Omaha daily bee., 1896-05-31
THE METHODIST CONFERENCE
Growth and Liberality of the Church Illus
trated by Statistics.
FINAL REVIEW OF THE PROCEEDINGS
Tussle Between Laymen and Minis
ters-The Wives of the New
~Dishops-Pen Pictures of
Impressive

CLEVELAND, o., May 2~7.-(Special Core
spondence Of The Bee.)-There Is no gather
ing OF religious workers Just like this Meth
odist general conference, and no church
which gets periodically the thorough adver-
tis.ng this does by means of the noisy pro
ceedings of this body. Perhaps, too, there
is no church which, by the hard work II
does and the success it achieves, so well
deserves this distinction. Bishop McCape
who makes a speciality OF church statistics
youches for the statement that one-third
of this church, as it stands today with Its
2,750, 900 members, Is the creation OF the last
twelve years, and that in the foreign mis-
sions of the church more converts have been
made In these last twelve years than In all
the years preceding. Another of his aston
fishing statements is that this church gives
annually to the work of God, at home and
abroad. about $24. 600. 900. So THAT, as he
graphically puts it. the Methodist Episcopal
church could annually, by it's contributions,
reproduce the great White City Of the
Worlds fnir, and have, each year, a surplus
of 81, 900, 600 for pocket money.
The marvellous success or this church has
its influence, no doubt, In causing the con-
ference to move so slowly as 1t does in
making changes. The woman question has
Deen acute 1Or more tnun elBut years., yet ~
is still unsettled. Longer still have the lay
men clamored for additional recognition, yet
this conference has voted that IL will not
give the membership OF the church a direct
vote In sending representatives to this body
and has refused to commit itself to the long
pending proposition to make the laymen In
It equal in number with the ministers. The
only thing possible Is to submit the question
for a third time to the annual conferences,
and what the result is likely to be the
reader can infer from the adverse fate the
same proposal has met from those bodies
in the two quadrsnniums Just closed.
BENT ON REFORM.
Never were the laity Of the church more
bent upon reform. and, to their credit II
should be said, they never held themselves
under better control. One point of special
soreness is that the ministers insist still
church offices. They have refused again to
even admit laymen to a share in the respon-
sibie Management of the Book Concern,
strictly secular though that business is. The
two lay candidates, Charles II. Magee for the
New York agency, and George b. Johnson
for the Cincinnati house, could each run up
to about ITO votes, but they could get no
higher. The ministers are not willing at
present to turn over these fat positions TO
even such well equipped and popular lay
men as these. Nevertheless the lay dele
gates. though they feel sore, are keeping a
cool head. They are not drawing the line
very closely In the voting, and this is the
first general conference at which they have
failed TO show their strength by demanding
a vote by orders.
The vote In committee for removing the
time limit was 2S In favor to 3S against, a
vote which would probably represent the
sentiments OF the entire conference. II is
very significant. by the way, that the demand
for removal comes almost entirely from the
ministers, and that the laity are ~overwhelm-
ingly against IL. There have probably come
TO this body as many memorials urging
the continuance OF the time limit as petit
lions asking that It be abolished. Not a few
have urged a return to the former limit OF
three years. The committee on itnerancy
hss reported that at the farthest there