The American Missionary - Volume 44, No. 04, April, 1890

Excerpt

American Missionary Association

Removal.

The Rooms of the American Missionary Association are now in the Bible House, New York City. Correspondents will please address us accordingly.

Visitors will find our Rooms on the sixth floor of the Bible House, corner Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue; entrance by elevator on Ninth Street.

It gives us great pleasure to announce the acceptance by Rev. Frank P. Woodbury, D.D., of the position of Corresponding Secretary of this Association. Since the death of our dear Brother Powell, with the large increase of special resources and the general expansion of our work, an addition to our administrative force has become an absolute necessity. Dr. Woodbury brings to his new position special qualifications. His eighteen years of successful work in his pastorate at Rockford, Ill., and his very effective two years' service in Minneapolis, have made him acquainted with the work of a pastor and the needs of the churches. In these pastorates, and in other services for the general interests of the church, he has shown exceptional administrative gifts. These will find ample range for activity in the Secretaryship. His public address at several of our own Annual Meetings and on many other similar occasions, attest his power as a platform speaker. He will meet with a warm welcome to the duties of this office, and we are confident that he will receive an equally cordial greeting in the churches, Conferences and Associations.

Indian Civilization—Now For A Push Forward.

The time has come for new vigor in the Indian service. Gen. Morgan has been confirmed as Indian Commissioner, and his broad and well-matured plans are ready to be put into operation. We hope that Congress will make the necessary appropriations, and that nothing will hinder the multiplication of Indian schools and the ingathering of pupils. With the Sioux Indians, a great crisis has come. Their reservation is severed, and a broad belt is opened in it for the incoming of the white man. There will, of course, be the rush and confusion of new settlers, with the almost inevitable demoralization of the Indians. But a still more serious and protracted evil will grow out of the conflict of the two races and the temptations to the Indians. If ever the friends of the Sioux Indians needed to bestir themselves, it is just now. The helping hand, the open school and the sanctifying Gospel, must forestall all bad influences. So far as the work of the American Missionary Association is concerned, the opening of this reservation to white settlement will necessitate the removal of five or six of its out-stations, occasioning spiritual loss and additional money appropriations.

While we hail with satisfaction the inauguration of Gen. Morgan's broad plans, we feel that there should not be the least relaxation on the part of the churches, in the "contract schools" and in the preaching of the gospel. From John Eliot down, the gospel has been the great civilizing power among the Indians, and it will be a fatal mistake to withhold it....