“Sir Deare Bretterin I will Rite you A few lines to let you no our condison, we has had greatiel sickness her for the last few month.  But we hant had no Deth in the time of it, and we wont to no somthing A Bout our School her at ------ for ef we can geet the teacher we can have a good School now, for the is good many pepel wating on us, now. we wode Be hapa to her from you all and then we Can tell the Pepel what to Penon, and ef you Plese Rite to us A Bout the Deed that we sent to you for we hant never hern from it yeat unly By Rev. ------ and i woude Be glad to her from you A Bout it

     so Rite soon yours truly in Crist”

* * * * *

The American Missionary Association, which is the authorized and recognized servant of the Congregational Churches, reporting to them from the fields to which it is sent in their name, not unfrequently meets the fact that schools and churches in the South are appealing for support to those who hold us responsible for mission work in the South.  Thus many in the North from time to time, are contributing to schools or perhaps to churches there, under the impression that they are thus taking the shortest path to the work which appeals to them.

There are many schools, of one kind and another, which have been started at the South by private parties on a purely independent basis.  Many of these are carried on for a little time and then are permitted to die out for one reason and another; and many of them are working not only with a great lack of efficiency in comparison with the A.M.A. schools, but without supervision and without scrutiny.  Some are located where it has pleased those who located them to reside, without much reference to relative necessities; and some are located so unwisely that the Association has been compelled to decline to take them, when through fatigue or failure they have been given up.  Some of them owe their existence to the fact that certain workers were found to be not adapted to the work, or were uncomfortable under supervision and superintendence.  Some of them are conducted by those who have signally failed in our schools.  Their projectors are often skillful in letter-writing and in solicitation of funds for their specific enterprises, which being purely personal, have no large and ultimate achievement.  Those who give cannot know whether the donations are most wisely used, nor is there any satisfactory method by which contributions can be traced.

The Association, with its Superintendent continually in the field, reporting every fact to the Secretaries at the office, who in turn report to the churches, is certainly much better prepared to direct the gifts of the benevolent in ways that shall not be unwise or irresponsible.  As these circulars and letters of appeal are often referred by those who receive them to the Secretaries, it is but their duty to say that all funds diverted from our treasury to schools or churches in the South, under no watch and care, would without doubt go further and help the great work more to which the A.M.A. is consecrated, if they should be sent through the channel which the churches have ordained, and which has not only this justification for its existence and work, but also the justification of long experience and success.