The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1901-06-20
Women as Church Legislators,


Women 40 Church Legislators.
The annual conferences Of the Meth.
od1st Episcopal church are voting this
year on the proposed new constitution,
which authorizes the election Of WON
en- as delegates to the general confer
ence and thus abolishes all sex dis
tnction in the ecclesiastical politics of
the denomination. s.sr s, zs7x
| Up to 1872 ministers only were mem
bers Of the general conference. That
year marked the admission of laymen,
not more than two from an annual con-
ference. After a few years it became
evident that the hymen would demand
equal representation with the minis
tiers, and at the general conference in
Chicago last year the demand was con-
coded. These changes simply made
more insistent the demand for the same
ecclesiastical privileges for women as
men. In 1883 five women presented
themselves at the session of the gen.
eral conference in New York as duly
accredited lay delegates, but the con-
ference decided by a vote of 237 to 1893
that they were not eligible. Then an
amendment to the constitution was re-
ferred to the annual conferences de-
claring that lay delegates may be men
or women. The laity as well as the
ministry voted on the question, the
vote of the former being 235,OO0 for
and 10000 against, while the vote of
the ministers was $500 for and 5,1OO
against. AS majority of three ourths
was necessary, the amendment was
lost. In the face of this defeat three
women appeared with proper creden-
tails as delegates before the general
conference of 1896. They were chal-
lenged and withdrew.
During the subsequent quadrennium,
however, the question of the eligibility
Of women was again submitted to the
annual conferences, but the vote, which
was this time over two to one in favor
Of the change, still fell short Of the nee
essary majority. At the last general
conference the temper of the body on
the question of woman's eligibility was
evident by the heavy vote recorded in
favor Of the amendment making the
admission of women possible. AS far
as the returns from the annual confer
ences have been received, the indica-
tons are that the vote will be over
whelmingly in favor of adopting the
new constitution.
The signs of the times, says The Out
look, point to the early termination of
hard fought battle, upon which many
persons outside Of the denomination
have been looking with interest, and to
Methodist Episcopal church-a general
conference in which men and women
shall sit together, deliberate, transact
1L:-~:roes and enact LEGISLATION for tho
benefit of their common church.
The Houston Post, with pardonable
pride, has been consulting the census
returns and gathering some interesting
statistics concerning Texas. It finds,
for instance, that there are not two
other states in the Union which to-
gether contain as much territory as the
Lone Star State, which has more
ground than New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Massat
chusetts and Wisconsin combined.
Here are some other combinations that
tend to convey an idea of the greatness
of Texas: Six states the size of Penn
sylvania could be- carved from Texas,
and then there would be enough left
to make Connecticut. South Caro-
lima, with it's hundreds of cotton mills,
isn't equal in size to one-eighth the
area Of Texas. Massachusetts, tenn
ing with factories and with a popula-
ton seven-eighths that of Texas, is not
equal to the size of the largest county
in the Lone Star State. Little Rhode
Island, with 400 people TO every: square
mile, would easily fit in any of 40 diff
ferent counties in Texas. Connecticut,
Delaware, Rhode Island and the Dis
trict of Columbia could all be placed in
Ell Paso county, which has an area of
1888 square miles. Pecos county
would hold the Hawaiian Islands, and
there would be 1858 square miles left
to form another county larger than
Rhode Island.
Captain Franklin, U. S. A., says in a
report on the trOOns in China "Our