The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-06
THE WOMAN QUESTION.
METHODIST CONFERENCE STILL
TORN UP OVER IT.
..Men and Women Are One in Christ,
But Not in n General Conference
discussion May Be Prolonged.

CLEVELAND, May 5.-The fourth
| days session of the Methodist confer
ence saw that great religious body
still unorganized for the transaction of
business.
The debate on the eligibility of wo-
| men delegates occupied the entire day
and so far as the speakers are con-
/ cerned. there is no evidence of desire
to bring the discussion TO a close. Some
of the laymen are anxious to terminate
| the contest and it is said that a mo-
ton will be offered tomorrow morning
to close the debate at IL o'clock. If
that is done it is probable that vote
will be reached either tomorrow or the
first thing Thursday morning.
No sooner had Bishop Andrews call
ed the general Methodist Episcopal
conference to order this morning than
C. W. Bennett of Cincinnati, presented
a resolution providing for the appoint
ment of special committee to pass on
all communications from laymen. This
committee was to consist of one min
lister and one layman from each dis
trict. After good deal of debate, in
which Rev. Dr. Shire, of Detroit, eX-
pressed regret that any feeling exist
ed between the clergy and laity, the
resolution was adopted.
THE WOMAN QUESTION
was then precipitated by President
Daniel Stevenson of Union college, KY,
who criticised the action of the bishops
in deciding against women in 1888. Rev.
G. Nicely led the fight against the wo-
men. He held the question had been
of law purely. He said it was true the
Bible said men and women are
one in Christ, but they were
not in general conference.
He held that in the church the status
of women is different from that of
men. The question, he said, is. a con-
stitutioual one and no one is to be adj
:nttted unless specifically mentioned.
The delegates were thoroughly
aroused and the feeling ran high. Judge
Capies, Oregon; Senator Harlan, DR..
Buckley, New York; Rev. D. Harris,
Maine; Rev. DR.. James Chaffey, Min
neapolis; Rev. D. j. Hamilton, DR..
J. R. Day, DR.. Emery Miller, Iowa; and
several other men prominent in the
councils of the church, spoke upon the
question. When the hour for adjourn
mept arrived, the conference discon-
tinued debate until tomorrow morning.
No business will be done until
THE WOMAN QUESTION IS SET
TIED.
The lay delegates met at o'clock
and heard representatives from their
committee of fifteen appointed to con-
slider the question of extending the
term of pastorate. One report, signed
by General Rusuling of New Jersey
recommended that in exceptional
cases, ministers might be continued in
their pastorates indefinitely. A second
the change in the rule regard
ing the time limit, stating as a reason
that very often ministers remained too
long in churches and an amendment
was offered by a delegate providing for
an extension of time by rthree-fourths
vote of all adult members of the |
church at quarterly conference and the |
of a majority of pre-
siding elders of the district. Both of Z
the reports and the amendment were /
tabled. resolution recommending I
that the
PERIOD OF PROBATION
be changed from six months to three
months was also tabled.
A Delaware man asked for the adop-
ton of resolution requesting the
conference to shut off debate on the
woman question at noon Wednesday,
giving as his reason that the ministers
were using the debate merely as an
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