The Sentinel=record., 1914-05-17
CONFERENCE FINALLY SETTLES MATTER BY ADOPTING THE
 MAJORITY REPORT.
LONG AND FIERCE DEBATE
Follows as to Whether the Confer ence Shall Carry the Legal Fight Through the Higher Courts--Or- derly Vote Is Conducted.

Oklahoma City, Okla, May 16.-Tt was with a sigh of relief at II o'clock tonight that the secretary an nounced the final vote on the Van derbilt committees report, thus set tling this question, which has almost monopolizcd interest of the general conference of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, South, for the ten days of it's session. The fight has been fierce and hard one, but one remark able feature of the whole affair has been the good nature that has pre- vailed
 The conference adopted the major ity report of the committee of 15, which had had the matter in hand since the second days session of the I conference, This committee held eX- ecutiye sessions every night since ap- pontment and not until Friday did it make a report Two reports, ma ! iority and minority, were presented, and at 1 1 o'clock this morning these reports were made the special order and were discussed by a large num- | Der of delegates, both clerical and llay. The reports were discussed fro ma sentimental humorous and legal standpoint. In the early stages of the discussion it became evident as to the result, by the applause ac- corded the speakers. Those for the majority report created the greatest demonstration. The delegates were all worn out and tired by the long session, yet nearly every one stood by his post to the last and the roll calls on both reports were taken in most orderly manner.
 The argument of the reports of the committee of fifteen on the Wander ] bilt matter presented to the general | conference of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, South, which was begun at the morning session, was resumed when the conference met again at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon.
 Bishop w. k. Warehouse of Los Angeles presided. An attempt to have the vote at 10 o'clock tonight by an aye and nay vote was defeated and w. D. Bradfeld of Austin, Texas, who had the floor at the noon hour, opened the argument for the ma iority report. He said the decision of the supreme court left the church only one or two courses an absolute surrender or a whole hearted cooper ation. He then traced the history of the university from 1874 to 1910 and showed how gradually the board of trustees had encroached upon the rights of the church, some with the dhurchs consent and some without that consent t had been a record of encroachment on the rights of the church He said the conferences had lost the initiative and their repre- sentation on the board had been re- duced
 Judge J. NJ Mccormick of Dallas, Texas, the only lawyer on the com
 
 nority report, made a strong argu- ment for the minority report. He l said the supreme court decided only two questions. that of a self-perpet- uating board and to deny the visito- rial rights of the bishops He de clared the decision left the legal rights of the church when they were l from 1898 to 1910 and declared that | the right of the board to fill yacan- | cies subject to confirmation was a contract and could not be broken except by consent of all parties thereto He declared that the ma jority report was a document of pes simism It declares the rights left the conferences are negligible and as it does not know what to do with them, it wants to give them to their poor kin.
 Dr. T. N. Ivy, editor of the Chris tian Advocate, Nashville, Tenn, in his argument referred to the gift of Andrew Carnegie as a "gratuitous insult" to the church. He agreed with Dr. Bradfield that there must be a complete separation or a com plete cooperation.
 He said the church could not enter into complete cooperation because that would mean an endorsement of an institution highly antagonstic to Alcoholism and declared that this an