Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1913-10-09

Rurch the Suffraaan Bishop OF the
same diocese. tine Very Roy. Dean NJ
Gorsvener, and the Canous OF the
Cathedral, DR.. George #. Nelson. DR.
William Douglas and DR.. f. ]. Little
assisted in the celebration Follow
ing this the opening sermon was
preached by The Right Rev. Or. VII
liam Lawrence. Bishop of Massa-
chlsetts. Following the sermon HI
convention adjourned TO the National
Academy of Designs. ut Amsterdam
avenue and the Cathedral Parkway
whore each day OF The convention a
lunch vii be served fer the members.
The two houses Of the convention
the House of Bishops and the House
of Deputies convened for organIza
ticn imediately after lunch. The
Bishops meeting in the oldSynod Hall
New synod Hall, their recently com
pleted gift of the late J. Pierpont Nor
gan and the late Bayard Cutting.
both OF whom die dbetore the sTuc,
ure was completed.
The House of Bishops, which holds
is sessions behind closed doors is com
,osed Of 116 members but only 1Oo
:re present at this conventions This
House is presided over by the Most
Rev DE-. Daniel sylvester futile, the
highest ranking clergyman OF the
Episcopal Church in the United States.
In this country the title OF Archbishop
is not used as it is in the Anglican
church. but Bishop Tuttle performs
,he functions and duties that are per-
formed by the Archbishop in England
At the death OF one presiding Bishop
the office falls to the next in rank
the order of seniority being reckoned
from the date Of conservation. There
is a movement on foot at the present
convention. it is understood, to change
this order of succession and make the
office an elective one, the House OF
Bishops to chose from among thei1
number the presiding Bishop. The
advocates of this plan argue that as
rule the presiding Bishop under the
present order is such a venerable per
sonage that his age precludes his
fulfilling the ardous tasks imposed
upon him.. Even now the Bishop:
select chairman who actually pre-
side over their deliberations when
n session, the presiding Bishop, oc-
cupying merely an honorary position.
Those, who are opposed to the propos-
Cd elective system say that it would
ultimately devolve into somethin:
like the papacy, the House of Bishops
would resemble tt.- House OF Cardi-
nails at Home and the man chosen
would 'ye to intents and purposes,
Pope.
House of bishops, is that the session
be made public, instead Of being held
in oarera as at present. This pro-
position came up at the last conven-
ton at Cincinnati three years ago
but no action was taken on it. AL
though it is ALMOST certain to be
brought up in this. convention. it is
not likely that it''wil be adopted. The
House Of Bishops have been holding
their sessions behind closed doris for
the past 12S years and most of the
Bishops themselves are opposed to any
change in the procedure.
The House of Deputies, which bears
somewhat the same relation to the
House OF Bishops, as does the House
OF Representatives to the Senate in
our national Congress, is composed of
$40 members, 305 of them being
clergymen and a like number laymen.
The sessions of this house are presided
over by a president, elected from
among the clerical members. The
president erected at the last session.
is the Rev. DR.. Randolph McKim, of
Washington. The selection of his sue
cesor will be one of the first duties of
the Deputies in the present conven
ton. In this Connection there are two
prominent candidates in the field, the !
Rev. William 7. Manning of Trinity |
New York, and the Rev. Alexander
Man of Trinity, Boston. The former
is high chuchman while the latter
is a low churchman SENS to be in the
majority Among other candidates for
the Office are the Rev J. Howard
Melish of Brooklyn, Rev. j. H. Nc !,
Ilvain of Pittsburgh, Rev. A. B
of Baltimore, Rev. FioyG
w. Tomkins of Philadelphia, Rev. w
A. r. Goodwin of Rochester, N. Y, and
others. In the case of a disagreement
OVar Dr Man and Pr Naming one of |