The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-04-10
THE WOMEN WIN 4 VICTORY
Eligible as Lay Delegates in the
Methodist Protestant Church.
A VOTE TAKEN in CONFERENCE
They May Sit as Lay Delegates, But
VIII Not BE Permitted as Minis
eral Conference-ProIni Min
listers Take Sides ON the Question.

BallllnOres AprIi ~ uc uSp"Ic u"
the question of the eligibility of women
in the Methodist Protestant conference in
this city occupied st OF the day yes
terday and resulted in partial
victory for the women. 1t was decided
that they are eligible to sit as lay dele
gates in the general conference, but will
not be permitted as ministerial representa-
tives. The first resolution, which was in
two parts, brought up for discussion. was
as follows:
Resolved, That the general conference
shall consist of an equal number OF minis
tiers. either male or female, and lay repre-
sentatives, either men or women"
Strange as it may seem, the discussion
of this one resolution took up nearly the
major portion OF yesterdays session. Min
listers and laymen alike shared in the de-
bate, which became more and more in
VOWED in obscurity the longer it was con-
tinued
The first signal for the long decision was
given by Rev. DR.. L. w. Bates, a professor
in the Westminster Theological Seminary,
whose many years do not make him less
active u gaining the floor, or in delivering
telling points, either by clear logic or ludi-
crous insinuations. He said that he was in
favor OF considering the sections separately,
especially since the resolution was not Is
perspicuous asst mighJbe. He was, he said,
in favor Of voting To admit women as lay
representatives, but he was opposed To
making them eligible to orders, which
might be inferred from the resolution, il
w f3Vnripr
admission of an equal number OF minis
tiers, either male or female, to general
conference, it might be claimed, de facto.
that he favored eligibility OF women TO
orders-a thing to which he would never
give his consent.
Dir. E. ]. Drinkhouse, who took promi-
nent part in the discussion, agreed with
DR. Bates S to the ohscurity of the resolu-
ton, and moved that the second resolu-
ton be taken up for consideration, no ping
that the situation might be cleared some
what 10y disposing OF that resolution, W hich
favored the eligibility of women to the
order of elder in the church, an apparently
unpopular one, even with the lay delegates.
He, at this point, gave expression to
sentiment that applied to many present
when he exclaimed: Why. the more and
more we talk on this question, the more
obfuscated / becomei'' Before this mo-
ton could he considered. Rev. W NJ.
Strayer gained the floor, and said that
the resolution, as offered. was more am
biguous than the overture sent down by
general conference four years ago, the
consideration of which was ignored by
the Maryland conference. 1t was then
decided to consider the second part of the
overture, as follows: Resolved, That
women be made eligible to theorder Of elder
in the church. - which was lost by vote OF
100 to So
This did not, however, throw much more
light on the first part of the overture.
Some suggested that the overture be
changed in its teXt-a thing clearly I'M
IawfuI-whiIe others wished to face the
situation sQuarely, but could not understand
how, WHEN opposed To the first section
and in favor of the second, they could
vote for the overture as a whole.
At this juncture Rev. DR.. j. T. Murray
arose to explain away the difficulty, hav-
ing been, as he stated, the author of the
overture at the general conference. He
said he felt Inundated that the resolu-
ton should be such a stumbling block to
not the text of the resolution, should be
considered, and that a slight change in
the phraseology be made DR.. ]. j. Muir
ray said that would never do, since they
would not then be voting on the overture
sent down from general conference. Con-
tinuing, he said: The author of this over
tUre is usually very perspicuous IN has
style, but in this instance ne is not Nor
should there be any surprise at this, for
we are told that even Homer used to nod,
and it can be easily understood how, amid
the excitement of conference, some oh
scurity and ambiguity should creep into
a resol ution. / see the obscurity, but can
offer no elucidation, except that We vote
upon the sections of the overture singiy."
DIR. j w Herring, the president of the
general conference, made clear and
forcible address from his point of view.
In part, he said: 1t appears to me thatthe
confusion about this resolution is more APP
parent than real Let us divest ourselves
OF all questions not pertinent to the case,
and understand Just what we are doing.
We are voting to make law OF the church.
No woman can be admitted to general
conference from annual conference, I'M
less the Law of the church expressly rec
ognizes IT, You have just voted against
admitting women to the order of elder,
and that settles the question, so far as this
conference is concerned. Therefore, it APP
pears 10 me that we can safely vote upon
the resolution as whole, as was Intended
that we should do by general con-
ence''
Rev DR. Bates still held to his position,
claiming that if the first section were
adopted, then those women who have
been ordained, and whose ordination, he