Arizona republican., 1904-05-06
THE COLOR LINE
It is Again Presented in
 the Methodist Conference
A PROTEST AGAINST 1T
In Opposition to a Memorial Recom- mending Election of COlOred Bishop. Usual Scoring of Sunday Newspa- pers-Church's Growth.

Los Angeles. Cal. May 5.-The Methods, general conference held two sessions today, the morning session de- voted to reading the quad:iennial ad- dress of the hoard of bishops of the Methodist Episcopal church to the gen cTal conference. and the afternoon tO the receipt and reference of. memorials of Ihe various annual conferences. The morning session was presided over hy Bishop Henry A. Warren, and the af- ternoOn session by Bishop J. w Wal den.
 The various committees got together during the early morning hours and elected their respective chairmea aud secretaries. but as there was no busi- ness before them, adlournments were taken until tomorrow.
 FeginninE tomorrow the general con- ference will hold sessions only in rh, morning. thus allowing the delegates to give their attention during the after noon to committee work.
 pr. George Elliott of Detroit. pre- scented a memorial to the effect that the committee on episcopacy had con sidered the advisabiiity of the election of a cOlored bishop. He said that he believed that the Methodist Episcopal church had reached a crisis in its re- lations with the colored race. If we are to hold the 3O0,OOO colored member ship we now have" he said. we ought to give them some sort of leadership which they understand and trust Iuai which understands them"
 Charles Fl. McClellanG, of New York, 9 lay delegate, spoke in opposition to pr. EIliott's resolution. Mir. McClellaud said he was very sorry that this resolu- tiOn was offered at this time; that if the, church had reached a crisis in it's relations with the colorcd people it was brought about by just such resolutions as this. He believed that the race question had been brought before con Ifarences entirely too much, and he said he hoped the present conference wouji see an end to this agitation. He was willing, he said, to see any man ele- vated to episcopal honors, regardless of color when that man should attain such worth and distinction as would war rant this high recognition.
 A resolution was offered by Rev. Horace Jacobs of the Central Penn | sylvanid conference to request the pub lishe.s of the Christian Advocate. the official organ of the conference. tO withdraw from its advertising columns all reference to Sunday newspapers. One of the publishers of the advocate gave assurance to the conference that if the resolution should be withdrawn there would be no further cause for complaint on that score.
 The reading of the quadrennial ad- dress of the bishops of the Methodist ! Episcopal church to the general con- ference was the feature of the day. l Bishop Cyrus B. Foss of Philadelphia read the address. It elaborately re- viewed the statistical records of thC past four years and set before the con ference many of the current prob lems which the church is facing. The present membership of the church is reported as 3,OS191S, an increase or 13S,O25 during the four years. The Sunday schools include an aggregate of 3.124,644.
 The world wide scope of the work of the church was indicated by brief re- view of the administration of bishops in foreign lands.
 Warnings were given against the current evils of the time, political cor ruption, the liquor traffic, tyranny of trades unionism, greed of interruptions employers, lynching, the negro question and Mormonism. Recommendation was made that a new chapter on popular amusements be added to the discipline. adnonishing AIethodists to guard their spiritual life and to avoid such amuse- ments as have a dangerous CT demor- alizing tendency. The chapter is in tended to take the place of the present 1 r11 ora nh casioned so much discussion at the gem eral conference at Chicago. four years ago. The address as a whole, made a deep impression and was received at the end with hearty applause.