Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-01

lcal missionaries. a Jsint committee. Drs.
John Williamson college sprlnsso and r.
H.. Turnbull (Argyle). recommended that
the detail OF reimbursing medical mlssion-
aries for extra expenses incurred be left
to the women's board.
ESp planning Their work.
Mrs. W. J. Reid, the secretary of the for
elgn work. and Mrs. II. c. Campbell, secre-
tary OF the home work, were then called to
the platform, and each made an address
covering her special department. Mrs.
Campbell explained how the home work was
conducted. One of its fruits, through Mrs.
Westerheld, had been the South Omaha con-
gregation. OF the total membership OF the
United Presbyterian church 10 per cent were
women and their self-denial had largely
enabled the women's board to disburse al
most $67,0 600. One OF the items put down
in the boards ledger as a debit was S25, 900,
but 1t was a debit in favor of Investments;
that is. seven home congregations had been
assisted to needed proper church accommo-
datlons through this channel.
Speaking Of the work among the freed
men she said the board had proceeded on
the theory that the best way to help the
colored brother was TO help him help him
self. With this in view a coo acre farm had
been purchased in Alabama. and 1t was
meeting with much success.
Mrs. Campbell is one of the prominent
Pennsylvania temperance workers. Reml-
niscently she went back TO the general as
sembly of 1856. II met in her city, Allie
gheny. and then for the first time in the
history of the church a woman was called
to the platform and made to look into the
faces of the delegates. That year the
women's board was organized.
She was followed by Mrs. Reid, who told
a story of the experiences of a nurse en-
gagged in the Christian commission work
! during the civil war to illustrate The sue
cess which must attend the miss lonary work.
The most effective work, she said. is being
| done by the women Of the church getting
into the homes of the superstitious heather.
The number of single women engaged in
mission work in the foreign field has greatly
increased. Besides ministering to souls
theiv labors included relief for the sick.
Pny for Medical Missionaries
Discussion ensued of the plan Of reim-
bursement for the female medical mission
aries. which it was proposed to leave to the
women's board to look after. DIR. w. w.
Barr, corresponding secretary of the. foreign
board, had a number of letters showing that
other denominations did not pay higher sal
aries to medical than other missionaries.
The effect might be to cause a general de-
mand for a raise of salary by all the for
eign missionary workers.
In reply to this DR.. Martin of India de-
scribed the peculiar necessities of medical
workers in the foreign field, and Mrs. Reid
reminded the assembly that the medical
missionaries had gone to great expense to
acquire a proper education. She also said
that as the work is being attended to by the
women's board it ought to be permitted to
attend to the disbursement. The difficulty
of securing medical missionaries at all was
emphasized by both DR.. Martin and Mrs.
Reid. Three very important items, said DR..
w. H. Mcfarland Muskingum), seemed to
have been obscured by the discussion. The
cost of preparation for a medical career, the
exposure and hardships suffered, and finally,
the shortening of their life. Drs. Turnbull,
w. T. Meloy and Witherspoon all favored
leaving the matter with the women. They
had raised the money, said DR.. Meloy, and
certainly ought to have the disbursement
of it,; and they had demonstrated wonderful
financial capacity.
But Dr.. Andrew Watson of Egypt argued
that If it were right to reimburse one class
of mission workers, it should also, as a
matter of principle, consider the extra ex-
penses of another. For example, he found
Cairo an expensive place to live in.
The result of all the discussion was the
adoption Of the committees recommendation
to leave this financial detail solely to the
| women's board.
DispOsing of Tobacco.
After the matter was disposed of the re-
port of the special committee on the tobacco
question was read. 1t called attention to
the action of the general assembly of 1888.
exhorting ministers and licentiates addicted
to the use of tobacco to abandon it, also
to that of the 1890 assembly, admonishing
ruling elders to consider the effect of their
example and calling upon pastors and ses-
sions generally to urge upon members the
propriety Of abstinence. Accordingly 1t sub
mitted the following resolutions, contain
tanning the questions to be submitted to the
vote of the presbyteries:
Resolved that the following be handed
down to the presbyteries in overture:
Shall there be added to part II, chapter
IL of our Book of Government, a section to
be numbered s and to be as follows:
The use of tobacco Is sinful and there
fore inconsistent with the Christian pro-
fession."
Shall there be added to part II, chap
ter VII. article 2, section 1, of the Book of
Government, the following:
Because the use of tobacco is especially
obnoxious in officers of the church no one
shall be ordained to either of these offices
who will not promise to abstain from the
use of tobacco"
Shall there be added to part III, chapter
V, section 2 of the Book Of Government
the following:
mo student of theology shall be admitted
to licensure or ordained to preach the gos-
pei of Jesus Christ unless he promises to
refrain from the use of tobacco
Another debate was started by DR.. Samuel
Collins of the Kiskiminetas presbytery, ask
ing for the word "habitual" to be placed
before the word use in the first question.
DR.. Mcfarland humorously recollected that
once he was a shepherd boy himself and
had to dip sheep in a tobacco bath and
that, of course, was 'habitual." DR.. r. d..
Williamson was well along in a speech in
which he was opposing the whole idea OF
making rules on this subject and was say
ing. You might legislate on this question
until doomsday. If the elders want to use
tobacco" when Moderator Ferguson called
him to order, ruling that the discussion
would have to be limited to whether the
/ mon Ia nl.a,ll H. t,-au.al -