Evening star., 1924-12-14
METHODIST BOARD
!. DEFENDS BISHOP
Charges Against Bast in
Denmark Are Declared
Without Foundation. r
By the Associated Press.

ny the Associated Press.
CHICAGO, December 13. - The
World Service Commission Of the
Methodist Episcopal Church today is
sued a statement which will appear
in the next issue Of the Christian Adj
vocate. defending Bishop Anton Bast
Of the. Methodist Episcopal Church,
arrested in Copenhagen. on a charge
of Incorporating charity funds.
The statement, which said that officers
of the board of foreign missions had
been acquainted with the situation
in Copenhagen, declared that they
have full confidence in the integrity
of Bishop Bast and in the manner in
which he has administered the work
in Denmark. and they have assured
him by cable Of their unshaken be-
lief in his ability to meet his ac-
-cusers in a fair trial of the facts be-
fore any court of law
Asks for Sympathy.
'We bespeake for the accused
bishop the sympathy and prayerful
support of all our people in the
trouble through which he is passing"
the statement concluded.
himself the friend of thousands
OF poor men and women in distress
when they had no other help, he
deserves the good will of every right
minded person, both in his own land
and in America, where he has made
hosts of friends"
Press dispatches from Copen-
hagen. Denmark. dated December 9,
announced that Bishop Anton Bast.
Methodist Episcopal bishop. resident
in that city. had been arrested on a
charge of mtsappropriating charity
funds,' the statement said.
Mfutster 2S year.
Bishop Bastis native of Lokhen,
denmark, and has been a minister of
the Methodist Episcopal Church for
95 years. Through the central mis-
sion in Copenhagen he has built up an
extraordinarily successful oreaniza
non for the relief of the poor. the
orphans, the aged, the seamen and
otner needy people. The work has
enjoyed the patronage Of the king and
mas been generously supported by the
pubic, somewhat like the Salvation
Army in America. In 1920. the gem
eral conference of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, elected him bishop and
paced him in charge of the Methodist
Ihurch In Norway, Sweden, Dem
marx and Finland. For the past two
years MS financial administration has
Deen under attack from a Methodist
49, ell, "HOSe cause
was taken up by local newspaper.
bishop Bast applied to the minister
OF Justice to authorize a full inquiry
into the truth Of the allega tions A
commission was appointed, which
made public its report last September.
An oflcial copy Is before US. 1t ap-
pears that all matters of complaint
were thoroughly Investigated, with
out disclosing any serious Irregular
ity. On the contrary, hearty praise
was given to the results of the mis-
sion work. The minister of justice
publicly stated that there was no oc-
casion to take further steps, but
Bishop Bast's persistent detractors at
once petitioned the government to
take judicial action to ascertain how
the affairs of the Central Mission
were being administered. This the
minister of justice again declined to
do. stating. that If the petitioners felt
able to substantiate their charges
they must bring their complaints in
due legal form. This apparently they
have now done, as indicated by the
news of the bishops arrest
When Bishop Bast was in this
country last month, attending the
meeting of the board of bishops and
the board of foreign missions, he was
warned by cable that he would be
prosecuted upon his return to Den
mark. i