Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-05-12

BISHOP ROBERT E. JONES
on the main floor were most of the
762 delegates of the 135th Annual
Conferences of this the largest
Protestant body in the world. After
the Communion of the Lords Sup
per the conference began it's bust
ness, with the reelection of DR.. Lud
Estes of Dyersburg, Tennessee, as
the secretary. DR.. R. N. Brooks of
New Orleans, La, DR.. John w.
Hayward of Morristown, Tennessee,
and DR.. Robert M. Williams of
Washington, D. c., three Negroes,
were selected by DR.. Estes as part
of his staff of score or more.
1t was this same Southern-born
secretary who made the headlines
at the beginning of the famous
uniting conference here in 1889
when he made "slip of the tongue"
in using the word "Nigger," for
which he apologized.
In the professional of the Bish-
ops were the three Negro Bishops
of the denomination, Bishop Robert
E. Jones of the Columbus and New
Orleans areas; Bishop Alexander P.
Shaw of the Baltimore Area, and
Bishop Lorenzo H. King of the At
lantic Coast Area. All of these
bishops will preside over the Cen
eral Conference in the regular order
of their seniority on the Council of
Bishops. Bishop Jones, who was
the first of the race elected to the
general SUPPLEMENTARY of the for
mer Methodist Episcopal church,
will be retired after this Confer
ence by the age limit. Bishop Jones
was elected at the General Confer
ence in Des Moines in 1920, after
serving for twenty years as the
editor of the Southwestern Chris
tian Advocate. Bishop Matthew
Clair, who was elected at the same
conference, died last year.
There are fifty-six Negro dele
gates and more than two hundred
visitors from all over the nation at
tending this conference. Each one
of the nineteen Negro annual con-
ferences is represented, as are all
other Methodist annual conferences,
by at least one ministerial and one
lay delegate. Several of the lay
delegates are women. All of these
delegates serve on the various COM
mittees and are in every way inte-
grated into the work and program
of this legislative body, which
meets every four years.
Significant in the Episcopal Mes
sage or Address of the Council of
Bishops delivered by Bishop Arthur
j. Moore of Atlanta, Ca, at the
Wednesday night session, was the
strong statement on "The Problem
of Race" 1t was encouraging to
hear this Southern-born bishop
speak so strongly on the problem
of the Negro, while Southern-born
Senators like Bilbo of Mississippi,
Cotton Ed" Smith of South Caro-
lima, Cox of Georgia, and their col
leagues are preparing to talk the
Anti-Poll Tax bill to death and in
other ways legislate against the
welfare of the Negro.
A portion of this section of the
Bishops address follows:
Racial antagonism always Gre
ates stubborn problem for the
Christian religion because it stoutly
resists the universal propagation of
the Christian message and denies
the doctrine of the brotherhood of
man. We are witnessing an in
crease of racial tension everywhere.
Every nation struggles with it in
some form. England meets it in
India and South Africa; Australia
lifts up barriers against the yellow
man; the continent of Europe is
drenched with blood because of the
German doctrine of a superior
race"
"In this country a minority group