Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-03-07
EAST AGAINST WEST
Shall Women bo Admitted to
 the General Conference.
MEETING TO BE HELD AT OMAHA.
Questions of Importance to be Settled at
 This Session.

MethodistS Looking Forward to the Gen.
 eral Conference With Great Interest-It
 VIII Be Presided Over by Sixteen BIsh.
 ops, and Will be n Very Large Body
 Serious Discussions are ExpeGred--NIany
 Delegates are Instructed How to Vote.
 NEW YORK, March 7.-The great de- Lucrative, legislative and executive body of the Methodist Episcopal Church, known as the General Conference, will hold it's next quadrennial meeting this year in Omaha. The session will occupy the entire month of May, and for several reasons they promise to be fraught with most notable results. Methodists are looking forward to the General Con- ference with great interest.
 At least two questions are bound to come up, the settlement of which may cause the birth of new denominations. A large number of other questions are likely to cause undue excitement, as upon them may be reflected the influence of the greater questions, without any reference whatever to the merit or de- merit of the lesser. Many of the annual conferences have instructed their dele gates to the General Conference how to vote on the question of admitting women to the conferences, and, whether favor ably, to cast their votes on every other question, no matter how remote, accord ingly. Therefore, a delegate in favor of the admission of women will not vote for any man opposed to their ad- mission, no matter what office he may be put up for.
 The General Conference will be very large body. It will be made up of six ministerial and two lay delegates from each of the III Annual Conferences, It will be presided over in turn by the 16 resident Bishops of the denomination. The Annual Conferences ard divided into two classes, called the Spring and Fall Conferences, from the season of the year in which their meetings are held. The majority of those conferences have al ready elected their delegates. Those of the East are now assembling, and much attention is being directed to them in the hope of discovering indications as to what course they are likely to pursue on the great questions of the day.
 The East and the West were directly arrayed against each other in the prelim mary votes that the General Conference of 1888, which met in this city, directed should be taken on the woman question in 1S90 and 1891, the West voting largely in favor of admitting women, and the East on the other side. The delegates that the Western conference have elected are known to be almost all "woman" men. while in many instances, to guard against any possibility of conversion by the eloquent orators of the other side in the conference. special instruction has been given to vote for the admission of women as lay delegates. In the case of tEe Cincinnati Conference, delegate who has been instructed that way is 8 pronounced ''anti-woman" man.
 Will the East adopt the same tactical is q question often asked in Methodist circles. Here in New York and Brooklyn. where the foes of women are the most bitter and most numerous, the prevail ing sentiment is that the delegates will not be hnmpered in any such way. There is no likelihood that any but antiwoman men, however, will get place on the delegation from either the New York or | the New York East Conference.
 Five women succeeded in getting elect ed as delegates from as many conferences | to the General Conference of 1858. They were Miss Frances E. Willard, of the Rock River Conferences; Amanda G. Hind, of the Minnesota Conference; l Angie F. Newman, of the Nebraska Con ference; and Lizzie D. Van Kirk, of the Pittsburg Conference. They were elected under tine interpretation of the term Hay" us including both men and women | but the General Conference was not l ready to let them take their seats.
 The decision to exclude the wOmel | was not reached until an animated anC very general discussion had taken place l When it was finally decided to bar out l the women, it was also resolved that the question as to their eligibility should be I .nfa months of October and November, 1890 were designated as the time when ever! | member of the Church over twenty ont | years of age without distinction of sex should vote on the question. As the re
 suit would only be taken as indicating the sentiment of the Church, it wa
 further agreed that all the annual con ferences should also pass judgment II like manner on the matter in 1891, tn
 provision being that, if three fourtns 0
 their number favored She admission O
 women, then the General Conference O
 1892 would take it up, while fourteen,
 ma jOrity of the quorum of it's members
 should be sufficient to settle the question
 A representative anti-woman vote Il
 the East was cast by the New York Eas
 Conference. In the Brooklyn district 0
 this conference there are 7S churches, :
 of which took the vote. In the NeN | York East district there are ~ churcne
 57 of which took the vote. In the NeN
 York district there are "A churches, 6S C
 which took the vote. The New Have
 district has 91 churches, Fl of whic l took the vote. The churches whic I failed to vote were in every case tn
 smallest in the conference. The resul
 of the vote was 1883 for Rdmittin women and 3, J19 against the proposal.