The news & observer., 1905-11-19

holder, and nominated DR.. Wilbur
Fisk A long struggle ended in
which neither side would yield; but
finally DR.. Capers was elected by q
vote of 80 to 70.
From 1926, although there were oc-
casional motions and discussions with
reference to slavery in the conferences.
the church seemed to be united on the
purpose of giving the gospel to the
slaves, and the history of that work
is, of itself, worthy of a place in
newspaper of magazine.
At the meeting of the General Con-
ference May, 1886, in Cincinnati, the
old ghost made its appearance again:
but it was promptly and effectually
vanquished by the adoption of re-
port which closed with this resolution.
Resolved, That it is inexpedient
to make any change in our book of
Discipline respecting slavery, and that
we deem it improper further to ag-
itate the subject of slavery in the
General Conference at present"
An abolition meeting was held in
the city during the session, for the
purpose of influencing the actions of
Conference. Two members of the Con-
ference attended that meeting and
made speeches, of which fact the Con-
ference took notice as follows:
Resolved by the delegates of the
Annual Conferences in General Confer
ence assembled, That they disapprove,
in the most unqualified sense, the
conduct of two members of the Gen
eral Conference who are reported to
have lectured in this city recently
upon and in favor of modern of aboli-
tionism.
Resolved, That they are decidedly
opposed to modern abolitionism, and
wholly disclaim any right, wish, or
intention to interfere in the civil and
political relation between master and
slave as it exists in the slave-holding
States of the Union"
The first resolution was adopted by
a vote of 122 yeas, to IL nays. The
second by a vote of 1877 to no,..lg.
That happened in 1885, and it does
seem to US, the Conference had for
ever settled the matter.
But, bark, We hear another noise.
For eight years. here and there, the
old ghost had been seen, and more
than once had made the effort to
stampede Conferences; but, so far so
good. No great harm had been done.
Abolition had been a failure in the
church, but it was a success outside,
and the outside, from 1886 to 1914
had been getting in its work upon
the church, SO that when the General
Conference met in New York in 1914
a ground-swel was felt and men star
ed at each other in amaZement whe
they began to realize that an earth
quake threatened to destroy the great
fabric of MethodiSm.
The first thing which produced /.
shock was a memorial from New
Hampshire taking exception to DR..
Capers, as a Missionary Secretary, be-
cause he was a Shareholder. A preach
er of the Baltimore Conference had
been suspended because he had mar
ried a young lady who owned slaves
The case having come to the General
Conference on appeal, the vote stood
III to So to sustain the action Of
Baltimore Conference in suspending
the young preacher.
The fight was on, and then it was
that DR.. Capers offered a preamble
and resolution calling for the appoint
ment of q committee of six to con-
fer with the Bishops as to the possi
bility Of adopting some plan, and
what. for the permanent pacification
of the church.
Four days after Bishop Soule re-
ported back: THE Committee of
Conference have instructed me to re-
port that after calm and deliber
ate investigation of the subject sub
mtted to their consideration, they are
unable to agree upon any plan of
compromise to reconcile the views of
the Northern and Southern Confer
ences.
Then a motion was made to take up
the case of Bishop Andrew. A com
mittee reported that an interview had
been held with the Bishop and pre-
sented the Bishops statement, in
which he said in substance that while
he had the control of a girl as a
trustee also boy and that his wife
he lately married, had slaves which
she inherited, and which she held in
her own right, he had neither bought
nor sold slaves. and in the two in
stances stated in which he held them
they would have been emancipated
if the laws of the State would have
allowed it.
Immediately after the reading of the
report, resolution was offered re-
questing Bishop Andrew to resign his
office as one of the Bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal church.
A long discussion ensued in which
some of the ablest debaters partici
pated. Finally two delegates from
Ohio offered as a substitute the fol-
lowing: Resolved, That it is the
sense of this General Conference that
he. (Bishop Andrew) desist from
the exercise OF the Episcopal office.
That was a step forward. Instead
of asking him to resign. they fixed
their lever to push him out.
Old DR.. Olin plead for peace, and
others sought to pour oil on the trou-
bled waters. After everything, that
had been said, seemed to avail moth !
ing, DR.. Longstreet, of Georgia, sub
mitted a paper, known as the Dec |
laration of the Southern Delegates"
which, states in a few words, that the |
action of the Conference with re-
gard to Bishop Andrew would pro-
duce such state of things in the |