The outlook is not bright. The receipts for March from both donations and estates have fallen off so that in spite of retrenchments the total indebtedness is somewhat increased. We have now reached the close of the first six months of the fiscal year, and, with a decrease of $11,246.73 in all items of expenditure, the debt is $79,696.61. In the last (April) number of The Missionary it was shown that there had been during the previous three months a small but actual reduction of the debt. The present showing brings the figures back to what they were substantially in January last.

We hope this falling off is but temporary. We know the pressure of the times and the difficulty of obtaining money. We are fully aware, too, that many of our friends make their contributions with self-denial, but, standing as we do, with the responsibility for the great work entrusted to this Association, and knowing how vital it is to the welfare and uplifting of the impoverished and ignorant races of our land, we feel constrained to press the call still farther upon both rich and poor for the means to continue the assistance to these needy peoples.

1. That the American Missionary Association was the first to enter the work of educating and uplifting the Freedmen of the South, and the first to introduce industrial training into the schools.

2. That it has done the largest work in that field, having spent more money and educated more pupils than any other society.

3. That it has extended its work among the mountaineers of the South, the Indians of the West, the Chinese on the Pacific Coast and the Eskimos in Alaska--its field extending thus from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Circle.

We invite the attention of our readers to the illustrated article "In North Carolina." This sketch covers but a limited portion of our great work, but it shows the relations it bears to its surroundings in the public life of the South. Our churches in this district are prosperous, and we are gratified to say that the promise of church extension over our wider districts is very encouraging. Eight new churches will be added to our list immediately among the colored people, and others still are expected soon to be added. In the mountain work, also, five new churches will be added to our enrollment.

Our readers will find in the account given on another page, of street preaching in Chinatown, the statement that a large crowd was gathered in the street, but when the picture is examined the crowd seems very small. Loo Quong gives this account of the matter: "A big crowd was gathered to us soon after we sang some hymns, but as soon as the photographer on sight they all ran away. Chinese do not want their pictures to be taken on the street. They all ran to the other side of the street and I told the man to take them there, but they all ran away, too. Still some of them are taken."

Revival Services in the Mountains.--Revival movements have been very general in our mountain churches and missions this year and many hundreds have been hopefully converted.

"Seven persons made application for membership in our church last Sabbath. They are all converted people. If they are received it will make a membership of thirty-three, including Mrs. Doane and myself. I have been holding revival services at a school-house where they have slabs for benches without backs to them. Part of a log was taken out to make a window. People come seven and eight miles to the services. They seem anxious to hear the Gospel preached. They do not seem to care for mud or rain. I hope this will find the American Missionary Association getting out of debt. My people are ready and anxious to contribute to the support of the church. They have sold eggs and saved money, and it is often slow work."

A Passage at Arms.--White children whose parents are laboring in colored schools are sometimes taunted by the unkind remarks of ill-mannered youth with whom they come in contact. For example, the little daughter of one of our teachers was told, "Your papa teaches niggers." The reply came quick as a flash: "Well, your papa sells them whiskey, and that is worse." Another threatened to beat her at recess. She promptly said: "You can't do it. My grandpa beat yours in the war."

BY A GEORGIA TEACHER.

I inclose something I thought might interest you. The idea of circulating the paper originated with the girls and the money was nearly all raised without our knowledge. We added enough to buy a serviceable pair of shoes. The poor girl to whom they were given was almost barefooted and stayed at home Saturday afternoon when the others went for their walk. The thoughtfulness and generosity of the girls touched us, for what they gave was to most of them a real sacrifice.

THE APPEAL OF THE GIRLS.

"While sitting in church to-day my heart was made to feel sad as I sat by one of the girls. I noticed that she was almost barefooted and has been for quite a while. Miss C. and I, feeling ourselves unable to purchase a pair of shoes, concluded we would ask all who will help us to please assist us, not for our sake, but for the Lord's sake.

"Miss E. H., 5 cts., pd.; Miss C. D., 15 cts., pd.; Miss C. M., 1 ct., pd.; Miss A. G., 5 cts., pd.; Miss M. G., 10 cts.; Miss H. G., 5 cts., pd.; Miss R. W., 5 cts., pd.; Miss M. D. G., 5 cts., pd.; Miss L. B., 5 cts., pd.; Miss A. S., 5 cts., pd.; Miss L. B., 5 cts., pd.; Miss S. L.; 5 cts., pd.; Miss G., 15 cts."

BY SECRETARY WOODBURY.

The Carolinas comprise a territory of eighty-two thousand square miles, a little more than the combined territory of New York and all New England, excepting Maine. North Carolina has a population of about a million white and half a million colored people; while of the million inhabitants of South Carolina a large majority are colored. In the two States there are a million and a quarter of colored people.

The length of North Carolina, east and west, is considerably greater than the distance between Boston and Washington. The western part of the State is mountainous. From its heights the state slopes into the vast Piedmont Plateau, a sub-mountain terrace, and thence into the low country or the Atlantic plain. In western North Carolina the Appalachian Mountains reach the greatest height in the United States eastward of the Rocky Mountains. The eye of an observer from the heights near Blowing Rock descries in one view mountain summits in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and South Carolina. The people of western North Carolina are white by a vast majority, while in the eastern part of the State the black population predominates. In twenty-five of the western counties 88 per cent. of the people are white. In the same number of the farthest eastern counties there is a majority of ten thousand black people. In accordance with this fundamental fact, the work of the American Missionary Association in the western part of the State is chiefly among the white, and in the eastern part of the State, among the black people.

In both Carolinas the vast majority of the population is rural. According to the last census there was only one city in each State with more than twenty thousand people, and only six places with more than ten thousand.

In Wilmington, the largest city of North Carolina, the American Missionary Association began work as the war was closing. Of the twenty-four thousand people in the county, fourteen thousand are black. Fourteen years ago Mr. J. J. H. Gregory, of Massachusetts, became much interested in this field and erected a fine brick church and commodious school buildings. The combined church and school work have gone on with continued efficiency and prosperity. There is a strong desire on the part of the people for the development of an industrial department in the school. The elevating influence of the church is felt not only in Wilmington, but throughout the surrounding communities. A great many of the school students have become teachers in the city schools and in different parts of the State.

While Wilmington and Beaufort are both sea-side places, the former is chiefly a commercial town while the latter is devoted to the fishing and oyster industries. The island is swept by refreshing sea breezes, and a great many of its inhabitants are boatmen and fishermen. The Beaufort fisheries extend over a large area in which immense schools of fish are found. In deep sea fishing the nets are dropped to a depth of one hundred feet and drawn up often filled to bursting. Not infrequently whales are captured off the coast.

Not long ago both the church and school buildings in Beaufort were swept away by fire, but they have recently been restored, as seen in the illustration. The church is making good progress under its young colored pastor. The school is crowded. Industrial work is being carried on to a limited extent, and it is hoped that in the coming year an industrial building can be erected. Nothing can contribute more to the progress and welfare of the young people than a well-equipped industrial department where knowledge of trades can be imparted.

With their immense preponderance of a country population, naturally the largest part of the Association's mission work in the Carolinas is in the country. In the North Carolina Congregational Association most of the churches are country churches. The Association meetings are well attended. The accompanying illustration is from a photograph taken at one of the recent meetings in McLeansville, where there are two churches not far apart. Besides these in this part of the State, there are country churches at High Point, Salem, Strieby, Melville, Oaks, Pekin, Dry Creek, Carter's Mills, Dudley, Malee, Nalls, Troy, Snow Hill, and other points. The annual meetings of the Association are most interesting occasions. Pastors and people of these little churches gather from near and far for fellowship, mutual comfort, and inspiration. With some of these churches schools are associated, which afford to the young the opportunities of a Christian education, and contribute from their elder pupils many students for our higher institutions of learning. With the multiplication and development of these churches these higher schools will have a steady constituency of great importance.

Thus the Association, so far from confining its work to the cities, is doing a very large share of its work in the country and among country people. Some of this work has been long-continued and has achieved a widespread and beneficial influence in the neighboring communities. The self-denying devotion of many years is reaching a most blessed fruitage, and those who have given the strength and vigor of a lifetime to the poor and despised now find their closing years brightened with the sight of what has been wrought by their long labors for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. The picture of the Oaks congregation at their church door is an illustration. There, among the plantations, are two sisters who have given their lives, until the shadows of age have fallen upon them, to missionary work in behalf of the poor colored people. One of them is growing blind and the other has already become so. While the former feels constrained by her failing sight soon to give up her school work, her more aged sister has an intense desire to continue, while life lasts, her labors in behalf of those whom she has come to love, while bringing blessings to them. Well versed in the Scriptures, she continues to gather classes of young men and plantation teachers and teach them from the Bible to prepare them to instruct better those still more ignorant than they. Although urged by her friends to give up this ministration, she cannot bring herself to any other course than that of doing all she can until "the night cometh when no man can work." It is at once a pathetic, an inspiring and a joyful picture to see this aged blind woman, surrounded by her students, opening to them the Scriptures and instructing them in the religion of their common Master.

In contrast with the quiet home and school work carried on by these two women and yet to the same end are the labors of such a country pastor as Mr. Collins. For a number of years, while carrying on regular church work at Troy, he has also had charge of several other churches riding scores of miles every week, fording the streams and facing the storms in all kinds of weather. At Dry Creek and Nalls, Pekin, Carter's Mills and Malee, he has preached regularly or occasionally and has watched with incessant care and labor the development of missions throughout a wide tract of country. The influence of these churches has pervaded many communities. Calls have come to him to develop new church work simply because the poor people of other churches have seen and felt the higher standards of piety and purer lives among many in the Congregational churches and have desired that they too might have the advantage of such ministers.

Indeed, this long care of our churches and schools is awakening many new movements among the colored people of the South. Our churches are generally small and poor, but they have stood steadfastly for human rights, for Christian equality and freedom of church membership, and for moral and religious education. While their work has been slow, their influence has been deep and pervasive, as has been that of our schools, small and great.

It is an interesting and important fact that the great work of Christian education in behalf of the colored people which has been carried on by the Association is now producing results in a new direction. Our former students and pupils, grown into manhood and womanhood, find the church life of their communities greatly inferior to that in which they were trained in our schools. They are reaching after something more pure, free and spiritual. The leaven of their intelligence and higher standard of morality is taking hold of many families about them. From many centers the call reaches us for the organization of Congregational churches, churches which shall stand for morality, equal membership rights and a more rational type of piety. At the same time there is an uprising in various churches against the centralized forms of church government, which they feel to be oppressive. They refuse longer to be bound to systems which, as they believe, invade individual Christian rights. From these and other causes appeals are coming to us from different quarters for the recognition of churches which have become independent. A number of these churches have already been received by council into Congregational associations, and the indications are that this number will be largely increased during the year to come.

Of these popular movements toward the Congregational way, that at Lowell is a typical illustration. Some of the colored people near this little hamlet desired to build for themselves a church. With infinite pains and self-denial and labor they gathered the material for a small, wooden building and put up the frame with their own hands. Being refused the official encouragement they felt they had a right to expect from their own denomination, they began to consider the whole question of church relations and polity, and made up their minds to become a free church. They held their services in the cabin depicted in the accompanying illustration, and sought to push forward the completion of their little and rude church building. A furious storm blew the frame down. With sore hearts they piled up the lumber neatly around the foundation frame and felt that they must give up their cherished hope of having a church edifice. Having learned of the Congregational way, which superimposes no centralized church government over the people and seeks to aid the poor rather than to oppress them, they organized themselves into a Congregational church, and were recognized in our fellowship by a council. Afterward they were visited by a representative of the Association, whose form is seen in the foreground of the picture of their ruined church. A cheering conference was held with them. In this conversation a single fact came out which shows something of the labor and self-denial in the movement. It was found that the young minister of this, and a similar body of colored people several miles away, although he was afflicted with an ulcerated ankle, which might well have laid him up in his house, had repeatedly walked seventeen miles over the heavy roads in order to keep faithfully his preaching appointments. The people were willing to do their very utmost. It is hoped, with the aid of our Church Building Society, that they will now be able to put up their little church building and prosper in their Christian endeavor of having a free Congregational church for their religious home.

In Raleigh, the State capital, the colored people form a little over half of the population. Our church work here for a number of years has been in the charge of Rev. A. W. Curtis, D.D., who is most highly esteemed everywhere. The convenient, comfortable, and tasteful church building was erected in 1891. It has a seating capacity of 250. In the political transformations of the State the race question keeps its prominence. It was a significant fact that the Legislature voted a few weeks ago to adjourn in respect to the memory of Fred. Douglass. About the same time the legislature also voted that the national standard should be raised on the State house; and, for the first time since the reconstruction days, our country's flag streamed above the old granite capitol of North Carolina.

BY MISS ELLA E. ROPER.

We are so sure of your sympathy in our spiritual prosperity that I write you informally in relation to it.

Sunday, February 10, was a peculiarly happy one for us. In the morning we had studied together how the Saviour had set the little child in the midst. At the communion service following there was a large group of candidates for admission to the church, and then again were the children "in the midst." Eight were our present pupils; another, a last year's graduate. Still another was a young man who came to renew his allegiance to the church of Christ. We wished that all interested in their welfare in years gone by could look upon them. Several of the younger people admitted became interested under the preaching of Mr. Moore over a year ago, and have stood to their post manfully ever since. The present severe weather causes much acute distress. A recent case had its humorous, as well as pathetic side. In the bitter zero weather of Friday's blizzard a microscopic male beggar unfolded a doleful tale, as he basked in the warmth of the kitchen fire. He gave very unsatisfactory directions to his home, and we were unsuccessful that night in locating it. Early next morning he appeared again, and we made immediate preparations for running him to cover. As we started into the street he said hesitatingly, "Mother's better now." "That's good; run along." Presently, "She's up and dressed now." "Run along," we admonished, and took care to keep our eyes upon him lest he vanish, since he was evidently trying to patch up a peace with his conscience. He presently darted within a cabin, and there we found a state of things to which he had hardly done justice, notwithstanding his remorse that his mother wasn't exactly as he had represented her. A single stick of wood was wasting in the fireplace. Four children, smaller than the mite, were as near it as possible without being on it, eagerly scraping a tin dish with a spoon. A fifth, who had recently made the acquaintance of this world and its woes, was vigorously proclaiming his unfavorable opinion of it from the bed. "I cannot take him up in this cold," the mother explained.

I left them to see what could be done. On my return the last spark of fire had died upon the hearth. It was zero without and within. Our family of teachers had made up a sum sufficient for the present needs, however, and the family were soon made comfortable. At our last visit that day the room was warm, the baby was up, and evidently had changed his mind. As we were endeavoring to sort out and fit some garments, the mite (ten years of age, but apparently about eight) came to me, and, looking up with great solemnity, said, "If you want any work done, I'll do it for you for nothin'." So you see there will be a man of business in that house as long as the mite lives.

We have our usual experience of pleasant classes in Storrs this year. The same families continuing with us, year after year, seem like our own. Our Junior Christian Endeavor Society, already quite large, received nine new members at the last business meeting, and is reaching out for more. Our industrial department is slowly working in the direction of a modest exhibit at the coming Atlanta Exposition, and doing considerable toward clothing the needy with plain garments.

MISS M. E. WILCOX.

Thank you ever so much for the Hand Fund, I feel quite rich with it. These children are willing to work and the parents are glad to have them do so. They know very little about doing things properly, and the teaching which they have in industrial work may do them as much good as their books, but if you count that, then I am teaching from eight o'clock to five.

You may wish to ask if we feel isolated and lonely. No, we are too busy for that. The scholars begin to come on the grounds before we are through breakfast, and we don't have time to wish for other company. You ask how I find things. One can't find out everything in two months, but as far as I can judge it is as needy a field as we have heard about.

Of course the best work cannot be done in school until we can have another room, but now scholars come four or five miles, cross creeks on logs, or, when the water is too high, their folks bring them across the water and they walk the rest of the way.