Misgivings Confirmed by Expert’s Report

One brief passage from the report of the fruit expert will indicate the nature of his advice:AGP 313.2

“From what I can gather, the objects of the society are to start a colony of a certain sect or denomination and to erect a college in connection with the colony for the purpose of educating missionaries who will receive an agricultural and horticultural training in addition to their purely missionary training. Therefore, in order for the undertaking to be a success, it is my opinion that the society will be unwise to select the land I visited.”

Even after we had made the first payment on the land, we were advised by the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture that to forfeit the deposit would be a small loss in comparison with what we should suffer were we to locate on this block of land.AGP 313.3

The report of our own misgivings, together with the supposedly expert counsel given to us, naturally caused serious concern on the part of the Foreign Mission Board, whose cooperation it was necessary for us to have if we were to make the enterprise a success. The Secretary, writing under date of October 30, gave this as their judgment:AGP 313.4

“You delay further operations, at least as far as any further financial outlay is concerned, in connection with this tract, until such time as a full meeting of the Board here might be able to consider the matter, and advice given with reference to the same.”

When this counsel was received, we had no misgivings in voting, on August 27, to “delay further proceedings at Cooranbong until we have time to consider the question of location.” The work of surveying was stopped, and the whole matter was held in abeyance, until November 20, when action was taken to continue payments for the property.AGP 314.1