FINANCIAL.
The American Missionary Association is practically out of debt, but not out of danger. If receipts for current expenses are not kept up, a new debt is inevitable. The receipts for February and up to March 14th (the date of going to press), are $7,233 less than for the corresponding months of last year. This falling off may be partly due to the effort made to pay our debt and that of the Home Missionary Society, and partly to the unconscious feeling that with the debt paid little else is needed. But our work and workers are on our hands. Our office expenses are brought down to the most economical figures, and our expenditures in the field are most rigidly confined to the appropriations. If the receipts of this fiscal year are brought up to those of last—the basis of the appropriations—the work will be carried through successfully and without debt.
We earnestly entreat our friends to grant us that desired result. We cannot ourselves avert the calamity of debt, for if we should recall every laborer, and close every school and church, we should still owe the salaries and return traveling expenses, so that the saving would be very little. We ask, therefore, a generous and steady support for the rest of the year. Pastors can be our greatest helpers. They can see to it that our collections are not forgotten. If our cause is on the list, they can secure the collection at the regular time. If it is not, and we have received no contribution for a year or two past, the pastor is entreated to consider if our work is not worthy of support, and to present it to his people. Even if the offering should be small, it would be gladly received. Individual donors are also asked to aid us in this endeavor. Our experience in the last two years gives us hope that this, our appeal, will not be in vain.