RAMABAI MISSION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 11

RAMABAI MISSION.

The annual meeting of the Raniabai Mulyti Mission .held iitl the Choral Hall on August 31, was largely attended, and was presided over by Mr J. jnglis Wrifj.ic, chairman of hhe Mukti Mission Council. The following was fchs treasurer's report, r^ad by Mr J. Blair Mason : " The receipts Consist of donations, mite-box oolleotions, and donations from Mrs George Mackenzie through her trading account. The donations amounvied to £155 15s 6d, and came from 72 donors— namely, two of £20, three of £10, one of £9 odd, four of £5, two of £4, one of £3 odd, four of £2 odd, 12 of £1 odd, and 43 of less than £l. The mite-box moneys l-eceived from the mite-box treasurer amounted to £187 2s 3d, while £200 has been received from Mrs Mackenzie as part proceeds of her sales of work. Special donations are as follow: — £12 17s for Sister Clare's personal use, £12 Is for the maintenance of a child widow, £11 being donation for native teachers, £54- 7s donation for famine fund, and £1 lOe donation for mis-sionary-box. The total receipts from all sources amounted to £653 3s 7d. On theexpenditure eide we find that the total remittances to India for the year amounted to £562 16s 2d. These remittances are, of course, only the moneys that pass through the treasurer's hands. Remittances to India have been made in many oases direct, and we know thai R&mabai receives donations of which, as a council, we have no knowledge. From Mrs Mackenzie's statement it will be seen tihat money and goods have been £emt oo Mukti to the value of £270, additional to the £200 credited ,m this statement, making £470 in all remitted to Ramabai as 'the direct result of Mrs Mackenzie's labours. In addition, Miss MacGregor has sent direct the sum of £15. These amounts, which for certain circumstances which need not be mentioned here, would have passed through the treasurer's hands, would swell the receipts of the New Zealand Auxiliary to a respectable sum of £938, and the remittances to India to £847. Otiier items of expenditure include £16 to Miss MacGregoo:, engaged in deputation work, £10 10s to Miss Scott, who is preparing c o proceed to the foreign field ; the printing of booklets and the quarterly letters came to £44 12s; the remaining items of expenditure a.re for exchange, stationery, advertisirg, postages, „ and exp-ansas on misionary- boxes to India, in all aggregating th« sum of £90 4e 3d, and makincr a total expenditure for the year of £653 0s lid, leaving a balance in hand ol 2s Bd." The report was adopted, on the motion of Mr Mason. The mite-box collections report was adopted, arid tha.nbs expressed to Mrs J. Blair Mason for the work she had done in xinneotion with this branch of the mission, i Mrs J. Blair Mason, Mrs Don, Mrs Mal;is, and Mr J. Inglis Wright were elected nembers of the council. The Chairman, addressing the public meeting that followed the business of the evening, said the work Ramabai had carriod on was no mere sentiment. It tees a profoundly practical work in every part. rhoy were privileged by having with th«» m Mrs Mackenzie and Mire MacGregoi, both o£ whom had practical knowledge of fhe work ;arried out at Mukti. Ramabai's'was essentially a many-sided work, and she seamed •o put no limiiatioiis upon it. Ramabai had levoted herself tc translation work in no mall decree, and a good deal of her time '• it»lv had been devoted to that. Then, apart , tHoflfethor from the woman's aspect of the i\ork. ttaerp was a mission being carried < in a shoit disranoe from the main build iivj* ' .\here ;oun? men had been t ain«d ami >rought up. and provided for, and many of , l>crn hiwl married young women at Mukti. j Phe speaker went on to refer to the recent j imagination of an Indian dignitary, and j said t.hat ripp!in.gs upon the surface, this . issassination. the outcry, and claims | if a so-callp.fi Socialistic programme in j '.•i.c months of a certain, spction of t h<> Tndia.il people showed what they night expect from civilisation divorced from Christianity. Probably the b«*st way to inluenc© humanity .vas through the womenrhe hand that rocked the cradle was the uuvd that wielded power in the homes of tidia. Mr Wright then referred to the vast x>pulafcion of India, and ©aid that out of the 300,000,000, the kit°st statistics informed ; h<?m that no less than 130,000.000 were j 7omen. | Mrs Mackenzie, general secretary, read icr report, which was adopted by acclama- , ion. , J Brief ad*lr*3ses were then given by Miss , Scott, who has beon accepted by Ramabai, tnd by Mks Macdonald. whos? application . o go to India had been accepted by the

council the previous evening and who witt probably leave for India shortly. Mr MaJlis also gave, a short address, and at its conclusion about 40 pictures were shown by the aid of the optical lantern.