Religion: Chiang’s Gesture

With every Protestant mission station in north and central China now an emergency relief centre, U. S. mission boards through their Committee on Relief in China last week began a drive for $5,000,000 for the next year’s work.* From China the committee received proof that missionary labors tire now not unappreciated in high places. In a speech to missionaries in Hankow, Mme Chiang Kai-shek revealed that her husband, as a gesture of gratitude, had lifted an eleven-year ban upon compulsory religious courses in Chinese mission schools. Said she: “I am very glad to tell you that those who criticized you and criticized Christianity in years past are the ones who are articulate now in their praise of Christianity. . . . You have shown what true, practical Christianity means in its widest sense.”

*Under the chairmanship of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr., a similar drive was launched last week by the United Council for Civilian Relief in China.