German-speaking associations reporting
Associations providing situations
Persons provided with situations
Associations conducting Bible classes
Associations conducting daily prayer-meeliugs
Associations conducting weekly prayer-meetings
Associations conducting meetings in jails, hospitals, etc.
eating secretaries, visiting associations, and holding con- ventions. There are now more than forty railroad or- ganizations, with a membership of about 5000.
In 187-i the first meeting of the National Bund of German-speaking Associations was held in Baltimore. A competent secretary was chosen, and the Internation- al Committee asked to sustain him. The work of this secretary is to visit German communities and organize associations. The field embraces the young men to be found among the two millions of German-speaking in- habitants in America.
The general work among colleges was begun in 1877, when a visitor was placed in the field. The work has yielded abundant fruit. There are now 96 associations in colleges, with a total membership of 4268.
A secretary has been sent to visit the colored young men of the South- ern States, to organize associations, but more especially to instruct them in right methods of Christian endeavor.
A great work has been undertaken in behalf of commercial travellers. A ticket has been is- sued by the Interna- tional Committee, which entitles the holder to all the privileges of the as- sociations where he may be travelling. A sec- retary for commercial travellers has been ap- pointed, and the work of this department receives his attention.
So the work is ever enlarging and reaching out into new fields. In 1868 the committee expended in its entire work $1390. Now, with the recent development of the work in all its departments, !|'22,000 are required annually to meet the demands upon it.
III. The Outlook.— In its Statement of Work for 1880, the International Committee has announced the follow- ing as its field of labor : " 60,000 college students ; 100,000 commercial travellers; 500,000 German-speak- ing young men ; 500,000 colored young men ; 800,000 railroad men ; the young men in the states west of Ohio ; the young men at the South ; the young men in Canada; the Young Men's Christian Associations of North America." They state that the work " will call for the undivided effort of nine men ; the co-operation, for brief periods, of twenty-five members and forty cor- responding members of the committee in every state and province; the visitation of more than 550 places; 130,000 miles of travel by these workers; distribution of pamphlets and documents relating to the work, with necessary correspondence. All this can be done with so much economy that $22,000 will cover the total cost." In America the field is almost unlimited, and with its present facilities, the International Executive Committee will go on enlarging the work and gather- ing power while there are any young men yet unsaved.
IV. jStatistics.^There.have been eight World's Con- ferences held — beginning with that at Paris in 1855, and ending with that at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1878. Twenty-three American International Conventions have been held— beginning with the one at Buffalo in 1854, and ending with the one at Baltimore in 1879. There were thirty State and Provincial conventions held dur- ing the year ending June, 1880. There is, over and above the committees already referred to, an Interna- tional Central Committee, appointed by the World's Conference at Geneva in 1878. This committee rep- resents eight Christian countries, and has headquar- ters at Geneva, where the general secretary and one
half of the members reside. In America there are 9 In- ternational secretaries, 13 State secretaries, 111 general secretaries, and 45 assistants and other agents.
The following table will intlicate in some degree the wonderful growth of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciations in this country. The figures, however, do not fully represent the facts. Many associations send in no reports. Their membership, property, libraries, and work must therefore be left out of the account. Much of the work, also, is of such a nature that it cannot be represented in statistical tables. The information about this work in foreign lands is meagre, but enough is known to give some idea of the proportions it has assumed in several countries.
205 25,000
1870.
802
9G,240
$300,000
11
14
$309,000
20
$112,840
IT 300
1,088
972
100,000
$400,000
ITS
58
$2,400,350
30
$103,556
146
150,984
250
10,126
30
402
1,461
72
90
37
73
8,473
179
97
262
400
Other Countries. — The latest reports from the British Isles show 281 associations. In 1879 partial returns indi- cated an average membership of 160 in England. Many societies in Great Britain own the buildings in which they keep open reading-rooms, and employ the same general plans in their work as have already been described.
There are in France 65 associations, but the mem- bership is very small, averaging less than 20.
In Germany the statistics are more encouraging. There are 293 associations in all, of which 173 report a membership of 8035, 113 have libraries aggregating 20,710 volumes, 170 sustain educational classes, and 173 conduct Bible classes.
The total number of associations in Holland is 406; but we have no report of membership or other items.
In Switzerland there are 204 associations, 80 of which report a membership of 1284. There are also 22 Boys' Associations. The most of these societies sustain prayer-meetings, Bible classes, song services, and Sunday-schools; several have courses of lectures, and a few own libraries. The great majority of them have been organized within a few years, and more may be expected in the future than has yet been done.