The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-11-12

of the South tonly need to be invested
with power, and they Will do the work
Immediately and rightly. We cannot
AFFORD TO wait much longer for rebels tC
aeclde whethey they will bring back
their states into the Union or not. when
the loyal men of the South stand moi
only ready but anxious to do the work
the moment Congress invests them with
the necessary political power. The
States must be restored as soon as pos
sible; and, II the rebels who now con-
troll them will not restore them on pro-
per terms, they must be placed in the
control OF the loyal men who will. AT
Ter dtlly-dallying nearly two whole
\ years on the road to restoration, 1t is
getting high time to take the short cut,
and reach Union and peace by the
safest and straightest route. s'
Methodist Protestant church OF Vir.
EfniR'--QueStlOn OF Union with the
N. Is. Church SOuth.
The annual conference of this church,
which met last week in Lynchburg,
elected two ministerial and one lay
messenger to the Methodist Episcopal
Annual Conference of Virginia, to be
held at Norfolk, on the 2lst of Novem-
Der, as follows: Ministerial messen-
gers, r. B. Thompson and William
McGeei alternate, F. a. Davis. Lay
messenger, Charles w. Button; alter
nate, George Woodhouse. Norfolk
was chosen as the place for the meet
Ing of the next annual conference of the
Virginia district, and the first Thursday
in November, 1867, selected as the time.
On Tuesday majority OF the commit
tee to whom was referred the resolu-
ton as to "what action, ifany, is proper
for this conference to take with refer
ence to union of the Methodist Protest.
ant church," recommended the adop-
ton of the following report:
ReSoEUed, That in view of the pro-
ceedingS heretofore had upon this sub
ject In the course of our intecommuni-
cations with the Virginia Annual
Conference of that Church, we deem
any further obligations by us, as a
conference. upon the subject unnecessary
at present.
ReSokued, That the proceedings of the
General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church South, at New Or
leans, upon the subject, and the over
lures made by that body to our late
General Conference at Georgetown, d,
O., afforded us great gratification, and
encourages the hope in us that measures
both churches which shall ultimate in
their formal union. '" =t sa1I-
ResoEUed, Tint our general confer
ence having referred the commissioners
OF the Methodist Episcopal Church
south and their overtures to the con-
sideratton and action of our general
convention, to meet in Montgomery,
Alabama, in May next, we recommend
our delegates to that body 80 be in
structed to use their influence to have
corresponding commissioners appoint
ed on our pnrt, to meet and confer with
those OF the Metho dist Episcopal Church
south upon this subject, and to facili-
tate the contemplated union of the two
churches upon such terms aud princi-
pies as shall not compromise the integ-
rtty OF the Methodist Protestant Church,
and shall be satisfactory and honorable
to both churches, and to have their
entire proceedings in the case referred
to our annual conference for ratification
or otherwise.
Signed, r. B. Thompson, chairman:
William 1. Holcombe, o, " Winfree.
Whitfield. = -.
Rev. Mr.. Barr submitted a minority
report containing his individual obiec-
ttons to the action OF the majority,
During the debate that ensued frequent
complimentary allusions were made in
relation tI the liberal concessions that
had been made Mt New Orleans to bring
about the union. Ea
Rev. L. w. Bates, fraternal messen-
ger from Maryland, spoke on the sub
ject. He said that the question created
considerable interest in Maryland but
he suggested the prOpriety of avoiding
an actual committa1of this body to the
proposed union. A thousand questions,
he said, may arise to be considered here
after, and the representatives to the
convention should go untrammeled.
Union might be necessity. There
was not "a member of the Methodist
Protestant Church in Maryland who
wanted to merge their Church into the
Methodist Episcopal, and yet there
were thousands who believed that the
time would come when union would be
necessity. He said that the Metho-
dist Protestant Church had exercised
an important influence upon her sister
denomination, tending TO produce the
reform that was now bringing the
churches closer together, and might re-
land, unlike Virginia, the Methodist
Protestant Church will give more than
1t Will, receive, and would exercise an
overshadowing influence.
He regarded the proposition as hon
orable 70 the party making It, and
hoped that Maryland and Virginia
would act together. He spoke of the
necessity of some check on the abuse of
the episcopal office in the distribution
of ministerial labor, and said that with
out this the proposition for union might
as we'll not be made. And vet he
deemed 1t possible that an offer might
be mades that our commissioners will
not be able to reject. If our Methodist
Episcopal brethren offer terms that we
can accept, We may not refuse them,
He was not an advocate of the union.
but yentured the prediction that IL
would take place, by the Methodist
Episcopal Church making another
stride towards us. The majority re-
port, he thought, went too far, and |
might be used to our detriment as a |
church. He disapproved of the minor
tty report because II declared unedufvo- |
cally against all union. He wished |
that the proposition had never been |
made, but we should have some better |
reason Tor rejecting 1t than simple re- |
by urging the ministers to go on with
their work as though no propositions /
for union had ever been made. and |
await the developments of the future.
Rev. I. ID. Valiant, fraternal nessen- |
ger from Maryland, said that his col |
league, Mr.. Bates, had expressed his |
sentiments in the main. he remarked |
that If all the Methodist Protestant
ministers in Maryland were united in |
favor or union, they could not carry |
their church with them unless there be |
a nearer approximation OF the twoI
than there is at present. In nj
recent conversation with very promi-
nent minister of the Baltimore Confer /
ence of the n. e. Church, he was asked /
what he wanted. He replied that we /