New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-30
WOMEN AS DELEGATES
TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
TEE REV. DR. oEohaK R. CROOKS DISCUSSES TINE
QUESTION OF THEIR KLIGibrLITY -ThLih
ADMISSION NOT PROVIDED FOR BIT
rur LAWS or TIE CHURCH.

General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church,
TO meet tomorrow in this city, has opened the ques-
ton OF their admIssblity. According 10 custom
their names are already entered upon tho secretarys
roll mon the faith Of their certificates OF election
| tbls is boweyer, provisional arrangement, aud
eaves IN, pont of eligibility TO DO settled aerwsrd
In the nature OF the case, II needs 10 DO settied
promptly. and probably VIII be taken In maud very
soon after the Conference organizes AS the quesuoh
Is ono OF law, and as the Methodist discipline Is
small and compact volume, tho necessary examine
tIon OF tho claim of women to membership In the
General Conference be made In very snort time
tn berin WITH no express provision Is found IN
| tbe law NJ the Church for the admission OF women
The argument for their eligibility is purely inerentaL
lbe chapter on the composition OF the Gehera Con-
ference reads thus:
Tho General Conference shall be composed OF minis
,.ral and law delegates The ministerial delegates
shall he posed OF delegate for every forty-nve
members Of each annual conference o., IN. M
law delegates shall consist OF two !aymeh ior eAcn
annual conference, except such conferences as nave
but ministerial delegate which Se sS Snn
gates shall be chosen by an eec,orm lou dssga,os
men S:,,.r,, and Vote together as one body
they shall vote separately whensVor sySm seRo
vote shall be demanded by ONE third OF either oraer
In that part of the law which Is called Tho SIX
Restrictive Rules and is beyond tho reach OF the
General Conference acting alone "a sort OF oonstitu-
ton Of the church,, It is laid down that tho General
Conference shall not allow OF more thah
two Law delegates for annual conference" tfss'
e3-71D This is the substance OF the law OF the
Church on the subject of lay delegates 1t VIII DO
seen that womsn are not once named. The Dlsci-
Milne either meant that their inclusion In the term
alavronp would be taken for granted, or 1t intended
n limit eligibility to men only. But the inclusion
OF women In the term "laymen' could not have been
taken for granted. The usage OF tho Chnrch was
against that; women had not been accustomed 10
sit In conference members the business OF the con-
mir nf
ence of the Church, transacted by mon The law as
IT stands in the Methodist Discipline not only falls TO
nroyIde for the admission of women to tho General
Conference but interpreted according to the Churchs
practice was intended to limit tho admission to mon
A single fact will prove that this Is so. Tho plan
under which lay delegates entered tho General Coh
ference was presented tho Church at large for accept
ance or rejection by the Conference OF looo. Ihs
Conference did not adopt the plan, but simply COM
mended IL 10 the consideration Of the Church Al
ibis stage Of the proceedings 1t was indispensable that
all needed explanations should be maao OF the mean
Ing Of its terms According to TINS scheme Ivy
delegation had first to receive the assent OF inc iai'y
voting In theif churches, then II had TO receive INC
assent Of threefourths Of all the ministers voting In
the annual conferences to which they belonged, theh
al twotbirds OF the General Conference meeting four
wars after l. c. in 1872. 1. was determined b. this
same General Conference Of 1868, when In the Act Oh
framing the plan. that women should be included In
the number Of lay voters upon 10, very uhusuai
proceeding at that time. The question was iinine-
diately raised how much did the Inclusion OF women
"a voters carry with It'll Dr. ]. p Newman SAID that
he wished to vote intcllgiby the subject The
poInt he wished 10 make was this that inasmuch
as the Conference had voted to sr1Ee out the "oru
"malcs a. c. in specifying the lay voters), are women
eligible to election the Conference Voces No. MOI
Tho Judgment OF the Conference was thus very dec'ued
" EXPRESSED on Doctor Ncwmsns point. No one, at
ubon hp N
mtted TO the Church for consideration supposed that
Il intended to make eligible as delegates to The
General Conference and this plan Is now the Ia" Oh
the Church without the alteration Of single clause.
Women cannot therefore rghtfuIly ask admission
TO tho General Conference on the terms OF the plan
offered to the church In 1868 and ratified In lo'2
Reliance IS however, placed upon the words OF reso
luton adopted By the General Conference OF 1872.
which is found in journal p 442). The account OF
10 Is I'm those words: state Of the Church Report,
No w. resolution submitted to the General Confer
ence by Rev H. Nesblt of the Plttsburg Conference
and referred the Committee the State OF the Church
was duly considered aud the following resolution was
recommended for adoption by the General Conference
Resolved. That in all matters connected with the
election of lay delegates the word 'laymcn' must DO
under TODD to include all the members of the church
no arc not members Of the annual conferences This
the journal says " was read and adopted There is
discrepancy between tho account of this resolution in
latter reports thus A resolution presented by Dr.
Nesb that In the election OF lay delegates to the Con
cra Conference the term 'laymen' shall DO taken to
mean all momberS Of the church who not members
of the annual conferences was adopted In the
Journal this resolution Is offered by the Committee
the state of the Church: in |" The Daily Advocate"
It is offered by Dr. s. II. Nesbt In tho journal no
resolution Of this purport coming from Dr. NeSblt APP
pears. The notice OF the subject, on 442, Is all
that Is to be found The resolution adopted tho
last day Of the session. speakers on all subjects had
been limited to five minutes each the Committee on tho
state Of the Church had already offered their final re-
port and apparently closed their business. Whatever
its intention, this resolution of those apt
slip through deliberate body at the close Of a long
session
And yet It's meaning was construed on the spot and
construed to show that in the minds of the
delegates adopting 1t, II was not Supposed to apply TO
the eligibility Of women to membership in the General
Conference at all quote from This Daily Advocate
again: Rev. J. NJ Buckley to question Of great
Importance. This resolution authorized bishops to |
for the election of laymen and likewise mads them
eligible TO that position. Bishop Amos said that he
obliged to the Conference for this authority to |
VOTE This sally Of tho bishops The Daily Advocate
reports, received with laughter Nothing was said OF
its application TO women and II such application had
been hnted 1t would have been resisted Instantly |
But there a mooted point which needed settle |
ment All along from lcOo 10 5IR there had been
question whether local preachers that s. preachers
not pastors members of annual confsrences could
be elected the General Conference as lay dcezates
Their exact position In the matter Tn doubt A |
plan OF lay delegation proposed to the General Con-
ference Of 1865, but afterward set aside contained
provision in these words: Local preachers are
eligible as representatives Of the lay- The resolu
ton credited to DR.. Ncsbit undoubtedly taken
to touch on that point. II is inconcevabe that tho
General Conference Of 1872 would, in this indirect
way and under the whip and spur OF approaching adj
tournment, have acted upon so important a subject
as the admission Of women into its body More
over, although adopted sixteen years ago. It has
never, believe been acted upon until the present
time, fact which shows that It taken. when
adopted, in the sense now put upon II. An appllca
ton Of It, in 1885, to the admission Of women to the
General Conference is aferthought
The General Conference has always resisted efforts
to bring women into the Official positions OF the