The commission made a report of its work to the executive committee at its session in Richmond, Virginia, December 9-11, 1914, which was approved. At the meeting of the executive committee in Columbus, Ohio, December 8-10, 1915, the commission reported its work for the year as follows: The work of this commission divides clearly into three significant measures: first, the sending of the Christian embassy to Japan; second, the investigation on the Pacific Coast by Professor H. A. Millis; and third, the coming of the labor delegates from Japan. IV. The Christian Embassy to Japan In accordance with the arrangements made by the executive committee, President Shailer Mathews and Dr. Gulick proceeded to Japan in the early part of the year. It is not necessary to report their mission in full as it has appeared in a special report entitled, "Report of the Christian Embassy to Japan.' They bore the following Letter from the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America to the Churches of Christ in Japan. GREETING: The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, on behalf of its thirty constituent denominations, has delegated two of our most honored and beloved representatives to convey to you the assurance of our love unfeigned and of our prayers in your behalf. Professor Shailer Mathews, D.D., is the Dean of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, an author widely known among us, and for this quadrennium, president of the Federal Council. The Rev. Sidney L. Gulick, D.D., needs no introduction to you, for he has been a missionary in Japan for many years. Since his return to America upon his furlough, he has been invited to our most prominent pulpits, has secured a hearing for the cause of Japan by the foremost men of our nation, and returns to you not only as your brother, but entrusted with the duty of representing with Dr. Mathews, this Federal Council. We are thus sending to you those who are well qualified to speak for us. We beg to assure you, dear brethren, of the interest with which we have noted the recent history of Japan, that ancient and venerable nation with its notable achievements in the arts and sciences. With eager hand you have grasped what other peoples could offer for the enrichment of your life, and in turn you have contributed to the life of the world the inspiration of your fine enthusiasm. You have felt the stimulation of ethical ideals, the transcendant significance of moral values. In the industrial, intellectual and moral fields of your activity, America has noted your unwearied progress. But our deepest interest and sympathy have been evoked by the numbers of those who have been reaching out eager hands to God. Beyond all else the spectacle of so many in Japan, seeking after a deeper and stronger spiritual life, has moved and still moves our hearts. It is with such sympathy toward you, beloved brethren, that we send our messengers to you. We believe that the religion of Jesus makes its largest possible contribution to the peace and uplift of the world, not when it undertakes by ecclesiastical utterances and activities to solve the complex intellectual and practical problems of civilization, but rather when it leads men to the inner life of spiritual self-mastery and self-devotion, helps them to learn the privilege and joy of absolute trust in Christ our Lord, and enables them to appreciate the obligation of such loyal devotion to him as finds expression in holy and unselfish service of humanity. We are sending these, our brethren, to tell you as no written word of ours can tell, the sincerity of our affection, the eagerness of our desire, and the steady persuasion of our hope that we all, of the East and of the West, shall be one in Jesus Christ. We pray that in your land and in ours, faith shall have its satisfying vision of our Lord, that love shall be sanctified by his fellowship, and that our common life shall be broadened in its sympathies and beautified with his likeness. May the God of love unite our hearts in the bonds of holy sympathy, and bring us all into the joy of fellowship one with another through that diviner fellowship which is with the Father and with his Son, our Savior. May peace and prosperity abide in all the homes of Japan. May your schools be centers of intellectual light and your churches centers of moral life and spiritual power. May believers be multiplied and all your land be blest by him who is the Light of the World, the Redeemer of men. Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and ever, Amen. Your brethren in Christ: The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. THE EMBASSY IN JAPAN They reported, upon their return, as follows: Sailing from San Francisco January 9, we spent one afternoon and night at Honolulu, where we received the first of our welcome banquets and made our first addresses. We landed in Yokohama Wednesday, January 27, and found that the committee of the Japanese Federation of Churches, in cooperation with the secretary of the Federated Missions, Rev. J. L. Dearing, D.D., had arranged a complete program for the entire time of our stay. This program, although continually expanded, was followed without material change. It involved addresses and sermons before the Japanese Christians, educational institutions and missionary bodies, in addition to banquets, receptions, conferences, and incidental engagements both social and literary. The total number of these engagements was two hundred and twenty-three, divided as follows: Mr. Mathews' Addresses Mr. Gulick's Addresses Luncheons, Dinners, and Banquets Interviews and Conferences 89 42 38 II 43 223 The reception given your representatives, not only by the pastors, Christians, and missionaries, but also by the highest representatives of the nation, official and unofficial, surpassed our most sanguine anticipations. Opportunities were given us for many unhurried conferences, both public and confidential. The addresses and statements on both sides, while evincing absolute good-will, were characterized by remarkable frankness and definiteness. Your commission returns from Japan with profound conviction of having been admitted not only to the inner circles of Japan's best life, but also to the real thought and desire of the responsible leaders of the nation. The press of Japan, both English and vernacular, was most geenrous in its report of our movements and addresses. These editorials expressed a warmth of welcome and appreciation that was highly gratifying to all who are seeking to promote right relations between America and Japan. Among the many receptions and banquets accorded the embassy, some were of special significance. Among these may be mentioned the private interview of more than an hour with Count Okuma, and on a later day a formal luncheon and public reception, the latter occupying an entire afternoon. The guests included many of the leading officials and citizens of the Empire. In the same category belong the luncheons given by Baron Kato, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Baron Shibusawa, banker and premier citizen of Japan; Dr. and Mrs. Nitobe, "the bridge across the Pacific;" and Baron Mitsui, a leading financier of Japan. The two farewell dinners given by the Peace Society and bankers of Yokohama and by the business men of Tokyo should not be omitted from this list of significant attentions and courtesies. Also demanding special mention were the receptions and attentions given by the prefectural governors or mayors Sendai, Morioka, Kyoto, Osaka, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Okayama, Nagoya and Yokohama. In all these cities the mayors and many other high officials also took important parts. Baron Sakatani, Mayor of Tokyo, in spite of special duties incident to the circumstances of his impending resignation, gave us unstintedly of his time and counsel. Peace societies, the Federated Churches of Japan, organizations, and missionaries in each of the cities visited took active parts in promoting the purposes of our embassy. LETTERS AND PAMPHLETS So widespread and increasing was the attention given the embassy by the press and public, and so intense was discovered to be the interest of the entire nation in the relation between Japan and the United States, that it seemed imperative to deepen and as far as possible to make permanent the impression made by our addresses and conferences. Especially important did we find it to disabuse the minds of the Japanese of any widespread hostility on the part of the United States. For the furtherance of the purposes of our embassy, we therefore published several letters and three pamphlets. Copies of the Federal Council "Message of Greeting to the Christians of Japan" were sent by mail to each pastor, evangelist, and missionary in Japan. This was accompanied by a brief covering letter by Mr. Mathews. |