Omaha daily bee., 1891-03-04
THE METHODlsr CONEERENC CE.
Meeting Last Evening to Take Nc-
tiOn ON the Guarantee F,ind

III r'SpohSC 10 cal from BISHOP Newman
about thirty members of the Citt.
Hcns committee of 100 appointed ono
year ago TO provide for the ing of 81, 600
as aguarantce fund for tho entertainment of
the Quadrcnnial conference of the Methodist
church IN 1892, met last night in the cafe Of
the Paxton hotel.
Mr. Edward Roscwatcr was elected cnair.
man of the meeting aud l. phippi chosen
as secretary. Bishop Newman, in explaining
thc call for the committee meeting said that
ne had from the first inception of the idea
that the conference should be held in Omaha
Dccn possessed with an honest pride in try
ing to do that which he believed would be
great benefit to the city and the entire
west in many ways. In tho first place, if the
conference is held in Omaha it will give the
cast another excellent opportunity to see the
west and to see Omaha. II will
do more than this, for there will be delegates
present from every civilized nation on earth.
The whole world, so far as the Methodist
church is concerned, will be represented at
this meeting in Omaha. 1t viii be of great
advantage the bishop said, in a business con-
Sideration and rs means of clevatng tho
sentiment of the community "lf | Were
an active business man of Omaha SAID the
bishop, 81 am sure that | would idcr
the bringing o, that great gathering here
worth at least 500 TO me from purely bust
ness StandpOintn
The questions to be met and decided upon
now Were: First, can the S25OOO required
for the entertain mcnt of the con ference be
secured, and second, will the citizens of
Omaha be inclined to open their homes and
entertain 23O or 300 delegates for n month.
The general conference will have 800 dele.
gates and will be the most exciting confer
ence held since 1874, when the question Of
African slavery caused a division in the
church. The question of the eligibility of
women as members Of the annual and gen
eral conferences will come ne fore thp ron fer
enco of 1872 and will create profund interest
Tor the rcas on that the matter has been voted
on by all the Methodist churches in the land,
Is now being voted on 10y the annual confer
ences and Will then be referred to the gen
era conference for final disposition.
Another matter should be carefully con
sidered. the bishop said. If the conference
is held in Omaha and the delegates are not
properly entertained it will probably injure
the city. Chicago and Boston are anxious to
get the conference, ana If the citizens of
Omaha think they had better not undertake
IT, then the choice can soon be made bet " cen
the Hub and the city by the great unsalted
sea
The chairman then called for "A report of
the committee Of five that was appOinted to
make special canvass for su descriptions, and
Mr. l.. ). Reed reported that himself and
D. l.. NcCague had presented the matter to
the banking institutions of the city almost
year ago, but had not met with very flat
scriptions. He felt somewhat discour.
aged by the effort made then
and did not think that any
better success would result from Il canvass
at present.
Bishop Newman said that a mum ber of let
ters had been received from prominent men,
Ders of the committee who could not be
present McssrS. Frank Colpetzer Max
Meyer, H. I. Clarke, John N1cShane, a. p.
Hopkins, Clark WOodman aud others sent
N.,h h. at ,tN. ,t,.,.
but they Were ready to do their part in help
ing to secur the conference for Omaha.
Mr.. EraStus Benson spoke earnestly in
favor of going ahead with the raising of the
$4,000
j. l.. McCague thought that the commits
sioners of the Methodist church ought TO be
satisfied with n substantial guarantee from
reliable citizens of Omaha that the confer
cncc would be entertained by Omaha with
out specifying the amount of money TO be
raised.
Mr. r. G. Patterson asked Bishop New
man if it was not new thing for the Mctho-
dist conference to require cash guarantee
from the city where the con ference is held
'Such thing was never known before
said the bishop, lin the history of the Mctho-
dist church, anu lfOmaha succeeds in raisin G
the funds asked for she viii stand sublime III
her isolatiOn.' The bishop then said
that he had suggested to the commissioners
sent from the east that this guarantee be re.
uulEtu SlllplV DcCauSt lNcfe was Il 1ccllng OF
dOu bt III the minds of the commissioners Us To
the ability Of Omaha to entertain the dele
gates. With the pressure that was brought
to bear upon the commissioners from Other
cities anxious to Secu re the Conference it be-
came necessary for Omaha to do sOmethin G
unusually liberal in order to make sure OF
getting the great gathering. The expense OF
entertaining the delegates has heretofore
been paid by the church, but if Omaha pro
vides for this important item in 1892 it will
introduce new thing in the financial part OF
the work. This guarantee had been made
simply to satisfy the bishops who composed
the commission that Omaha is able tC
entertain the conference.
DR.. Leisenring was present and spoke with
much fervor. He talked from experience
gained in assisting in the entertainment OF
delegates to the general synod of the
Lutheran church two years ago, and he be
| lieved that the 800 delegates could all bc
| entertained in the homes of Omaha citizens
Bishop Newman said that if that if the en-
tire $4,000 should not be need then it WOulL
not be called for. 1t will be collected pro
rata and per centuIn, but he wished to pro
Ceed on a safe basis,
Mr. Rosewater suggested that motion OF
| resolution of some kind be passed so that the
| business might be gotten in good shape
Mir Benson moved that committee o
| five beappointeu by the chair for the purpos,
| of securing signatures to "a bond which viii
| guarantee the payment Of $4,000 for the en-
| tertainmentof of the quadrennal conference OF
the Methodist church in Omaha in the yeal
! 1892.
The chairman appointed the following
| committee: ErastuS Benson, D. L. Nc
Cague, Clark WOodman, II. c. Patterson auC
| Thomas Fitzpatrick,
The committee withdrew from the room
and in twenty minutes returned with bono
| which guarantees the payment of the sum,
placed opposite the names of those who sigr
1t. The intention is to get fifty or one hun
dred signatures to the bond Eight name!
were placed on the bond within ten minute!
| after IL was su omitted to the meeting.
BY motion of MIR. Benson the names oi
Clark Woodman and r.. Rosewater were
added to the committee of five, making il
seven,
This committee will proceed at once to Sc
cure the fifty or more signatures to the bone
and Will report at a meeting TO be called 10y
Bishop Newman some time before the frs
of April.
The meeting adjourned with feeling tha
a definite step had been taken IN the rgh
direction and that the conference is practi
Cally secured for Omaha.