bers of the National Christian Council can hardly be surprised if they find their annttal conference which opened yesterday watched with some what painful interest. Nor will that feeling be lessened by the letter we publish to-day, In it the writer describes an issue of "China for Christ," a magazine published by the N.C.C. in Chinese, which "consists of twelve pages of matter almost entirely devoted to the topics of abolishing extraterritoriality and unequal treaties, giving up religious advantages said to have been gained thereby, and promoting church freedom from foreign imperialism, etc. writer goes on to comment:
"Many of the statements made could easily be refuted. But! what one is most concerned about is that so much is being Reproduced with permis:
N.C.C. to stir up discontent and {foster anti-foreign feeling." The criticism will no doubt be resented, but it appears to-us reasonable, We do not question the sincerity of the authors of "China for Christ," but the practical results of what they do are another matter.
Whether the present conference will deal with the questions here mentioned in a_resolution remains to be seen. That it was meant to do 30 at one time is shown by a draft resolution published in the N.C.C. September bulletin definitely advocate abolition of extraterritoriality. Since this appeared we are told that the project' has been abandoned, a case of second thoughts on which the.N.C.C. may be congratulated. Furthermore, in a preliminary notice of the conference distributed to the press on Tuesday last appeared the following statement:
The Council meets this week for the first time since the events of May 80, 1925, which had so profound an influence on the situation in China, affecting Christian work perhaps scarcely less than trade. Tt will be necessary to review the year in the light of these events, but it is unlikely that more than very small part of the Council's time will be occupied with the consideration of public affairs.
The Council has collected and published judgments bearing these matters made by Chinese and foreign bodies, and it is not pected that the annual meeting will do more than review this action and make some record of it, passing on to its much more important constructive tasks.
It is open to question whether the conference need even do s0 much as this in reviving matters on which the Council's policy has been strongly criticized, and which was the cause of much dissension among its own members and at least a part caus of the China Inland Mission's withdrawal." But certainly this statement of intention shows the workings of a wiser spirit and the remainder of the preliminary notice from which it is quoted deals only with matters for discussion in which no one would dream of questioning a missionary's right and indeed duty to interest himself.
To return to the September Bulletin, we are told that "These public questions, however, are by no means the most important ones for consideration by the Council. Deeper down lies the question Chinn's spiritual need." And this problem, discussed by the Bulletin at some length is perhaps fairly epitomized in the hat there is a deep unity certain aspects of Chinese life no one who looks beneath the surface can doubt. What about the Churel Can the Christian forces of China maintain and "evidence so deep a unity in Christ, so living and dynamic a fellowship that they shall become a contributory. factor real significance in the develop-life of this country?
It is, perhaps, an impertinence for a layman to attempt an answer. But the policy of the mal Christian Council dur-the past year has brought it so much into the public eye and has indeed so much infringed upon the layman's interests, that he may claim some right to have his say. For it must be remembered that what the National Christian Council decides to do, or for that matter any representative missionary body, like, for instance, the Council of British Missions in London, cannot be justified as concerning missionaries alone. Directly such an organization pronounces judgment on a political question in China it has gone very far to render it impossible for organizations of laymen to express a different view, taking into consideration the susceptible state of Chinese feeling. If, therefore, a mis. sionary council believes itself entitled to pronounce on matters affecting all classes of men, the layman will rather humanly'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.