The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-05-10
WOULD SET ASIDE THE
RULE AGAINST DANCING
Bishops Submit Their Report to
Methodist Meeting.
FLAYS GAMBLING AND SPORTS
They Have Something to Say About;
Divorces; Those Burlesque
Courts Grilled.

Minneapolis, May 4.-"The Ameri
can people are too far advanced
longer to be restricted by church
rules as to what their amusements
shall be. The rule prohibiting dane
ing, card playing, gambling and go
ing TO theatres, circuses and horse
races therefore should be abolished"
This is gist of a report present
ed in Minneapolis to the general
conference of the Methodist Epis-
cOpal church by the board OF bish-
ops.
In recommending the radical change
in the discipline, the twenty-four
active bishops stipulated that the
church. however, should not be in
different to thees subjects, but that
for themselves what is right and
wrong in selecting their amusements,
having before them only the injunc-
ton of John Wesley, which forbid
the taking Of such diversion as can
not be taken i'm the name of the
Lord Jesus"
Opposition to Theatre.
The bishops declared the church
reiterated its opposition to theatre
going and gambling, but the rule in
force since 1872 could not fix
point between the turf and the
stock market"
The bishops report was delivered
W pichnn ri Of Nacb-
ington, ID. c., and it formed the sec
Ond section of the episcopal ad-
dress, the first half OF which had
been given the day before.
I'VE would joyfully acclaim the
day when every Christian would
abstrain from the amusements which
have been prohibited, but we can't
repress our conviction that Wesley
dealt more wisely with the danger.
The bishops therefore recon-
mend a return to the consistent
treatment Of this subject by Wesley
and the more earnestly because we
are dealing with the American peo-.
pie and the intelligence of the TWEEN
tieth century.
hC9dTuin9 tnC cdHCC.
LAS a church We cannot approve
of dancing and theatre-going. No
sane person expects us to do that.
They are questionable amusements.
To us as to several of our sister
churches they who justify these
amusements as consistent with the
spiritual life seem to manifest a de-
plorable lack of spiritual perception.
Again, we stand unitedly against
gambling and we recognize clearly
that it is the same sin in Wall
street it is in the lowest resort, but
we have never ventured to legisla-
lively fix the point where the race
track gambler, passing from the
turf to the stock market, becomes
respectable business man, eligi-
BILE to church membership and the
chairman of the board of trustees.
In our absolute helplessness before
this question we must continue to
allow the world to suspect that the
larger the stake the more reckless
of public veal the gain, the less
vicious the crime, provided the win
ner pays tithes to religion or benev-
olence."
Anti-Amusement Rule Ineffective.
The report stated that 1856 out
of 2,057 district superintendent had
declared the amusement paragraph
in the church discipline was 'inef-
fective."
The bishops further recommended
that the church, instead of having
two temperance societies as repre-
scented in the Anti-Saloon league and
the Methodist Church Temperance
society have only one, suggesting
the expediency of abolishing the
church society.
1t also recommended that the
church return to the limit of five
years for pastorates, as was in force
prior to 1900. Much opposition is
expected to arise over the proposal.
At present the $4,000 Methodist
Episcopal ministers scattered over
the world are allowed Hto remain in
any pulpit indefinitely. The new
plan, supported by the twenty-four
active bishops at the conference,
will mean the restoration of the
time limit abolished in 1900.
Denounces All Boycotts.
The report denounced child labor
and boycotting in disputes between
capital and labor and Endorsed Pres
ident Taft in his attempts to pro-
mote international peace. 1t de-
nounced any attempts by any re-
ligious bodies to interfere with the
civil status of marriages of their
members when performed by clergy
men of other denominations.
Calling attention to the sugges-
ton made four years ago that the
rule of church discipline forbidding
pastors to marry those who have
been divorced ION other than spir-
itual grounds" be made church
law, the bishops recommend that it
Continued on Page Two.