There were at last accounts 447 American schools in Asia Minor, with 23,846 students in all grades, from kindergartens to theological seminaries. The lower grades are entirely supported by the patrons; the higher grades require a certain amount of assistance to maintain a high standard, but no more than corresponding institutions in the United States. There are hospitals connected with most of them, which are also very important. In almost every case they are the only places in those sections of the country where the sick may receive medicines and care. Some of the hospitals are practically self-supporting, the fees of the patients and the sums paid for medicines being sufficient to meet the cost of attendance, supplies, and care.
Few of the schools receive financial assistance from missionary boards, and whenever assistance is given it is with the understanding that it shall diminish as the income of the school increases. The people for whom these institutions are provided appreciate the value of education and are willing to pay what they can for it. Methods of self-help are provided for students who cannot pay their tuition, so that their self-respect and independence are not disturbed. In the same way provision is made for books. In the hospitals no one who is worthy is ever refused treatment or medicine, but those who are able to pay are required to do so.
This principle of self-support has been a fixed rule from the beginning in all missionary work in Turkey, and it has proved to be one of the most important features of policy. Missionary physicians and teachers learned at the start that they could accomplish more good by requiring compensation for all services rendered, because in the Orient, as elsewhere, no real value attaches to that which costs nothing. Parents and pupils would be indifferent regarding attendance if the schools were free; books would be easily lost or damaged or destroyed if they had not been paid for; and where assistance is rendered to individuals it is arranged in such a way that the beneficiary shall be impressed with the value of what he is receiving.
The five colleges and the many preparatory and high schools for men and women in Asia Minor have not less than 6,000 students, who are being trained for useful citizenship by a wide range of instruction in the applied sciences, agriculture, chemistry, pharmacy, engineering, and even manual training. The courses of study are adapted to the needs of the country and with a view to qualifying the students for the highest service for their own people. There are six theological seminaries training young men for the ministry. Two of them are intended especially for workers among Arabic-speaking people, one for work among the Armenians, another for the Turks, and others for Greeks and Bulgarians.
In these seminaries the largest number of students are natives of Turkey. Some of the graduates have afterward had the benefit of post-graduate training in Europe or the United States, but that is not encouraged. It has been demonstrated by many cases that students from Turkey who go to the United States find it difficult to return to their native country, while others are made discontented by differences in conditions. It is the policy to employ native teachers and professors, so far as is consistent with maintaining a high intellectual and moral tone in the schools. That is the rule in all lines of work. No missionary is ever pastor of a native church. He supervises and directs, but he leaves the active work to the natives.
Perhaps the greatest value of the educational work done in Turkey by the American missionaries has been its influence upon native educational methods; in setting a standard to native schools; in furnishing text-books; and in awakening an ambition for learning. These missionary schools have in a large measure caused a revolution in the social life of Turkey. Men and women who have graduated or have taken partial courses command the best positions in commerce and society and have been most successful in professional life. Their services are sought for and they are able to command larger salaries than others who have not enjoyed their advantages. Large numbers of former students are prosperous business men in the principal cities of Turkey, while others are the leaders in their respective professions. Most of them are examples in the eyes of the community of the benefit and the value of an educational training.
The college at Beirut is not included in the estimate I have made. It was established in 1866 by Rev. Daniel Bliss, who remained at the head of it until a few years since, when his son succeeded him. It is one of the most successful educational institutions in all the world, and one of the most prosperous. It has a campus of over forty acres, a model plant of dormitories, laboratories, and lecture-rooms for between 700 and 800 students, representing fourteen different races and nationalities. No other institution between Athens and Tokio compares with it.
The International College at Smyrna is the youngest of the group of American institutions, having been established in 1902. Under the direction of Dr. Alexander MacLaclan it has had remarkable success, and has not only become self-supporting but two or three years ago the trustees were astonished to find a surplus in their treasury. There is a faculty of twenty-two professors and instructors and between 350 and 400 students, the largest number being Greeks. The International College has a wide field, because Smyrna is the second city in Asiatic Turkey, whose cosmopolitan and enterprising population, previous to its foundation, had no educational privileges nearer than Beirut or Athens and sent their young men to European universities. The great popularity and success of the college have undoubtedly been due to its non-sectarian policy, and while the Christian religion is the corner stone of its foundation and attendance at chapel exercises and Protestant worship is required of Jews, Greeks, and Mahommedans, as well as Christian students, every tendency to proselyting is avoided. The courses are especially strong in the scientific branches, and the college has been made a government meteorological station, with seismograph, a full set of apparatus for recording the weather and for taking the time. The American College for Girls in Constantinople is doing similar work.
The Central Turkey College at Aintab is 250 miles east of Tarsus in the valley of the Euphrates. It was founded in 1874 by Rev. Dr. Trowbridge, who died after he had placed it firmly upon its feet, and was succeeded by Dr. Merrill. The college has no endowment, but by reason of its marvellous management has been practically self-supporting from the first. It has the reputation of being more sectarian than other American institutions, and strongly Protestant, which is natural, because most of the students are studying for evangelical work. Protestantism is very strong in that section of Turkey. Three churches in Aintab and Marash have more than one thousand members each, and congregations of 2,000 are not uncommon. Until recently there have been no Turks or Jews among the students of the Central Turkey College, and the patronage has been drawn entirely from the native Protestants and Armenians, but since the constitution was proclaimed large numbers of Mohammedans have matriculated, and President Merrill has provided a private room for them, where they can worship according to their own custom. The medical department is especially important.
At Marash, a neighbouring city, is a prosperous college for women, started in 1882, with preparatory departments at Adana, Hajin, and Aintab, all flourishing and popular, particularly since the new régime has made it possible for Turkish families to send their girls to school. At first, it was difficult to persuade even Protestant parents to educate their daughters. It was contrary to custom, but now that an educational “boom” has been started, these schools are overwhelmed with applications from young women they cannot accommodate. Their educational standards are about the same as those of the average finishing school for young women in the United States, and the same text-books are used.