560 



MINNESOTA. 



MISSIONS, PROTESTANT. 



nated "William R. Merriam for Governor. The 

 other principal candidates before the conven- 

 tion were Gov. McGill and Arthur Scheffer. 

 The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and 

 Attorney-General were renominated. For the 

 Supreme Court, Chief-Justice Giltillan was re- 

 nominated, and L. W. Collins was made the 

 candidate for Associate Justice. The platform 

 pledges the party to maintain the high-license 

 system, commends the administration of Gov. 

 McGill, approves civil-service reform, the in- 

 terstate commerce law, and liberal pensions, 

 and condemns the fishery treaty and the re- 

 fusal of Democrats to admit Dakota as a State. 

 It further declares that the party adheres to 

 the repeated declaration of State and National 

 platforms, in favor of the modification, read- 

 justment and reduction of the tariff. It de- 

 clares that all measures of tariff adjustment 

 should be framed and conceived in a cautious 

 and conservative spirit, so as not to disturb and 

 impair interests which have grown up under 

 existing revenue laws, and, as far as possible, to 

 relieve the people from unnecessary taxation 

 upon articles which do not enter into competi- 

 tion with American industry. It declares its 

 hostility to trusts so called, and to all monopo- 

 listic combinations, of every form that seek to 

 limit the production or the price, or in any way 

 control the commodities of the country. It 

 approves the reform of the voting system called 

 the Australian system. In view of the recent 

 revelations showing the abuses to which the 

 immigration and naturalization laws have been 

 subject, it demanded of the National Congress 

 a thorough revision of those laws ; and, in the 

 mean time, a more efficient execution by the 

 National Administration of such laws as we 

 have, especially that prohibiting the importa- 

 tion of contract labor. 



At the November election, Merriam received 

 134,355 votes for Governor; Wilson, 110,251 ; 

 Harrison, 17,150; and Paul, 385. Merriam 

 ran over 5,000 votes behind his ticket. Of the 

 legislative candidates, 31 Republicans and 16 

 Democrats were elected to the Senate ; and 89 

 Republicans, 9 Democrats, and 5 Independents 

 to the Lower House. Five Republican Con- 

 gressmen were chosen, and the National Re- 

 publican ticket received a large majority. 



At the same election, a constitutional amend- 

 ment declaring combinations to monopolize or 

 restrict the market for food-products to be 

 criminal conspiracy, was adopted by a vote of 

 104,932 in its favor, to 13,064 against. Another 

 amendment adding to section 12 of Article I 

 the following words: 



Provided, however, that all property so exempted 

 shall be liable to seizure and sale tor any debts incurred 

 to any person for work done or materials furnished in 

 the construction, repair, or improvement of the same. 

 And, provided further, that such liability to seizure 

 and sale shall also extend to all real property, for any 

 debt incurred to any laborer or servant for labor or 

 service performed, 



was adopted by the following vote : Yeas, 

 153,908; nays, 48,649. A third amendment, 



extending the legislative session to ninety days, 

 new bills not to be introduced in the last 

 twenty days, was also adopted by a vote of 

 150,003 yeas to 52,946 nays. 



MISSIONS, PROTESTANT, INTERNATIONAL CON- 

 FERENCE OF. An International Conference of 

 Foreign Missions was held in London in June. 

 It has become usual to hold such conferences 

 once in ten years; and the present meeting 

 was also associated with the centenary of the 

 institution of missionary work. The call for 

 the Conference was addressed to Christians of 

 all Protestant communions engaged in mission- 

 ary service of whatever kind, "to confer with 

 one another on those many and important and 

 delicate questions which the progress of civili- 

 zation and the large expansion of missionary 

 work have brought into prominence, with a 

 view to develop the agencies employed for the 

 spread of the Gospel of the grace of God." 

 One hundred and twenty-nine societies were 

 represented in the Conference ; fifty-four Brit- 

 ish societies, by 1,254 delegates; fifty-two so- 

 cieties in the United States, by 140 dele- 

 gates; six in Canada, by 27 delegates; and 

 seventeen on the Continent of Europe, by 22 

 delegates. Of the whole number of societies, 

 twenty-two were women's societies or boards. 

 The opening meeting, for the reception of dele- 



fates and interchange of greetings, was held 

 une 9, under the presidency of the Earl of 

 Aberdeen. It was addressed by the Rev. Dr. 

 Underbill, chairman of the Executive Com- 

 mittee, who gave an outline of the history of 

 the missionary conferences, from the first, 

 which was held by the Rev. Dr. Dnff, in New 

 York, in 1854; by the Rev. Dr. Thompson, of 

 the American Board, who spoke of the work 

 of the women's boards, of Avhich there were, 

 he said, thirty-five in the United States, with 

 thousands of auxiliaries ; and by speakers rep- 

 resenting societies of Continental Europe. 

 Forty-five meetings were held, which are de- 

 scribed as sectional meetings, for members 

 only; open meetings for conference; and public 

 meetings in the afternoons and evenings. At 

 the sectional meetings were discussed such top- 

 ics as missionary methods and agencies, medi- 

 cal missions, women's work; the place of edu- 

 cation in mission work; the organization and 

 government of native churches, their training 

 and support; the missionary and his relation 

 to literature, Bible and tract societies ; home- 

 work for missions ; missionary comity, union, 

 and co-operation ; and commerce and diploma- 

 cy in relation to missions. The purpose of the 

 open conferences was described to be not so 

 much to awaken sympathy for any particular 

 branch of mission work, as to inquire into the 

 weak points of missionary labor with a view 

 to future improvements. The subject of the 

 first one was " The Increase of Islam, and the 

 Social, Political, and Religious Influences of 

 Mohammedanism." The chairman, Sir William 

 "W. Hunter, remarked that, after carefully going 

 over the figures, he was convinced that while 



