Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-05-22
Methodist Tug g of War.
General Conference Officers to
 be Elected To-Day.
THE FAvORITE CANDIDATES.
Five New Bishops, Eleven Editors, Some Secretaries and Numerous Other Oni- cials to be Oh Chosen-Delegates to the Ecclesiastical Conference.

ctals to be Ch0sen-OeieGetes co tho
 Ecclesiastical Conference.
 NEW YORK, May 22-The most interesting duty of the Methodist general conference is to be performed to day, when it proceeds to the election of general conference officers. As agreed upon yesterday, the officers will be elected in this order:
 1. Bishops (fve). 2. Book agents, to be stationed at New York and Cincinnati. g. Secretaries of the Missionary, Church Exten- sion, Freedmens Aid, and Sunday School and Tract societies. t Editors of The Methodist Review, The Christian Advocate and the various other Advocates, known re- spectively as The Western, published at Gin cinnati; The Northwestern, published at Chi cago; The Central, published at St Louis; The Pittsburgh; The Northern, published at Syracuse; The California, published at San Francisco; The Southwestern, published at New Orleans; The Christian Apologist, and The Haus und Herd.
 The election of bishops will probably be very tedious, unless the two-thirds rule should be repealed, and there is very little disposition to do that now. It is an opinion very gener- ally entertained that the ballots taken to-day will not result in an election. From the drift of sentiment in the Hobbies this morning it appears that Dr. Earl Cranston, of Cincin- natl; Dr. A. J. Kynett, of Philadelphia; Dr. J. N. Fitzgerald, of Newark. and Drs. J. M. King and D. A. Goodsell, of New York, will be the leading candidates. The contest for the minor offices depend very much on the result of the election for bishops.
 The chief business of the conference yester- day was the reception of committee reports One or two important matters were acted upon. The report of the committee having in charge the arrangements for the ecumen- ical conference was amended to provide that each conference district shall select not more than two delegates. From all the delegates thus chosen a commission will select the num- Der of delegates required
 A sharp debate was excited by resolution providing that the general conference shall incur no expense in relation to the ecumenical conference. Col John w. Bay thought they ought to pay the bills if they proposed to have good time.
 Dr. J. $. Smart inquired solemnly and sonorously where the money was to come from. Some suggested the Book Concern. Dr. Smart protested vigorously against using for the proposed ecumenical conference the money that would thus be diverted from the fund for the pensioning of worn out minis ters.
 Dr. Olin added the suggestion that there ought to be common commercial integrity iu handling the funds of the church, and the conference, thus admonished, adopted Dr. Hunts resolution. It looks, therefore, as if the delegates to the ecumenical conference will be honored at their own expense.
 The committee on the episcopacy was in- structed to report tomorrow on the question of districting the bishops and a repnrt from the committee on revisals, requiring every new annual conference to be organized with no less than twenty members, was adopted.
 Then the committee on missions presented report favoring the appointment of mis- sionary bishop for India. It was put upon its passage, and a lively debate ensued. A mo- tion of reference was pending when the con- ference adjourned by expiration of time.