The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1892-06-01

AIJer u bobbiOu OF TWenLy-1Ix Dny0-Tn0
Most Important Questions Considered.
OMAHA, Neb., May 97-The general
conference of the M. E. church came to
an end at 2;20 yesterday afternoon after
session of twenty-six days In that
time much legislation has been cleared
away and on the whole the work Of the
conference has been productive Of much
good. The most important questions
considered during this session were the
report of the constitu tional committee
on revision of constitution and disci-
pline. After four days this important
matter was indefinitely po stponed, and
as no committee on commi ssion was ap-
pointed before adjour nment, nothing
will be done toward revis ing the laws
of the church before the next general
conference in 1896.
The next important question which,
by the way, was settled rs far as the
general conference is concerned, was
equal representation Of lay and minis
terial delegates. 1t now requires
| two-thirds vote of the annual confer
ences to carry into eff ect the action of
this body. While the Fl nal action is far
off many warm friends of the laymen
predict that two-thirds Of the annual
conference will not indorse the plan.
The next important step was the wo-
mems question, which after hard fight
resulted in slight vic tory for the
ladies. DR.. Hamilton Is the Moses who
led the women out Of the wilderness of
obscurity. He offered a resolution
which instead Of putting the burden on
the women, put 1t on the men. His
resolution required that in order to
constitutionally settle the matter, a
proposition be referred to the annual
conferences, whereby the words "who
shall be men only" shall follow the
words "lay delegates" wherever they
appear in the plan of lay delegates. In
order to interpret the words In that
manner, three-fourths of the annual
conferences must so vote, and II they SO
vote, then two-thirds of the next gener-
al conference must concur in that inter
probation. 1t will thus be seen that the
women who control a majority Of the
conferences will win the day in the
general conference, alt hough they will
not be able to be seated until eight
years hence.
The. report Of the committee on the
state Of the church touching dancing
and other worldly amusements was
fled with the secretary. The COM
mittee did not agree. The ma
jority recommended that 1t believed
that there was no sufficient reason
for making the proposed changes The
minority report, signed by eleven men,
bers, recommended that the portion Of
paragraph "a after the words intoxicat-
ing liquors and including all the other
so-called worldly anu sements be ex-
plunged and that a new paragraph be
inserted in the discipl inc, the gist Of
which Is as follows:
No true Christian can doubt that any amuse-
ment which diminishes the spirit OF prayer In.
terest in spiritual things disqualihes for earn.
est efforts 10 lead men 10 the conservation OF
their hearts and lives TO God, Is wrong. Nor
can any Christian engage in any diversion which
has pernieious effect upon the young or which
cannot be safely initiated by them. Amuse'
| ments also which lead the worldly minded "a
suppose those who indulge In them are not do
voted Christians should be avoided He who
would please his neighbor for his good 70 edit
cation will indulge in nothing whose general ef
fect is bad, even though upon himself II may be
| indifferent or as he supposes good.
We aneotonately urge our members not 20
blindly follow their own inolinations or 70 imi'
tate the multitude who live unto themselves
and enjoin upon our pastors the duty OF expos
tulating with tn ose who are obviously In danger
of auhatitutinp arthiv lows for those OF true re-
| ligion.
II will be seen that the minority
simply desired to eliminate the present
penalty, which provides expulsion for
those who disobey the present discipline
relating TO dancing, theater going, horse
racing, ETC., and allow church members
10 decide for themselves whether they
desire TO 30 amuse themselves, there be-
ing no penalty to hang over their heads.
The report OF the committee on Ep-
worth League, was again taken up DR.
Caswell moved 10 consolidate the gen.
eral secretaryship and the editorship Of
the Herald. II was defeated. The
next fight was a motion to strike out
the clause permitting other societies 70
continue In existence on equal terms
with the League. This was defeated.
Another important piece Of legisla-
tion was the refusal TO remove the time
limit on the location Of preachers The
provisions remain as they were enacted
at the last general conference.-the
years the maximum location.
The powers Of the bishops were cur
tailed in two instances The conference
Is given the power OF rejecting tho ap
pointment of Judiciary COMMITTEES
which passes on appeals and the bishops
were denied the right TO appear before
the book committee TO argue In favor or
against an appointment TO fill vacancy.
Despite the assertion OF the bishops
that the church has no place In politics,
the conference adopted the report on In
temperance, which pledged support 10
all organization banded together TO sup
press the liquor traffic, which was Inn
piled TO mean an Endorsement Of the
prohibition party. Later on o resolu-
ton declaring that the conference did
not construe its adoption Of the report
70 bind 1t to any political party passed
without dissent
The practice Of polygamy was de-
nounced In unmistaltable language, and
the federal government asked to In
crease the duty on opium 10 such an ex-
tent as 10 prohibit traffic in II. The
church put itself on record as favorinR
the worlds fair and favoring ample ap-
| propriations onlv on the conditions that
the gates should be closed on Sunday
and that no Intoxicating liquors be sold
on the grounds A commission 10 meet
the Methodist Episcopal church south
10 negotiate an organic union OF the