Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-17


eral conference to once in eight years, boy
colt of the chronic candidate, preservation
of the two-third rule in the election of
Bishops, and finally, extinction OF the pre-.
vailing idea that one official position Is
necessarily stepping stone to another.
The representative clergyman from the
middle district considers ecclesiastical pol
it;cs somewhat more philosophically than
do his two Western brethren. He says :
"The appointing power OF the Bishops
makes their selection in General Conference
a matter of deep and vital concernmept to
ministers and to churches. In some cases
conferences are actively canvassed all the
time, the whole interim Of General Confer
ence being improved to secure the choice Of
particular delegates. In rare cases (and the
writer has personal knowledge of more than
one) the selection of presiding elders and
the fixing of many other appointments turn
upon the politics concerned in selecting the
next delegation to the general conference" !"
The writer from the New York district
acknowledges that he knows the ecclesias-
tical politician only too we'll.
"At recent General Conferences attention
has been called to this character. The warn
ing was met in each instance by an instant
and general denial. That men who preach
a gospel of self-denial and of 'prelerring one
another in honor should be guilty of plot
ting for their personal advancement, as pro-
fame politicians do, was too startling
and shocking to be believed or admitted.
But the disclaimer did not quiet the heart
of the Church. The fear and distrust re-
mained. Delegates returning were COM
PEELED to admit in home circles certain sig
nifcant facts and were dumb before the in
ferences drawn. Every year the evidence
increases and multiplies that our great
church is threatened by the politician seek
ing his own. We know of no well-informed
minister, except the man who seeks to cover
his tracks by denial, who does not at times
express his anxiety upon the matter"
The Same Current of Opinion.
The testimony of the representative of
the New England district goes with the
prevailing current of opinion. Ofthe reign
of the ecclesiastical politician in the CON-
ference he says:
SITS effect is to tone down the standard Of
morals and to destroy the nice sense of pro-
priety and honor. 1t puts to disadvantage
and perpetrates wrong upon class OF
noble men, usually the ornaments of their
conferences, who scorn the use of these par
tisan tricks and combinations. They can
afford to be unrecognized by the ringmas-
ters; they cannot afford to part with their
honor as gentlemen and brethren. Its tend
ency is to place third-rate men in the high
est positions in the church. First-rate men
would not enter the combinations, and, if
admitted, could not be used by the bosses;
and they are driven to use baser material to
effect their purposes A few men have SUI
ficent hold on their conferences to insure
in of N
too many instances able men are shelved
and mere clphers put forward. How sur
prising that some men reach the General
Conference, that better ones are left at home!
Once in the General Conference, they are
the mere tools of the bosses, often more COLI
cerned in arranging the electoral card than
in promoting good legislation"
The first and best means of modifying the
abuses is, in the opinion of the New Eng
gland minister, exposure of the bosses and
their INSCRIPTIONS methods.
From the Southern district the same scan
dalous practices are reported as from the
other districts. Methodist Church politics
in the South, however, the writer says is
more unsatisfactory than it is elsewhere on
account Of the negro. The ignorance and
prejudice of colored delegates at Confer
ences are played upon, he says, by un-
principled politicians and not infrequenty
the General Conference season has proved
the golden opportunity to the delegate who
had some building enterprise on hand to
pass about his subscription book.
Crooked Work in Southern Conferences.
As to crooked" political work in South
ern Conferences he says: "In at least one
there has been Tor years arrayei party
against party. Crimination and recrimi-
nation are common. Grave charges are
freely made as to oblique methods on the
part of managers and leaders in Conference
and educational work" In conclusion the
report states that the friends of the Meth
odist Church work in the South feel that
the political methods in vogue in part of
the Southern Church ''have become a
burden too heavy to be borne"
"The End Thereof" is the significant title
Of an account Of the tissue ballot" case ap-
pended by DR.. Parkhurst:
cit was a session of an annual Confer
ence. The ballots had been cast for the
election of delegates TO the General Confer
snce, and the votes had been counted. One
eller reported to the presiding Bishop that
u tissue ballots had been discovered in his |
all bearing the name of one can
lidate, and that he was confident that they
we're cast Dy Ine man whose name was writ |
en- upon them. The Bishop suggested that |
another vote be taken, without stating fully
he reason, and directed the teller who knew |
he suspected man to receive his vote last |
Twelve more such ballots were found, bear |
ng the name OF the man in question, and |
clearly the last dropped into the box! That |
for the General Conference had q |
majority OF 36 votes. Within two hours |
lfter his election he had been tried for lille !
,al voting and expelled from the Conference
ind the ministry"
That, even in the short time since its pub
ieatior, book teeming with such scathing
should have caused consider
Ible agitation among Methodists is lar from
At a meeting of Methodist !
ministers in Chicago on Monday morning,
he Rev. Mr.. Clendenning cri:ised the book
It length unfavorably. He denied that the
eaders of Methodism were unscrupulous,
designing men. The Rev. f. NJ. Bristol, |
however, said that it was useless to try to
tide the facts. Ecclesiastical Politics in
he Methodist Episcopal Church" was ter
IDLY accurate, he thought He had seen
90 many illustrations of the actual state Of
fairs TO be blinded by passing denials.
TREASON AGAINST ENGLAND,