honesty and are more intelligent than the Slavs with whom they are so often confused. Morally and intellectually the Protestants are supe-. rior to their Catholic compatriots.

Missionary work among the Hungarians in America has been carried on successfully for many years with gratifying results, but many colonies have not been touched by the gospel, and have never heard the Word of God. The Rev. Alex. Harsamji, who for nearly 20 years has been engaged in missionary work among immigrants, and especially Hungarians in America, has this to say: "I wish to make a special plea for help to enable those of foreign birth to form little congregations and establish establish little little places of worship. Give them ministers who would preach to them in their mother tongue; the only language they understand. Distribute Bibles, tracts, and religious literature. among them and a blest harvest will be reaped.

"I am not unmindful of the great good that has been done and is being done by the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches of the United States for the Magyars and Slavs. The former supports 30 missions and the latter 10 missions for the Magyars and about as many for the Slavs. They are all flourishing institutions, doing God's work in uplifting the poor foreigners. There is also an interesting church paper published in Hungarian, and Sunday-school literature and Sunday-school picture cards are distributed quite freely among the young people. This work is not only done in the interests of the different churches, but to make the stranger in a strange land feel that we have a brotherly anxiety in his

welfare, and tho of a different race, we are all children of the same loving Father.

"While much has been done for the Hungarians in this country along religious lines, they would more readily respond to the appeal of the church if they could be improved morally and educationally. Social conditions in many of the foreign settlements are deplorable. Provision should be made by the great firms, or companies employing thousands of laborers, for decent places of resort where the workmen could meet for healthful enjoyment instead of being forced to seek saloons, or other disreputable places. And steps should be taken to protect them from the powers that prey, that they may not be victimized and cheated out of hard earnings. We should defend them against every injustice that they may have faith in our laws and learn to love our country. I should be glad to see a Y. M. C. A. led by foreigners, established as a social center in every foreign settlement in the United States. There are over 1,000,000 Hungarians in this country, but only two Y. M. C. A.'s for their exclusive benefit. It is true that we have a few young people's societies connected with some of the Hungarian churches, but these do not make such a wide appeal to the needs of our young men as does the Y. M. C. A. There is a great need of good libraries in these foreign settlements which have neither church nor mission; they would do much to check the flood of vile, cheap literature that poisons the mind of the poor laborer."

Has not God sent these foreigners to America in order that Christian people may give them the Gospel?

M

ANY a man, if he thinks of the Church at all, has only a vague conception of its far

reaching activities and beneficences. It does not represent to him a vast and virile institution, an inspiration to noble living; a tireless force for good in social service, softening the asperities of life, and refining the dross in human nature. The Church is, no doubt, largely to blame that for so long it has hidden too much of its light under a bushel, that its marvelous work for humanity is so little known outside the ranks of churchadherents. But in recent years many Christian workers have begun to feel that they should make known to the world at large what the Church is doing to reach out helping hands in every direction wherever there is human need for moral and spiritual betterment to the end thai men and women may be inspired to right living and appreciate their obligations to each other, to the community and to God.

When the man in the street, the non-church-goer, or indifferent churchattendant, learns something of the great humanitarian service the church is rendering, then many of them will take new interest, and it may secure their cooperation. To accomplish such desirable results, to paraphrase Danton's historic utterance, "We need publicity, and more publicity, and ever more publicity." The practical side of church movements will appeal strongly to the practical man of business, who too often regards Christian workers as well-meaning visionaries and impractical theorists and

dreamers. Modern church work, in its best development, not only aims. to make, but does make men and women more efficient and selfrespecting, it harmonizes class differences, broadens human sympathy, refines home life and domestic relations, and makes the community a better place to live in, and these are accomplishments which must speak with compelling force to even the most thoughtless minds.

To the Presbyterian Church belongs the distinction of being the first denomination in the United States to establish a department to study social problems. Other denominations in this country and in Canada, Europe and Australia have since inaugurated similar movements, so that now there are probably a dozen bureaus actively engaged in social service; every phase of the work being of a practical nature and immediately applicable to the church.

On April 1, 1913, the Bureau of Social Service of the Presbyterian Church of the United States celebrated its tenth anniversary. The story of the work accomplished by the Bureau since its inception is one of continued achievement, and among the pioneer movements of the American Church this service has a special value for the far reaching influence it must exert over the thoughtless and irreligious elements in the community. It is the declared purpose of this Bureau "To place the religious emphasis upon social service, and the social emphasis upon religious work. To increase the efficiency of the church through standardized programs, which may be introduced into communities of a common type. To

bring about a more cordial relationship between the church and labor. To give vision and program to municipal authorities, so that they may minister more effectively to the social and moral needs of the people. To enlist men and women of the churches in definite social service tasks."

The Bureau of Social Service has carried on investigations in about a hundred cities, and in thousands of churches, and as a result of this work, has reached certain definite conclusions which show how the church may become more effective in every community.

The Bureau in the important field of Labor has accomplished some striking results. There are six times as many men in the labor unions of the United States as there are in the Presbyterian Church, and there are certain well-organized movements among these workers which declare their antagonism to the church, and seek to create bitterness, not only between labor and capital, but between labor and the church. The Bureau has been pushing various campaigns with special reference to labor, with marked success. The workingman, whether a member of a union or not, has too often a gross misconception of the church, its mission, and its work, and it has been the business of the Bureau of Social Service to remove this misunderstanding, and impress on him the necessity of religion and the church in his life, if he wishes true happiness.

Among the important things accomplished by the Bureau since its inception was the establishment of the Labor Temple, in lower New York, at Fourteenth Street and Second Avenue, within a block of the

great downtown theater district of the people. Here, until long after midnight, there is a blaze of light, and surging crowds, and clamor of many voices, where every door invites to cheap, and often vicious, entertainment. South and east lie great tenement districts, so densely populated that some blocks house 5,000 people. Here socialism is strong, and the socialists hold mass meetings in the various halls in winter, and in summer harangue crowds in the

streets.

The Bureau of Social Service selected this field because of its difficulty. The purpose was, and is, to demonstrate what the church can do in such a community. And the Labor Temple is a success. The people are losing their prejudice against the church, and have become friendly to it. They are getting a conception of the significance of the old Gospel, and whether Jew or Catholic, Protestant or Agnostic, they are learning the meaning of practical Christianity; that they need it in their lives seven days in the week. Nine-tenths of the average audience is composed of men; about one-half are Jews, and fully three-fourths are foreigners.

About 30 meetings are held in the Labor Temple every week, the Sunday program being continuous from 2:30 to 10. It begins with a children's hour and an adult Bible class. An hour later is the Sunday-school, and an organ recital in the auditorium at the evening service, when a choir of 80 voices begins with song, crowds are often turned back for lack of room. The sermon is always thoroughly evangelical, a practical heart-to-heart talk with men.

Monday night is devoted to social

purposes, when men and women living in cheerless halls, or shaft rooms, can get acquainted with each other among pleasant Christian surroundings.

It would be interesting to describe in detail the weekly program of of meetings which are arranged to contribute to the social and spiritual welfare of every man, woman, and child in this vast parish. There is the open forum for the discussion of social problems; the Young Woman's Club, or Class in Domestic Art; the Imperators, a club for ambitious young men; the Temple Brotherhood, which discusses health problems and shows the people how to get well and keep well; and there are classes in sight singing, in cooking, embroidery, literature, etc., and varied entertainments and lectures of an edifying

and moral character. Whatever is instructive and improving, that appeals to the mind and heart, that develops the best qualities in human nature, broadens the outlook, builds up character, and emphasizes the need of religion in all lives, these are things which the Labor Temple aims to provide, and is succeeding. For the people are tremendously in earnest about their own problems, and are willing to be helped in a democratic spirit, tho they would be quick to resent anything which savored of patronage or paternalism. "It is largely because the Church has not been keenly sensitive to the changing conditions among the masses that its hold upon the city is weakened. The 'old Gospel' must be preached with all its old-time fervor-but it is largely a question of emphasis."

The Bureau of Social Service of the Presbyterian Church has done. other important things in the field

of labor. It established "Labor Sunday," now observed by nearly every Protestant in denomination the United States. It originated the plan of the exchange of fraternal delegates between ministers' associations and central labor unions, now in operation in over 100 cities. Ministers often serve as chaplains to organized labor, opening and closing the meetings with prayer. Their influence has entirely revolutionized the discussion of social, moral, and economic questions, and they have enlisted labor in practical reform measures in towns and cities. For seven years the bureau has been sending delegates to the annual convention of

the American Federation of Labor, which at one time passed a resolution prohibiting any minister from addressing the convention.

Appreciating the value of publicity, the Bureau furnishes an article every week to 250 weeklies and 100 monthlies of the labor press. As a result, radical articles against the Church rarely appear in labor periodicals, and the general attitude of the workingman toward the Church has undergone a complete change.

The Bureau conducts great workingmen's mass meetings nearly every Sunday afternoon in winter, presenting the claims of Jesus Christ and His Church to the toilers. In one year, in six cities, 500 ministers addrest 1,000 different shop meetings, while at the same time a shop campaign, planned and directed by the Bureau, was conducted throughout the country. The Bureau has also been developing "industrial parishes" in industrial centers for the churches, each church becoming responsible for a particular shop. Since the Bureau. inaugurated a workingman's temper

ance movement, the liquor interests are losing their domination of organized labor. The workingmen appreciate what the Bureau is trying to accomplish, and the superintendent is often called in to arbitrate industrial disputes, and at times presides at conferences where capital and labor are represented. These are hopeful signs. "Let us reason together."

A most valuable feature of the Bureau's work is its survey department, which investigates conditions and recommends methods to meet these conditions. These investigations have been made in nearly 100 cities. and 1,000 churches. "The Bureau has sought to interpret the movements of populations, especially in cities, anticipating the character of church enterprise required to meet the present situation and the future."

Representatives of the Bureau frequently confer with municipal officers in various cities on social evils, education, sanitation, prison reform, etc. During the past year in 20 cities the

superintendent of the Social Service Bureau addrest groups of leading citizens and authorities on social conditions discovered in these cities, suggesting what action should be taken with a view to benefiting the comunity. "While the Bureau of Social Service is naturally interested in social evangelism and church efficiency

. it has constantly sought to demonstrate that evangelism which seeks to regenerate the individual, may be harmonious with the social service which seeks to regenerate an entire community.'

We have only touched on a few of the most important features of the work which the Bureau of Social Service is carrying on with such notable results, but enough has been written to show its value to the nation, as a powerful force for good in improving social conditions, checking the forces of evil, harmonizing classes, and demonstrating the imperative need of the church to every man and woman in the community.