The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, July 1884, No. 10Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
History
The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, July 1884, No. 10
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Institution -- Periodicals; Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle -- Periodicals
It must be remembered that all that has been cited of the missions so far
has only to do with the Indians in the neighborhood of Sitka and Fort
Wrangel, along the southern coast, and on the Lower Yukon. So far, the
great continent, with its vast and almost unexplored interior, has only
been trimmed around the edges. Full 40,000 of the possible 60,000 natives
are yet without Christianity, and one might as well establish a mission
in Cuba to evangelize Spain, or in the Jerseys to reach the Mahometans,
as to sit down in a mission at Sitka and hope to reach the scattered
tribes of Alaska. If we should send missionaries to that neighborhood
it would only be to make of it a Fort _Wrangel_ indeed, but the whole
country is open to us, and on the Grand Yukon and its tributaries and
among the Eskimos of the northern coast there is work enough, yet
untouched, for all the men the church could send.
Here, then, in as small a compass as possible, is the field, its
past history and its present condition; a few Greek priests, whose
congregations are decreased by removals and will eventually die out;
eight or ten Presbyterians, men and women, who confine their labors to
Sitka and Fort Wrangel, and have enough to do there; and one clergyman
of the Church of England, on a river 2,500 miles long, whose banks from
end to end are his parish; 11,000 members of the Greek Church, 700 or
800 Presbyterians, and between 2,000 and 3,000 Church of England folk
familiar with her services and loving her ritual; and at the very least
calculation 5,500 natives that might be reached and cared for, and
_should_ be cared for. Here is a chance to show the people of America
that the church does know how to deal with the Indian question. There
will be a clear field and no favor for several years to come. A fund of
$15,000 appropriated by Congress in 1878 for educational purposes, but
never called for, might be claimed by any party proving to Congress by
their works that they meant to educate the people. A government of some
sort, military perhaps, will soon be established. Prospectors after
everything valuable will overrun the country as soon as it is safe and
profitable to do so. What shall be done by Christian people for all these
heathen souls?
OUR NAVAL FORCE.
By LIEUTENANT G. W. MENTZ, U. S. Navy.
Beside torpedoes and fortifications there should be always at hand for
the defense of our coasts, a sufficient number of as good iron-clads and
torpedo boats as any nation in the world possesses, vessels that can go
to sea, so that we can meet the enemy with the same kinds of weapons he
opposes to us, and with enough of them to prevent the first hard blows.
Then with this as a nucleus, and our ship-builders and our mechanics
skilled in the work necessary to keep up such an establishment, we could
build up a sufficiently large navy as the war progressed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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