Morning journal and courier., 1892-04-26

gates, and will no doubt be deeply interest ed in whatever the conference may do
 Possibly, too, its policy and feelings may
 be modified to some extent by the spirit oi
 brotherhood the gathering may exhibit
 This will surely be the case should favora
 ble action be taken upon the memorials to
 be submitted looking toward organic un-
 ion of the two bodies Still this is not the
 conference of the church south, but the
 general conference of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and it's decisions, therefore, can only affect in any binding sense the members of that church. When it is re- membered, however, that there are nearly two million and half of these-not count ing adherents-and that this church, in the aggregate both of its benevolences and membership, is far in the lead of all other Methodist churches, it will be readily seen that in speaking of it's quadrennial confer ence as one of the greatest conclaves in which Methodists ever convene, we nave kept quite within the truth, and that we have not at all overestimated either its di- rect influence or the power it must exert indirectly-being the governing body of the largest amongst them-over the Meth odist churches in general.
 This conference is & delegated body. It consists of picked men from both the cler- gy and laity. The fifteen thousand minis ters of the Methodist Episcopal church are divided into one hundred and thirty-one annual conferences, and every four years each of these makes its selection, general ly by ballot, of the men who are to repre- sent it in the quadrennial conference. The ratio is one delegate for every forty five ministers and one for every fraction of two thirds of that number. A confer ence which is large enough to send two or more ministerial delegates sends also two lay delegates. These are not elected by the ministers, but by laymen, who meet in conference by themselves for that ex- press purpose. Some of the annual con ferences are so large that they send as many as six ministerial delegates; but the laymen are allowed not more than two, and where but a single minister is sent, only one. This gives to the laity repre- sentation in the law making body of only about one-third... In the last general con ference the figures were: Ministers, PSI; laymen, 175. The elections to the coming assembly are not yet complete. The full returns, however, will show @ similar dis proportion, though there will be a slight increase in the totals.
 Naturally the laymen are. dissatisfied with this state of things. Paying the bills of the church, they feel that they ought to have more influence in making the laws and filling the offices. But the ministers think differently. Required to vote not long ago upon the proposition whether laymen should be allowed equal represen- tation in the general conference with themselves, they met the issue by an em- phatic negative. The vote in favor of equality was 2,s92 against 5,476. To eff feet such change as this, not only must the ministers be favorable, but they must assent to it by three-fourths majority. Instead of this, however, they have put themselves on record during the present quadrennium by a majority of almost three-fourths on the opposite side.
 Another proposition which the minis ters in their annual conferences have failed to indorse is that which looked toward the admission of women into this governing body. It was virtually decided by the last general conference that the question of woman's eligibility was a constitutional one, and that the movement to admit her must go through the regular constitutional course. This required, as in the other case cited, three-fourths majority of the ministers voting in the annual conferences and two-thirds majority of the delegates to the general conference. How the body last named will vote remains to be seen, but the proposition is already defeated for the present. It has secured a majority, but not 8 sufficiently large majority to make it 8 law. the vote being 5,602 in fla vor of admission and 5,191 against it. The vote of the laity on this subject which counts, however, only as an expres- sion of opinion-wss: For, 235 ,66S; against, 163, ,S43.
 Both of these questions will engage the attention of the brethren at the confer ence about to convene. So far as legisla- tion is concerned they will bs the most in teresting topics that body will consider. It is not possible that the laymen will be any better satisfied with minority repre- sentation than they were four years ago; nor is it conceivable that "woman, lovely woman," will rest content under her ban of exclusion. At the last general confer ence the woman question was under debate for about six days. It was hard nut to crack, and the orators on both sides brought all their strength to bear in the effort to extract 8 satisfactory kernel. Af- ter all, however, the question is still un- settled, and it is not in the least unlikely that we shall hear over again in the com ing conference the same arguments pro and con which were threshed out in the last, and shall witness also, in the effort to have women seated on an equal foot ing with men, the same scenes of ever memorable excitement.
 As to the admission in larger numbers of the laymen, this is opposed strenu- ously by many of the ministers. not so much because they object to the princi- pie involved, as from the fact-to state the case broadly-that they are human, and do not, therefore, like the idea of taking the bread out of their own mouths. To send lay delegates to general confer ence in equal proportion with the clergy would mean that finally a smaller num- Der of the clergy could enjoy this honor; for to make the conference two-t thirds larger than it is, or even one-third larger, with the two order sitting together, and with the sessions continuing through a whole month, is prospect not to be thought of for a moment.
 Possibly a solution may be reached by providing that the laity and clergy shall deliberate separately in diff-rent build
 ings. Meanwhile, it is proposed to re-
 lieve the situation at the gathering about
 to convene by seating the two orders on
 opposite sides of the house. Heretofore
 the laity and ministry have been mixed
 up, and the point has well been made
 that such an arrangement tends to keep
 the laymen in the background; that they
 not only cannot muster as many votes as
 the clergy, but that, as the case stands,
 they have less chance than their more nu-
 merous and more valuable brethren to se-
 cure the privileges of the floor. What will
 be done in this matter we shall know short
 ly. But it goes without the saying that
 having to adjust so many matters of deli
 cacy; with the woman question still on its
 hands and the struggle for equal rights be tween clergy and lsity clamoring for set tlement-to say nothing of the many high officials it will have to elect, and the many changes of discipline it will be asked to make--this conference will have plenty to do, and will attract to itself 6 large share of public attention. H. T.