Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-10-20
The Methodist College.

ANXIOUS 10 KNOW Wlldt Hts beCollle VI
the Methodist College for which this
place was asked to send in a bid; the
committee appointed at the Conference
a year ago WAS to 'iAvesligste fhe Of
fers" made by the various towns "and
report to the Conference"
Under these general instructions it
was thought that Washington Springs
would stand as fair d show as any Of
the points, especially when the assur-
ance of the committee was given that
our natural advantages would hetaken
into consideration and made to offset
Jhe money bid by richer LOCALITIES.
But that this place would have been
treated fairly under any consideration
is extremely doubtful from the out
come. as this community were not in
formed as to the terms requisite iii che
bidding which We're "They must be
sealed and iii such form as that the
committee can present them along with
their report. They must be aecompan-
led by deeds of lands and certified
checks of amounts subscribed, or a
good and acceptable bond for the full
amount. No l~ooseness will be allowed
as we expect to read your written offer
and present the whole thing to the con-
ference with our report and as a part
81 it, * Il : and placed in
The hands of Rev. w. Whitfield at HUI
ron by Wednesday, 10th October prcX
and not later"
lhs ee{ammitYee knowing nothing of
this Requirement did not make any spe-
,eial effort to get the bid of this place
in before the assembling Of the Con-
ference and as it transpired they did
lot reach Huron until some two hours
after the whole question had been de-
fided. That it would have made no
difference if the proposition had been
in Huron with all the requirements as
to deeds, bonds, checks, etc, is fully de-
monstrateii in an article in the Huron
Times headed 1.-The Childlike Whitfield
and the Bland Pardee" which reads as
follows:
Huron sees now that in the Univer-
sity matter the committee has not kept
faith. While they were treating with
Huron they had already accepted the
offers Of two other towns.
In the first place, an institution had
been SO far organized at Mitchell that
itshad elected Rev. N. Pardee as Pres
ident, a fact, by the way, which he has
not had f%rankness enough in the de-
bates at the current session Of the con-
ference, to declare to his brethren.
"The deception is further illustrated
by the fact that Ordway's offer was &C.
cepted as long ago as last July, as the
following letter plainly proves:
"YANlHToN, July Il, 1883.
ga. 2, FARN4lAN,
Dear Sir;-I have written MIR. Lam
son as tolloWs, to-wit: 1--WE accept Your
offer Of eighty acres and one-half inte-
rest in townsite and FIVE thousand dol
lars from the people of Ordway. and
will locate our college at OrdWay as
talked between US at Mason City, Iowa.
l shall await further communication
from you, Yours respectfully,
"Wilmot Whitfield"
The charge against Pardee although
q serious n is not to be wondered at
by any one acquainted with hehistory
Of the Sioux Falls church for the last
four years. The conference commit
tee was composed Of five clergymen:
Macready, Dolliver. Hartsough, Whit
field and Thompson. 1t is now in or
der for these parties to come forward
and show how it is that the institution
was divided one-half of it to be located
at OruWay and the other half at Mitch
ell. Why was any inducement held
out to other places to bid after the bid
OF Ordway was accepted and the deeds
for the lots placed on record?
In this connection the words of the
Huron Times are pertinent and well
worth the attention Of every member
Of the church whether he be priest or
layman:
"It behooves the Methodist church
to investigate this affair and find whe-
ther the report be true OF false. Wedo
not expose this matter in the interests
Of Il city but in the interests Of the
church, public decency and public viz
tue. The Methodist church cannot at
ford to become a party to this scheme.
Its fair escutcheon would lie forever
dilnntel ID this Territory. 1t must
promptly and firmly set the seal OF its
condemnation upon it and repudiate
the whole transaction"
Prohibition at Conference.
The following is theresolution adop-
Tod Inv tba NJ It nan farnnna at IJurpp