Alas for poor Africa! The day of her redemption lingereth. The rebellion of the Mahdi hindered the progress of civilization in the vast regions of the Upper Nile. It occurred precisely at the time that Rev. Dr. Ladd was making his explorations near the mouth of the Sobat, with a view to the establishment of the Arthington Mission. The hope that was entertained that this sudden and disastrous outbreak would soon be quelled has been disappointed. The Mahdi is dead, but he has a successor, Khalifa Abdullah, who, if he does not inherit the Mahdi’s remarkable powers, yet can suffice to keep the Soudan in turmoil. Emin Bey has not been rescued and Stanley’s whereabouts and safety are uncertain. Is it not time that the duty of the American of African descent to the land of his fathers should be pressed upon him, and that the Christian church should help to prepare him for that duty?
THE SIOUX BILL.
The friends of the Indians have sought earnestly and successfully to secure proper legislation looking to the civilization of the Indians. The Dawes Bill and the Sioux Bill have been hailed with joy as important steps in this direction.
But Senator Dawes himself and other intelligent friends of the Indians have foreseen the possible difficulties in the way. The refusal of the Indians to sign the treaty at the recent council at Standing Rock, and the indication at this writing that the same refusal will meet the Commissioners at the Cheyenne, Rosebud and Pine Ridge Agencies, present the picket lines of these difficulties. But beyond all these lie the stronger hindrances. The great trouble is that the Indian is still an Indian, in his ignorance, his want of training for civilized life, his dislike of work, and his incompetency to make profitable use of the lands and teams and implements proffered to him. Of what use to any man, white or Indian, is 160 acres of land if he doesn’t want it, if he doesn’t know how to use it, and can’t make a living on it? After all that has been said and done, the thing that the Indian needs is a Christian education. If he has that, he will know how to work and will be inclined to work, and will become a good and self-supporting citizen. Christian friends of the Indian! rally to the great work of Christianing these Indians. The primer and the New Testament are their great want.
THE MOUNTAIN WORK AND THE COLORED PEOPLE.
There are three things which give special emphasis to the importance of pushing forward the “Mountain Work.”
1. The great material, intellectual and spiritual destitution of the more than two million people of our Southern mountains—a people of good natural endowments, who respond readily to the life-giving impulses of a pure gospel—is the thing which appeals most directly to our sympathy.
2. Many well-informed business men are confidently declaring that this is the richest mineral region of the world. Already they are either building or planning railroads through every part of the mountains, which are made profitable not only by the wonderful mines which open at their approach, but also by the great forests of black walnut, poplar, and other valuable timber. This, of course, means that the present primitive condition of things cannot long remain. It must give way to something else. Whether it shall be to godlessness and wickedness of every form, or whether the natural religiousness of the people shall be met with pure and uplifting gospel influences—with the Church and the Christian school—depends in a large measure on what our churches and individual Christians say through the treasury of this Association. What will take years of work and thousands of dollars in the future can now be done in months and with hundreds.