The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-05-16
GENERAL M. E. CONFERENCE
VIEWS ON THE SITUATION BY I COR-
 RESPONDENT.

The IrrepressibIe Dr. Buckley - The
 Change of Elections-A Resume of the
 Work of the Conference-Disposi of
 the Woman Question.
 Cleveland, O., May Is. To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER
 Great things have been expected of this general conference, and one which is quite remarkable has come to pass, "A most astonishing occurrence it is, such as never was, and, by those famil- jar with the chief industry of former assemblies of this kind, never was dreamed Of This most talkative of all concIayes, political or religious, regis tered on Monday what Dr. Buckley characterized with gravity that made everybody smile as "an era of silence" The wind had given out and the ship was becalmed Not, however, hope lessly so, for the irrepressible doctor was on deck at that very moment, and it was not long until he had put pas sengers and officers in tolerable heart again by raising a breeze. But it was true when he said it, and the record of the fact ought to be preserved as one of the greatest wonders of a wonderful age. "The situation" he declared, 'is unprecedented. It was never so before. The conference actually is without speech-maker, and has not enough spirit left apparently to bring forth a speech producing notion
 But dead as the body seemed, it was not in the condition of the man who had been kicked by mule. There were remains in sight, and some of these proved to be quite lively. Grand old Dr. Lanahan, for instance, who has been a member of every general con- ference for about forty years and who knew his patient so well that he was able to prescribe effectually even for SC unusual contingency as paralysis of the vocal organs. In point of fact, the good doctors prescription was very familiar one. u never fails to set the wits at work and the tongues to wagging. We know whats the mat ter" said this wise-headed physician; s'business will make no progress till the elections are out of the way" Of course everybody agreed with him, and immediately the vote by which the 18th had been fixed as the day for the be- ginning of this all-important business, was reconsidered. Then came Dr. Buckley, who was so impressed by the .'new era of silence that he smashed it right off in the very act of calling at- tention to it, as he is quite capable, by his unrivaled power in debate. of breaking or making almost anything under the sun.
 "An earlier election, by all means" was his plea; "for, if this be delayed till Monday, how can we keep Sunday properly? The candidates may-they may; though anyone saying this must be thankful to the ancient grammari- ans for introducing the subjunctive mood; but, even if the candidates should do it, how can we expect that at twelve Saturday night their friends and supporters will be able thus to close the gates of thought upon such matters?"
 Then came pr. Hulburd of Delaware with an old chestnut which has done service in the mouth of some facetious brother as far back as the oldest mem ory travels. What he proposed was that elections to the Episcopacy should come last instead of first, the burr on this venerable chestnut consisting in the fact that almost all the candidates for subordinate positions are candi- dates for bishopric as well, and that to elect them to something else in ad- vance would be to smash, at one fell stroke at least for four years, all their Episcopal chances. But this confer ence could not be induced by even so persuasive a p1eader as Dr. Hulburd to be so cruel to itself. It is periodically invited to this course, but 1t always, with a knowing wink at it's own wis., dom and good laugh at the oratorical temper, respectfully declines. Thus 1t did on Monday.
 But to put the elections few days earlier was a proposal quite to it's lik- ing. Upon this motion there was no hesitancy; and, really, in view of the situation who can blame these worthy men? It costs, four dollars minute to pay Llle chIClloSo VI ellAo OoNsJ' AiN-A V they were, not only becalmed for want of takers, but with absolutely no busi- ness before them It was more than an era of silence; it was an era of wasteful inactivity For three mornings in sue cession the conference found itself again and again with nothing to do, yet with thecertainty that after time there would be more business than it could properly consider. Three times it adjourned shortly after eleven, some thing it was quite reluctant to do: but what else was possible, when it could neither fill time nor kill it? And here is a remarkable fact: Whereas, some years ago the conference would not hear Frances F. Willard, holding that its time was too precious it was glad on Tuesday to have a song and an en- core from Amanda Smith, the colored evangelist. Amandas first piece was, Tn some way or other the Lord will provide" and she rendered it so effec- lively as to evoke many ''amens." Bishop Fowler was presiding, and, as usual, was ready with his little joke. 'That was no doubt very comforting for the candidates he observed now give us something for those who are not candidates" and she tried to do it,