# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1887_S78
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

78 Proceedings of the 20th General or

"The Commission for the direction of the Emigrant Mission at
Baltimore, Md., finds itself compelled to lay the following before a
Reverend Delegate Synod:

"As early as 1885 the general agency here of the Lloyd Steamship
Company began setting up many agencies to sell its passage tickets in
the West and Northwest of this country. Especially active in this was
its sub-agency in Chicago, run by E. It was mostly pastors of our
Missouri Synod whom the representative of the said main and
sub-agency sought out and tried to persuade to take on local
agencies. It is a fact that pastors within our Synod did indeed agree
to become agents of the Lloyd Steamship Co. — In bringing this fact,
and the disadvantages arising from it for our mission here, to light,
we protest that we do not intend hereby to engage in any kind of
denunciation. — Of the disadvantages hinted at, only our harbor
mission here is affected, since the assignment of agencies to pastors
within our Synod was carried on only by the general agency here of
the Lloyd Steamship Co. and its branch in Chicago.

"The disadvantages arising for our emigrant mission here through
the sub-agencies of the said steamship company, which are headed by
pastors as well, are the following:

"1. The agents in question fail to get in touch with our emigrant
mission's local agent here, Mr. W. Sallmann, regarding emigrants who
may be expected. He is therefore unable to receive such immigrants,
who are moving to our congregations, upon their arrival, nor to
assist them in any way. Although those agents among the pastors
should, by right and fairness — as is also urged in a letter of the
Reverend General President dated December 12, 1885 — turn their
profit from sold passage tickets over to the local Emigrant Fund
here, after deduction of their expenses, this has as yet not happened
in a single case.

"Since, then, our harbor mission here is pecuniarily harmed by this
loss of commissions to our agents; and since, further, the
collections raised within our Synod for the harbor mission here are
extremely small, a continuation of these conditions would likely lead
to the demise of our emigrant mission here.

"A Reverend Delegate Synod is therefore asked, should it consider
the preservation of the emigrant mission here to be called for, to
see to it that either 1) the income of our mission fund be raised by
directing greater patronage its way in the form of steamship tickets,
or railroad tickets respectively, to be issued by it, or 2) that a
more active engagement in the emigrant mission here be shown through
diligent collections.

[SCAN: faint word-fragments show through on the right margin from the facing page (p-085); not transcribed.]