THE METHODIST GENERAL CONFERENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2209, 2 July 1896, Page 12

THE METHODIST GENERAL CONFERENCE.

(Fbom Oob Own Cobbespondent.) San Francisco, May 27. The Methodist General Conference was held in the city of Cleveland, in the State of Ohio, during the four weeks commencing May 2. The vasb army of delegates that thronged the armory hall of the various churches was gathered from tho four corners of the globe, fevery nation where Methodism has planted its banner was represented. Pelegates frooTNorway and Sweden sat next bo those from India and Japan ; the coloured bishop from the Southern Sfeates sat witbin range of the English representatives ; Africa and Canada, Italy, Chili, and Ceyion, and other equally diverse peoples, were among the guests and workers. The Bible used for the public exercises originally belonged to John Wesley ; the speaker's tabte wa9 of olive wood, and presented by the Industrial School of Rome, Italy ; the block was made of 24 different kinds of wood from 24 unire.sities ; and the gavel contained wood gathered from five continents. Bisfhop Fdster, by righb of seniority, presided, and the exe:cises commenced with the vast audience rising bo its feet and singing hymn 393 — Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for roe, And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee— , O Lamb of Qod, I come I I come I Bishop Henry W. Warren, of Denver, Colorado, was seleoted to present the bishop'a address, and for two hoars charmed his hearers with his eloquent harangue. The following exbracts from the oration will Beivd^to show the greatness of the work and organisation :— " We most heartily congratulate the church "on the success of tbe - last four years. The country has been depressed, the world has been in financial ,° l raits. Fortunes have dieappeared like mist. Men's hearts have failed them for fear, but the church of the living God has moved right on to certain victory. Our gain in membership in the quadrennium has been 386,000, making a membership of nearly 3,000,000. " We have in our colleges and schools an army of over 43,000 students. The last four years have witnessed 534,000 conversions in our Sunday schools. We nob only preserved our 113,000,000d0l worth of property, but 'have gained 12,000,000d0} more. "Wo have 574 deaconesses. Daring the past 30 years our church extension society has built 10,000 churches. Our book concern has given 480,000d0l to poor preachers. Our Bpworth League has 21,000 charters, with 1,350,000. members." The great contest of the inference and the one, perhaps, of most interest to the out«ide religious world, was that dealing with the eligibility of women as delegates to the conference. Some churches had sent up female delegate 5 , and the qutsbion, shelved and shuffled over in previous years, now presented itself, for some decisive and final verdict. A committee— whiob, to the disgust of many, met in seoreb— was appointed to report, and when it reported there were two reports— & majority and a minority one. , Then came the big debate in open conference, when members who had prepared speeches of two and three hours' length w^re agreeably (?) surprised to see a.rule pwesd curtailing all speeches to ten minutes' duration. ■ The dhcQssion was heated, vigorous, -and prolonged over many days. The supporbers of the women seemed to have the best of the' argument. When a man has to Fay, in opposition to their admission, "I admit the Bible says they are all -one in Christ Jesus, bub it dejes cob say they are one in the General Conference,'^ ib nm&t be conceded that tho case he favouTS is in a bad way. Appeals to the work women have done and are doing for the churoh sweep away any moh verbal qnibblings as these. There is hardly a church in the world to-day that could keep its doors open were it Bob for the. women. It is their efforts that prop up tbe finances of many a thousand -shaky congregations, their gracious charity that renders the name of Christ) auity blessed, " and their presence that gives 75 per cent, of the parsons their audiences to speak to. To regard the attempt to keep women delegates wibhoub the pale of church conferences would seem an act of insanity, calculated in its outcome to cause the death of the prolestor. If women left tbe ohuroh, where ? But ib is unnecetsary to pursue the tbeme. Note, however, a few of the utterances. Judge Caplee, of Portland, Oregon, kept the conference in convulsions while he humorously recited woman' 3 heroic achievements in the Pacific North-wesb. " I come from God's counbry, where His tible has never been disputed except by the British. When we meet the woniea out there we take off our. hats from our heads and surrender. Ten thousand church tpires on the coast point heavenward; not one could have been built without the self-saciifioing devotion of our women." Senator Harland delivered' the most convincing, speech of the day. He said: "The law provides this body shall consist of ministers and. laymen. The whole question, hatags on the interpretationjof that word 'laymen.' The. general inference has long ago decided that all' members of the church who are not ministers, regardless of sex, are laymen. That makes women laymen, and entitles them to seats in this conference." Dr Buckley said Harland was guilty of a fundamental error. Woman is nob a layman, and her admission would fill the church with disgust, distrust, and despair, and be a disgrace to the conference. ' ■ « A. B. Leonard eaid the standard dictionary was in womm's favour. " Layman" simply meant one of the laity, wgardieta of sex, and continued : " I say to you, these women come hero to-day with titles to their seats as good a3 any of ours." Chancellor Day, of the Syracuse University, .said : " I with to establish tbe seats of women on a solid rock and not on a sand dune, and the women say that ' uqtil jou can legally give us a seat as enduring and solid as our brothers, we do nob wanb to come in.' " Perhaps, however, the speech that gave lise to most comment was the one delivered by a coloured delegate from tho Savannah Conference. This gentleman, who, like many of his race, is a born orator, poured forth his eloquent pleadings in opposition to- the admission of women to the General Conference. And yet, as one correspondent! dramatically describes, within the range of this negro brother's voice was the bronze statuary which cost the ciby of Cleveland . nearly 280,000d01, representing Abraham , Lincoln, supported by the Union generals, and a delegation of loyal women led by Luoy Webb Hayes, striking the fetters from the negro and bestowing upon him the glorious privilege of American freedom and oitlzensWp^whioh he to-day was forcibly and eloquently denying to Frances E. Willard and other distinguished American women ! ' . The outcome of the whole business waa a compromise— cowardly alike to the font women delegates and to the General Conference,— the question being ehelYed, or •hovedon to tbo

books of the annual conferences nexb year; and, meanwhile, the said ladies might take their seats, bub they were to sit very still. I &m glad to say that the women thanked the men foe their magnanimity, but declared that rather th*a hold seats under sucU.conditions they would withdraw and pray for them, and straightway they withdrew. • Among nwny olher interesblng ibema may be mentioned the presentation of a numerouslysigned memorial from tho State of Florida, by which ib appears that a law has recently been parsed in that delioious country of alligators and Whitecaps fixing a penalty of 500dol fine or six months' iraprisoumenb on parasb?, teachers, guardians, aud the like for allowiDg whites and negroes to occupy the same school or board iv the same house, and the law, ib appear*, is being rigorously enforced. It was decided to help in testing the constitutionality of such a law, the eristeuca of, which comes as a surprise to most people. Then the Rev. Dr Quayle, of Kansas, raised a storm by sneering ab the Christian Endeavourers who some months ago "made themselves aud the religion of Christ ridiculous by pr&ying for ' Bob ' Ingersoll," further characterising such conduct as "absoluta idiooy." At once there was a storm, and members were on their feet, and motions were moved and resolutions poured forth, and vobes of censure tabled ; bub after a greab deal of hot talk the whole record of the morning's proceedings was expunged from the minubes. Nor were pathetic scenes awanting. _ On one . occasion' the" rules- were suspended to introduce a blaok woman, Amanda S,onith, kuown aa th« round-the-world missionary, and she, in a touching voice aad ' with infinite power, silenced every movement in tbe great chamber as she poured forth her soul in the words : •' Ib may nob be my time; ib may not s he thy time." And agaiD, when old Bishop William Taylor stood, with head bent and feeble voice, to tell of the evangelisation of Africa, and declared the best mission stations were manned by women, ib was felb as though the apostolic eye was yet present in the world and the venerable speaker nob at all- unworthy to take rank amid the founders of his faith ; or the pathos of Bishop Foster's farewell, retired by bis brethren as no longer capable for active service, and the dignified, way in which he begged to be permitted to retire of his own volition. But spjCß will not permit of further reference to this interesting event. Its vastness is confusing, the work gob through stupendous, aud its responsibilities enormous. So jarge was j the hall of general mooting that not more than half the delegates could ever hope to make themselves heard ; whilst U churohes in the morning were filled with the various committee's, and there Were preaohers enough to fill every church within a radius of 50 miles of the city. Morning, noon, and nighb, for four weeks, this body of Christian citizens kep% to its work and gathered courage for new and greater conquests.