The morning journal-courier., 1908-05-08
DIVORCE DISGRACE Laws of This Country Denounc. ed in Methodist Bishops
 Address.
AMUSEMENT ALTERATION
Discipline 10 Be Amended to Cover. Il, General Terms, Such as Are
 Questionable.

Baltimore, May 7.--The address of the bishops of the Methodist Epscopal church, delivered at the general con ference today, deals with many ouee- tions now agitated by church members
 The bishops declare their unanimous lopinion that they ought not to be ehaIged with the investigation of any icnarses Of heresy, condemn the laxity of divorce laws and deal with the uues- tion of amusemcnte.
 They say the church has not vet reached unanimity touching the re- moval of the time limit from the pas torate, denounce child labor and ey- l press satisfaction at the defeat of inc attempt to ree-stlblish the army can l teen.
 The reading of the address was fro quently interrupted by applause al Bishop Goodsell voiced some telling point. When he had read scathina pronunciation of the liquor traffic he called upon the delegates to rise, and with the bishops pledge eternal en- mity to this foe of man and God" the entire delegates started to sing Amer ica,' the great throng caught up the l hymn and the hall resounded with ifs strains. LAs the last refrain ceased seme one began the hymn "Glory, Glory Hallelujah, Our God Is Marching On"
 This new outlet for the enthusiasm which seemed to grow was seized upon and to the tune of John Browns Body the verse was repeated several times. Vigorous handclapping greet. ed the announcement of the position of the bishops on the subject of amuse. ments
 Following are some of the most im- portant declarations of the address:
 "rhe consecutive polygamy permit ted by the divorce laws of some of our states is a disgrace to our country. II continues to und armine family life anC to break up into helpless and warning fractions that which God means ehal be a unit.
 We greatly rejoice that the eonsci ence of the nation is being quickened on this subject and that the demand for uniform divorce laws increases.
 "We are moved by profound convic- tion of duty in again calling your at- tention to the subject of popular amusements in relation to the spirit and conduct of spiritual life We regret that the general prevalence of harm full amusements does not diminish. w, still firmly hold that they are antagon istic to vital piety promotive of world liness, and especially pernicious tC , youth.
 We recommend, not that paragraph PAS be stricken out, but that 1t b amended by striking out the confessed l ly partial list of worldly amusement , found therein, beginning with the las , word in the eighth line and cndin
 with the word other In the eleventl
 line, which were inserted in 1872, leav ing as the ground for church trial, fl case such trial becomes necessary, tha , portion of the paragraph reading: , " Taking such amusements as arr obvious of misleading or questionab
 moral tendency or disobedience to tn a order, and discipline of the church, an, < especially our original rule to takini 6 such diversions as cannot be used f. I the name of the Lord Jesus
 "Grave injustice will be done If th 1 recommendation Is interpreted as a a abandonment of our early opposition { . worldly amusements. Indeed. 1t is a rc l turn to the principles and to the exat
 words furnished by John Wesley