Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1896 — HOSTS OF METHODISTS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOSTS OF METHODISTS.

Three Thousands Attend tbe Copference at Cleveland. Three thousand people were in the hall wheri the great quadrennial conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church was called to order by the venerable Bishop BoWmanat Cleveland. On the floor were white men and black men, the delegates from Norway and Sweden and from tropical India and Japan. Nearly every country on the globe was represented. Central Armory beautiful indeed. Its interior was brilliant as the hall of a political convention, and on all sides there was an expectancy that issues„of importance were about to be precipitated. The Bible used in the services is the one which was used by’ John Wesley in his study in England. ' This historical- treasure was presented to the conference some years ago. ' The notable feature of the opening of the. conference was the reading of an address of the bishops. This may be said to be the notable feature,of all general conferences of the church, for the reason that it is fraught with many suggestions with reference to church polity and embodies a comprehensive resume of the progress of the organization, financially and spiritually. The strong features of the address of thfe bishops this year were the recommendations with regard to the duties of Christian citizenship, the declaration in favor of a national divorce law, a denunciation of the Armenian atrocities and a* pronouncement in favor -of - arbitration in labor and in international

disputes. Another significant feature-of the address is the portion which favors the maintenance of the itinerant system except in rare cases. This will be a disappointment to a majority of the clergymen, who had hoped that the polity of the church would be ehangeu so that congregations might have greater authority in the matter of retaining ministers who appear to be particularly adapted, to a special field. _ Many questions of supreme importance to the denomination, action upon which will be awaited with intense interest by Methodists the world over, will be acted upon during the month’s session of -the general conference. Chief among these is the question of admitting women delegates. This issue has been voted upon by all the annual conferences, but the necessary three-fourths vote has not been secured, the total vote being 7,515 for admission and 2,529 against. The women have therefore lost by eighteen votes*, and a change of ten votes would give tbem._se.ats in the conference.. Four women delegates are accredited to the present gathering, but as the committee on credentials must he. governed by the existing rules, they cannot be recognized to take any part in the proceedings. The proposition to change, the basis of ministerial representation from one delegate for every forty-five ministers to one for every sixtyfive has also been lost. The question of abolishing the time limit is also an important one. At present no minister, of the church can remain pastor of one church for move than five consecutive years. ThisTs base3ToirtSe~bid itine rant theory of the denomination, and it is nowproposed to abolish the time limit. It is doubtful, however, whether the propositoin will carry. An effort will be made to modify the ru.es of-discipline adopted by the conference of 1872 against dancing, card playing, theater going, attending circuses and horse races or patronizing dancing schools. It is contended' that ihe.se rules have barrel out from the denomination tens of thousands of young people who otherwise would be glad to identify themselves with. it. Several new bishops will be elected, together with- numerous officials, including hook agents, society recretarjes and editors.

BISHOP BOWMAN.