Address on the Work of the Association among Indians.
[See April American Missionary for 1883.]
TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG THE CHINESE.
Leader. Are the Chinese on the Pacific Coast exposed to temptations to intemperance?
Girls. Gen. C. H. Howard, writing from Sacramento, says: At their groceries, liquors are always to be found. The older persons have a prevalent habit of constantly smoking opium when in from their work.
Boys. The increase of traffic in opium in the United States has been very great during the past twenty years, which is no doubt partly accounted for from the presence of the Chinese.
Leader. Do Christian influences make the Chinamen better?
Girls. At an annual festival in Sacramento, a converted Chinaman said of the converts among his countrymen: “Oh yes, all much better men, do not steal, do not gamble, do not do any bad, no opium, some not even smoke cigars. We can tell, all other Chinamen watch Christian Chinamen. When he is converted and believes truth, it makes him good inside. He don’t want to go wrong anymore. If all Chinamen be Christians then no more trouble about ‘must go.’”
Boys. Among the 2,567 Chinese students in the schools of the American Missionary Association last year, religious work was very encouraging. About one in ten of those who came under the influence of the society are converted. These abandon their evil habits as readily as converts among other races.