Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-09-27
Continued from last week.

"A IeW evenings later most OF the
soldier delegates paid their respects
to Mrs. Grant, and from that Incl
dent, word went out over the church
that it was the soldiers in the Cen
eral Conference who elected Newman
bishop, just to please Mrs. Grant.
OF course that was sheer nonsense,
for, the soldier delegates as we'll as
others voted for ]. p. Newman be-
cause they recognized in him bishop
timber, and because some of them at
least felt that the opposition to him
was born and nurtured by a narrow
ness which had no proper place in
the Methodist Episcopal church. That
their choice was a wise one, was
fully justified by the record Of Bishop
Newman during his Episcopal career,
for the Office was magnified in him.
The all-absorbing question before
that General Conference, however,
was the eligibility of women as dele
gates. 1t was claimed by some that
the word "Laymen," in the Disci-
pline should be interpreted so as to
mean both sexes, while others stout
iy -s4raintainsd that IL could only APP
ply to men. Two women had been
elected as delegates and were pres
ent seeking admission. The question
of their legal status as to seats in
the body was before MS and it must
be fairly met and dealt with. A few
great speeches were made on either
side of the question by representative
men of the church which would have
done honor to the Senate of the
United States, or the Parliament of
Great Britain in their palmiest days
it was finally agreed that the ques-
tion should be submitted TO vote
of the Annual Conferences, inasmuch
as it involved a change in one of the
restrictive rules which could not be
made until acted on and agreed to
by the Annual Conferences. The
necessary steps were taken and wo-
man was finally admitted to the Gen
eral Conference, 10 her great salts
faction. SO many preliminary steps
were necessary however, before it
could be accomplished, that she did
not take her seat until twelve years
later
" In
New York The sessions of the Con-
ference were held in the forenoon
and committee meetings in the af-
ternoon, while the evenings were oc-
cupied with addresses by distinguish
ed members of the body, and by not
ed visitors and representatives of
other churches. | had been placed
on the committee on Itinerancy and
on the Freedmen's Aid Society, as
signments which pleased me we'll.
The committee on Itinerancy ranking
second only to that of Episcopacy,
which is always given to the chair
man of the delegation.
A good many of my evenings were
spent at the Florence Mission on
Bleecker street, which was open all
night, every evening in the week.
Here were gathered the thugs and
thieves and cut-throats of the. bow
cry, and the slums of the city. Fallen
women in great numbers were
brought in and everything done to
rescue them from the awful life they
were living, that love could suggest
or means provide. A good lady of
great wealth had charge OF the mis-
sion and she devoted her time TO bet
tering the condition of the under
current of the city, among whom she
was exceedingly popular, and it was
said that she could go anywhere in
any part Of the city at any time, day
or night, alone, without fear of
molestation. The worst characters
of the slums were her protectors and
would have given their lives in her
defense. The room in which the
meetings were held was always filled
to overflowing. The singing and
praying and much of the speaking