Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-02
Vestry Recognized by the Rector
Organized for Work.
OTHER Side PREPARING ITS APPEAL
Statement of the Case Made by
the Committee.
THE LETTER TO MR.. GRAHAM

Pursuant to the notice which he gave
Tuesday evening at the close Of his speech
to the warning factions in the parish of
st. Marks Church, Mr.. Graham, the rec
tor, met the de facto -vestry of the parish
last evening at the church and presided
over meeting to organize the vestry and
proceed with the business of the church.
The situation was discussed, and the
opinion of each vestryman present was
sought that there might be general
agreement upon the policy to be pursued.
AS result of this review of the difficulty
| 1t seemed best to the rector and his cabinet
to take no further action in regard to the
contention in the church and await fur
Their development from the Torbert party.
The rector holds the designations of two
of the de facto vestry, supposed to be Mr..
Nicholson, who is a member Of Waugh
Chapel, and not a member of ST. Marks,
and Mr.. Adam Gaddis, both of whom, real
izing the unfortunate situation in which
| they are placed, express The desire to with
draw.
The rector, however, taking the ground
| that the designations had been offered in
| order to make opportunity for compromise,
holds them In allegiance and they will not
| be accepted, there being need of such
action in Mr.. Graham's opinion.
De Facto Vestry Committees.
At the meeting last night J. B. Bennett
was chosen delegate to the diocesan con-
| vention, which meets at Epiphany Church
the last of this month, with ]. Walter
| Cooksey as alternate A committee on
pews was appointed, consisting of r. j.
Earnshaw and w. r. Hillyer; on auditing,
| E. K Lundy, L. A. Wood and Adam Cad
| dis: on business, j. B. Bennett S. b. Roane
| and w. II. Marrow; music. S. b. Roane and
| w. s. Nicholson, and ushers, r. j. Earn
shaw, c. b. Fonda and ]. A. Heady. Gross
receipts for the support Of the parish dur
| ing the year ending with Easter were re-
1 Go
| of about $1,000. The mission contributed
| for its own support s253.53 not receiving
any support from the parish funds.
The Torbert party will present its case
| to the diocesan convention, and no pains
! or labor, 1t is said, will be spared that will
/ contribute to the completeness and corce
| Of their statement. Affidavits covering all
| the points in controversy have been taken
| well versed in questions CT church polity
| and the special local peculiarities of the
law will be brought into the case, and the
] convention will not be in the dark on the
| questions involved. In case the decision is
against the contestants 1t is understood
there will be no further appeal.
The other Side.
Messrs. W. T. Kent, John Chew and VIM.
| R. Hillyer are members of the committee
| that has represented the so-called Torbert
party. This committee had a conference
last night and arranged to carry it's appeal
| to the diocesan convention. The commit
tee decided also to give out the letter it
had drawn up and presented to Mr.. Ora
| ham, setting out their case, since as they
state. Mr.. Graham, in his public statement,
had referred to the letter and quoted por-
ton Of it. The text of the letter is as fol-
| lows:
| LAS notified to you by our letter of April
| "a, 1898. we were appointed a committee
| to wait upon you and inform you of the
action taken at meeting of large num-
| Der Of the stated worshipers in the parish
! church, and the reasons that impelled
| them to that/action.
1.-The origin Of the trouble that has cul-
minated in the present discord in our
| parish occurred before your advent among
| us, and we therefore feel that in coming
| to you we come to an unprecedented mind.
untrammeled by any personal wishes or
| desires beyond those looking to the well
fare of the parish, the unfolding of the
| laws of the state and of the church, in spirit
as well as letter, and the maintaining of
| the integrity of our mother church.
| Our parish. for nearly quarter of a
| century, had established a reputation
among its sister parishes as one in which
harmony and peace dwelt; in which there
was no bitterness nor strife: sBut this con-
| dition was abruptly terminated at the
| Easter election Of 1894 by the injection of
methods into that election entirely foreign
| to the practices that had hitherto pre-
| vailed by springing upon us unqualified
voters, voting out some of our Oldest and
| most efficient officers and electfng in their
| stead persons not legally qualified for the
position of honor and trust bestowed upon
| them Our people were rudely shaken by
| this assault, but they submitted to the
| indgnity looking forward with hope to be
| able at the next election to right the
wrong done them In thus placing Illegally
| in power persons who did not represent the
majority of our people-the stated wor-
| shipers-at our parish church
"Emboldened by the success Of their
| scheme last year, and by the meekness
| he naOnla
they again essayed to repeat In holder
and more aggrieved form the tactics OF the
year before. Under these repeated assaults
| forbearance has ceased to be virtue, and
| we have risen to claim our rights-and this
Is the issue, the only issue involved. We
| claim that the vestry organized April "A
| of which Mr.. Torbert IS registrar, Mr.. Mar
low treasurer and Mr.. Chew lay delegate,
| was elected by majority OF the Legally
qualified voters Of the parish present at
| the parish meeting of Easter Monday, 1885
that the vestry is the judge of the quail
! fications of the voters We admit, but they
| are so under the law, and in so judging
they must be governed by the law. They
| cannot detract from nor qualify the re-
| uuirements established by the law so as to
| make any man a voter by their judgment,
| regardless of the provisions OF the law The
insidious attempt made through the pub
| LEGATION of a circular Immediately before
the election to involve you and our loyalty
to you in your work among us was I'M
| worthy of persons protesting broad Chris
|
our personal knowledge and intercourse
with our people that you have no more
loyal and devoted parishioners, who are
| with you, not for the furtherance of any
| personal scheme or project but for your
works sake, than those whom We repre-
| sent.
I'VE deeply deplore the necessity that
compelled US to take the step we have TO
| preserve our rights-no other course was
| open to us as men and churchmen. For,
| once break down the barriers by which we
| are protected from the incursions of per-
| sons who have no abiding interest in our
institutions, whose votes we believe were
| paid for, whose allegiance is due, not to
our mother church. but If to any, to foreign
bodies. and you threaten the temporal
| foundations of our church. upon which as
a body polite 1t is built. And we are pre-
pared to sustain these allegations by evil
| dence.
I'VE regret. also. that your absence from
the city deprived us of your counsel and
| advice at this critical period, but the
limited time allowed by law for the posting
Of the required notice as to the amount OF
charges to be paid during the coming year
forbade further postponemen., nor was ouI
action taken without legal advice and re.
view of the laws relating to our contention