# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1911_S87
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

13th Delegate Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, 1911. 87

into great want and do not dare take up new, promising mission fields,
because they lack the means and know very well that the General
Mission Treasury can render no assistance. May God continue to bless
his work also in this so richly blessed and important mission! —

Resolved:

1. to express the synod's thanks to the donors, unknown to us, who
each gave $5,000.00 for this mission;

2. that the commission be given the right to publish the treasury's
state of need in the "Lutheraner" and to ask for gifts in it;

3. that the synod recommend to every district synod that it
contribute a fixed sum annually for General Inner Mission;

4. that the synod ask the General President to bring this matter
before the district synods and to advocate for it as warmly as
possible.

b. Emigrant Mission.

aa. General. — At the beginning of April of this year, Mr.
Williams, the Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, with the
approval of the government, issued extremely strict rules for all
emigrant missionaries. These rules were such that, had we carried
them out, we would simply have had to discontinue our emigrant
mission. The intention, as Secretary Nagel informed our New York
commission, was to enforce these rules first in New York and then
later extend them to all emigrant missions in our country. The
laudable purpose of the rules was admittedly, as Commissioner Williams
explained, only "to put an end to the trade of false missions." The
Commissioner had good reason for once to proceed sharply and clean up
various practices that had, over time, become customary among some
"missionaries." No complaint whatsoever had been raised against the
work of our missionary, P. Restin, yet the rules that were now to be
put into force against all missions were so drastic that innocent
missions would have had to suffer along with the guilty ones.

At first our commission in New York asked the Commissioner for an
extension of time. This was granted, until July 1, 1911.
Representatives of the New York commission got in touch with
representatives of our commission in Baltimore, together sought out a
high official of the Department of Commerce and Labor staying there,
Mr. John Wagenhals, discussed the matter with him most thoroughly, and
then, through him, submitted a lengthy document to Secretary Nagel
and President Taft. In it they disavowed all the disparaging remarks
made against the Department, which had unfortunately also appeared in
the German-language press, and asked for an opportunity to describe
our work in the country's ports in person to the officials in
Washington.

That is how it came about that Mr. John Wagenhals appeared at the
synod in St. Louis on May 16. President Taft and Secretary Nagel