The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-05-28
FINAL REVIEW
OF the Great Methodist Quadren-
NAL Conferences.
THE L4YMEN AND MINISTER'S
And the Tug Of War Rr'"sr" Them The
Cohfsrrncs and uAr ohrlstINn Endls"Vor
soelety-!The wlveuoE New BIshor' Pc"
PidtaEs. Of impressive scenes and of
Leading Personalities.

CLEVELAND, O., May S"-IHeEs ~
no gathering OF religious workers Just
like this Methodist conference, aud no
church which gets periodically the thor
ough advertising this does by means
of the noisy proceeding OF this body.
Perhaps. too, there is no church which,
by The hard work it does and the sue
cess 4, achieves, so well deserves this
distinction. Bishop McCabc, who makes
q specially Of church statistics, vouches
for the statement that one-thiTd OF this
church. as II stands to-day with Its
two million and thrce-quarters of mem
beers. = the creation of the last Twelve
wears, Nnd that In the foreign missions
OF the church more converts have been
made In these last twelve years than tn
all the years preceding. Another Of his
astonishing statements is that this
church gives annually to the work OF
God. at homo and abroad. about S2tOOO,-
600. So that ns he graphically puts H.
the NJ. b. church could annually by
It's contributions. reproduce the great
white city OF the worlds fair aud nave
zach year. a surplus Of A,OOOO1O Tor
pocket money.
The marvellous success OF this church
hns It's iniiucncc. 10 doubt. In causing
the conference to move 50 slowly az II
discs In making changes. The woman
question has been acute for more than
clEht years, vet Il h stu nnsetiled.
Longer still have the laymen clamored
for additional recognition; yet this con-
ference he's voted that Il will not give
the premiership OF the church direct
vUta w sending representatives TO TINS
body. and has refused O. commit itSeH
to the corresponding proposition to make
the laymen IN It equal in number with
thu lHiristets. The only talns possible
Is 10 submlt thu question for u third
time to the annual conferences, and
what tRe result is liksly ~ be the reader
can infer from the adverse fate the
same proposal has met from those
bodies In the two quadrcnniumS just
closed
Never were the laity Of the church
moro bent upon reform and. TO their
credit II should be said they never held
thea. selves under better control one
point OF special soreness is thai the
ministers insist still upon keeping TO
themselves all the great church Offices.
They have refused again 10 even admit
Inymen To a share In the responsible
management OF the book concern,
strictly secular though that business is.
Inc INO luN NtfWfttNhhtNt Nttfhsf"F -
Magee for the New York agency, and
George r. Johnson for the Cincinnati
house could each run IN 10 about 10
votes, hut they could get no higher. The
ministers are not willing at present to
turn over these fat positions TO oven
such well equipped and popular lay
men rs these Nevertheless, the lay
delegates. though they feel sore, are
kCsplng cool head. They are not
drawing the line very closely In the
voting. and this is the first general con-
ference at which they have failed to
show their strength by demanding
vote by orders.
The vote IN committee for removing
tho time limit was IS in favor to 81
against, a vote which would probably
represent tho sentiments Of The entire
conference. II is very significant. by
the way. thar the demand for removal
comes almost entirely from the min
istcrs, and that the lhity are over
yhelmIngly against II. There have
probably come 10 this body as many
memorials urging the continuance o!
the time limit rs petitions asking that
II hcnbOllshed Not a few have urged
a return to the former limit OF three
wears. The committee on itinerancy
has reported that at the farthest there
should be no change other than to pro.
vide that In extremely exceptional cases
the term nj passionate may extend 20
ten years. and even this Is not ADVISED
except as II may he demanded by n
three fourtls vote Of tho quarterly con-
ference and the SUBSEQUENT concurrence
az the bishop and thrCc-tourths 81 his
cabinet. Not only so. but the presiding
older Of the distrie, must also concur;
AMI MI these checks and guards are 10
operate actively every year SO that
eyer " Tho new plan should be intro
duccd II would not at all follow thal
tho man Who went back for MS skin
yCar would continue IT. undisturbed
pnsgcsyian of his church for the pro-
posed limit Of ten years, or thal ne
would necessarily be appointed for even
seventh year.
The Christian EnticNVOrrrH'
Incidentally. the Christian Endeavor
Society has figured in these proceed
ings. and there has boon widespread
mlaapprchension on this subject. The
Ftralrht OF 4, Is. thapln n committee
meeting, Dr. QuaylF, Of Kansas CIty'
had referred. by way df Illustration. 70
,l,c action Of body Of Endcnvurers In
prceIaIming publicly that at certain
time they would Offer special prayer
Tor Col. InEersoll. This action he called
IdIotlc. He was intending to show l
thiul;. that Christian EndcavOrcrs were
not necessarily perfect: that they had
NOT a monopoly Of the wisdom or the
serpeut. smile OF their doye-like harm
icssncss. He ala not say tho Christian
Tndoayor organization was an idiotlc
society. nor that all belonging TO II
t,s.rr 6S that character, He simply ap'
piled this singing cpithet to the Hpc-
ciac net OF certain number OF that
body. II was strong language. but what
caa YOU expect from n Methodist
urrnchcr when nature has ordained that
n sturdy. unfiurhtug personality shan
be topped on, ns in DR.. Quayle's case
with m ample Hh1ck OF wiry and fiery
hnir2 Mani however, whose locks are
of n different hue altogether think that
DIR. Duaylr called that widely -udyHr-
tIgel act % The Cleveland Chrl9tian
Endeay0rers by its true name. That ~
why the conference after hearing the
doclorB statement, declined to con
dcmn him, and Il Is not In the least
surprising, nor was II 1iscourtcoua, that
the conference should refuse, nj the
same time, 70 perform such an act OF
supcr"rogation ns would necessarily
have boon Involved w the motion which
h+N'H ~ ~ '"''J ''"'''' '''e o. wv
cicty.
Naturally. however, there Is aensl-
tiyencss Hnl The conference proposes
no action which % likely To- remove this
II viii not commit itself to practical
allIiatioH. not VIII u favor The add
tion to Its Epworih Leagues OF the
Christian FndenyOr uamc. Where
Christian Enleavor societies still cNist
In Methodist churches, thny WIN not
be intarforad with, excepting as the
trend toward the Epworth League may
caurc such interference, nut the organ
l2ntIon within tho Methodist fold "