The Portland daily press., 1890-10-24
THE GREAT METHODIST ELECTION.
Shall Women Sit In the Great General
Conference?
me Question to be Put to a Test In
tne Churches OF Maine.
50 far the Women Seem likely tn
Win all Along the Line.

the United States and Europe. It Is o 0eS-
tion affecting the rights and privileges Of the
woman in the General Conference of the
Church, and so, consequently, the influence
Of woman In church government. IL also
affects, indirectly but not the less powerfully.
the great and abiding agitation over woman
suffrage. 1t is question over which a con-
test has been waged with great spirit tor two
years, In acontroyers during which the
position Of woman has been examined from
more points Of view even than are taken
into consideration In the discussions on
woman suffrage Upon the one side have
been the partisans Of Moses, Peter and
Paul OF Moses when he said to woman:
Thy desire snail be unto thy husband and be
shall rule over thee.
OF Peter when he said:
Likewise ye wives be under subjeetIon unto
your husbands.
And Of Paul when he said
Let your women keep silence IN the churches;
I0r u Is not petnitteu unto them to speak; but
they are commanded TO be under obedience, as
also saith the law.
Upon the other side have been those who
remember that women have been in at the
founding of MsthodIsm In both the old and
new worlds; that Methodlsm was born In
the heart and experience OF Susannah Wesley
and came down through her sons TO Barbara
Heck, who aided in planting the standard on
this continent; that the sphere Of woman Is
broadening with the years, that her emil
nence In art, science. literature. and even--lf
we must say it-ln politics. too, are such as
to leave no good reason for denying her emil
nence in the church as well.
The contest began In the great General
Conference OF the Methodists Of the World
In New York city In May. 1883. From
the founding Of Methodlsm In this country
until that time no woman had sat In the
Great Council Of the church. A great gather
ing was this General Conference. In the
vast auditorium OF the Metropolitan Opera
House were gathered nearly five hundred
delegates, among them the wlsest and
hOliest men, of the great church OF 2,O93,-
935 members which was then building a
church day in this country aud spending
million dollars year for the saving Of the
heather Of this and other lands.
At the doors Of this impressive assemblage,
to the confusion Of the reverend Bishops OF
the church and the dismay or delight of the
various lay and clerical delegates. appeared
five women and demanded admittance. They
we're Francis E. Willard, OF New York,
Amanda @. Ripley, Of Kansas. Mary @. Mind,
of Minnesota. Angie +. Newman, Of Nebras-
ks, and Lizzie ID. Van Kirk, of Pennsyl-
vania. They bore In their hands regularly
endorsed credentials as delegates FROM sub
ordinate conferences OF the church; and de-
manded admission as a right guaranteed
hau ny ha pfn lau Af kka
church.
Then began storm In the General Con-
ference.
Ne QUE had ever yet put to the test the con-
stitution OF the church upon this point The
question had first an historical aspect.
What ground existed for the claims Of the
1--WE women? And the answer to this uues-
tion lay In the history Of Methodlsm Ia the
past. From the earliest days of Methodlsm
In this country until 1868 the representation
In the General Conference of the church had
been confined to clerical delegates. From
very early IN this century there was a per
sistept agitation for the admission OF lay
delegates. This demand for the admission
Of laymen to the councils Of the church grew
so boisterous In 1880 that portion OF the
church secrded and formed the Protestant
Methodist Church" upon this very issue.
But during the fifty years and more of the
agitation for the admission of lay dele
gates the question Of the admission
of wouen never came up. The word
''laymen" was not considered as includ-
Ing woman. In 1868 the agitation for
the admission OF laymen to the General Con-
ference became so strong, that the question
was by that Conference OF 1868 referred to
the annual conference, which approved Of
1t by constitutional majority; and In four
years, when another General Conference,
that of 1872. assembled, the admission OF lay
delegates to the council Of the church was
c0nstitutiOnally approved.
For sixteen years, until 1888, no one
thought OF constituting this constitutional
amendment as including women as well as
men. The appearance Of Miss Willard and
her associates precipitated the Issue.
The question was considered so important
that committee OF seventeen laymen and
ministers, was appointed to report upon the
claims Of the women for admission. A ma
j0rity of this committee, six laymen and five
ministers, reported shat under the constitu-
tion and laws OF the church. as they now are
women are not eligible as lay delegates In
they cannot legally be admitted to SEATS
Six members Of the committee did not con-
cur In this report.
Then followed long and brilliant debate
which attracted widespread attention all
over the country. Among the dlvines and
laymen who spoke were some of the ablest
men in the country. Ex-senator Warner
Miller, Of New York, closed the debate. the
opponents Of he admission OF the women
generally based their opposition upon strict
Warner Miller making an especially strong
argument drawn from the analogy Of the
provisions of the United States constitution.
But the real sympathy OF the Conference
seems to have been upon the side OF the
women.
So evenly was the contest balanced that
compromise resulted. An amendment was
offered to the report providing that the gen
eral question Of the admission OF wemen
should be referred to the Annual Conference
for an expression of opinion and TO the next
General Conference. that OF 1892, for settle
ment This amendment was carried by
vote Of 249 to 49, the clerical and lay dele
gates voting together. IL was decided that
the resolution as amended should be voted
on by the two branches Of the Conference
separately; and the friends Of the women
delegates tried 10 force a deadlock" that
might prevent the passage Of the amended
report. They came near succeeding; for
while the ministerial delegates voted for the
amended report $50 TO 122, the lay delegates
went for II by the narrow vote OF 78 to 76.
so the resolution was adopted to submit 10
the Annual Conference for approval an
amendment to the law to provide that the
two lay delegates from an Annual Confer
ence TO the General Conference may be either
men or women. The voting upon this cues
tiOn was quite impressive, and when Si.Ek-
Ong. delegate from the Methodlsts Of
CHINA, voted against the report, and for the
admission OF the women at once, a great
cheer went up.
The question has now come to the churches
for the expression Of their opinion, prelim-
mary to the final settlement In the next
General Conference. The voting Is begin
ming In the churches now. As the women
constitute tw o-thirds OF the membership Of
the Methodist church, the result will proba-
bly, be in their favor. Only few Of the
churches Of Maine have voted yet; but the
result so far as announced is overwhelmingly
in favor of the women.
We give the results Of the ballots in the
churches SO far as heard from; those votes
favorable to the admission Of women as dele
gates TO the General Conference being
classe1 under For" and those uniavorable
under Against"
Churches For Agains,
ooutn oitldhus. ..ss.....4O o
AoEniSn-... .sssss...s...s.........IO o
Souih ek......................53
Different times have been fixed for the
various churches. Some have voted already
but the greater number will not vote uptiI
next week, and some not until next month
In this city the vote will probably be- taken
next week.