The difficulty of calculating the unpaid voluntary workers is indeed very great.  We know of no definition which would serve to give any uniformity to returns made by different missions.  We recognise that different missions would make the returns on different bases.  We earnestly desire a common definition, which all might accept.  But under existing circumstances it seems impossible to find one.  Nevertheless, without some statement of the number of voluntary workers, we are, as we shall see, in grave danger of misjudging the situation and wronging our missionaries and the native Christians.  For the time then we suggest that it would be far better to accept the returns given to us by the missionaries on their own basis, asking them to append a note to the return explaining how they calculated their voluntary force.  We should then have the following table:—­

The Native Force.

(a) The Christian Constituency.

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------------
District. |Population. |Christian     |Proportion to  |Remarks and
|            |Constituency  |Non-Christian  |Conclusions.
|            |              |Population.    |
------------------------------------------------------------

-------
|            |              |               |
------------------------------------------------------------

---------

(b) The Communicants or Full Members.

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--------------
District. | Population. | Communicants. | Proportion to | Remarks and
|             |               | Non-Christian | Conclusions
|             |               | Population.   |
------------------------------------------------------------

---------
|             |               |               |
------------------------------------------------------------

---------

(c) The Paid Workers.

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--------------
District. | Population. | Paid Workers. | Proportion to | Remarks and
|             |               | Non-Christian | Conclusions
|             |               | Population.   |
------------------------------------------------------------

---------
|             |               |               |
------------------------------------------------------------

---------

(d) The Unpaid Workers.

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----------
District. | Population. | Unpaid   | Proportion to | Remarks and
|             | Workers. | Non-Christian | Conclusions.
|             |          | Population.   |
------------------------------------------------------------

-----
|             |          |               |
------------------------------------------------------------

---------

Here again it is the proportions which are illuminating and enable comparisons of different areas to be made.  The bare figures of the number of Christians and communicants and workers by themselves would tell us very little; only when we have them related to a common factor do we get any real light.