Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-05-31
DANCING AND THEATRE GOING
WILL NOT BE coUNTENANcED
BY THE METHoDIsTs.
WOMEN FIGHT CHANGE
Are the Strongest Opponents of the
Faction Wanting the Restrictions
Removed-The Section is Strength.
ened.

Los Angeles, Cal, May 49, = BY the
decisive vote of AL to 1888 the Metho-
dist general conference yesterday re,
fused to adopt the minority report of
the committee on the state of the
church which advocated the striking
from the discipline of the amusement
clause against dancing, card playing
and theatre going. Immediately after
this action the majority report, to re
tain the paragraph and strengthen ii
by the addition of clause in the adj
vices, as recommended by the bishops
was adopted.
Debate Precedes Vote.
The conferences decision on this,
the most momentous question so far
as members of the church generally
were concerned before the body, came
at the end of heated and lengthy de-
bate. The most pronounced advocates
of the retention of paragraph 24S were
women delegates
Il was 16 years old when l joined
the church, and l believe my saliva
ton depended on that clause" said
Mrs. Florence Richards of the central
Ohio conference. a
AS a woman and as a mother l
plead with you for the retention of the
paragraph, plead with you not to put
any more perils in the way of our chill
dren,' said Mrs. P H. Bodkin of the
Southern California conference.
Plea For Young People.
Advocates of the proposed change
1rplIa6 fhat
out Of the church by an unnecessarily
severe restriction which was not obey
ed by many in the fold and could not
be generally enforced.
The man who says l cannot right
eously witness a Shakespearean drama
tonight and go to prayer meeting to-
morrow night" said Prof Winchester
of Wesleyan University, is either ig-
.norant or guilty of an uncharity that
is worse, in my opinion, than the sin
complained Of
Elections of secretaries resulted in
the choice of Rev. E. NJ Randall of
the Puget Sound conference as sec
rotary of the Epworth League and Of
Rev. j. T. Mcfarland, a Topeka, Kan
sas, pastor, as secretary of the Sunday
School Union and Tract society.
No Temperance Department.
The Methodist general conference
today voted down the recommends
ton of the committee on temperance,
providing for a special department of
temperance work by authorizing col
lections for it's maintenance.
The report Of the missions commit.
tee was adopted with some additional
recommendations.
Storm Follows Report.
There was a mild tempest over the
report of the committee on temporal
economy concerning the plan for the
relief of superannuated ministers. The
majority report of this committee re-
commended that fund for the super
animated be established through the
assessment of each active minister
per cent of his salary, and that distri-
button be made of the fund on the
basis Of age and retirement without re-
gard to the needs of the superannuate.
The minority report recomm ends the
appointment of special committee to
work out plan of relief. Rev. John
P. Brushingham of Chicago, made the
principal speech in support of the mi
nority report. He pronounced the ma
jority plan crude and unsatisfactory.
An attempt to table the minority report
failed and the majority was finally sent
back to the committee 1t probably
will be modified.