Evening journal., 1900-05-15
METHODISTS
HIT CANTEEN
They CriticiSe the Attorney
General
TWO NEW BISHOPS PROBABLE
Five Year Limit Law May be AbOl-
iShed By The General Conference
in Chicago


Chicago. May 15.-The Methodist
Episcopal general conference commit
tee on temperance. of which Samuel
Dickie. Of Michigan, IS chairman. and
OF which Congressman NJ. n. John
son, Of North Dakota, author and
champion of the anu-canteen law, is
member, adopted resolutions yester-
day, which. in the minds Of a number
of the committeeman. at least. is
direct slap at President Mckinley. be-
cause of his acquiescence IN the de-
cision OF Attorney General Griggs de-
claring the law ineffective.
The resolutions are portion Of the
report Of a subcommittee into whose
hands the task Of preparing the COM
mittee's report to the general confer
ence had been placed, and was adopted
In the face of a motion to substitute for
IL minority report from DR.. Jacob r.
Price, OF the New York conference,
after a two hours debate, in which
the members alternately arraigned and
championed President Mckinley in his
stand on the anti-canteen law. The
report declares:
"We are chagrined. humiliated and
exasperated by the puerile and absurd
construction placed upon the anti
canteen law, so-called, by the attorney
general of the United States and with
all due respect TO his exalted position,
we record the fact that we are pained
and disappointed at the course Of the
president in expecting as final and
satisfactory an opinion without bind
ing force. Such an abuse of power Is
notification In its most dangerous
form.
Upon the president. as commander
in-chief OF our army, rests the respon-
sibility for the canteen saloon, an evil
which he has ample power TO suppress.
and which, to quote the Episcopal ad-
dress, is a more deadly foe 10 the sol
der than bullet or tropic heat"
While, because of an oversight on
the part Of the secretary, this report
was not signed, Chairman Evans, of
the central Illinois conference, stated
that the following members had been
AAhNA AHAt " tic IEllIls AuUAIIlAn
Evans, Prof. ]. w. Rashford. Cincin-
natl; Samuel Dickie, editor of The New
Voice; Herbert T. Ames, of the CEN
tral Pennsylvania conference. and DR..
George +. StOckwell. Of the Troy On.
" conference. Delegate NJ n. John
son had objected TO one OF the sections
Of the general report concerning pro-
hibition states ana DR.. Price had pre-
pared a minority report on the three
paragraphs referring to the president.
The minority report consisted of a quo
tation from the Episcopal address, and
read as follows:
Aroused and indignant at the ag-
gressions Of the liquor power; at the
inexcusable miscarriage OF the canteen
law. and ct the new perils in which the
nation Is involving its new possessions.
the church will summon and pledge
all our ministers and people to a more
determined struggle against this enor-
nous evil. and urge each TO contribute
thereto, according 70 his Judgment, his
testimony, his example and his ballot"
A motion TO adopt this portion Of
the majority report. followed closely
by a motion to substitute for it the
minority report, opened the question
to a heated discussion. The argument
of W. B. Howard, lay delegate from
the East New York conference, that
the majority report was an effort to
"belittle a public official" brought
forth the reply from DR.. William ID.
Parr, of North Indiana, that the re-
port could belittle no one when it
spoke the truth"
"I contributed to the presidential
situation as far as ! was able. but I
do not answer for the future" said DR..
Parr. IF man makes a mistake. let
him take the consequences, but let the
church face toward the right"
DR.. Eaton, OF Des Moines, referred
to claim that the president had been
present at a beer banquet" in Mil
waukee, and was friendly to the liquor
interests. I'VE might have made those
claims a part Of the report" said Dr.
Eaton; I'VE might have made the re-
port more personal, with good grounds
In fact the arraignment of the presi-
dent is mild in comparison to what
we might have made It,"
DR.. w. ID. Marsh, of Little Falls, N.
Y. said: Let the friends of the adj
in the general conference
kill this report If they will. They may
slaughter the report, but the people
viii have something TO say on the
question which the report concerns
r. H. Rose, layman from St. Louis,
who frankly announced himself a DEM
ocrat, said: "Must we refuse to act for
fear the general conference will sit
down on us? Let the committee have
the courage of its convictions, and let
the conference do as it pleases."
The reference made by Mr.. Rose to
his political affiliations called forth the
statement from DR.. Henry Brown, of
the Columbia river conference, that IF
the president were a Democrat the
committee would not hesitate to de-
nounce him." and that the committee
could not afford to sacrifice a principle
for a personal friendship.
The vote to make the substitute was