Smyrna times., 1904-05-25
LETTER FROM RICHARD M. COOPER.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE.

ton had been less fortunate than at
Chicago in 1900. They were then
near the platform, now we are away
back, almost under the gallery, where
1t is difficult to hear any but stem
torian voice or one clear and distinct
in articulation.
Delegate R M. Cooper CHARTERED at Hotel Locke
The writer had notified the commit
tee on entertainment to put him about
a mile from his work. Hotel Locke
is half mile from the seat of Confer
ence, one mile from the meeting
places of three of my committees, and
more than half mile from the fourth
place, on top of terrace GO steps
above the street, and my room 90 steps
higher yet. One brother quit the
place because he had recently had the
grip and it was too much leg service
for him. As [ am young man 1 find
no inconvenience.
One may wonder at the length of
time taken to do the legislative and
civic work (the General Conference is
the court as we'll as the legislature of
the church) of the General Confer
ence, but when we know of the great
variety and volume of the work to be
done, and the many men of many
minds who want to present memorials
and make speeches, we are not sur
prised that it takes four weeks.
Memorials are supposed to be prop
erly endorsed and signed by the pre-
siding officer and secretary of the
Conference, ministerial or lay, from
which they came, and sent to the Sec
retary's table by page and turned
over to the proper committee. There
are committees on the judiciary,
eplscopacy, revivals, boundaries, state
OF the church, and the many church
organizations and benevolences, each
of which has some matters to consider
and some of them many papers. State
of the church and episcopacy being
among the most important and having
the most work. After the appoint
ment of committees the roll of the
Conference is called every morning.
and any one having papers to present
answers to the call of his Conference.
rises from his seat and starts to the
platform for the special use of speak
ers, hand his paper to the secretary,
who reads it, after which the pre-
sentor makes his speech.
Committee Work of Vast Importance.
DIR. j. M. Buckley says that in a
company of 25 men there is likely to
be one crank (we laymen question if
he is not one of them); admitting the
statement to be correct, we have the
average of men on the Conference floor
that is found in all other meetings.
large or small, holding various opin-
ions and vagsries, is termed by the
possessor thereof to be the only wise
conclusion on the subject, or proper
method of dlsposing of it. So we have
speeches pro and con and notions as
to what committee the paper shall be
referred. In the hands of standing
committees the papers have to be di-
vided among several subcommittee
to get into shape for action, then the
several combined after consideration
and amendment. This done, they
come before the body for final dis
rosai.
Only one of the many committees
has yet presented a report, that on
rules of order, which came before us
this morning and half of it yet to dis
pose of.
10 Land Of Fruit, Flowers and Beauty.
Well, we are here in the land of
fruits and flowers, delighting our eyes
with the beauty, inhaling the sweet
perfumes and taking in, literally, the
delicious fruits. Daily we find in our
seats a spray of white carnation for a
button bouquet, and every day at
1870, ten minute recess, lemonade is
dealt out to us and an orange handed
us in the annex of the building. Phe
first session found a decoration of if.
teen thousand Gala lilies about the
platform. Daily changes are made