St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-10-11
W. vi I'LL Hsb6V ! @nsss
The Division Of st. Paul Pres
bytery Goes to a Special
Committee
Composed Of Two Ministers
and Two Elders Of Each
Presbytepy.
This Decision Reached After. a
Discussion Of Vigorous
Heat.
Synod Work Succeeded by
Proceedings Of the Mis-
sionary Society.

The Presbyterian synod opened up
yesterday morning with all the vigor of
political convention. Shall the pres
bytery of st. Paul be divided? was the
question and upon it the committee on
Oyertures had made the following re-
port:
ut is the sense of your committee that the
petition herewith. % ministers, 10 OF whom
are pastors, also 20 ruling elders, be granted,
except SO far as this petition defines the
boundaries of separation. That committee
of ministers and elders be chosen equally
from the presbyteries to fix boundaries of
separation aforementioned"
The reading of the report had scarcely
died away when twenty delegates were
on their feet at once and Mr. MoGer-
ator' was shouted Quit in a chorus that
ran the gamut from the most ponderouS
bass to the ShrilleSt treble. Finally Dr..
Abbott got the floor to Offer the follow
ing substitute:
TO Defer One Year.
Resolved, That committee of two minis
tiers and two elders from each presbytery DE
appointed to consider the question of di-
vision as whole, together with the entire
subject OF the readjustment of any or all
preSbyteries within the boundaries of the
synod, with a view to securing closer equal
ity i'll numbers and territory and the best
possible supervision of mission work. both
in the cities and the country.
Resolved, also, That the committee report
to the synod at its next meeting.
The Minneapolis delegation rose as
one man to protest against this post
ponement for a year. s. b. Williams,
OF that city, however. introduced reSo-
luton granting hearing to Mrs. Char
lOtte D. Van Cleve, president of the
board of foreign missions. But it was
understood that she opposed division, so
Rev. DR.. Black, of Minneapolis, headed
an opposition to giving her the floor.
The other side urged gallantry, but the
point was well taken and Mrs. Van
Cleve with score of other ladies left
the hall. Then followed quite an argu-
meM OH the division question.
Rev. Mitchell, of Wlnona, argued for
a rediStricting or the preSbyterieS. He
pointed out on the map the vast terri
tory covered by the presbytery as at
present constituted. This matter, he
said, had been agitated by those who
saw its absolute responsiveness for five
years past. 1t was impossible for the
preSbytery as at present constituted to
give proper attention to mission work in
the country. The work was too vast,
and it was matter Of record that the
presbytery hardly knew of the exist
ence of some of the country churches
under its Jurisdiction, whereas it should
have close supervision over all of
them so that aid and encouragement
might be given where needed.
Kew. Mr.. Weaver, of Owatonna,
thought the entire synod should be re-
organized, taking the two cities into
one presbytery, and redistributing the
others.
Rev. Mr.. Greenshields, of New Du-
luth, objected to the plan most strenu-
ously. The idea of cutting off the coun-
try districts was
Simply Suicidal.
He hoped no such measure would be en-
tertained.
Rev. A. B. Nichols, of Stewart church,
Minneapolis, spoke in favor of any
division. There were,' he said, "2, 900
members in the st. Paul presDytery,
more than in all the others put to-
gether. Some asserted that this was
healthy condition, but with very little
study it could be demonstrated that
much more effective work could be done
If the body was less cumbersome"
Rev. MIR. Carnaham, of the First Pres
byterian church, st. Paul, said that,
from what he could gather, there were
ten ministers in Minneapolis and three
outside in the other presbyterieS who
favored division. He was opposed to
division on the principle that in unity
there was strength. The truth of the
principle could not be questioned. This
entire matter had been before the pres
bytery four times, and had been voted
down by definite majority. Others
argued in the same line and by noon no
decision had been reached.
The Substitute.
In the afternoon the synod recalled
its morning action, and invited Mrs.
Van Give to address that body. That
veteran i'll church missionary work
spoke vigorously against division of
the presbytery, and claimed that III
unity and numbers there was strength.
A brief discussion followed, and then
DIR. Abbott's substitute was adopted by
a vote of 55 to 80. The question thus
goes over for a year. The proposition
to divide the presbytery has now been
defeated in four presbyteries and once
| in the synod. AS soon as the question
was settled, an adjournment was taken,
and the members of the body were
| driven out to Manchester college.
Tapestry Brussels Carpet, SOC a
Yard,