New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-05-01
,,rTHODISTS MEET AGAIN.
o,.nRENNIAL CONFERENCE BEGINS
TO-DAY IN CLEVELAND.

Am DELEGATES GATHERING IN THE
c1ry-sEcRETARY HERBERT WITH
r,,rM-ouEsTIoNs TO BE CONSIDERED.
inv TELEGRAPH TO THE TRiBUNE]
.,...,and April So.-Between the bishops ana
.N,ssat.s 10 the Methodist General Cohieren.e on
ueNsa hand and Secretary Herbert and Mayor
the oh0 40 other Church and State are well
o"0"e Tod IN this city to-day. Most OF the ho'eis
Typ .u n overfowing, and some or them nave
az cunning applicants away. with the posSioie
pee" .,ion Of Bishop Thoburn. Of ASIA all 'he
49,, bishops OF the Church are mere a'iu
esn ',, oil OF the 5S7 delegates to the Conference
h' arrived They have spent the day principais
na' s,sr,ss;ng the burning questions that are 10
'h ,n IN the Conference, and In canVassihs '"c
CON" - various candidates for office. Waver1ng
cnaA ,.s have been constantly buttonhoied by 'he
ee -. y. various candidates. 1t Is thousht 'iia'
"'" nave been converted in this way out IN inc
n~.t.-snce as in political conventions "'pou' van
~ mill the votes are counted.
'eu .hod,sts do everything with great heartihess'
., not surprising, therefore. that they go
sno business Of Church politics with keen zest.
"na-new question is now likely 10 come I'D
c,nference which adds to the preliminary
..s, Of the canvassing for ONCE. Al present
W. W.. az. two foreign bishops-Taylor' OF Africa
- rhoburn OF Asa-who are dessha'eo do "'''-
anu bishops 1t Is now proposed to do away
Gonai, s,,,,ct,on Of homo and missionary bsh-
WIN r,rg all bishops equal in rank and juris-
ops , and elect five six altogether TOT Inc
ee w. Acid This scheme is favored by many VINO
cha, the present arrangement favors the au-
i'- y If foreign churches 1t Is also Favored py
''n'"' orrent preachers. who believe that In case
' ',, odontion the episcopal lightning would strKe
o. us az, - vhsre they live. There Is consid-
very so,,, however whether the Conference will
ADOPT the idea - $3.50.
mn. local Committee OF Thirty-two deserves great
o., IFS success in fitting up the central
pc orv "a an auditorium for the meetings OF the
conference 1t is yet unfinished by the Guy pu.
N,,tes took hold OF IT, ard by much hard
the c0"" ,,s expenditure OF about $4,000. raised
wa xr.,os,sts OF Cleveland. they have made II
!" Wv .,asentable 1t will comfortably seat 1000
N.. siorsther 1000 Of the seats for the public.
49, so,irely free and the building is tastefully
s s.~1 with bunting and flags the American
49, n,ssom.nating The acoustic properties or
a.. building are as yet unknown, but If necessary
~ ,cc,I committee will take every measure TO
maav defects The delegates are quartered at
a., various hotels and boarding-houses. the general
cnrrh hearing the expense Of their entertainment.
"a well as other expenses inclaeht 10 'he eo"-
,srence which will aggregate $4,000 this year,
There are quite number OF coioreo oe'esa.es
from Africa and two Japanese delegates, namely
Y Hondu. clerical. ana L. Asoua' '"'' A"e' W
want bishop for Japan
During this afternoon large number or dele
gates and their friends inspected the auditorium
and expressed themselves as muSh pieasea WIN IL,
1rst worry OF every delegate s where his delegation
snail be seated. At the Omaha Conference FOUR
;;bs QUESTION costing the church $1,000 in time. and
even then many dissatisfied. II is proposed
%st This afternoon and assigned the various dele
cations to seats by lot. The keenest interest is
question s t though the delegates say little. What
they really think Of 1t will come out to-morr0w.
when Trey find out what sort OF seats ,neS weak
voice In back seat might almost as well go nome.
Voices SSs and everybody will probably be happy.
matter how the seats are apportioned. ~ o..u.
The question that seems TO oyershadow al othe ds
Is that Of admitting women as lay delegates; wncH
may be sprung on the conference on the opening OF
The morning session -Four MOI ydia y Trm
ysrtS india, and Mrs; D: ]: Parker: Of North
he arrus conferences to which they belong. The
secretary OF the General Conference has their ere
either read their names in the rolcaIl omit them.
De reads their names some anti-woman deiesase
gate in favor of women viii object. An objection
HON either side will bring the question before the
or J-woman delegates say women already egi-
Bile by implication. and they therefore want the
Conference TO admit them without debate The
anti woman delegates say constitutional question
is involved and If they see that the feeing i0r
tr, 10 Rave the whole matter reegated TO further
c. oference hoping thus to wear out the patience of
IT, sdyocates of women as lay delegates.
those who have taken sides at all on the question
have developed very strong opinions on the subject.
and would suppose in listening 10 them, that
the Church in danger OF being split IN two.
but II will undoubtedly be settled In a satisfactory
way. and three months after it is settled every one
viii have forgotten that there ever was such a
question.
A pleasant feature Of every General Conference
~ te social side. Methodists are noted for their
sociabity and to-day everybody has been shaking
hands with everybody, and going over the old times
together. Many good stories are told at these
gatherings, and In every way II is made manifest
that religion has not disordered the Methodist liver
Philadelphia, April 3o.-At the General Conference
Of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cleveland
two distinct reports of the work OF the last four
years. that Of the General Committee and that of
the Board Of Church Extension. will be presented
The report Of the General Committee is accom-
panied with tabulated statements showing amounts
nked and amounts received during the entire
)ehod Of the Church Extension work. The dis
'Gepancy between the amounts received and the
amounts asked-sn average of As 40 per cent-re-
that the work OF Church Extension has been greatly
crippled by the failure of pastoral charges, and
therefore Of districts and conference.-the respond in
inl TO this asking. The General Conference Is de-
sired to give careful attention TO this subject
The report OF the Board OF Church Extension
DEALS also with the same subject and shows that the
and the total receipts in response 10 these calls
= NH1. being IS 40 per cent Of the amount asked
y also shows that the largest aggregate Of con-
sserence collections In any one year was In 1852
tooSO N-and tina. they steadily declined during
the Quadrennium until for the last fiscal year they
amounted TO tH 60. being s3l196 50 less for the
,as' nah lot the first year of the quadrennium and
e. sne TOTAL for these four years was larger than
'"' any preceding quadrennium.
NO INJUNCTION TO BE ISSUED.