The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-17
HOW MANY BISHOPS
WILL BE ELECTED?
Methodist Conference Consfd.
ers Little but This Ques.
ton Now.

Los ANGELES, Cal, May 16.-Con-
trary to expectations, the result of the
secret ballot taken last Saturday by the
methodist general conference on the
subject of the retirement of Bishops
andrews, Mallalieu, Vincent, Walden
and Foss was not made public at to-
days session of the conference. There
is no doubt, however, that all of the
five bishops have been retired.
The conference today passed reso-
luton presented by DR.. q. Fl Forbae
or Minneapolis, providing for six
months full pay for the bisbons fron1
the cate OF their retirement. The reg
ular annual salary Of an active bishon
IN the Methodist church is $4,000 and
each retired bishop receives 50 50O a
year during his lifetime.
The amusement came up for further
discussion today. DR.. Elliott. Of De-
Irolt, presented a resolution setting
Iorth that there was no doubt in the
minds of many of the delegates as To
the constitutionality Of paragraph 258
OF the discipline, and asking that the
matter be referred to the judiciary
committee for a report. After much
debate. in which the charge Of uncon-
stltutlonality against the amusement
clause was characterized by DR.. J. M.
Buckley, Judge c. z. Lincoln, Of New
York, and others as an attempt to
sldetrack the question to avoid a direct
vote on it's merits, the resolution was
voted down.
How Many Bishops?
AT this afternoons meeting of the
committee Of episcopacy the question
OF how many bishops the conference
shall name was taken up and DR..
NvT
promised that the report Of his COM
m1ttee on the subject will be ready
tuesday morning. The number of new
bishops that will be elected is entirely
probIematic. The conference may or
may not fl all Of the eight vacancies
Fifteen names are being discussed,
the most prominent being DR.. w. f.
Mcdowell, secretary of the board Of
education; DR.. J. F. Perry, editor Of
Epworth Herald; DR.. Henry Spell
miner, of Newark; DR.. J. R. Day, chan
cellor Of Syracuse university; DR.. j.
w. Bashford, president of the Ohio
wesleyan seminary; DIR. H. c. Jen-
nlngs, agent of the Western Book Con-
Germ; DR.. George p. Eckman, of New
York, and DR.. J. w. E. Bowen, the col
ored educator of Atlanta, Ca A con-
stitutional provision is limited at which
may prevent the election Of a colOred
bishop The cOlored delegates, how
ever, supported by a goodly following
of white delegates are making a Wig
orous campaign for the election of DR..
Bowen, and If no constitutional bar
r1er Is found to prevent, 1t seems likely
that he will be chosen.
The session was spent in hearing re-
ports from the various standing com
mittees. The report Of the committee
on Epworth league received the most
attention. On this the conference be-
came involved in a parliamentary
snarl and In order to straighten itself
out again the entire report was re-
committed.
DR.. Buckley, chairman of the epis-
copacy committee, announced that the
report Of that committee on very i'm
portant subjects. which was taken to
mean the number of bishops to be
elected, would be made to the confer
ence at tomorrow mornings session.
The election therefore probably will
take place on Wednesday.
No Change in Pastoral Limit.
The committee on itinerary, by a
vote of 63 to SO, this afternoon decided
against recommending any change in
the pastoral time limit and the COM
mittee report will be presented to the
conference tomorrow. A minority re-
port, which will be submitted, will rec
ommend the restoration of the five
year limit, with a special proviso for
exceptional cases, in which a bishop
may appoint for a longer term, with
the consent and approval of five other
bishops.
In the revision committee this aft
ernoon an effort was made to abro-
gate certain rules relating to the
present conduct of ministerial and lay
delegates, which rules were originally
promulgated by John Wesley, and have
been part of the church discipline
ever since. 1t was urged that the
church had outgrown these rules and
they would not apply to modern times.
The proposition was voted down on
the ground that they should be re-
tanned for the proper guidance of and
good example for un-C Christian naorles-