Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-07
FEMININE LAYMEN.
THE QUESTION THAT is WORRYING
THE METHODIST CONFERENCE.

Gen. Fiske's Remarks-A Substitute Meas.
ure Defeatcd-A woman who Wanted
HeterodoNy at IA Mass Meeting-Whai
Happened at the 1874 Conference,
New YORK, May There wns n large at
tendance at the Methodist quadrennial con,
ference Saturday, the interest in the debates
being on the increase, good deal of time
was occupied in discussing some changes of
the rules, and then the names of the mem
bers of the committees on juuciary and ecu
menicul conference were announced. Gen.
Clinton b. Fiskc, Of New Jersey, then took
the floor to speak on the question of admit
ting women as lay delegates.
He declared that as women were made class
leaders, preachers, and members of quarter.
ly conferences, they were entitled 10 seats in
the conference. Their cause was "A holy one
Gen Fiske contended that there was nothing
in the law of the church which says a lay del
egate shall not be n woman. IL would be rev
dictionary TO turn the women out by n vote
of the general conference, and the church
could not afford TO exclude them 1t was
foo lish to say that il women are elected men
will be excluded and If half the lay and cler-
ical delegation We're women the body might
Ike n great deal better than it is. No lawyer
would deny the right Of the women TO seats
in the conference, for the law OF the church
entitled them to admission. Are we so
cowardly,' asked Gen. Fiske, "that we would
refuse 10 admit women for fear she would fill
the place of a man.
Rev. a. J. Kynett, of upper Iowa, favored
the admission of women, n, did Rev. d. H.
Moore, of Colorado The latter offered n
substitute for all previous propositions on
the subject. II proposed that during the
month OF October, 1880, a general election
shall be held in each church. and that all of
the members b. called upon 10 vote either
for or against the admission of women as lay
delegates. The election shall be held under
the diretdion of the preacher and if it is de
termined 10y this vote to admit women the
sec md restriction rule shall be amended so as
to read men and women Should the ma
iOrity Of the church he in favor of the ad-
mission of women MS lay delegates, then the
general conference in 1892 can complete the
change The substitute bore the signatures
of David II. Moore Ben 4miu st. John Frey,
and William SWindcllc.
The previous question was moved ON this
proposition and vote taken amid considera-
bio excitement. When the announcement
was made it was discovered that the motion
was lost The vote stood--l33 yeas, 1s1
nays.
There was some more desuitory discussion
of the matter, but without action the confer
ence adjourned until Monday Just before
the proceedings had got fairly under way in
the morning woman seated in the first box
on the second tier arose at the conclusion of
the singing of the hymns and said: Gan |
have the privilege of saying a few wordsG"
An eyes were turned toward her. She was
a bplt ,,f Il
and evidently suffering from hysteria
Chaplain McCabe led her out of the opera
house. She refused to give her name.
A sad incident of the first week of the
was the death Friday night of the
daughter OF Lay Delegate ID. Il Dessner.
lie was excused from attendance to take the
body home.
A large mass meeting of Methodists was
held at the Metropolitan opera house yester-
day under the auspices of the Church Ex.s
tension and Missionary society, Bishop Fowler
being the principal orator. He invoked the
prayers of the audience for the family of
Rev. Charles j. Clarke assistant secretary of
The NJ. &. conferences who died suddenly of
iiphtheria Sunday at the Sturtevant house.
Mr.. Clarke was a years old, and resided at
Portland, Me.
Bishop Fowlers sermon is commented |
lpoh as possibly heterodox He strongly |
Urged the view that men will not he punished |
or sin unless they sin against the light; that
he innocent will not be punished for the |
guilty; that all who seek salvation shall OBJ
ain it, and that the evil results of sin though |
penalty, are not punishment
The special significance arising from the |
act of the conference assembling in New |
York has been alluded to repeatedly in the |
peeches The last meeting here was in 1874,
he ever-memorable occasion when the
hurch divided on the question whether
bishop should be allowed to own slaves. The
'ote on that point being in the negative the
outhern delegates withdrew, the result being
he formation of the Methodist Episcopal
hurch south, which has now nearly 1,OO0,-
20 members, besides the 100000 in
he Methodist Episcopal church. The CON
rt.st between then and now was stated in a
triking manner in the address of welcome
" DIR, Hare, of New York The two
hurchos, he said, which then separated, were
ow almost ready to come together again.
'hile in the body before him, were men of
ark skin, who had been born in slavery, the
ostion of the church being, in this day, not
lerely that II bishop may not own slaves, but
hat no man can own his fellow-man