# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1887_S21
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Fifth Delegate Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, 1887. 21

is truly necessary — not, that is, whether the institution at Milwaukee
should continue to exist, but whether it should become the property
of the General Synod; second, whether it has already truly become
necessary to have two full Gymnasiums; third, granting that the latter
is the case, whether, all things considered, Fort Wayne and Milwaukee
would be the most suitable locations; and fourth, whether our finances
already allow the expenses that will be necessary.

Our practical preachers' seminary [Predigerſeminar] at Springfield is
thriving and expanding more and more. Great as the shortage of space
there is known to be, the supervisory board there nevertheless makes
no claim for buildings or any other extraordinary appropriations. All
the more should we, of our own accord, do for this institution what is
needed. It will surely remain indispensable to us for a good while yet.

From our teachers' seminary [Lehrerſeminar] at Addison, finally, the
supervisory board's report likewise brings us quite gratifying news.
There, however, they are convinced that an expansion of space is
unavoidably necessary, and that accordingly a service building and a
residence for the steward need to be built. Together these will not
exceed the sum of $14,000, and $6,000 of that is already on hand from
the surplus of the previous building project.

In order to survey at once all the larger appropriations of money that
have been requested, let us first consider our Emigrant Mission
[Emigranten-Miſſion] in New York. The commission concerned gives in
its report first the statistics, which will already be essentially known
from the "Lutheraner"; it then relates the course of the distressing
cash shortfall [Kaſſen-Defect]; acknowledges its own share of the blame
for it through failure to exercise the necessary oversight and to keep
an exact account of the funds on hand there; renders an account of the
procedure adopted since; and finally lets the hope show through that,
if its plans succeed, our loss will in the end prove smaller than it
appears at first sight. — Firmly as we are all convinced that the
members of the commission at the time acted in good faith even in this
sad matter, they have nonetheless undeniably made themselves guilty
of a highly culpable omission. That we should let ourselves be carried
away into protecting ourselves against such occurrences in future by
requiring bonds, as is done among worldly corporations, is something
we hope we shall not be tempted to do. But it would be good if we
thought more about the fact that among Christians things must be
done honestly and properly in all matters, not only before God but
also before men — indeed, that Christians of all people ought to act
twice as carefully and conscientiously in outward matters as the
children of this world. — As for the "Lutheran Pilgrim House"
[Lutheriſches Pilgerhaus] in particular, it is so far still the private
property of those who bought it at their own risk. If the Synod does
not take it off their hands, these brothers will suffer no harm from it
either.