The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-23
VOTE ON ARTICLES AT TWELVE TODAY Assembly Involved in Ugly Tan-
 gle Yesterday HALL MAKES ABLE SPEECH Re Says Church Is Retrograding and Urges Joining Hands With Other
 Churches to Go Forth
 and Conquer.
HALL MAKES ABLE SPEECH

The general assembly of the Presbyte- rian church decided last night to come to a vote on the articles of agreement today at F o'clock, at which time the de- bate will cease, and the matter be finally settled.
 The sessions of yesterday were intense- ly interesting, beginning with the hope of harmonious settlement, which de- veloped into a general muddle, and re- suited in dropping back into the same place where they were in the beginning. The day began by the announcement that the committee which had made majority and minority reports were considering compromise, and the discussion was de- layed until the afternoon.
 Happy Solution In Sight.
 At that time the ehairmen of the two factions in the committee announced that they had reached a happy solution Of all the difficulties in a compromise Whlcn amended the articles so as to take all powers away from the proposed council except advisory. For a moment the cry for "question" came from every quarter, and it was evident that at that moment the substitute would carry by a large majority, when a question was asked' the substitute was reread by the request or Judge Sites, the motion for question was tabled an eloquent attack was made against the substitute by the Rev. W. k. Dobyns, of Missouri, and the substitute and the happy solution were dead, all in few minutes.
 Hall Makes Able Address.
 At the night meeting it was tabled, and the discussion of the old minority and majority reports was reopened, ending with a wonderful address by Ruling Elder nf 1aa Ia Vanderbilt After minutely and viVldiy defending the constitutonality of the ar ticle, he ended with these plain asser- tions:
 ,.I am d layman dad l'--r in an age Of throbbing industrial development, in the current of life and am therefore anx- ious to see the Presbyterian church, south go into some agreement which will help take 1t out of its isolation get It out into the bustling current of life, ana wake it up from it's dormant sleep.
 ",rhe Presbyterian church. south, IS not doing what it ought to do. It has been steadily retrograding these last years This great church of ours once had control of all this broad southland, 1t owned vast educational institutions and had the possibility of claiming the whole country. Now we are retrograd- ing We have allowed perfect strangers to come in and outstrip us in every kind of church work, while we have allowed our institutions to go to ruin.
 "These are plain facts. You can't SUCK your head ill the sands and say IL IS not so because we are isolated, sitting off 10 ourselves, and declining to get into the activities meant for us by God. We are sitting on the sidewalk watching the pro- cession go by neither swelling its ranks, nor applauding it's progress.
 Help Us Into the Current.
 q believe these articles will help to get us out into the current to enlarge our efforts and facilities in mission work in foreign work, in educational Worh' III publication. The world is not interested in us, for we take no great part in its onward movements. If you are going to evangeize the world you must do It Tn the same way that the world IS con uuered in other spheres If the church can not line up its teachers, its lawyers it's railroad men, its merchants, and eV- cry class it is not power in the least.
 .sWe must think of this, and join hands with our sister churches to conquer. The man of today will take no part in an iso- lated church's work He wants broad and definite aim before him. The man of today is a citizen of the state of Ala bama, but he is also an American, with larger interests and responsibilities.
 q say this because I believe the time has come when men who live In libraries and cloisters can not direct the current
 
 the hands of men who live in the world, and I hope this is the start of a grand work to carry out the purpose for which God intended this church."
 Glasgow Reads the Compromise.
 The question of the articles of agree- mont came up yesterday afternoon when F. T. Glasgow of Lexington, Va took the floor He said: Many of us are profoundly grateful to Almighty God that how a ban lufion of all our difficulties. Since last nieht your committee has met many times in conference, asking Gods care in our deliberations, and both the minority and majority of the committee take pleasure fin offering this substitute for the whole" IJa then read the report, the important clause of which is, Resolved, That the articles of agreement adopted by the conference at Charlotte in March, lso6, be adopted by the general assembly and this church enter the council proposed by the articles of agreement, all of which is upon the condition that the articles of agreement shall be amended so as to read as follows to-wit (here is inserted the articles amended and that the repre- sentatives of this assembly shall be au- thorized to enroll members of this council as soon as the council shall ap- prove of the proposed amendments.'
 The amendments mentioned would change the articles by striking out the last clause in article 4, substituting the words flor their consideration for the last clause in article 6, and changing the words "two-thirds'' in article F to ''all. V This substitute would take away all jul dicatory powers whatever from the pro- posed council, making it simply advisory, and would require the consent of all the churches before any amendment might be made.
 Sites Causes Trouble.
 Mir Glasgow then said, without reserve. that he would adopt the substitute as his convictions. and Dr. Lyons of the ma- 1ority expressed his views as coinciding. Cries of question came from all quar- ters by men of both factions. and 1t seemed as if the whole difficulty had come to a happy solution, indeed, when Judge Sites of Kentucky asked that the sub etitue be reread When the clerk had finished Congressman McRae of Arkan- eas asked If the representatives of the assembly, would enter the council before