The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-09-09
FISK AND THE METHODISrs.

The Rev DIR. Dorchester Exposes Campaign
Roorback
To the Editor OF the New York Tribune.
A special dispatch from New York to The
Boston Herald appeared in a recent issue Of
that paper which is liable to do much harm. 1t
is a tissue of false statements, and discredit-
able TO General Fisk and to the Methodist de-
nomination that, knowing as do all the mat
ters referred to, l feel called upon TO make pub
lie correction.
formed a remarkable feat Of political campaign
ing;'-"hss set the machinery of the Methodist
Episcopal Church to grinding out and
thoroughly disseminating manifesto for him."
that in the late General Confer
cial expression of Methodist policy as
to alcoholic beverages. and in consequence
of his exertions. committee was appointed to
formulate q doctrine that 1.-The General was
not q member of that body, but it was his pen
that wrote the report;"-that "a resolution was
proposed and rapidly pressed through, ordering
the tract society to print the report In tract
form, etc. and that this last action twas the
privoted point of General Fisks wheel within q
wheelr-sthat IAN edition of LOCO, 900 copies is
to be printed by the end of August" ''to be sent
into every Methodist household;'-and that
"the intention is that il this tract shall appeal
by church authority, to Methodists to vote
for the presidency"
Wonderful wonderful! Is there any patent
on the machine that forged this roorbackf Is it
not early in the campaign for roorbacksl Ger
tainly, any machine that can grind out such
forgeries must be tremendously overstrained,
and must speedily break down. There &C
least ten false statements ian excited politician
would say liesl in the twenty lines of manu-
script in which l have summarized the roor-
back.
/. It is not true that in the late General Con-
ference General Fisk advocated new and
official expression OF Methodist policy as to al
-. -
vocate any new expression on the subject; for
the Methodist Episcopal Church has held the
most radical doctrine OF total abstinence for
over half q century and has repeatedly and Of
General Conferences. This year the confer
ence the dispatch truly says, renewed its time
honored testimony in favor of total abstinence,
etc.-langusge quoted from the report
2 The committee on Temperance and pro-
hibition' WAS not appointed to formulate a
doctrine on this subject
3. Nor was the committee appointed Sin con-
sequence of his IFisk'sl exertions,' but on the
motion OF other persons. Ii has been the invari-
able custom of the General Conferences for
about one hundred years to have o committee
on temperance; and this year, as always. ir
came up a matter of course.
4. IL is incorrectly said that General Fisk
twas not a member Of that body" 1.-THE commit
tee on temperance and prohibition General
Fisk ives a member Of the committee. but he
held no official position in it
5. II is not true that Sit was his fFisk'sl pen
that wrote the report General Fisk wrote
nothing on temperance and prohibition" that
came before the General Conference except a re-
Spouse to a memorial from the National Woman's
Christian Temperance Unien. / was myself
chairman of the temperance committee. Tbs
committee, when it met appointed sub-com-
mittees, to whom separate items were referred.
When the subcommittee reported TO the gener-
al committee, it was voted that all the papers
be put into the hands of the chairman, and that
he have full power to draft the report to the
General Conference, using his judgement freely
n the matter Accordingly, took all the pa
pers, prepared the report alone, and presented
it the next day and to the General Conference
6. As 70 the resolution instructing the Tract
Society to print the report in form of tract,
for general circulation, wrote that resolution.
part bf the report as presented to the conference
No other person had any share ia It,
z. Furthermore, there was nothing in the re-
port which favored the "third" or prohibition
party" either directly or by any possible honest
construction. General Fisk said to me: II
hope no one viii be so unwise as to endsavor to
commit this General Conference in favor of the
third party We do not want to attempt to
bind the church to any partisan action" The
most conservative Republicans. as well as men
of other parties. voted for the report and it was
adopted with little dissent.
6 We have no ultramontane hierarchy in the
Methodist Episcopal Church. debating political
action, or disposed to do so. 1t would not be
tolerated for q moment. Nor do Methodists
vote for even estimable men for Office because
they are Methodists. In politics. political issues
determine votes; and good Methodsts some
times champion unwise political measures, and
do not receive the political support of their
brethren DANIEL DORCHESTER
BosToy Aug. 81.