y. M. C. A. 741 Y. M. C. A. incrcasinp; pfTiciciic-y. Tlic five fipld spcrptarips of the Intpriiatioiiiil Coiiimittpe live at points eonvpiiipnt for tlipir work. A summer training confprence ami vac'ation resort, at Lake George, is attended by over 500 association men. Publications. Reports of all international conventions and of most of the State conventions have been ])rinted, and constitute the detailed history of the movement, in connection with the Year Books issued by the International Com- mittee. A periodical has l)ppn maintained for many years. It is now pn!)lislied monthly in magazine form from the international ollice, un- der the name Assnciation Men. Smaller period- icals give information and stimulus regarding single departments of the work. Three hundred books and pamphlets are on sale. The fifty or more courses of Bible study have been very widely used. The Foreign Work. The International Com- mittee sent its first foreign secretary to .Japan in 1889. For several years previously urgent united appeals had come from many foreign the greater progress made since a general or- ganization was elTeeted: EKOLAKD, WALES, AND IRELAND AHHociationa Monibprw and associates Centres of work (Jciipr.'il stjLTetaries BllilliiUKH 'ii!iip of buildings rurri'iit t'xpeiiHps of associa- tions Associations reporting p.vninasia.... AHSDc-iations reporting edu- cation ;il rl:iSHCH AsRocijtt ions reporting read- injK rooms Total weekly religious meet- ings 1883 188 2!>,2U ISR iS 19 £ 163.637 £ 31,013 90 57 95 193 1893 MS 59,433 63 80 397,695 72,565 91 137 103 848 395 70,742 1,259 75 110 £ 611,264 73,356 128 93 304 929 The Scottish general organization was formed in 1884. The leading facts regarding the asso- ciations of the world are given in the follow- ing; table: GEOORAPHICAL DIVISIONS North America .South .merica Great Britain and Ireland. Scandinavia and Denmark German J Belgium and Holland France.; Switzerland Ital.T Austria-Hungary Russia and Finland China , India and Ceylon Japan Africa Australasia Scattered Number Of associa- tions 736 14 178 430 784 348 103 470 58 114 39 43 165 .54 20 18 50 6,624 Number Of members 350,455 988 120,848 22,750 95,000 9,086 5,987 8.477 1.700 4,.540 3.535 2,(143 7.408 2,621 3,406 3,292 1.642 Employed secre- taries 850 3 80 30 39 3 6 6 1 3 3 8 17 2 5 9 Buildings 460 1 139 41 72 32 10 15 1 2 16 5 6 7 2 Value Of buildings S25,417,606 60,000 3,431,320 757,000 1,200,000 295,000 200,000 20,000 18,500 292,000 62,000 565,000 308,000 26.600 $32,642,025 missionaries for this aid, and in no case has a step been taken without such requests. The committee now has five men in -Japan, seven in China, one in Korea, fourteen in India and Cey- lon, and one each in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. England and Scotland have seven men in India. The errand of them all is to train and develop native workers as rapidly as pos- sible. The salaries and personal expenses of the secretaries are provided by the organizations send- ing them. Otherwise the work in each locality is self-supporting, except that some of the build- ings have been given from abroad. Europe and Elsewhere. The London as- sociation was formed -June 0, 1S44. as the result of religious effort among dry goods clerks by George Williams, then one of their number. From London as a centre associations were propagated throughout the Ignited Kincrdom and many other countries. Some organizations claim- ing an existence prior to, or independent of, the London movement became aflSliated with it later. The first of a series of annual British conferences was held in 18.58. and" the first association build- ing was erected in ISCM. A National Union for England and Wales was formed in 1882. and for Ireland in 1884. The English National Coincil has recently been incorporated. The table shows Between 1806 and 1841 a number of ChristUche JiitigU)igsfereine came into existence in Ger- many. They were small bands of young men for mutual encouragement in the Christian life, and were usually connected with an individual church. Many others have since been formed, and all have come into affiliation with the more recently organized World's Committee. In 1883 a new and broader form of organization. Christ- Uche Vereiiie jiiiiger Miinncr, resembling the American associations, was started in Berlin. This has since spread to other cities, and its methods have been adopted by many of the older societies. Associations were organized in France about 1850. The first world's conference, meet- ing in Paris in 1855. and notable for formulating a 'basis' since universally adopted, gave impetus to the French societies. The present national alliance was formed in 1867. In 1893 the Paris Association entered its new building, adapted to the advanced methods of work, and in 1902 held, an enthusiastic celebration of the jubilee of its organization. The Swiss associations form two independent unions, the German and the French. The existing movement in Sweden began with the organization of the Stockholm Association in 1884, after the model of those at Paris and Ber- lin. Various European associations do special
