Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1879-04-23
Homer, La, March %, l-19.
HOMER COLLEGE.

w. frlIbT.-lllIslilutll d- tif TtN'llUllt.s =
Of the late Louisiana Animal Conference,
published in the Advocate of January Ii,
seem tn have bccu intended by their NOV
er, Bro. J. B. Walker, and supporters a,
n severe ccnsure of the Board of Trustees
of Homer College, have thought il emf
nently proper to present some oi the facts
aud circumstances connected with that
action of the board which gave rise To
said resolutions.
Believing that TIE Board of Trustees
and that very respectable minority of tn"
Conference ought To he heard through the
same medium through which that ma,"II-
" of tro has 50 unqualiicdly denounced
the action of the hoard. ] hope yun will
publish this communication.
II is well known that the Board If
Trustees of Homer Collie, Nas iucurpur-
atrd by the Legislature, Of Louisiana I'M
der the existing charter. aud that, too. AZ
the instance os tn. Louisiana Conference.
One of I'll" PROV isiouSo of tins charter con-
frrs upon II the power Ito sue. and make
il "liabc in law" and subject 80 Lee surd;"
and also imposes upon II the entire man
ag-mcnt of the finance of the college
| hope the reader. aud You, Mr.. Editor.
will please rtm,uhrr that thu present IN
cumhcnts had nothing whatever t" do
with the drafting of the chatter. This
was supervised Icy the Louisiana Annual
Conference.
In January, I'll, the Conference re-
solved that Homer tnllr." ought to h" EN-
dowcd, and appointed an agent To procure
! subscriptions th,rciur. aud Impressed It's
perfect satisfaction with the >ucc' ~ with
which he met AZ .rNrrll successive, sessions
hy formal resolutions. II also cl,rtrd y
president for said college, and endorsed
! the action Of the hoard III ,lrctiu. prui, =
SOS for the same, all of whom w'rr To- 10"
/ Ilid from the interest due and rolr,tahlr
oil the obligation obtained 10y >aid agent
When the first instnllmrnt of interest
/ became due. subscribers w"ir requested
| to pay, to which request many responded
! iav"rlhly. while Others positively refused,
''unlrss cuncllrd by law to dn So"
/ about this time the salaries Of ia" pros
| ident. elected hy the Conferences and tin,
! professors, were demanded, and IN ~" IN
stances suits Lad been instituted against
I the board for said salaries
| The board. through its financial s,rrrta
! ~, continued t. urge the payment of
| amounts du, lay Subscribers, Ia order that
| it might lquldatr its obligations. hut
many of th,m stiil refused
A new difficulty now presented itself tn
! thu board. Many of these VII" had hc,u
| paving refused tn make furthrI payiu,It :
! t'..r>> uilrI~ W"r. required To- pay, ard IA
tnul. instances parties h" had paid nntl-
fled the financial - crrtary that they would
demand - return al what they had alrradN
paid. ii Efforts were not mad. To- collect
from those v hu refused.
About thi> time. and after waiting nearly
I two N,lr- the financial secretary was in
1 struci,d tn In>tItut" suit against urlin-
| qurut debtors, winch be did IN a few i.s,
cases, prior To thr session ut the Cunf,.r-
cncr 80 Alexandria III Dccrmbrr H. T.
! The Conference at this scs. 3, seemed Ia
he somewhat indignant at i..r hoard for
the Institution Of said sut. which was
manifested by formal preamble and rr>o-
lutluus setting forth the action of the
! board, and refusing to appoint the parties
nominated 10y the boar ~ president aud
financial secretary. This actian Of the
tonfrrtu nee seriously iut-rf'rcd with the
finances If the college, a. many of the
subscribers supposed that the Con-
ference hal unlimited control ~ thu hosJd.
and were cry bold in cxprcssin- heir de-
termination not 10 pay, many II whom
would doubtless have met their o'ligai iors
promptly but for this action of the Con-
ference.
The board was now forced In test It's
| night fo manage the finances of the cole o.,
before the district court. and there obtain, Il
| decision III us favor The ease, however,
was appealed 10 the supreme Court of the
state. which court affirmed the Judgment
of the court below. Thus il will be seen
that the hoard has been sustained by the
highest judicial tribunal in this STATE.
! At the late session of the Conference in
New Orleans the Conference Committee on
Education being aware Of the di,Saii-fIc-
tion OF many Of the members Of the CON
| ference with the board because of fine insti-
tuition of the suits above alluded to, deter
mined TO investigate the action of the
board in this connection: and after a tho
rough examination Of the whole matt, . by
this committee, composed of ministers and
! laymen, some of whom entered upon the
duties of said committee with strong pref
udices against the board, said committee
reported tarorabiy on Homer College and
the actions of the board. This report not
being satisfactory to some Of the members