Morning journal and courier., 1882-04-11
LOCAL NEWS.
N. Y. East Conference.

Mondays session-The Seneca Rowland
Case-A Lively Debate.
At the New York East Conference in Water
bury yesterday, after devotional exercises,
business opened with the passage of reso-
luton intrusting Secretary Goodsell with the
power of destroying old papers in his pos
session, forming parts of the proceedings Of
various past conferences, but of no further
value, except possibly historically. The
matter was left entirely in the discretion of
the secretary. A motion was passed giving
preacher right to his parsonage for one
week after the close of his conference.
Joshua R. Buckelew, of Mattatuck, R. l., was
located at his own request. He has been in
the ministry since 1877.
Dr. Steele, the president of the Wilbra-
ham Academy, and DR.. McCabe secretary of
the Church Extension society, were formally
presented to the conference. DIR. McCabe
made short speech in which he made an ap
peal to help the Metropolitan church of
Washington.
1t was announced that the contribution to
the Church Extension society at Sunday
hlSEG CO1lSCt1Oh I0dNACO 3OOf-
The names of the elders were called up
and passed upon in the Brooklyn district
Presiding Elder Hubbell of the New Haven
district, then presented his report, which
showed gratifying condition of the churches
generally and many substantial gains. Mr..
Hubbell reported in the district 83 churches,
Al parsonages, their united valuation being
&OOO md inIahEa5paCc
ty churches have removed their indebtedness
in the past year.
The hour having arrived when the How
land matter became the order of the day, the
floor was surrendered to the Rev. John A.
Roche, of Brooklyn. He made the points in
behalf of Rowland that many of the men,
bers were being moved by prejudices; that
action under a rule of this kind could never
be allowed in the Wesleyan church, sister
of the Methodist Episcopal church in Eng
land; and that the character of Rowland
had been passed year after year as his name
had been called.
The Rev. George A. HubbelI, of New Hs-
ven, who followed DR.. Roche, took the other
side. He claimed that a judicial trial in q
case of this kind was not required or posi-
BILE; if the law was Objectionable, enforcing
it was the best way of getting it repealed; no
injustice was done to Rowland either in his
pastoral Office or finances, being simply drop
ped from membership in the conference. and
at liberty to be employed by presiding elders
in other conferences if they saw fit.
The Rev. William Fl. Boole, of New York,
who was the next speaker, attempted to show
that in connection with the section under
which the conference was granted authority
to locate Rowland, there was provided no
mode of procedure. It was therefore arbi.
trary, and hence ought to be applied with
caution, was probably what he was going to
say, but the end of his time cut the speech
short.
The special point of the speech of the Rev.
Albert Graves, of Brooklyn, was that the
conference would act unjustly in availing it
self of the circumstances surrounding the
case of Rowland, and vote to locate him on
their account, when the conference was re-
sponsible for their existence itself.
Rev. G. S. Williams of Hartford Rev. N.
Mead of Stamford, Rev. John E. SearleE of
| Bridgeport, Rev. j. Henson of Brooklyn,
Rev. A. G. Morehouse of New York, Rev.
| John Dickinson of New York, followed with
remarks.
Dr. James NJ. Buckley, editor of the Chris.
of the case for the prosecution, summed up
the debate in lively speech, frequently in
terrupted by applause. There was no point
in the criticism that there was no mode of
procedure laid down for conviction of secu
larity. There was no mode of procedure
which had to be followed in voting preach
er either superannuated or supernumerary. 1t
was simply, like location, question of best
judgment. Only in cases of crime or heresy
was there necessity for such a trial He
proved that both the Lonsbury and Mccoy
cases were in point. He again referred to
the vote by which Rowland was made super
numerary with only two or three dissenting
| votes, showing that, as he was in good
health, the conference did not regard him as
| suitable for the ministry. His was secularity
up to the very peint of immortality. A pre-
cedent in this case need not be feared as
likely to be followed by general location of
preachers. The phrase may locate did
not imply that there was any discretion when
| the secularity was notorious To place How
land again on the supernumerary list was to
degrade honored names there like that of
Inskip. Locating only deprives him of office,
not of orders Should he carry his secularity
| beyond the point of morality, then after
| trial quarterly conference can take away his
orders. Should he live down his extreme
secularity any conference in the United
States can receive him to membership
for the honor of this conference, and he be-
lieved Howland,s kind of secularity which
this conference should not endorse. He
knew Rowland was kind hearted man. He
had furnished the doctor horse to hunt up
evidence against him, but the doctor had fed
him.
Rowland jumped to his feet and said that
was not so.
The doctor retorted that if Rowland did
feed him it was most extraordinary circum-
stance for Rowland. He warned the con.
ference that he should vote to make Rowland
a supernumerary by every means
Amid great confusion the session was final
ly adjourned until o'clock.
AFTERNOON SESSION. DECISION REACHED.
In the afternoon the Rowland case was
further discussed by Rev. John Ripper of
Glen Cove, Rev. A. MeAlister of Badwin's,
Rev. A. R. Abbott of Durham, Rev. J. L.
Glider of Flatlands, L. l., Rev. G. S. Wing
of Norwalk Rev. E. Watt of Greenport, l..
l., Rev. H. Aston of Greenwich, Rev. DR..
Curry, Rev. DIR. Adams of Meriden, Rev. 1.
E. Smith of Huntingdon, L. 1.