must we have to direct us?  First we must know what we mean by need, what kind of need we are to put first in our thoughts; that is the question of definition of aim.  Then, how shall we decide where that need is greatest at the present time, for us, that is, within our possibility of active assistance; that is the question of relation.  The facts of need as we define it must be related and compared.  The survey of which we speak as necessary for an intelligent understanding of foreign missions must provide these facts in a form easily grasped and understood and compared for different countries and districts, so that those who direct action and those who support the action may be able to do so with reason, not being guided merely by the most influential voice or the loudest shout.

6.  To serve this purpose survey must have twofold aspect.  It must be a review of the present state of the work, it must also be a review of the present position of the work.  It is a review of the state of the work, the stations, the converts, the Church; it is a review of the position, the progress made compared with the work to be done.  But the state varies, the position changes, and action must be taken continually.

The survey, therefore, should be not simply a single act but a continual process.  Mission work is not a task which can be undertaken and finished on a predetermined plan, like the construction of a railway.  It is a task the conditions of which vary from time to time, and consequently plans and policies and methods must vary, and this variation can only be rational if it is determined by recognition of the changing circumstances, and the change of circumstances can only be understood and appreciated if the survey of missions is a continuous process kept constantly up to date.  It is a form of mission history in which the omission of a few years may break the connection of the whole narrative.

7. (i) It may perhaps cause surprise to some that the information for which we ask is mainly such as can be expressed in a statistical form.  But the fact remains that all statesmanship (and foreign missions involve large elements of statesmanship), and all organised effort (and foreign missions are highly organised), is in the world always based either upon carefully compiled statistics, or upon guess work; and that the business which is directed by guess work does not enjoy the same confidence as the business which is directed by knowledge derived from carefully compiled statistics.

Take, for example, this extract from a letter written by a firm in the United States of America which deals with candy securities:—­