Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1869-06-17
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tion in legal manner, is never styled
revolutionary. ~
Conference, which has pointed out
the way in which the change can be
made legally, and has invited "a con-
sideration Of-a plan to effect it. So faI
theni frOln its being TeVoIu ti0naFy, ii
is strictly legaly and is to be brought
about an harmony with the cOnstitu-
tloHtof the Church, 54om hn shioi
Secondly by others it is termed
RADICAL lFFhe present sYstenl does
not effect the appoilEtment0 Of the lead
erss f0r of the stewards, eFrof the trus-
tees nor does it insang way change a
single otfieial.act ct'ib, any way eoRnee-
ted githaanyslOeal ehurchs 1tsimply
adds to the Quarterly 6'Onference the
right Of election once IN four years, q
representative to the. Electoral Con-
feEeHce.Ji And is this radical ? Has
not the Quarterly Conference received
additions to its numbers in the way of
trustees and Sabbath school superin-
tendentS? HaYen not other duties been
from time to tfmeinaposed upon them? :?
And have such C haIIges been termed
radical? Nor does this measure sprO-
pose to make any change in the An
nual Conferences, In the pEcsiding ell
dership.9 Iinpi the appG1atDlent of
preachers, or in the mode of cOnduo-
ting Church business. in any respect.
SO far as the Annual Conference is
concerned. ft af ta-. sEE d4nr Z
Nor does it interfere in any. way
with the Episcopacy as to their duties
or responsibilities. Nor is even the
composition. of ithe General Confer
eAeef altered, save by adding to its
numbers. "A change then, which con-
sists merely nathe addition of few
membeEssto a single council in the
church, notwithstanding with the
OrgaDizatiOnl-or dutiesbOf either the
local churches or the annual confer
ence OF of the ministers can byf no
stretch of language be with Propriety
termed "radical.H nfrgr Tt, f-7h III
Thirdly, it is objected to by some as
adding to the numbers of the General
Conference so as to make that body
if not uncOntrOllably
large. But if we compare the num-
bers of the General Conference with
of the Bresby Church, it will be
founduthat after the addition of the
lay delegates, as proposed, Jour Gen
eral Conference would be no more nu-
than the5General Assembly of
the Old School Presbyterian Church; {;
and yet that body meets once every
year, Whereas our General Conference
meets only once in four. years. Again,
with this addition it would have only
a few more members than the Ohio,
New York and Philadelphia Confer
ences had priOrstO their division, and
probably not any more than the old
Baltimore Conference once contained.
The Nv esleyan Conference in Eng
land, which meets annually, is usual
ly composed of about six hundred, or
nearly twice as many as our Generals
Conference would have. ~ 'i -1b ,t
Again it has been objected to by
some that it will add. toithe expenses
of the eehureh--that these additional
delegates will be a burden to the peO-
pie. If a measure be ofSpirituaI BEN
eft and would add to the influence
and strength of the Church Of the
Lord Jesus Christ, it seems to me the
question of money should be subOFdi-
mated to moral and spiritual interests.
Yet it may not be amiss to inquire
how far it would add to the expenses.
Let us suppose, for instance, that the
Pittsburg Conference has two dele
gates.Ga The most distant points at
which the General Conference has
set have been Chicago and
Boston. Phe railroad fare to Chicago
is, / think, fourteen dollars; to BOs-
ton, about twenty. -fH9lr. si-
Owing to the courtesy of railroad
companies this fare is often reduced.
But let us give liberal margin, and
supposo that the fare going to and re-
turning from Conference should be
fifty dollars for each delegation. We
should then have one hundred dollars
rs the travelling expenses. But sup
pose the additional number of dele
gates would embaTrass the provision
for the General Conference, and that
these delegates must be placed at
boarding houses. Let us suppose the
Conference to last for about
four weeks, the boarding being, say
twelve dollars per week, I'VE should
then have for the two delegates an adj
ditiOnal hundred dollars, making two
in all for the laymen Of the
As turn to the minutes
find that the Pittsburgh Conference
nearly forty thousand menu
bers.. One cent piece would make
four hundred dollars, or one half cent
each would furnish two hundred, the
amount necessary. In other Words
the greatexpense of this system would
consist in one half cent apiece once In,
four. wears. HOWmuch weight should
be attached to this half cent argument
leave for you to determine.
That it has an influence is proved
by the fact that it is used by your
of Divinity in New York and
and they doubtless feel its
force. 5.....i.....-.
Again it is said our system has
we'll hitherto, and is it not
best to ''let well enough alone.V 1
answer. our system, if by that be
meant the precise mode in which the
Church commenced, has never yet
been let alone. We have been adding,
from time to time, almost every quad
period since the Church COM
its career. We began without
a college, without academies, without
a missionary society, without a
Preachers Aid Society, without Sun
day schools, without tracts, without
a Book Concern, without a Church
Extension Society, without TheOlOgi-,
cal Seminaries,. but, from time to time
rs the Church expanded, each one of
these has been added to our Church
so that from the COM
of the Church onward, !,
we have been adding elements OfpOw-
er to those previously possessed. If the
present measure be adopted it viii be
simply following in the line of prece-
dent, adding another element OF pow
er; not destroying or impairipg those
we have, but enlarging for more ex-
tensiye usefulness the operations of
the Church.
But if we take the statement strict
ly-''let well enough alone - had
this been our policy, the Church new
er would have grown. We should
have none of these appliances now
found of such vast benefit We were