per student.
It seems to me that the most economically
governed schools on earth are those owned and
operated by the Colored Baptists in the United
States and it is but fair that in the future the
contributors to Negro Baptist Education should
give a larger proportion of their funds to those
Negro Schools which are educating a prepon¬
derance of colored Baptists.
I am sure that the white Philanthropists are
not aware of these facts, and for that reason they
have given the larger proportion to those schools
owned and operated by the American Home Mis¬
sion Society.
ANOTHER CORRECTION.
The government report on Negro schools
credits the American Baptist Home Mission So¬
ciety with owning $3,870,744 dollars worth of
school property for Colored Baptists; and the
Negro Local Conventions owning $821,295..00
worth of school property for themselves.
The facts are that the American Baptist Home
Mission Society owns and controls $2,818,344
worth of property for Colored Baptists and the
Colored Baptists own and control for themselves
$1,873,695 worth of school property instead of
$821,295.
The mistake is due to placing sixteen schools
to the credit of the Home Mission Society which
belong to that group of schools owned and con¬
trolled by colored Baptist Denominational
Boards and Conventions.
216 THE WHITE PERIL
COLORED BAPTISTS' RESOURCES.
Colored Baptists can raise forty million dol¬
lars for Education and Missions in seven years
if the white Baptists do not contribute a cent.
Negroes own and rent 42,259,247 acres of farm
land valued at $1,104,496,687, and we can safe¬
ly say that every Negro farmer, be he saint or
sinner, will contribute on an average as much
for Christian Education as the Christians them¬
selves if they are asked-
Granting the above to be true, then the Negro
Baptists own 27,765,418 acres of farm land. If
they plant one-fourth of that acreage in cotton
and give a hundred pounds selling at 15 cents,
which is less than half of what cotton is now
bringing, for Christian Education each year for
seven years, it would amount to $604, 242,243.
And there is not a farmer in the South who could
not be induced to give 700 pounds of cotton in
seven years. The Walker Baptist Association
Asked several farmers to give a bale of cotton
to Christian Education and a large number of
them did so, and instead of raising two or three
thousand dollars as in former years, that district
association raised, since the National Conven¬
tion, $22,014.32.
RAISE A DOLLAR PER MEMBER
It would be a shame for us to ask not less
than an average of a dollar from each member
for Christian Education and Missions. That
would give us over three million a year, or twen¬
ty-one million in seven years. Our African
Methodist brethren have eben using the dollar
per member standard for years and years.
THE WHITE PERIL
217
And our Pedo-Brethren, as a whole, have av¬
eraged $1.71 per member for Christian Educa¬
tion alone- If the more than three million Col¬
ored Baptists constituents of the National Con¬
vention would contribute in the same proportion,
we would realize in one year $5,130,000 or $35,-
910,000 by 1925.
REPRESENTATION FEES
If the twenty thousand colored Baptist
churches will pay their annual membership fee
to the National Baptist Convention that will
amount to $100,000.00 a year or $700,000.00 by
1925. If the 800 State Conventions and Asso¬
ciations would pay their representation fee of
$5.00, that will maount to $4,000 or $28,000 by
1925.
RESOURCES FROM SCHOOLS
We have not less than 20,000 students in the
134 colored Baptist schools which is an average
of only 160 to each school. If we would charge
each student $100-00 a year for tuition as Hamp¬
ton Institute does, we would realize in one year
$2,000,000.00 or $14,000,000.00 from that
source alone by 1925. If in addition to that we
charge them $10.00 per month for board which
is less than is being charged for board now, we
would realize $1,800,00.00 a year or $12,000,-
000.00 by 1925. Inother words, if we would
charge at the rate Hampton charges we would
realize from board and tuition $26,600,00.00 by
1925. But if we charge only $3-00 per month
for tuition and $10.00 for board we would real¬
ize $13,860,00.00 by 1925.
218 THE WHITE PERIL
If we conduct an intensive campaign to en¬
large our school attendance and insist on our
school bills being paid promptly without carry¬
ing a lot of dead heads, we would be contribu¬
ting in a very substantial manner to pay our
teachers and operate our schools.
RESOURCES FROM PUBLICATION
DEPARTMENT
The denomination ought to realize $500,000
a year from the sale of Sunday School and B. Y.
P. U. Literature, Books, Bibles and other de¬
nominational supplies, which in seven years
would amount to $3,500,000,000.00- Thus it be¬
hoves every loyal member of the denomination
to assist in an intensive campaign to have all of
our churches buy their supplies from their own
publishing department instead of from indepen¬
dent concerns and thereby contribute indirectly
to the educational and missionary fund of the
Colored Branch of the denomination.
THE BENEFIT BOARD
We should not have less than $2,000,000.00
of endowment in the National Baptist Benefit
for our ministers, missionaries and others. Thus:
SUMMING UP
If it is possible to raise $144,850.00 by collect¬
ing from each Baptist as much as is collected
for our Pedo Baptist Christians, and if it is pos¬
sible to collect $604,242,243.00 by Negro farm¬
ers contributing a hundred pounds of cotton a
year, and if it is possible to collect $728,00.00
from representation fees in the National Baptist
THE WHITE PERIL
219
Convention, and $26,000,000.00 from board and
tuition, 35,000,000.00 from publication depart¬
ment and $2,000,000.00 endowment from the
Benefit Board and from Associations like the
Walker Baptist, $107,868,00-00, aggregating
$889,788,243.00, surely it would not be too
much to ask that we raise $40,000,000.00 for all
denominational purposes by 1925.
It is not mine to suggest what proportion of
that amount should be for this or that place.
3. THE METHOD of the seven years program
should be intelligent, intensive co-operation of
the National Convention with each local church
through the Associations and State Conventions.
NO MORE NEW ORGANIZATIONS
(a) There should be an intensive campaign
to unify and use the national and local organiza¬
tions we have and discourage "splits" and new
organizations to do what our Churches, Sunday
Schools, B. Y. P. IJ.'s, Missionary Societies,
Clubs, Associations and State Conventions were
organized to do.
ONE NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION
That program should provide for smothering
any attempt to have two colored National Bap¬
tist Conventions in the United States; which will
virturely create in the colored Baptist churches
two connections (like the A. M. E. and the A. M.
E. Z-, connections which our colored Methodist
brethren are happily trying to unite) which
makes it difficult for a pastor of the same faith
and order to get a church in the other connec¬
tion. The splitting of the National Convention
will mean the splitting of many churches, asso¬
ciations and ere long state conventions.
220 THE WHITE PERIL
U. S. GOVERNMENT POINTS OUR
WEAKNESS
The United States Government's report says:
"The tendency or habit of colored Baptists to
divide is a serious hindrance to their educational
efforts. The natural result of associational jeal¬
ousy is the formation of a large number of weak,
poorly equipped schools ; dividing even small
communities between two Baptist Churches."
(Bulletin No. 38. Page 153.)
MORE PERFECT NATIONAL UNION
We must not be satisfied with nominal nation¬
al unity, but an educational campaign should be
launched with the view of showing every church
the wisdom of representing in the same Natonal
Convention either by messenger or by letter-
And thereby prevent those denominational con¬
cerns which are not subject to any local church,
association or convention from getting the de¬
nominational patronage in our state and nation¬
al organizations to enrich independent corpora¬
tions.
All attempts to shield themselves behind Bap¬
tist organizations to get Baptist patronage with¬
out giving those Baptist organizations control,
should be mercilessly exposed.
Every reasonable excuse for trying to have
two National Baptist Conventions must be re¬
moved, so that the responsibility for the attempt
to have two National Conventions must rest up¬
on those who are trying to split the National}
body. Give the cold facts, and let the churches
be the judges. We are willing to abide the ver¬
dict of the people.
THE WHITE PERIL
221
The^ first duty of a denomination is to unify it¬
self. "For a house drwided against itself cannot
stand."
PERFECT AND UTILIZE OUR PRESENT
PLAN OF ORGANIZATION
(b) We would perfect and utilize the "gen¬
eral dove-tail plan" of district, state and nation¬
al organization outlined by our fathers.
THE GENERAL NATIONAL COMMITTEE
The General National Committee; to assist in
carrying out the wishes of the denomination as
a whole, should include every messenger to the
National Baptist Convention; both representa¬
tive, life and annual.
The messengers are not only expected to leg¬
islate for the denomination as a whole in the
National Convention, but our fathers expected
that they would constitute a sort of general com¬
mittee to represent the National Convention in
their respective districts and churches. And
some of them have done so for a number of years
without thinking of themselves as being mem¬
bers of the National Committee.
The work of that national committee, which is
composed of several thousand members should
be definitely outlined, and the whole committee
should be mobilized to push the general
work of the denomination as represented by
their National Convention.
THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE
The National Executive Committee of the
National Baptist Convention which is composed
222
THE WHITE PERIL
of the Vice Presidents of the State Conventions,
and Territories, District of Columbia, the Cor¬
responding Secretaries and Chairmen of the
National Boards, the President and General Of¬
ficers of the National Convention should work
out a unified statement of our whole denomina¬
tional task and see that it is executed in a way1
that each represents all in a general way, and
all represent each with sufficient latitude to
allow a variety for ingenuity and experience of
executive officers of the various boards to carry¬
ing out the details of their work, and to adjust
their work to the programs of the respective
states.
The correlation and co-operation of the re¬
spective boards to each other and the work in
the various states should be worked out by the
executive committeee and approved by the mes¬
sengers of the National Baptist Convention.
THE NATIONAL BOARDS
Our National Boards which are composed of
one member from each State and Territory
should utilize their state representative to help
mobilize the state forces for intensive gospel
team work. The National Convention is only
a means to further the ends of the local church¬
es in its community, state and unto the "utmost
parts of the earth." Each local church is in the
world to seek the whole. Kingdom of God. It
exists not to be ministered unto but to minister
to all the world. It is under obligation to do the
largest work in the most efficient way- The Na¬
tional Baptist Convention should help the local
churches organize and utilize its forces for th®
salvation of its community and the whole world.
THE WHITE PERIL
223
And the missionary forces of the local church is
the Pastor and Officers, the Missionary Society,
B. Y. P. U. Society, Sunday School, Women's
and Men's organizations and congregational ac¬
tivities. Our National program must include
every phase of local church activities such as,
personal service, promotion of preaching and
prayer, education, missionary instructions,
monthly missionary meetings, use of literature
and charts, weekly offerings and the spiritual
enlistment of every member and his enrollment
in definite Christian service.
THE SUPREME NATIONAL FORCES
The National Representatives are not to use
the local churches, but the local churches should
use the National Representatives. We must put
ourselves at the services of these local churches
one by one, however small or large, to be used,
bv them for the development of themselves and
the promotion of the Kingdom of God in all the
T"or]d. The most important National Officer is
the pastor of a local church. The local church
is the Alpha and Omega in Kingdom building-
Our most important duty is that of planning
and executing a comprehensive scheme of mis-
siornrv education for all the churches that will
nationalize local congregations and localize na¬
tional denominational interests.
METHODS OF THE PROGRAM IN ACTION
(c) The methods of the seven years pro¬
gram in action should be definitely fixed and
simultaneously executed throughout the coun¬
try and the results reported in our state and na¬
tional papers, week by week.
224 THE WHITE PERIL
WHAT TO DO
When the program has been outlined by the
National Executive Committee, it should be giv¬
en to the National State Committee which com¬
municates with every church, asking it to co-op¬
erate in and prepare for the seven years cam¬
paign. The states should be divided according
to the district associations and worked through
the moderators and presidents of our schools.
The members of the National State Committee
should co-operate with the chairman in visiting
each district and going over with them the de-
tals of all phases of our denominational work in¬
cluding the local and state, educational and mis¬
sionary work. The responsibility for the suc-
success of the campaign will lie largely with the
district committees and local pastors and the
national officers and missionaries must work
with and through them and not independent of
them.
LITERATURE
The National Executive Committee will fur¬
nish through their respective National Bbards
the necessary campaign literature, all of which
should be circulated by the same people.
NATIONAL AND STATE OFFICERS
The National Secretaries and General Officers
of the National Convention and the educators
and general State Officers should be used prima¬
rily at stragetic points and times in special in¬
formational and inspirational and financial
drives.
THE WHITE PERIL
22-5
NATIONAL AND STATE JOURNALS
The National and State Denominational Jour¬
nals should be used to educate the people on
what and how to do and give the weekly tidings
of numbers baptized, missionaries and students
in training, the progress of our schools and mis¬
sionaries on home and foreign fields, and keep
before the people the amounts of money given
for missions and education and thereby inspire
each by the efforts of the other.
EVANGELISM
(d) We should promote Evangelism on a
national scale; with the view of reaching the
seven million goal by 1925.
INDIVIDUAL EFFORT
We should emphasize individual work for in¬
dividual souls, as our fathers did in the days of
old- We are not expecting the factory product,
but one by one, men and women must be won to
Jesus Christ.,
GROUP SERVICE
And yet we must use the group method and
help each other by getting the sense of responsi¬
bility allotted in small groups- We should encour¬
age evangelistic bands of young men and women
evangelistic bands of young men and women
both the cultured and crude, for it must not be
forgotten that the common people in the back
alley prayer meetings and house to house visits
have won many souls to Christ.
226 THE WHITE PERIL
EVANGELISTIC SERVICES
We should utilize the weekly service and oc¬
casional series of evangelistic meetings. Such
meetings not only make it easier for those who
come with a spirit of expectancy but they pre¬
pare us for personal service and soul winning.
EVANGELISTIC SPIRIT IN SUNDAY SCHOOL
We should also develop evangelistic spirit
and method in our Sunday Schools and B. Y. P.
U., meetings.
PREACHING
We must depend primarily to awaken a new
spirit of evangelism by hearkening back to first
principles and reviving a new era of preaching,
predicated on the principles of Jesus Christ that
the root idea of the gospel and of the Kingdom
is that human society constitutes one family
and whatever binds that family together in good
fellowship is good, and whatever divides it, is
bad, and that people of a persistently anti¬
social spirit must not be allowed to plunder and
oppress the weaker members of the human
family.
EDUCATION
(e) We should promote education on a na¬
tional scale with the view of creating an educa¬
tional passion and making our educational insti-
tutons efficent in the highest degree.
TEACHING MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH
The impotant duty of planning and executing
a scheme of missionary education for the entire
THE WHITE PERIL 227
church to follow evangelism with training- is of
vital importance. It should be done through the
adoption of the highest Baptist Sunday School's
standards of graded lessons, trained teachers,
organized classes and well regulated Baptist
Young People's Societies.
The genearl educational ideal to give some
missionary instruction to every member in the
entire congregation with all educational activi¬
ties, harmonized and unified so that each may
know where the whole field is, what is to be
done there, and who and what is being done
there. That should be done through the subjects
of missions by home and foreign missionaries
through monthly missionary meetings, misson
study classes, the use of literature, charts and
preaching.
EDUCATIONAL EQUIPMENT
Our educators in denominational schools ev¬
ery where must jointly lay upon the hearts of
the churches the importance of properly equip¬
ping our denominational schools, and providing
for the payment of efficient teachers. The
churches in those sections of the country which
have no denominational school should be made
to feel the importance of helping to support the
schools throughout the country; both those
which are owned and operated primarily by
white Baptist Boards for colored Baptists and
those owned and operated by colored Baptists
for themselves.
The people must be taught the importance of
paying their school bills promptly in order to
make the schools able to give the very best ser¬
vice.
228 THE WHITE PERIL
COLLEGE EDUCATION
A nation-wide systematic effort should be
made to show our young church people the val¬
ue of a college education. If the war has taught
anything, it has taufght us the value of a college
man, practically trained.
And we must insist on as many people as pos¬
sible out of every church to go to college that
we may have not less than 40,000 in our denomi¬
national schools by 1925.
SOCIAL SERVICE
The enlistment and training of workers in So¬
cial Service for all departments of the Kingdom
would develop a sense of responsibility for oth¬
ers which lies at the foundation of all missionary
enedavors.
THE CALL FOR WORKERS
The world is calling today for Christians in
every community and the dedication of life to
the various forms of Christian work at home
and abroad. And we cannot begin to furnish
them; either with the inclination or equipment
for service. A scientific survey of the church in
relation to it's community workers for the vari¬
ous charitable, social and religious institutions
show the woeful need of workers.
The enlistment and training of wrorkers for all
departments of Christian service is the duty of
the local church.
HOW TO PROMOTE SOCIAL SERVICE
Our program should provide for a systematic
study of the social needs of the community, a
THE WHITE PERIL
229
constructive, social service program to meet its
needs; a committee to co-operate with other
agencies for social betterment so that every
church, however large or small, intelligent or
ignorant shall count for the social betterment
of the community in which it lives. We must
stop abusing and belittling these little mission
churches in store fronts and halls and go to
their rescue and use their good intention for the
uplifting of the people in the community and
the world.
GIVING
Our unified program should provide for the
education of Christians in systematic giving.
THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES
All money given for the support of God's
work should be the direct and simple result of
self-giving worship that God is the owner of all
material things and all people, and there can be
no difference between a man and his money- We
are stewards of God's treasure.
THE OLD METHOD
There is no longer any need to prove that the
occasional collection is an utterly inadequata
and obsolete way for providing either for the
maintenance of the church or for the fulfillment
of its mission. Such giving has cost us the re¬
spect of the world as well as our own self-re->
spect. God's children must be taught to give
proportionately and systematically.
230 THE WHITE PERIL
EVERY MEMBER CANVASS
The program should provide for an annual
member canvass for both the current expenses
and the beneficient work of the church at large,
preceded by a thorough preparation of both the
church and canvassers.
MINIMUM
The ideal for any church or individual mem¬
ber should be to give as much for the work at
large as for the support of the local church. The
minimum average from each member for mis¬
sions and education should be not less than a
dollar a year. And each member should be the
judge as to what proportion of that dollar shall
go for education in the state and nation and
what proportion to the home and foreign fields.
PUTTING IT WHERE IT BELONGS
The program should provide some way to get
the money out of the local treasurers to where
it belongs. And there should be a merciless ex¬
posure of missionary societies, churches and as¬
sociations, collecting funds for education and
missions and using it for something else.
PRAYER
(h) We should put this wnole program
through by persistent and prevailing prayer-
JOHN MOTT, ON PRAYER
John Mott said: "The simple and central fact
apparently unrecognized by many is that prayer
is something, the reality and power of which can
be verified only by praying. And an alarming
THE WHITE PERIL
231
weakness among Christians is that we are pro¬
ducing- Christian activities faster than we are
productng experiences and Christian faith; that
the discipline of our souls and the dependence
of our acceptance with God are not proving suf¬
ficiently thorough to enable us to meet the un¬
precedented expansion of opportunity and re¬
sponsibility of our generation."
THE PROGRAM AND PRAYER
If we would put our national program through
we must start by promoting prayer throughout
the denomination. If prayer groups were form¬
ed throughout the denomination and pray for
putting through a definite program, and if the
families will pray for the execution of the pro¬
gram at the family altar and if the prayer meet¬
ing people would pray for putting through
the program, and if the pastor will pray public¬
ly for the execution of a definite seven years pro¬
gram, such as we have suggested, I am certain
that we will see the travel of our souls and be
satisfied.
232 THE WHITE PERIL
CHAPTER VII.
HOPE OF AFRICA IN THE NEW WORLD
ORDER
"Sing 0 barren, thou that didst not bearj
break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that
didst not travail with child: for more are the
children of the desolate than the children of the
married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place
of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the cur¬
tain of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy,
cords and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shait
break forth on the right hand and on the left;
and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make
the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for
thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou con¬
founded ; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy
youth, and shall not remember the reproach of
thy widowhood any more. For thy maker is
thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name;
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the
God of the whole earth shall he be called. For
the Lord has called thee as a woman forsakened
and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when
thou wast refused saith thy God. For a small
moment have I forsaken thee; but with great
mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I
hid my face from thee for a moment; but with
everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer " Isa. 54:1-8.
"Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiouia shall
soon stretch out her hands unto God." Psa.
68:31. "The wilderness and the solitary places
shall be glad for them; and the desert shall re¬
joice and blossom as the rose. It shall bloom
THE WHITE PERIL
233
abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and sing¬
ing ; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall
see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of
our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands and
confirm the feeble knees. Say unto them that
are of a fearful heart be strong, fear not; be¬
hold your God will come with vengeance; even
God with a recompence; he will come and save
you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the
tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness
shall water break out and streams in the des¬
ert." Psa. 35:1-6-
INEVITABLE BLACK STATES
(1) The new world order makes no provi¬
sion for great black African States; like China
and Japan or even like the proposed Jewish
state in Palestine, but great black African states
are inevitable.
EUROPEAN SUBJECTS
(a) The people of Africa are all European
subjects; except the Liberians and Abyssians,
And nearly all of them are black people. The
classification does not change the fundamental
fact that black people are not white; call them
what we will. Islem has already blended them
into a racial unity which minor distinctions and
deliberate effort cannot destroy. Race preju¬
dice and race pride on the part of white and
black will contribute to African racial solidari¬
ty- White African colonization in the near fu¬
ture cannot be very great; for the reason that
234 THE WHITE PERIL
the white people are not in the world to do the
colonizing. The black people are already on the
ground and indiginous to the soil and their birth
rate is bound to be greater; unless white people
deliberately destroy the natives. And the new
world consciousness and the pledge of the
League of Nations to protect native races favors
the increase of the black African people. With
the peril of race extermination removed, at the
present rate of increase, Bishop Hartzel says:
"Our grand-children will see 500,000,000 black
Africans. African resources will have to be de¬
veloped and protected by African labor and
black military forces.
These African-European territories are al¬
ready black; and will be blacker as the years
roll on. "The New World Order" will develop
great black African States, whether provision is
being made for it or not, if it develops any worth
while African states at all.
DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA—(b) The dem¬
ocratic spirit which is sweeping the world today
will safe-guard the black African states. The
spirit of liberty in Europe will naturally spread
to European territory everywhere in the world.
The white European will carry it to the territo¬
ries for himself; and the natives will get it ere
long just as the African slave found freedom in
English and American atmosphere and is getting
it for himself-
Democracy in Africa will mean ere long the
same for all Africans, white and black alike. It
will have to be done in self defense. Africa can¬
not remain half slave and half free any more
than the United States of America.
THE WHITE PERIL
235
THE SPIRIT OF THE LEAGUE OF NA¬
TIONS—The spirit of the League of Nations will
guarantee democracy to Africa. The proven-
tialism which enabled South Africa to oppress
the natives can now be prevented by that spirit
which brought all colors and creeds together to
form a League of Nations. Some of the darker
races are strong and wise enough to bring pres¬
sure to bear to prevent the suppression of any of
the darker races by the present dominant white
race whose house has been divided over the pros¬
pective spoils of exploiting darker races. The
stronger of the colored races know that, if the
blackest is strickened down today by the whit¬
est, then, the next blackest will be slain tomor«i
now and the next day—after tomorrow and so
on.
SUBJUGATION DEFEATING SEGREGA¬
TION-—The fact that no provision is being made
for a great black African State, and that, the
European nations prefer to settle among their
masses of black African subjects to establish
modern scientific governments and develop the
countries, will in the end defeat extreme and
harmful segregation and blend the great black
states into the United States of the world andi
promote the spirit of universal brotherhood.
The white man's passion to rule makes him a
part of the people ruled by him and his spirit of
democracy spreads until he becomes only one of
Ms fellow citizens. Such is the "Far off Star of
Hope" for Africa in the new world order- And
so the Scriptures declare: "Where sin abounds
grace much more abounds." "He placed at the
East of the Garden of Eden, Cherubims and a
236 THE WHITE PERIL
flaming sword which turned every way to keep
the way of the Tree of Life." Segregation itself
offers us a last chance to do and to be; in spite of
it's shameful unbrotherliness.
THE CHURCH BACK TO FIRST PRINCIPLES
(2) In "The New World Order" there is
hope for African in the new determination of
the Christian churches to apply the principles of
Christianity to the kingdoms of this world until
they shall become in deed and in truth the right¬
eous dominion of our heavenly Father who has
revealed His spirit unto His children; as reveal¬
ed in Jesus Christ who is the express image of
His person upholding all things by the power of
his word."
CONTINENTAL CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAM
FOR AFRICA—(a) The Corresponding Secre¬
tary of the American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, in discussing the "Conti¬
nental Constructive Program for Africa, before!
the Conference on "The Christian Occupation of
Africa," said:
When the American Board sent its first mis¬
sionaries to Africa, in 1833, John Leighton Wil¬
son, the leader of the party, selected Cape Pal-
mas on the Guinea coast as a base of eperations,
with the idea of advancing into the interior of
the Ashantis, thence to the Niger basin, and ul¬
timately pressing on into the highlands of Cen¬
tral Africa, a region at that time kuown only
through the hearsay of ivory merchants and
slave traders. The vision of the founders was
expressed in these words: "a chain of missions,
planted by both American and English Societies,
THE WHITE PERIL
237
with such wise co-operation that at length from
the east to the west from the north to the south,
their representatives should meet upon some
central mountain to celebrate in lofty praise
Africa's redemption. If, in our day, these words
sound somewhat grandiloquent, we will not
withhold our admiration for the breadth of view
and the genuine statesmanship of the first Amer¬
ican Christians to offer their lives for the Dark
Continent. They regarded the continent as a
whole and, it should be noted, from the begin¬
ning they recognized the necessity of co-opera¬
tion between England arid America if Africa
was to be won for Christ.
In this connection it is interesting to find that
Captain A- F. Gardner, who made an extensive
journey through Natal in 1835 and who first dis¬
closed to the world that fairest portion of the
sub-continent, in appealing for the establish¬
ment of a British Colony in that section, which
he desired to have named for their youthful
Queen Victoria, urged with much force that the
Church Missionary Society should at once under¬
take missionary work among the natives of the
region, and that this attempt should be the pre¬
cursor of a continent-wide scheme of evangeliza¬
tion. He pleaded for a movement which, to use
his own words, "should extend the Redeemer's
Kingdom from the shores of Victoria (Natal) to
the very confines of Abyssinia." Had these am¬
bitious plans been carried out, the east and west
line of the American missionaries and the north
and south line of Captain Gardner would have
crossed in the Uganda country which today is
the center of the most promising work to be
found in the continent.
238 THE WHITE PERIL
One other historical reference. In 1859 Da¬
vid Livingstone wrote to friends in England of
his scheme of Christian colonization radiating
from the Nyassa Highlands. He stated that
"visions of Christian colonies, of the spread of
arts and civilization, of the progress of Christi-
anty and the Christian graces, of the cultivation
of cotton, and the disappearance of the slave
trade floated before him." In the co-operative
movements which have grown up in our day it
would seem that we are but reverting to the
ideals of the African pioneers.
TWO PROBLEMS
Two main problems confront us as we discuss
a continental constructive program for Africa:
the Mohammedan advance and the rapid spread
of a materialistic civilization. In Livingstone's!
time the problems were war and slavery; today
they are Islam and a godless commercialism.
Each situation calls for a painstaking and scien¬
tific study before final conclusions are reached.
What is here is to be tegarded as suggestive and
introductory-
SERIOUS SITUATION
The serious situation arising from Islam's rap¬
id advance through the Sudan and southward
down the two coasts and along the caravan
routes of the interior has been set forth so fully
in recent literature that I assume the main facts
to be known. The facts are not challenged in
any quarter. The question everyone is asking is,
What will the Church do about it? In some
missionary circles we meet with a pessimistic
attitude. There are those who say it is useless.
THE WHITE PERIL
239
to attempt rescuing the Sudan from the embrace
of Islam. Twenty years ago it might have been
done. Today it is hopeless. It should be noted,
however, that more recent explorers and investi¬
gators by no means take this view. They do not
consider the Sudan as lost to Christianity. A
book jast off the press by DuPlessis, the well-
known missionary traveler and writer of South
Africa, entitled "Thrice Through the Dark Con¬
tinent," speaks in an encouraging way of what
can be done to improve if not to retrieve the sit¬
uation. So also with the articles by Mr. Roome
in the International Review of Missions, and
with the publications of Dr- Karl Kumm. These
travels speak of pagan tribes in the Southern Su¬
dan which for years have been fighting off Mo¬
hammedanism, and which might be won to
Christianity if only missionaries could be sent
them. They admit that the situation grows more
critical as the resistance of the pagan chiefs di¬
minishes under the insinuating processes of
Moslem trade and propaganda; but in no sense
is it hopeless. Dr. Kumm lists over forty tribes
which are open to Christian approach. These at
least can be saved.
FIRST PROBLEM
The missionary occupation of the Sudan
would seem to be first of all a problem of co-op¬
eration. The distances from the centers of com¬
merce are so vast, the difficulties of transporta¬
tion so insistent, and the pressure of Islam so
constant that no one denomination may hope to
meet the situation by itself. It is doubtful if a
group of denominations working separately
could hold back the Mohammedan tire. What
240 THE WHITE PERIL
is needed is a Board of African Strategy which
should lay out a comprehensive plan and
locate the districts to the appropriate Christian
bodies.
But without waiting for such an ideal solution
should we not look to the denominations already
at work in this region for the extension of their
lines as rapidly as circumstances allow? Al¬
ready we have the United Presybterians of the
United States well established in the region
where the Sobat River joins the White Nile. In
recent years this Christian body has experienced
a remarkable missionary awakening- May it
not be that God is urging them to attempt great¬
er things even than they have planned? Cer¬
tainly if other branches of the Presbyterian fam¬
ily should join in the endeavor, we would begin
to see the way out. What nobler challenge could
come to any branch of the Christian Church ?
At the other end of the line in Northern Ni¬
geria, we have the work of the Church Mission¬
ary Society, perhaps the greatest of all mission¬
ary organizations. The United Sudan Mission
seeks to unite all willing souls and churches to
meet the crisis and to this end has established
stations on the frontiers of Nigeria and also in
the Nile country. Between these outposts
stretch 1,500 miles of unoccupied territory. It
would seem to be desirable for these three bodies
to get together in a common policy, looking to
a delimiting of territory along the Sobat-Yolgj
line and a utilization, so far as geographical and
linguistic considerations allow, of common train¬
ing schools. The Presbyterians naturally would
THE WHITE PERIL 241
push westward from the Nile and the Anglicans
eastward from the Niger, with the United Sudan
workers filling the gaps.
It would be a happy circumstance if the
American Episcopalians, now working in Liberia
and desiring, it is understood, a broader field,
could jon with their Anglican brethren in at¬
tempting the evangelization of Northern Nigeria
and the French portion of the Sudan. The al¬
liance between England, France, and America
in the present war should lead to friendly gov-
ermental relations in a region where diplomacy
is bound to play an important part. We under¬
stand the General Convention of the Protestant
Episcopal Church contemplates sending a depu¬
tation to study its Liberian work and also to con¬
sider the possibility of an advance eastward-
May that deputation be speeded on its way. The
eyes of the Church at large will be upon them.
Many prayers will be offered in their behalf.
This proposal, together with the suggestion of
the United Presbyterian Church taking a larger
share in the eastern Sudan work, is the one hope¬
ful sign upon an otherwise gloomy horizon.
SOLID FOUNDATION
Whoever undertakes this task in behalf of
Christendom should bear in mind the need of es¬
tablishing the work upon a solid foundation
both as to method and equipment. We must of¬
fer the pagan tribes of the Sudan something ob¬
viously superior to Islam. Mackay, the Scottish
civil engineer, Was led to offer himself for mis¬
sion work in Uganda by the consideration that
Islam was winning the African tribes through
the practical benefits of its civilization. Christi-
242 THE WHITE PERIL
anity, argued he, has a better civilization thai*
Islam. Why, then, do we not have the advan¬
tage in the race? Perhaps Africa needs engi¬
neers, mechanics, farmers, physicians, as well as
preachers and teachers. It was upon this theory
that the Uganda work was instituted. From the\
first, in that field, industrialism, education, and
evangelism have walked hand in hand- And
Uganda, be it noted, is the one section of Africa
where Islam has been beaten back and where it
is in retreat today.
If Christianity is to win in the Sudan it must
enter in such force as to furnish a compelling
demonstration of its value. In my opinion a few
centers well ocupied will count for more than a
string of feeble stations stretched over the vast
territory from the Niger to the Nile. It is partic¬
ularly important that well equipped medical
stations should be located at strategic points at
the earliest possible date. The Christian hospit¬
al can do more to make an immediate impression
in favor of Christianity than any other mission¬
ary agency.
It perhaps is not necessary to add that wise
Christian strategy demands that the pagan
tribes should be occupied before we attempt the
Mohammedan areas. The Hausas, the Fulas,
the Mandingoes, and tribes more recently won
to Islam should, if necessary, wait until we can
rescue what remains of the pagan population.
Indeed, the present 9 unfriendly attitude of the
British and French governments, liable to be ac¬
centuated by the present war, prohibits any dth-
er program being followed.
THE WHITE PERIL
243
NORTH AFRICA
It might argued that similarly we should de¬
fer any extensive operations among the Moslems
of North Africa until the outreach of Islam in the
Sudan and Central Africa has been checked.
This however, I am unwilling to concede. North
Africa is today one of the neediest sections of
the globe. By every local consideration it should
be a mission field of supreme importance. When
the right moment comes, possibly directly after
the war,. we should attempt this problem in a
definite way. There should be four strongly
equipped union universities in North Africa* one;
at Cairo (as now proposed,) one at Tunis, one
at Algiers, one at Tangier. Is it too much to ex¬
pect that the spirit of co-operation will some day
reach the point where the Boards of Europe and
America will combine in a constructive and com¬
prehensive educational program for all tha
North African States? Tangier, as located in an
international territory, would seem to offer one
of the best opportunities in the world for inter-
church effort. Algiers and Tunis would natural¬
ly appeal to the French and Swiss societies as
their special responsibility. Already the Ameri¬
can Methodists are occupying these great cen¬
ters, and undoubtedly they will be developing
far-reaching plans.
Should a program of this kind be carried out
the world would have the satisfaction of know¬
ing that the leading coast cities of the Mediter¬
ranean region, so far as it may be regarded as
mission territory, were equipped as centers for
the propagation of the Christian religion. Tan¬
gier, Algiers, 'Tunis, Cairo, Beirut, Smyrna, Con.-
244 THE WHITE PERIL
stantinople—what a chain of schools we would
have! What possible influence arising from Is¬
lam could withstand the impact of these institu¬
tions upon the surounding populations*
DESTROYING NATIVES
As serious as is the situation caused by the ad¬
vancing Moslem hosts from the north, we must
consider that even more serious is the situation
created by the destructive effects of the type of
commercialism which is spreading over Africa
from the centers of trade and government. In
this tiday wave of selfishness the very existence
of the African race is involved- For many a
tribe it is a question of redemption or extinction.
Are we to see repeated in the Dark Continent
what already has fallen upon the aborigines of
Australia? Are the tribes of Central and West
Africa to go the way of the Hottentots and Ka¬
firs of the South? In Mozambique the natives
have invented the expression "Chizungu cha
kupungaja," meaning "Civilization has spoiled
you." To my mind that is one of the saddest
phrases in human speech. The ignorant savage
of the forest, looking upon his fellow who has
come under the influence of the white man of the
city, says of him in scorn, "He is a spoiled crea¬
ture." And the worst of the accusation is that
it is true. It is an acknowledged fact that the
white man's boasted civilization, miscalled
Christian, is forcing the savage to lower levels
of vice and degredation than paganism ever
knew.
This is a problem which pertains mainly to the
commercial and mining centers where the na¬
tives congregate in order to engage in remunera-
THE WHITE PERIL
245
tive work. It is a problem bristling with difficul¬
ties and one should speak with caution as to its
ultimate solution. The Africans need the stimu¬
lus of work. The commercial enterprises, with¬
out which the continent cannot be opened or its
resources developed, demand the labor of many
hands. It is with the evils of the system that we
are concerned, not with the system of itself. How
can commercial enterprises be advanced and the
native not be demoralized in the process? Here
again I assume a general knowledge of the facts.
CHURCH AND STATE
Three suggestions would appear to be in or¬
der. First, the missionaries and the government
officials should work out the problem together.
The government wishes to conserve the native
workman and to raise him to the highest possi¬
ble point of efficiency. What hope have the Eu¬
ropean colonies in Africa if the native races be¬
come extinct or even if the lose their stamina by
means of the vices and diseases of civilization?
On the other hand the missionary seeks the
spiritual and moral as well as the social welfare
of the native- What then? Let the two interest¬
ed parties get together and frame a program for
mutual benefit. A policy of frank understand¬
ing and friendly co-operation should be the or¬
der of the day. Why should not the representa¬
tives of government and the representatives of
the Mission Boards hold stated conferences for
the study of the native question? We have mis¬
sionary conferences a plenty, and political as¬
semblies not a few. Let me suggest that occas-
sionallyl there should be a merger of the two.
246 THE WHITE PERIL
The second suggestion looks to closer co-op¬
eration between the Mission Boards working in
those sections where the pressure of the econom¬
ic and moral problem is especially severe. This
practically means the subcontinent, or the re¬
gion below the Zambesi. If Islam is the prob¬
lem of the North, commercialism is the problem
of the South. An obviously desirable thing is a
better distribution of missionary forces. The
old tribal conditions which led to mission work
being conducted exclusively in country districts
are now materially altered- The men of the vil¬
lages and kraals are seeking the trade centers
in rapidly increasing numbers. South Africa no
less than Europe and America licis her city prob¬
lem. The Boards should clearly recognize this
fact and adjust their work accordingly- Dur¬
ban, Kimberley, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bula-
wayo, Beira, Delagoa Bay—these are the invit¬
ing fields of the Subcontinent today.
Effective strategy would appear to demand
that a certain city or district in a city should be
allotted to a certain Board and that Board be
held responsible for its cultivation. Since there
is room for all, no serious objection should be
raised to such a plan. If they can do this in
China why not in Africa?
CORRECTING EVILS
It will be recalled that the Edinburgh Confer¬
ence called attention in some very frank state¬
ments to the lack of co-operation in the South
Africa field. It was found that fields not only
overlap but that Societies actually stand in one
another's way. The results are as might be ex¬
pected : confusion in the mind of the native, the
THE WHITE PERIL
247
building up of narrow sectarian views, and the
actual holding back of the work. In no part of
the mission field are the conditions in the matter
of Christian comity and co-operation in such an
unfortunate state as in certain sections of the
South Africa Union.
This state of affairs is attracting the attention
of government officials. Mr. C- F. Loram, the
Inspector of Education in Natal, in his recent
book on "The Education of the South African
Native," has this to say: "The overlapping of
mission stations also betrays the jealousy of the
denominations. The writer knows a place where
one Protestant denomination stepped over a
hundred miles of untouched country in order to
establish a station at a place where another
Protestant denomination had been conducting
a flourishing station for many years. When rem¬
onstrated with by the writer, the missionary re¬
plied, "Yes, but some of cur people have gone to
live up there." The question has been brought
up at Missionary Conferences, bi:t the evils still
continues. In connection with school work the
same evil exists. Complaints of poaching and
even of touting are often made to the Education
Department in Natal." Surely until these con¬
ditions are bettered we cannot look for far-
reaching and ineffective plans for evangelizing
the native quarters ?nd mining compounds of
the commercr! v r vc- .
REGENERATE THE WHOLE MAN
The third suggestion corresponds with what
was proposed for the Sudan—the adoption of a
type of mission work which seeks to regenerate
the whole man- Since a commercial civilization
248 THE WHITE PERIL
is spoiling the native, body, mind, and sprit, the
remedy must cover as wide a field. Evangelism
in the restricted sense is not enough. The native
of the city, withdrawn from his natural environ¬
ment, and put to strange tasks in the midst of
unwonted temptations, must be occupied in his
spare time. He must be taught how to adjust
himself to the revolutionary change in his life,
as well as provided with the Christian motive
for right thinking, and right living. In a
word, he must receive a true Christian civiliza¬
tion as an offset to the false Christian civiliza¬
tion into which he has been thrust. The most
promising efforts for the city natives are being
conducted in accordance with this theory. Let
us hope that their number and their resources
in men and money may increase.
At the same time it is highly important that
the missionary incentive should be imparted to
the city converts in such a degree that when they
return to their distant villages or kraals, as most
of them do, they will go with the definite pur¬
pose of disseminating the truth which they have
received at the hands of the missionaries. It
cannot be made too emphatic that the convoca¬
tion of natives in centers like Kimberly and
Johannesburg offers the best possible opportuni¬
ty for the evangelization of the country districts.
A wise mission policy, properly supported, will
result not only in overcoming the evils of com¬
mercialism but in turning the situation to good
account.
GETTING A WELL PLANNED PROGRAM
Certain other sections of the continent, not so
directly involved in the problems discussed
THE WHITE PERIL
249
above, demand special reference. In these the
problem is not so much that of occupation and
adjustment of interests as of the securing of an
aggressive and well planned program of ad¬
vance- The lake co u ntry may safely be left to
the Church Missionary Society and the Scottish
Presbyterian Societies now occupying the field
in such a splendid way. These ogganizations,
with the help of the smaller Societies working
in the same field, should be able to carry the
work through to completion.
SCHOOLS
In the Congo basin, we have, possibly, a suffi¬
cient number of Societies at work, but they have
done little more than occupy the fringe along
the rivers. What is needed is an immense ex¬
pansion of the work. Moreover, there should be
agreement upon the French language as the me¬
dium of education in the higher schools and the
establishment of training institutions after the
manner of Lovedale in South Africa and Hamp¬
ton in the United States. The higher schools of
the American Societies in the Congo country, as
indeed throughout West Africa, do not compare
favorably with similar institutions planted by
the Societies of Great Britain. To an outsider
it would appear that several training institutes
might with advantage be conducted on the un¬
ion basis in the vast region drained by the Congo
and its affluents. So far as geographical consid¬
erations go, Leopoldville on Stanley Pool and
Matade near the mouth of the river, would ap¬
pear to be ideal centers for such institutions. In
case union is undesirable or impracticable, is
there any sufficient reason why there should not
250 THE WHITE PERIL
be a confederation of work on the Congo akin
to that in British East Africa and which is asso¬
ciated with the now historic conference at
Kikuyu?
Angola has two American Societies at work,
the Methodist and Congregational, both well
located. A healthy expansion of their opera¬
tions would go far toward meeting the needs of
this vast territory, especially if the proposed!
United Church of Canada should take over and
develop the Canadian Congregational section.
The highly successful mission of the American
Presbyterians in Cameroun should continue its
development until the region as a whole has
been evangelized. Without other help Kame-
run bids fair to become the Uganda of the West.
GUINEA COAST
The problems of the Guinea Coast and of oth¬
er colonies northward on the Atlantic littoral)
are many and complex- A separate article
might well be devoted to their consideration.
The spirit of co-operation would do much to im¬
prove the situation. An earnest missionary
spirit in the native churches would do even
more. Certainly the evangelization of the wild
tribes of the interior should not wait long in
one question that there would be a combination
view of the number of Societies, European and
American, occupying this portion of the conti¬
nent. If the missionary forces on the West Coast
were organized to act together with sole refer¬
ence to the highest possible efficiency of their
work and for the good of the continent, can any
one question that there wouM be a combination
of missions in regions like Liberia and Sierre
THE WHITE PERIL
251
Leone in order that work might be taken up in
the Sudan? Is it too much to hope that steps
may be taken in that direction?
GERMAN CHRISTIANS
In the consideration of all these fields I hare
avoided discussing the outcome of the war in its
bearings upon African mission work and strate¬
gy. Obviously important geographical changes
will follow the peace conference, changes which
are bound to affect any program which is drawn
up at the present time. To express an opinion
here would not be wise. I have this however,
to say. Africa cannot afford to lose the help of
the German Societies which were established in
various parts of the continent before the war.
The German missions in Togoland, in the north
part of Kamerun, in German Southwest Africa,
and in German East Africa, were being blessed
of God in signal ways. They were making a
unique contribution to Africa's evangelization *
and civilization- Their missionaries were second
to none in self-sacrifice and zeal. Whatever
geographical and governmental changes may
occur it will be nothing less than a calamity to
the Kingdom if the Christian people of Germany
are to have no further part in Africa's redemp¬
tion.
(b) The following message from the Feder¬
al Council of Churches of Christ in America in
1919, breathes a new, hopeful spirit and pur¬
pose for all mankind.
252
THE WHITE PERIL
FROM WORLD WAR TO WORLD
BROTHERHOOD
The great war for world freedom and righte¬
ousness has been fought and won. In this vic¬
tory, quicker and less costly to our own land
than we dared hope, our Christian faith sees the
hand of God, working as always to bring good
out of evil through the service and sacrifice of
devoted men and making even the wrath of man
to praise Him.
With such cause for gratitude as this, it is
surely our first duty as Christian churches, to
summon our people to reverent thanksgiving to
Almighty God, not only for the victory which He
has given to our cause, but for the heoric endur¬
ance and sacrifice in all the nations that have
made it possible; for the idealism to which it is
consecrated; for the new spirit of united endeav¬
or which it has called forth; and for the open
door of opportunity which it has swung wide be¬
fore our generation. With such prayer and
thanksgiving will go also a prayer of consecra¬
tion to the unfinished tasks for which victory
has opened the way and whose achievement is
essential to a just and enduring peace.
But this deliverance and opportunity have
been won at fearful cost; and the Christian
churches are foremost to recognize our common
obligation to those hearts and homes and na¬
tions that have borne this cost vicariously for us
all. In the great task which lies before our gen¬
eration, of restoring the waste places and bind¬
ing up the wounds of the world, and of caring
for those who have borne the burden and the
heat of battle, our churches should take, not on-
THE WHITE PERIL
253
ly an active part, but a distinctive part. Theirs
is the ministry of mercy; theirs peculiarly also
the ministry of comfort and reassurance. To all
devastated and impoverished regions of the
earth our generous relief must be sent as an
evangel of hope and as an earnest of spiritual
fellowship.
To help in the restoration of the Christian
Churches and in the development of evangelical
faith in suffering nations, is a special obligation
and an allurng opportunity for the Churches of
Christ in America.
With all homes and hearts in sorrow we must
seek to share our Christian faith In immortality
and our Christian convicton that no sacrfice for
a better world is ever in vain. To every return^
ing soldier and sailor we must bring
again to his place of usefulness in the nation's
life, and our challenge as Christians to lifelong
service in the Kingdom of God.
As we turn from the war that lies behind us to
the new age that is waiting to be built, we ex¬
press our deep conviction that the four prime de¬
mands of the hour upon the Church of Christ
are: a more effective proclamaton of fundamen¬
tal versities; a new sense of the world responsi¬
bility animating all departments of church life;
a resolute to understand what a Christian social
order in America should be and to secure it; and
a swiftly increasing co-operation among the
Churches.
254 THE WHITE PERIL
FIRST, A MCRE EFFECTIVE PROCLAMA¬
TION OF FUNDAMENTAL VARIETIES
The supreme task of the Christian Church is
now as always, the bearing of clear and courage¬
ous witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ as Lord
and Saviour. It has His truth to declare, His
life to communicate, His power to release. Its
distinctive and unchanging mission is to lead in¬
to fellowship with the God and Father of our
Lord, Jesus Christ. It must urge upon its mem¬
bership the call to individual service in winning
men to personal discipleship for Christ. So the
Church was founded and thus it must be perpet¬
uated- It is unalterably committed to the pri¬
macy. of religion in human life, and in all its
work must lay the chief emphasis upon this, its
fundamental responsibility.
SECOND, A NEW SENSE OF WORLD RE¬
SPONSIBILITY ANIMATING ALL THE
DEPARTMENTS OF CHURCH LIFE
The church takes a just pride in the fact that,
from the very days of its founder, its missionary
impulse has lifted the eyes and hearts of men to
include all mankind in its horizon, and has thus
been a mighty factor in the development of the
modern sense of international responsibility and
world brotherhood. In the new day this mission¬
ary spirit must now be kindled more brightly
than ever in the lives of all followers of Christ,
and the Church as a whole must enlarge its mis¬
sionary undertakings commensuratoly with its
opoprtunibV^. In international relations a
League of Nations is. in effect. an> attempt to
apply Christian principles to the dealings of na-
THE WHITE PERIL
255
ticns with one another. The churches therefore
owe their fullest support to such a League, and
must contribute to it the spirit of goodwill with¬
out which it cannot be effective or long endure.
The one sure hope of permanent peace lies in the
application to all the world of the principles of
the Christian Gospel.
Surely there is a special responsibilty resting
at this time upon the Christian Church to lead
in the ministry of reconciliation with those who
have lately been our enemies, and to point the
"" -i v toward the repentance which is a condition
of forgiveness, by penitence on our own part for
those elements in our national life which the war
has revealed to us to be sinful.
THIRD, A RESOLUTE EFFORT TO UNDER¬
STAND WHAT A CHRISTIAN SOCIAL
ORDER IN AMERICA SHOULD
MEAN, AND TO SECURE IT.
It is the peculiar challenge of the present hour
to the Christian Church that, in a day when the
ground had been cleared by perhaps the great¬
est social convulsion in human history of so
much of its previous structure, the opportunity
is ours to build Christian civilization anew n ac¬
cordance with the mind of Him whose purpose
and passion were the establishment on earth of
the Kingdom of God in which His will shall be
done on earth even as it is done in Heaven. When
the foundations of our social and industrial or¬
der are under searching scrutiny, and when men
are asking what the Church has to contribute to¬
ward the solution of these perplexing problems,
we reiterate with new emphasis our conviction
256 THE WHITE PERIL
that Jesus' spirit of goodwill and service on the
part of all concerned is the only attitude which
can ever discover real solutions for the problems
of human relationships; that this spirit can find
adequate expression in our industrial order only
as the latter moves in the direction of a genuine
democracy among all who participate in the
production of wealth; that the Church must lead
in the development of that attitude of brother<-
liood which breaks down all racial and class
prejudices and which binds together all the di¬
verse elements of our popualtion in a unified na¬
tional life. On the realization of her fundamen¬
tal faith in the sacredness of personality democ¬
racy itself depends and in the complete develop¬
ment of democracy the Church has a most im¬
portant part to play- Apart from the Church's
summons to the self-discipline and usefulness of
the individual, democracy cannot permanently
endure, nor can its characteristic problems be
solved without the sharing and serving spirit of
Christ.
In these days of rapid social changes the
Church must help to safeguard against assault
from any side, those elements of our inheritance
from the past which deserve to endure in a
Christian social order. It must resist mightily
the strong temptation to carry over into days of
peace, methods of violence and motives of hate
which tend to appear in time of war; and the
temptation to appeal to racial and class preju¬
dice or to the use of force whether physical or
or economic, as a supoprt for demands that have
not been squared with justice—temptation to
which all groups in the nation are alike exposed.
While the churches recognize the special emer-
THE WHITE PERIL
257
genciee created by war conditions arid are al¬
ways exposed to irresponsible utterance and
thought and speech and for the resumption of
toration of the democratic rights of freedom of
systematic representation, they must maintain
always the priceless treasure of'liberty of con¬
science, and must now work for the speedy res-
all interrupted processes of orderly social pro¬
gress and imperiled standards of human wel¬
fare.
FOURTH, A SWIFTLY INCREASING COOP¬
ERATION AMONG THE CHURCHES
When the foundations of the international
and industrial orders are being broken up, the
ecclesiastical order can hardly expect to emerge
unaltered. We hail with rejoicing the conscious¬
ness of Christian brotherhood which has been
greatly deepened during the war, the new les¬
sons learned of the possibility tif working to¬
gether in large common tasks without the sacri¬
fice of any fundamtntal conviction, and the new
sense of united responsibility which the period
of reconstruction has laid upon us. Believing
that Christian unity is even more a matter of
grownth and developing experience than of de^
sign and program, we invite all Christian church¬
es to unite in the practical co-operative move^
ments of the present day. It is of the utmost im¬
portance that leadership and initiative in such
Christian co-operatioii shall cpme, not only from
the centers of administrative responsibility, but
no less from the local churches in each communi¬
ty—-both alike uniting for their common tasks.
In the pathway of such active co-operation we
258 THE WHITE PERIL
shall find the further steps that will lead us tor
ward the unity for which Christ taught His fol¬
lowers to pray.
The task of transforming a world just from
War, into a world pervaded by the spirit of Chris¬
tian brotherhood, cannot be accomplished by the
mere launching of campaigns, however, vigor¬
ous, no? by the construction of machinery how¬
ever sufficient. The task involves for more than
the working of surface changes—it means noth¬
ing less than the transformation of society itself;
the presentation and acceptance of a new social
ideal, the development of new and larger sympa¬
thies, the cultivation of new relationships, the
practice of unaccustomed duties, and the serious
undertaking of larger responsibilities- Such a
task may seem hopelessly audacious, unless we
realize our opportunity to train the new genera¬
tion which is growing up under our hand. The
last five years have revealed to us the powers
for evil accumulated by a nation trained from
its youth in certain directions of thought and
action. Do they net similarly face us with the
possibilities of good implitic in a rising genera¬
tion trained to Christian habits of thought, atti¬
tude and action? With such opportunities befoi'e
us, the churches must take far more seriously
their training function; must perfect and co-or¬
dinate their training agencies; and must pray
God's help to rear a new generation worthy to
bring in the new day.
But we are summoned by our task, not only
to a new faith in the future; no less to a new
faith in men. Our generation has discovered
that the capacities for service and sacrifice la¬
tent in ordinary men and women are far greater
THE WHITE PERIL
259
than we had ever dreamed. It has seen further
that when these capacities are called forth in a
great uprisiHg of common will and purpose,
ideals hitherto deemed impossible can speedily
be made realities. These discoveries have open¬
ed our eyes to new meanings in Jesus' teaching
of the power of faith; above all, in His teaching
of the boundless achievements possible to faith
in the living God. We have begun to believe
that God is calling for a generation of men fully
consecrated to His purposes as revealed in
Christ, through whom He can work adequately
for the redemption of the world. As thoughtful
men ask how the world is actually to- be brought
from world war to world brotherhood, the an¬
cient question arises, "Who is sufficient for these
things?" The only adequate answer is in a
church alive to her new opportunities, reconse¬
crated to her age-long tasks, and deeply con¬
scious that her sufficiency is of God-
FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF
CHRIST IN AMERICA
Baptist Chuches, North; National Baptist Con¬
vention; Free Baptist Churches; Christian
Churches; Congregational Churches; Disciples
of Christ; Friends; Evangelical Synod of N. A.,;
Evangelical Association; Lutheran Church, Gen¬
eral Synod; Methodist Episcopal Church; Meth¬
odist Episcopal Church, South; African M. E.
260
THE WHITE PERIL
Church; African M. E. Zion Church; Colored
M- E. Church in America; Methodist Protestant
Church; Moravian Church, Presbyterian Church
in the U. S. A.; Presbyterian Church in the U. S.
(South;) Primitive Methodist Church; Protes¬
tant Episcopal Commissions on Christian Unity
and Social Service; Reformed Church in Ameri¬
ca ; Reformed Church in the U. S.; Reformed
Episcopal Church; Reformed Presbyterian
Church; General Synod; Seventh Day Baptist
Church; United Brethren Church; United Evan¬
gelical Church; United Presbyterian Church;
Welsh Presbyterian Church.
With those denominations thus united, there
is a "rainbow" in the cloud for the darker races.
The closing word is: Mrs. Gordon's
"COURAGE"
"I do not ask that favors held
From other hands be given me..
Or that one line that girds my span
Should change its course and changed be.
I do not ask that one fixed law
Within its course to farther lean,
Or even bend to mark me space
Or point away to go between;
I only ask for courage on
Life's surging moat
That I may see to where the light
High on the shore beckons my boat,
And welcomes me"