Commenting on the work of the American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, Dr. N. D. Hillis says:
What if the American News Company should send a shipload of
books to Borneo? The people can not read. What if they send
a shipload of typewriters to western Africa? The people can
not write. What if you send a cargo of sewing-machines to the
Hottentots? Well, they do not wear clothes. Wealth comes through
selling manufactured goods. But savages do not want these
conveniences. Now, think of what this American Board has done.
Once they sent out a band to civilize a South Sea island. In
the band were six carpenters, two blacksmiths, two bricklayers,
one architect, two tailors, two shoemakers, two weavers,
two farmers, one physician, four preachers. In forty years
after they landed, one ship a week unloaded its cargo at that
port--that tells the whole story. Since then the trade from New
England ports alone has yielded enough profit to merchants in a
single year to pay for the entire missionary enterprise.
(2065)