The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-19
Nine Ballots for Bishop Taken by the
Methodist Episcopal Confer
ence without Result.
THREE MISSIONARY BISHOPS
TO BE CHOSEN BY THE CONFERENCE
BEFORE ADJOURNMENT.
Report of Committee ON Amusements
Against Change I'm Present Laws
-McCabe I'm Trouble.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
CHICAGO. May 1S.-The feature Of the
Methodist Conference proceedings to-day,
aside from the balloting for bishop, was
the action of the committee on amuse-
ments, which adopted a recommendation
that the church declare itself against all
amusements that endanger Christian life.
Nine ballots have been taken for bishop
without result Drs. Kelley and Bowen
have withdrawn. and DR.. Spellmeyer is
now in the lead.
The conference yesterday was twice dur
Ing the debate on the report of the COM
mittee on the state of the church treated
to the give-and-take game, in which Bishop
McCabe and DIR. Buckley were participants.
DR.. Buckley got unusually of the track
in one of his motions, which was clearly
out of order and the bishop called him
down promptly, much to the amusement of
the conference. By and by the previous
question was called on the motion. but be-
fore putting the question the bishop began
to say:
Before put the question I wish to"
II object; you are out of order. The rules
forbid the bishop taking any part in a
Il was only going to -"
81 object. You are out of ORDER" replied
DR.. Buckley.
The bishop said: 81 wish to say. all that
are in favor of the motion raise your
hands," and hands went UP numerously
and came down to clap vigorously at the
skill with which the bishop extricated him.
self from breach of the rules
BY the way Bishop McCabe is not a
model president in a storm; he is too good
natured and he gets befuddled with mo-
lions and counter motions. He would like
to make speech on every question, but
cannot. He had had so little experience
as a presiding officer when he held the Ne
braska conference in 1885, the second con-
ference he ever held, that he became so
confused that he confessed he had never
read the Book of Discipline through in his
like. and knew but little about rules of
order.
An interesting bit of law Interpretation
cropped out In the discussion of the mis-
sionary bishop question on Thursday. Some
people when defeated or about to be on
the merits of question take refuge behind
the constitution, whether the forum be a
civil legislative body or an ecclesiastical
one. 1t seems evident that the wants of
India and MALAYSIA demand two additional
bishops, and the trend OF opinion was man.
ifestly in the direction of providing them
according to Bishop Thoburns request,
when the constitution bobbed up and for a
while threatened to block the whole
scheme; it provides that "a missionary
bishop may be constituted, but it does not
provide for two or more. Now the original
discoverer of this truth happened not to
be layman, but he is powerful in eccle-
siastical law all the same, and he would,
metaphorically speaking, shed the last drop
of his precious blood rather than break or
even bend 1.-The constitution of the church"
Now we have several able lawyers among
the laymen, some of whom are eminent
jurists at home, who are required to pass
officially upon constitutional questions, two
of whom the other day touched the little
article "a" That as attorneys retained on
opposite sides in civil court, it would not
be strange that they should see "a" in diff
ferent light, if their case hinged upon it,
might be expected, but when two of the
most eminent gravely antagonfzed each
other, where fee is involved, looks
strange, but so 1t was in this case, one
maintaining that the phrase means one
missionary bishop and only one, while the
other assumed that in such connection
the conference could appoint "a missionary
bishop as often as 1T wished to, thus leav-
ing many of the members of the body SO
befuddled by this clash Of opinion upon
the scope of the meaning of the article
"a that they concluded that in this case,
at least, 1t is an indefinite article sure
enough.
Chairman Dickey got his first setback in
his attempt to capture the General Con-
ference for his Prohibition party's benefit.
By hurrying to the Office of the Daily Adj
vocate with the majority report. adopted
about o'clock Wednesday afternoon, he
got 1t in Thursday mornings paper. The
next thing was to get it before the con-
ference on it's passage, hence, early in the
day Thursday he got the floor and asked
it's consideration. He was evidently out of
order and the chair so ruled, but the zeal
he manifests shows the purpose of the
chairman of the temperance committee.
T. A. c..