Peplexities in Administration.

A PARAGRAPH in the English Church Missionary Intelligencer suggests some of the trials and responsibilities which are now laid upon those who have the care of supplying the needs of the mission field. This English society acts upon the principle of commissioning all applicants for appointment who are qualified for the work. They therefore had at a recent date sixty-one missionaries available, twentysix of them men and thirty-five women, and after most careful examination a list was prepared of one hundred and eight posts now in urgent need of workers. It was in view of this discrepancy between the demand and the supply that the officers of the society say: "It has meant a pressure of responsibility upon those who have had to weigh the conflicting claims of a hundred widely different posts, and to decide, where all the demands were imperative, which were irresistible. It has meant a painful consideration of physical, mental, and spiritual qualifications, so that, perchance, where two workers were needed one might be made to serve. It has meant the sorrowful abandonment of hopes for extension - for where there are not enough recruits to fill vacancies, there can be but little prospect of advance. It will mean, when the results of these deliberations are known, sinking hearts in the mission field, where many an overburdened laborer has been buoyed up by the expectation that the reinforcement, much needed and long delayed, must come this year. Some, indeed, placing full confidence in the committee, will be simply, though greatly, cast down; but others, conscious only of the overwhelming spiritual destitution around them, will be sorely tempted to complain that they are neglected and forgotten. Is it yet too late for the prayers of God's faithful people to 'open the windows of heaven' and bring the needed supply?"

Will not our readers consider what must be the trials of the officers and committee of our own Board, where the situation is so much worse than in the English society? We hardly dare count up the number of posts now asking for reinforcements - there are several scores of them, while in the present condition of our treasury no appointments can be made except where the support is guaranteed from sources outside of our treasury. And what must be the thoughts of our brethren at the front? At the present time the special form of our prayer to the God of the harvest should be that he would lead Christians to provide the means for the sending of the laborers who are ready to go.

The Deputation in China.

LETTERS from members of our Chinese missions are full of enthusiastic utterances respecting the value of the visit of the deputation sent to China by the Board. One from North China writes of "the five royal men and women who came, bringing us great gladness and leaving a large benediction. How they bristled with interrogation points! With what live enthusiasm and quick apprehension these brethren studied our work in the college, the theological seminary, the boys' school, and also the evangelistic work. With what interest they became acquainted with our preachers and teachers, gaining some new sense from this object lesson of what Christian education means to the work in China." Special reference is made to the inspiring words and wise counsels of Colonel

Hopkins and President Eaton, the brevity of whose stay was greatly regretted. Secretary Smith's stay in North China was longer, about two months, and it is reported of him that "he 'endured hardness' so well that we are quite proud of him. He has seen our work at all angles, has been much in our meetings and in our homes, and everywhere has borne himself with such grace and sweetness, while speaking both in private and in public many words of wisdom and helpfulness, that he has endeared himself greatly to us all." While the churches and missionaries in China are expressing their gratitude to the members of the deputation for their laborious and faithful services, the friends of missions at home recognize also their great indebtedness to those who went upon this errand. It is gratifying to be able to state that the cost of the journeys has been met chiefly from private sources, so that there has been only a slight charge to the treasury of the Board.

in Japan.

Ir is a notable fact that ever since the establishment of the Imperial Diet of Japan the number of Christians who have been elected as members has been quite out of proportion to the Christian population Christian Statesmen of the empire. The president of the House of Representatives of the late Diet was Mr. Kataoka, an elder of the Presbyterian church in Kochi, who has been a member of every Diet since a representative government began. Rev. Mr. Loomis, of the American Bible Society in Japan, reports that recently Mr. Kataoka called a meeting at his official residence for prayer and thanksgiving, which was attended by other Christian members of the government, with several personal and official friends. At this meeting Mr. Kataoka spoke with much feeling of the answers to his daily prayer for guidance in connection with his official duties. News has also come that a stanch Christian layman, Hon. Y. Nakamura, a well-known member of the fourth Kumi-ai Church of Kyoto, was elected a member of Parliament in August last. It is noteworthy, also, that on the committee chosen to act for the newly organized party which now controls the government, consisting of four members, the two who represent the liberal wing are both Christians, Mr. Kataoka and Mr. Ebara, the latter being con nected with the Canadian Methodist school in Tokyo. Evidently men of Christian faith are honored in Japan.

THE Board of Home Missions of the Church of Christ (Presbyterian) in Japan makes a fine showing in its fourth annual report, recently published.

Contributions for the year amounted to 2,891.15 yen, of which Home Missions only 434.72 yen is credited to foreigners (the yen equals fifty in Japan. cents). Collections for the three previous years were 562.19,

1469.76, and 1909.97 yen, respectively. Work is sustained by the Board in six localities in Japan proper and two in Formosa. Three places have become self supporting during the year, and there have been thirty-two baptisms in the aided churches. A large number of inquirers are also reported. Fortyeight out of a possible sixty-eight churches contribute for the support of this vigorous home missionary work, and of the remaining twenty churches, nearly all are directly dependent upon the missions. We congratulate our Japanese Presbyterian brethren over their steady advance in missionary zeal and activity.

Missionaries
Appreciated.

If any one thinks that missionaries are never appreciated and applaudep by the community at large let him take note of a letter quietly circulated among foreigners in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan, and of the response made to it. The letter reads thus: "It is proposed to offer to Dr. D. MacDonald, on the occasion of his departure for Canada, a monetary testimonial, in slight recognition of his splendid services as a physician during many years in Tokyo, of the self-denying benevolence animating all his acts, and of the noble record of Christian charity which will always be associated with his name in Japan." The response came in 1,466 yen, collected and passed over to Dr. MacDonald. The list of subscribers was headed by the British and American ministers, each of whom gave fifty Japanese dollars. This testimonial, following within four months the high tribute of respect and veneration for the character and work of Rev. G. F. Verbeck, D.D., freely given by foreigners and Japanese alike, shows that missionary stock is still highly valued in many quarters.

EVERY intelligent American must recognize the gravity of some of the questions involved in the settlement to be made between Spain and the

Demand.

United States as the result of the war. The Christian Register A Proper has recently said that "all demands to give the war a religious twist should be strongly resisted. Even a plea for religious liberty ought not to be heeded when it takes the form of a demand upon our government to seize foreign possessions in order that Protestant missions may follow the flag." This is well said, though apparently there is no great. need of saying it, since no one in America, save a few fanatics, would entertain the idea of seizing territory for the purpose of propagating any form of religion. But there is a point in reference to the territories which, by the fortunes of war, have come under our control, about which we have a right to make a demand. That demand is not in the interest of any form of religion, Christian or non-Christian, but it concerns a fundamental principle in our government, namely, that where the Stars and Stripes float there shall be absolute religious liberty to Jew and Christian, to Hindu and Mohammedan. This liberty, one of the greatest boons that mortal can have, is what we have a right to expect that our government shall insist upon in all treaties that are made respecting the territories which have come under our control. And we contend, moreover, that in all regions like the Caroline Islands, should Spain retain possession of them, our government should insist that the American citizens who had wrought so beneficently in those islands long before the Spanish took possession, but who were driven from them because of their religious faith, should be allowed to return, with entire liberty to prosecute their work of civilization and humanity. There is no doubt whatever as to the reception these American missionaries would receive from the islanders. There are no insurgents there whose wishes or interests might be contravened, as in Cuba and the Phillipines. Let it be distinctly understood that those who, in the past, have done most for the Carolines are not asking for their annexation to the United States, but only for freedom for the inhabitants to worship God as they will.

SEGREGATION CAMPS IN INDIA.

BY REV. RICHARD WINSOR, OF SIRUR.

THE photo-engraving on the next page shows a section of one of the many segregation camps at Poona, not far from our mission station of Sirur. The attack of the terrible bubonic plague upon cities, towns, and villages in many parts of India made it necessary to put up temporary shelters, called segregation camps, that would house the hundreds and thousands who were obliged to leave their homes in order that the authorities might have opportunity to combat the dread disease. The untiring and heroic efforts put forth by medical and other officers and their assistants to combat the plague, to deliver the people, and make their habitations more fit for occupancy, are worthy of the highest praise. Medical men and experts made protracted investigations, hoping to discover among the disinfectants one that would destroy the germ or bacilli of the fell disease. They were rewarded by the discovery that, under certain conditions, perchloride of mercury, exposure to the sun's rays for four hours, and immersion in a steam-heated cylinder would meet the case.

This discovery was an inspiration to vigorous effort on assured lines, and with a will all went to the combat to save the afflicted and to overcome the Scourge. Under God's blessing, splendid success attended their labors. Each city, town, or village was divided into sections and put under the supervision of one of the search parties. These parties, composed under ordinary cir cumstances of a commissioned officer, non-commissioned officer, and several European and native soldiers, were required to search into the condition of every person and every place in the different sections. One or more ladies, European or native, would accompany each party, so as to be able to enter the purdada, or apartments of the women. By such rigid search each party would know the physical condition of every person in each division, and also concerning the sanitary condition of the place. It was also known when a new case of plague had arisen during the day and whether a person was missing. All this was most essential in the efforts to combat the disease, for, strange to say, through fright or superstitious fear, the people would often bury in the ground of the very rooms in which they lived the corpses of those who had died during the period between the visits of the search parties.

When a case was discovered in any house the person affected was immediately sent to the plague hospital, and the rest of the family sent to the segregation camp. Thus five hundred at a time would often be marched into these segregation camps. But before entering them everything they owned which would not be destroyed by the operation was put through a solution of perchloride of mercury, and their persons bathed with a solution of creosote or carbolic acid. The men who entered these segregation camps were allowed to attend to their business through the day, but were obliged to return to the camps at night. During the day the belongings, usually very few, of the families were exposed to the sun, as our picture shows. This was a killing process to the plague bacilli and a boon to the people themselves, giving them