Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1888-06-01


| METHODIST CONFERENCE.
A Summary of Hts Doings-What ETA
| NOt Been Done-COnference Claim
| anEs-The Order of Deaconesseg-
| Temperance-UnIen
NEW York, May 80.
/ To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
/ While the conference pauses briefly in it
arduous work preparatory to final adjourn
ment, and repairs to Riverside to strew flow
srs on the tomb of Grant, whom 1t receg
nized by resolution yesterday as not only
the greatest military chieftain, but as true
Methodist besides, good opportunity is af
1 forded to summarize and review the accom-
| p1ishments of the body. In general terms il
| may be truthfully said that for the spirit Of
| independence shown, for the superior char
acter of the men placed in Office, for tht
mighty debates sustained, for the radica
changes made and for the quantity, no less
| than for the quality, of the business brought
before it, this conference has had no equal in
Methodism since the memorable gathering in
this city forty-four years age, when the split
occurred on the subject of slavery.
Not less than thousand petitions and me-
MORALS have been considered by the body,
and upon at least hundred of these have
the great committees ground out some sort
of report. It is only pity that all these
reports cannot be acted upon, but SO much
time was spent at the opening on the. woman
question, and go much more was occupied
last week in the elections while the brethren
10 hot nj,
contamination is not possible. Az matter
of fact, when the conference shall close at
one o'clock tomorrow, it will leave on the
table untouched, except as committees have
wrestled with them, items of business fully
as numerous, if not as important, as those
of which it will have disposed. Thus the
conference will be noted no less for what 1t
might have done than for what it has done.
The Episcopal Office remains as it was,
notwithstanding all the efforts made to mod
ify it, It is still an Office, not an order, the
present conference affirming this by an indi-
rect vote as emphatically as. in express terms
the same view was adopted by the last con-
ference. The tenure moreover is still for
life, and this by the way applies also to the
missionary bishops, who have been declared
by the conference to be Of the same standing
with the others, excepting that their field is
limited. To Bishop Taylor in Africa has
now been added Bishop J. NJ. Thoburn,
whose diocese will comprise India and Ma
laysia. Both these get their pay from the
Episcopal fund, and Bishop Taylor gets his
back pay of twelve Thousand dollars from
that fund technically, although the Episeo-
the missionary treasury.
Riahon Ma1Ia1iau has hean anDointed to
visit the European conferences this year. and
will leave for Europe on Saturday. The
Episcopal residences are left as they were,
only of course with additions to accommo-
date those newly elected. The new places
added are Philadelphia, Omaha or Lincoln
and the State of Texas. A noticeable fea
| ture in the election of the bishops is that
| two of those chosen came directly from the
pastorate, and that another was pastor uI
/ to a year ago. This is new departure. In
l the four elected by the last conference moi
| one was from the pastorats, and only one oi
l the four elected in 1880 held that relation
4 This change will tend to exalt the pastSra
I relation, since it shows that one may remain
in this restricted sphere and still be ip thu
I line of promotion to high Office
The church press is another institution
| which remains as it was, excepting that tn
paper for young people, called Our Youth. i
to be made more distinctiyely a Sunda
III
the other Sunday school publications of tn
l church, the position so long held by Bisho
| Vincent, the Rev. J. L. Hurlbut, long q
l able assistant in this work, has been promo
ted. The editorsbip of the Review, mad
| vacant by the death of DIR. Curry, is ALE
now by DR.. J. w. Mendenhall, of Ohio. Dl
l Albert succeeds the 1amented Marshall W
Taylor as editor Of the Southwestern Adve
1 cate, and the other editors were all re elect
ed, as also were all the book agents. Th
only election by acclamation was that of th
venerable DIR. William Mast to the Apologist
l position he has held for forty nine years
The Methodist Advocate of Chattanooga
formerly an independent paper, is now mad
| q regular organ of the church, with a liberia
l appropriation, and DR.. G. G. Carter is con
tinued as its editor.
I In the great church societies the change
are more numerous. The Freedmen's Aid
now the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Edu
cational society, and this change it is sup
posed will enable the society to carry on 1t
1 white work in that section with less proba
bility of interference on the part of the col
orad people. The venerable DR.. Rust, tn
father of this society, was thought to hav
deserved an honorary retirement, and the &C
tual management will rest hereafter with DR.
]. G. Hartzell, formerly DIR. Rust's assistant
| Another veteran placed in the same honor
1 ary relation is DIR. ]. M. Reid, long the chic
secretary of the Missionary society. DR..
@. MeCabe succeeds to DR.. Reid's position
and the other corresponding secretaries ar
new men, namely, DR.. A. B. Leonard OF Obi
l and DR.. ]. o. Peck of New York. The Edu
| cationaI society is enlarged in its scope some
what and DR.. G. H. Payne becomes its score
1 tary, succeeding in that position DR.. Good
sell, one of the new bishops. The only oths
change is that the Church Extension sOciet
adds to its loan fund an annuity fund.
| It will, however, greatly delight the churc
1 to know that a new society has been forms'
for the special benefit of conference claim
ants Heretofore the worn out preachers an
the widows and orphans of deceased minis
ters have had to depend for their allowance
upon what could be raised for them in thei
own conferences, the result being that, Will
nsns have received nearly SO much as the
deserved, some have got much more tha
others because belonging to conferences bet
ter able to give. Under the new arrange
ment the allowances will be at once NOR
ample and more equal. The general societ
will be managed by board of control, con
| sisting of ten ministers and ten laymen, wit
| q corresponding secretary and all the bish
ops 1t is proposed to raise large perma
| nent fund by beqnssts and otherwise, the in
terest of which will be divided among til
annual conferences to supplement their ow
collections for this cause.
| Some changes are also to be noted in th
conferences. It is very likely, owing to tn
1
raj conference will have in it as many repre-
sentatives of the laity as of the ministry
and that among the lay delegates will be
fair sprinkling of women. Upon both thes
propositions, however, the annual confer
enees have yet to vote. The action Of tn
conference in refusing to accord seats to :
NJ Phillips, of New York, and e1. Gsvsrne
Pattison, of Pennsylvania, who had bse
elected lay delegates respectively from Mex
CO and India, establishes the principle tkt
lay conferences can be represented in tt
| general conference only by bona-fde res
| dents and members in their territory. Fol
merly it took only fifteen to constitute an al
} nual conference; now twenty are required
. but mission conferences are provided fe
| which are to have nearly all the powers
annual conferences, and which may consi
of any number less than twenty.
Enabling acts have been passed by tt
body providing that the Denmark mission
the Arizona mission, the Wyoming mission
, the California German mission and the New
da mission may become annual conference
when they have the number of ministers r.
, quired. Such acts were also passed to en-
BE Louisiana, with west Nebraska, Centr
German and Washington conferences to d
| vide. also To anah1a the Kansaa spd Coui