The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-05-07
Opening of the Big Conference
at Omaha.
IAYMEN RECEIVE SEPARATE SEATS

power in the conference by being seated
separately.
The Appearance Of Autagonism,
Mr. Sinkle, OF Kentucky, vigorously com.
bated the idea Of separate seating. 81 dc
not congratulate the laymen upon this de
mand for separate seating said Mr.. Sinkle,
Il know that we had the meetings the
other night, and n out Of about 100 laymen
voted for the separate seating. They
wanted the sheep and the goats separted.
Some thought they should be called sheep
and lambs. want to plead for the lambs
I want the laymen and ministers seated to
gether I want the advice Of the ministers
and want the ministers to get advice occa
sionally from the laymen. II we are seated
separately it will have the appearance of
antagonism."
Lost Their Individuality.
Mr. Murray, of central Pennsylvania, a
lay delegate, said that they were glad to do
honor to the ministers, but they wanted to
be seated by themselves for the influence it
would give in the conference They had
lost their individuality heretofore, as nine
teen laymen had been interspersed between
over 800 ministers. One advantage the pro
posed order of things would give would be
the possibility of comforting together. They
merely wanted to be placed on an equality
with the ministers.
n Mr.. Field, of Pennsylvania, said that there
was no thought Of arousing antagonism be-
tween the laymen and the ministers The
desire was to create a closer union by placing
the laymen where they could do the most
for the interests they represented.
DR.. j. NJ Buckley, of New York city,
then took the floor. He said the object of
giving laymen representation in the con
ference was to secure the assistance of the
laymen in the framing of the laws of the
church. Had the laymen been given fair
chance to exercise equal power with the
ministersl DR. Buckley thought not He
recounted the history of the conference
legislation upon the subject, and held that
the laymen had been handicapped by fail
ing to get a separate vote in the conference
when they had demanded it.
The Laymen victorious.
"Nine-tenths of the laymenn said Dr.
Buckley, ATTEND but one general confer
ence, but the ministerial delegates usually
go to conference after conference, and the
bishops who preside know them The bish-
ops are not acquainted with the laymen,
and when they arise on the floor Of the con
ference, along with half a dozen ministers,
what is the resultf
"The presiding officer usually recognizes
some ministerial delegate and the layman
sits down.
DR. Lewis c. Curtis, of Chicago, said that
it was simply a question of privilege for the
laymen and not Of compulsion. If they
wanted to sit by themselves the ministers
could not do less than to grant their re.
quest.
After long wrangle the conference de-
cided to allow lay delegates who so desired
to select seats separate from the ministerial
DELEGATES
OMAHA, Neb. May 4.-The task of sat
isfying the clamoring seat hunting del
egates finally became too heavy for Bish-
op Foster, and being appointed to read
the Episcopal address, which contains
10000 words, he yielded the chair to
Bishop Andrews in order to save his
voice, which was fast failing him. On
motion of DR., Smith, of Iowa, it was de.
cided to postpone the reading of the ad.
dress. When everybody had been seated
DR.. Nicely, of Philadelphia, offered th'
following plan Of organization:
The shall be twelve standing com
mitees, as follows Episcopacy, itinerary,
boundaries, revisal, temporary needs of
| the church, missions, education, church
l extension, Sunday schools and tracts,
/ freedmen's aid, and work in the south.
/ The first six of these committees will
meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and
/ Fridays, and the last six on Tuesdays,
/ Thursdays and Saturdays. Adopted. q
An invitation from Lincoln, Neb., to
1 visit that city May IA, without expense
to the delegates, was presented by
Chancellor Creighton, of the Wesleyan
university, and was accepted. Special
trains will be run free of charge.
/ Bishop Foss presided over the deliber-
ations OF the afternoon sessions, held at
| the First Methodist church. The first
business was a committee reference of
the question of the payment of expenses
in the case where a delegate did not ap-
pear until after his reserve had been
seated in his place II was an awkward
question, and finally went to a commit
tee of nine.
DR.. Neely, of the constitution com
mittee, to which the revision of the con-
stitution was referred at the last quad
riennial conference in 1885, appeared
with a pamphlet report of the commit
tee which recommended many changes
and gave several interpretations not
heretofore thoroughly understood. The
reading was long and to some tedious.
Colonel Ray, one of the members of
the constitution committee, had a mi
nority report which was also printed.
The minority report went to the extent
of recognizing women as lay delegates.
Some discussion as to the time for hold
ing debate upon the report occurred. In
the meantime both reports were ordered
printed. II was ordered that the ex-
penses of the constitution committee be
paid TO the conference.
Committees were appointed on tenn
perance and prohibition, circulation of
The Christian Advocate and reception
of fraternal delegates. After some dis
cussion as to the composition of the tenn
perance and prohibition committee IL
was decided that a committee Of one
member from each conference delega-
ton be appointed, thus making the com
mittee consist Of III members.
| : OMAHA, Neb., May Bishop War
aen presided at the morning session of
the Methodist conference. The episco.
pal address was read by Bishop Foster.
The reports reviewed the work in foreign
lands, showing the work to be in excel
lent condition all over the world. No
schisms, no dissensions had appeared in
the church during the past four years.
Since the last general conference fully
400, 600 members have been added TO the
church, a greater growth than had ever
been known in its history
Vote on the Woman Question.
The report then touched on the vote
in the annual conference and churches
upon the admission Of women TO the
general conference The result was
given as follows: Laity-For, 235, ,66S;
against, 1858, ,S43. Ministerial g.
6O9i against, 4,944. The report gave an
! exhaustive review of every branch OF
the church work and recommended that
great care be exercised in procuring
ministers, strong, loyal men, fully
abreast with the education of the age,
for an educated pew would not endure
an uneducated pulpit,
Committees Organized.
The following committees held meet.
lngs and organized with the following
persons as chairmen and secretaries
Book Concern-Amos Shingle, of Ken.
tucky, chairman; j. ID. Hammond
Philadelphia, secretary. ltlneracy-
. Arthur Edwards, Detroit, chairman; j
X. Creighton, Wisconsin, secretary; d.
w. Hayes, east Tennessee, assistant
Boundaries-One of the bishops 10 be
announced later chairman; j. +. DOdd
Newark, secretary. Education-C. III
Payne, Cincinnati, chairman; b. j
Gray central Pennsylvania, secretary
ReyisiOns-J. b. Graw, New Jersey
chairman; HI. c. Jennings, Minnesota
secretary. Freedmen's Aid and South
em Education Society William Swim
dell, Philadelphia, chairman; L. M
Haygood, Lexington, secretary, Epis