New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-05-03
METHODIST LAwGIvERs.
SECOND Dir OF TIE CONFERENCE.


WHAT TfiE blSHoro
ErorsLArroN-PR FhNo-
WhAp VI NE" kHx BURNING QUEsTIoNs-BIsHof
H' ASK AS PRESIDING OFFICER
MERHifEes of the occasion seem likely to
The eN4hbv nerhaps quite as much as the
nave somcIhiI sentiment Of seniority to do with
mere abstqo tbs order in which tho Bishops OF
determin dist Episcopal Church shall preside over
the Metno of the General Conference now meetihg
the sess' Metropolitan Opera House. Among 'ho
Of the Athe Episcopal Board there are se'ein'
memDeD Parliamentary voices, and severai WIN
with goo, owledge of the rules Of parliamentary
excellent But In Bishop Merrill there is pc
\practice. nppy combination of both, and when
kubsrly the chair yesterday it meant that the
Ae tooing for advantage of position in the I'M
,lSirTG struggle over questions Of Church polity
II 20 be conducted with as little waste OF time
% rxossibe and with due regard to regularity OF
,,,odure. Bishop Merrill was cut out for
s,acal and administrative officer. He is cast in
rassys mould He has great s0lidity OF ap-
r.annoe as well as Of utterance, and when his
ama,ility permits the strands of the proceedings
b bcome a little tangled through the failure
Of the strict parliamentarians of whom there are
few in the convocation) to raise the proper
questions of order, he generally knows how TO
clear away the mists and restore regularity with
q few woxis that show oil that the rights and
privileges debate are being carefully watched
albeit In nsspirit of parliamentary fastidiousness
There was considerable fencing yesterday over two
or three qustions, but not so much as there might
hnvc beer had less practced and
less genial psiding officer been In the chair Bishop
Merrill has he cast of features which are popu-
larry assocaed with tho physical personality OF
an earnest salesman a powerful voice full OF
gentle modulstiOns, and marvellous faculty OF
laying down a legal proposition as II 1t were
nothing more than modestly held opinion OF his
own. These proved yesterday to be admirable
attributes Of presiding officer who was called on
to direct the deliberations Of legislative body
larger than the Congress Of the United States in
Joint session and dreadfully in earnest on the
questions that divide 1t.
The expected contest over the eligibility OF
women as delegates to the Conference did not
take place, but two contributions Of great weight
were made to the discussions In the Episcopal
address the Bishops spoke their minds on the sub
jNt, and, much to the surprise Of many, only one
rport was ent in by the committee TO whom the
untter had been referred Address and report
wsre in spirit the same; they looked upon the
Question sohly from legal point Of view, and
agseed that there was no sanction under the
oranio law of the Church, as it exists, for the
admission Of women delegates TO the General
Conference. The argument Of the Bishops was
practically that contained in the interview with
Bishop Walden printed in The TRIBUNE yester-
day, Tho report Of the committee was signed
by devon out of seventeen members, and simply
stated the committees finding, without arguing
the 0se The six dissident members did not sub
NIT minority report, and the one of them who
attempted to get in a statement Of their reasons
for not doing so came into conflict with
ruling of the presiding Bishop, to the effect that
there being no organized minority of the COM
mttec the six dissident members had only the
privileges of ordinary members of the Conference
and his remarks must be reserved for the proper
time in the debate. The motion to adopt the re-
port, which was made by the chairman OF the
committee, was purely matter Of form, and as
there was no manifest desire on the part Of the
Conference to begin the debate within so short
o time as remained before the hour fixed for ad-
journment, the motion was tabled, the report
ordered to be printed and made the special order
for this morning 1t will be taken up Immediately
after the reading Of the journal which follows
the devotional exercises that each session OF the
Conference is opened with Between the utter
ances of the Bishops and the report Of the COM
mittee, it is not difficult to the lines on which
the battle will be fought So far as this Con-
bility turn on the question: What is the present
law H tho light Of existing statutes and the prece
dents OF the pist? If the view of the Bishops
and the committee is upheld, the advocates of
FEM lie delegates will have to strive for change
ir. the fundamental law Of the Church. Then, as
IN the case of tie question of lay delegation, the
voice of the annual conferences may first have to
be heard
Bishop Merrill read the address Of the Bishops
with great celebration and distinctness, and the
reading occupied one hour and three-quarters+ The
address, few Ines of sautation and benediction
excepted dealt Wholly with the state of the Church
and the qpt stpn upon which legislation Is thought
to be desirable 1t had touch of dramatic pathos
In the alhsioi o the death Of three members OF
the Board since the last meeting of the General
Conference in1sS4. At that Conference the clos
ing address was made by Bishop Simpson, the
closing payer oy Bishop Wiley, and the closing
hymn wasannUnced by Bishop Harris. All three
are dead, Bishop Simpson dying within q. few
weeks theeafcr, and Bishop Wiley while on an
Episcopal visit TO China, where he had in his
earlier hfebcn missionary physician. He died at
Foochow, where he had gone to preside over
conference the conference was in session at the
time Of hs death, and it's members were the
mourners d his funeral. The attitude Of the
Church tovsrd its colored members had illustration
In the tribute paid by the Bishops TO the memory
OF the Rev Marshall w Taylor, d. D., late editor
OF The South Western Christian Advocate and
the unanimous adoption without debate of reso- |
luton offered by a colored delegate from Missis-
Gppt.