NEW EDITION READY

Prayer and Some of Its
Difficulties

By the Rev. WALTER J. CAREY, M.A.

The use of this little book has been limited by the impossibility, during the war, of obtaining it rapidly enough in sufficient quantities. Made in England, the publishers could not supply it rapidly enough to keep up with their home demand, and the quantities sent to America were always sold out almost in advance of receipt. The American publishers therefore stopped advertising it more than a year ago-but still the demand for the book continued.

A new edition is now received. We are hoping that we shall be able to supply it hereafter in any quantities that may be desired.

Morehouse Publishing Company

MILWAUKEE, WIS.

The Bailey Twins and the Rest of the Family

Illustrations from "The Bailey Twins"

By ANNA C. CHAMBERLAIN. Illustrated by Elizabeth OTIS. 12mo. Cloth. Price, net $1.00. Postage about 15 cts.

No ordinary book is "The Bailey Twins". To be sure, the twins are both girls, and only seven, but they are the center of interest in a large family, so that all can be interested. The story is one of unusual literary excellence, marked fidelity to child life, and filled with delicate humor. The twins, being very human or they would not be so likable, get into many comical situations, often involving others of the family and always the tactful kindness of their mother sets things right. Without intrusion the spirit of the ber type of Churchly religion is felt in it. Nor does it detract from the mirthful quality. "Many a true wor is spoken in jest," and many a wise thought will co from the good fun in "The Bailey Twins".

Morehouse Publishing Compa

Milwaukee, Wis.

Editorial

HE outstanding feature of this year's ANNUAL is the record of the changed national organization of the Church, beginning page 145. The Presiding Bishop and Council, with its six departments, is the new experiment in the government of the Church. Some criticism has been made of the increased number of clergy withdrawn from priestly work for secretarial and other office activities. A count of such officials, embracing only those who are on salaries and devote full time to their work, shows that 1 bishop, 19 priests, 6 laymen, and 2 women comprise the staff of the various departments—not counting the women's organizations federated as the Church Service League. Two years ago the corresponding staff, under the old order, consisted of 1 bishop, 9 priests, and 4 laymen, while the two women of the present staff were then under the Woman's Auxiliary, but pursuing the same duties as at present. The increased number of such officials is found, on comparison, to apply wholly to new activities. Four clergy comprise the complement of the bureau for work among the foreign-born, five that for the Nationwide Campaign, and one for the newly-organized publicity department. Of the added lay workers, one is the treasurer (now a salaried office, combined with that of executive secretary of the department of finance), and one is an additional secretary in the department of religious education. If, therefore, one would question the expediency of such additions to the force of secretaries t the Church's headquarters, he must limit his inquiry to the question of whether the new activities-the Nation-wide Campaign, the bureau for the reign-born, and the publicity department—are worth while. Except for the ne added lay secretary in religious education-who fills a new field entirelyhe old activities have no larger salaried force under the new order than under he old. So also the (very real) question as to the expediency of detaching lergy from priestly work for such activities must be considered in connection ith the further question as to whether competent laymen are available for e purpose.

A second notable change in organization is shown in connection with the men's organizations now federated in the Church Service League. Beginng on page 180 we have brought together the record of those organizations, inting them in the order in which they are named in the League. This parates the Woman's Auxiliary from the missionary organization, in conetion with which it has always been printed, but only to dignify the Church rvice League with a separate heading and to group together its constituent ganizations now detached from the various classifications in which they had therto appeared.

The Junior Auxiliary now appears under its new name of The Church hool Service League (page 190), though the transition has not been comtely accomplished.

It is interesting to trace the gradual rise of the national phase of the urch's work. In the present ANNUAL the chronicle of national organizations, cial and unofficial, but including provincial and diocesan commissions de

pendent on the national organization, extends from page 140 to page 211, thus covering 71 pages. We may compare with this the record of organizations of national scope in the first issue of the LIVING CHURCH ANNUAL, that for 1882, when the corresponding material covered 6 pages. The difference in space required is the measure of the growth of nation-wide work and, perhaps, of nation-wide perspective. Surely this records a remarkable change in the attitude of Churchmen with respect to Church work, all of which has been accomplished in a single generation.

WITH RESPECT to the statistics of the Church we direct attention to the table printed on page 70 which indicates, from the government census figures, that our communicant list has not quite kept pace with the growth of the population of the country during the decade from 1906 to 1916. It will be remembered that during this decade the immigration was almost wholly from countries from which the Anglican communion draws no adherents. Every such immigrant adds to the disproportion between Churchmen and other Americans, and our growth otherwise has not been sufficient to offset this handicap. Yet the net increase of communicants during those ten years amounted to 180,028, which, though less than for some other periods of equal length, by no means shows the Church to be at a standstill.

But our net ratio of growth continues small. Turning now to page 445 we find the increase in communicants in the past year to be 11,827, or slightly over one per cent. A year previous the gain was only 6,156. Up to half a dozen years ago the normal annual gain was something in excess of 2 per cent. It has now continued at a lower rate for several years.

And the diocesan tables (pages 446-449) show the usual perplexing nun.ber of decreases. Five out of seven New England dioceses report fewer communicants than they did a year ago, the net decrease for the province being 3,566. There are smaller net losses in the sixth and seventh provinces; whis the only really satisfactory gain is in the third province, where the increase is 11,005, or 5 per cent. Indeed, since the total gain for the whole country is only 11,827, it follows that for the entire Church outside that province the year's net gain is only 822 communicants. Still closer analysis shows that the diocese of Washington has increased its communicant list during the year by 7,497 (net), being nearly two-thirds of the gain for the whole Church We have verified the fact but have received no explanation of it. A 7 per ces' gain in the diocese of Maryland and 3 per cent. each in Delaware and Er account for most of the remaining gain; and except for a loss of 5 in the diocese of Harrisburg no diocese in this province records a loss-the on." province of which this can be said. In all the Church, a net loss of com municants is reported in 37 out of 90 dioceses and missionary districts.

In each case, losses reported have been verified by correspondence with diocesan authorities and many corrections have been made in official figure Extensive pruning of lists is responsible for losses in Western Massachusetts Rhode Island, Connecticut, Albany, Long Island, Indianapolis, Norther Indiana, and very likely in other places not especially explained. Mississ!? and Nevada report that the population of the states has decreased and t Church suffers its share of loss. This is true of rural communities genera Exodus from seaport towns during the war, not cured by return, and ** assumed to be permanent, is reported by Florida. Southern Ohio has rig