The Portland daily press., 1896-02-15

LIIoftS TO MAKE Ii ran Gut After It's flfst
Failure.-The Report of the Committee
of the Presbytery Against the Scheme.
(From the Chicago Record. }
Washington. Feb. 3--The Presbytery of
Washington met this morning to receive
the report OF committee that was ap-
pointed several weeks ago to investigate
the troubles III the First Presbyterian
church. The report, which was unani-
nous, and was unanimously adopted by
the Pfesbytery. severely condemned the
Board of Trustees for usurping the au-
thorlty OF the session and invading the
constitutional rights and privileges of
the pastor The committee declares:
That there is no lawfully constituted
power vested in the trustees of a church,
or even IN session. to deprive pastor
OF rights and privileges which are part
OF the mutual agreement between him
and tho people and ratified by the Pres
bytery in the service of installation, and
such deprivation, even if supposed to
be desirable, can be effected only with
the approval of the Presbytery Certain
ly, wherever the jurisdiction is to be
sought, 1t IS matter with which the
trustees have absolutely nothing to do"
The committee then recommended that
the Presbytery emphasize its position by
the delivery Of six principles setting forth
that the trustees have nothing whatever
to do with the religious affairs of a
church, but are simply responsible for
the title and custody of it's property.
The history of the case is as follows:
After the destruction of his BROOKLYN
tabernacle by fire and his failure to Or
ganize an independent church at the
Academy of Music in New York city, DIR.
lallnage entered into an arrangement
with the trustee Of tine First Presby-
trian Church of this city to become asso-
ciGte pastor with the Rev. DIR. Byron
Sunderland and the Rev. Adolos Allen,
The church was very much in debt, and
the income for ten or fifteen years has
not been more than 81, 600 or 1000. The
expenses amounted to much more. DR..
Sunderland received salary Of So, $40.
Mr.. Allen So COO, the sexton $3.50, the
choir $1,000, the Sunday school s65, the
fuel and light account amounted to $500,
and the interest on 500, 600 debt at five
per cent was $1,000, making total of
S7,6S5. Under these circumstances it was
impossible to offer DR.. Talmage salary.
Therefore. as he would be afforded an
opportunity to deliver the sermons which
no collie ro 20,
$500 week, he agreed to accept con-
tingent compensation, and the following
extraordinary paragraph was inserted in
the call:
And that you may be- free from world
ly cares and avocations. considering
generosity, we do not specify any definite
sum of money for your recompense. but
we do hereby promise, pledge, and oblige
ourselves to pay to you such sums of
money and at such times as shall be
mutually satisfactory
In other words, DR.. Talmage accepted
the associate passionate OF the First
Church as a speculation, there being
secret agreemsent. between him and the
trustees that he should have the differ
encei Between the revenues of the church
and its necessary expenses. As this has
been question of controversy, and DR.,
Sunderland has pronounced it false, the
latter gentleman was asked, in the in
terest of truth, to state what compensa-
ion DR.. Talmage receives:
"No, will not" was his sharp re-
ply.
Nor would he authorize the treasurer of
the church to give any Information.
Capt. Tyler, President of the Board of
Trustees, also refused to throw any LIGHT
upon the financial arrangement between
DR.. Talmage and the church, but ad-
mitted that the latter had not received
any compensation since he has been
preaching here.
''He does not care for money! said
Capt. Tyler. "He is not worried by III.
He has sufficient income, and the only
use he has for money Ia the good it will
do others"
Under the original arrangement DR..
Talmage was to preach evenings and Mr..
Allen was to occupy the pulpit at the
morning service as before. In order to in
crease the revenue of the church a new
arrangement was adopted by which indi-
vidual sittings were sold. the maximum
price being rs cents per Sunday. The
former members of the congregation were
allowed to OCCUPY their old places at
such rate as they could afford too pay,
the scale running down AZ low as s cents
per Sunday. The attendance at morning
service was usually small, butssoon after
the fame of DR.. Talmage az an orator
brought out great crowds on Sunday
evenings, so that several policemen we're
required to keep them in order. Those
who had bought reserved seats were ad-
mitted at certain door, and were re-
quired to be in their places fifteen min
utes before the service began, for at that
hour the doors were opened and tho crowd
rushed IL. But the attendance even in
the.evening has gradually fallen off, and