METHODISTS. 



47:; 



men's Aid and Southern Education Society met in 

 Pitt-bun:. Pa.. Nov. Hand in. Tin- receipts for the 

 year ending June 30, isnO. had been *0 14.071. and 

 the expenditures sO 10.922. Twenty-two schools 

 sustained among the colored people, including 

 1 theological seminary, with 4 teachers and '.Mi 

 students; 10 schooN of collegiate grade, with 101 

 prol'e-sors and 3.040 students: and 11 academical 

 !s. with 52 teachers and 4.881 students. Twen- 

 ty-two schools were also sustained among the whites 

 namely, 3 colleges, with 74 professors and 1.04s 

 students', and 19 academies, with 71 teachers and 

 5.010 students. The whole number of teachers in 

 all the schools, including 96 " practice teachers" in 

 colored schools and 25 in white schools, was 477, 

 and of students 8,396. Of these students, 005 were 

 preparing for the ministry. 006 were taking courses 

 in medicine. 1U were studying law, and 1.540 col- 

 ored students were enrolled in manual training and 

 trade departments. The total value of the property 

 of the schools was $1,978,800. Appropriations were 

 made for the ensuing year of $04.005 to the schools, 

 and $45.450 for other purp* 



Missionary Society. The seventy-eighth annual 

 meeting of the General Missionary Committee was 

 held in Detroit. Mich., beginning Nov. 11. The re- 

 ceipts for the year ending Oct. 31 had been $1,001.- 

 05s. and the expenditures $1.409.112. The indebt- 

 edness of The treasury at the close of the year was 

 $299.054. having been diminished $15,288 during 

 the year. The receipts to the account of " special 

 gifts" had been $43,410. which, with the amount 

 ($18,421) on hand at the beginning of the year, 

 made $61,831 available for the purposes for which 

 the gifts were intended. Of this amount. $40. ^'.i 

 had been paid out. The ordinary receipts and those 

 for " special gifts " combined showed an increase of 

 $00.009 in the total receipts for the year. The sum 

 given as the amount of the receipts included the 

 avails $78.098 of a special collection taken for 

 paying the debt of the society. Appropriations 

 were made for the next year's work as follow : for- 

 eign missions: China, si 14.011 ; Japan. $48,576: 

 Korea. $14,285 : India, $133.058 : Malaysia. $9,378; 

 Germany. $30.350: Switzerland. $7.500: Norway. 

 $12,780; Sweden. $16.724: Denmark. $7,589: Fin- 

 land and St. Petersburg. $4.650; Bulgaria. $11.371 ; 

 Italy. $41.000: South America (Chili. Peru. Argen- 

 tine' Republic, Uruguay, etc.), $71.348; Mexico. $49,- 

 500; Africa (Liberia and the Congo Mission Con- 

 ference), $14.700 ; total for foreign missions, $586,- 

 800. Jfixxiiin* in tin- Un iff d States: White work 

 in the South (Delaware and Maryland exeepted), 

 $40.538; colored work, mostly in the South. $43.545 : 

 other English-speaking missions. $186.907 : missions 

 to non-English-speaking populations (Welsh, Swed- 

 ish, Norwegian and Danish. German, French. Span- 

 ish. Chinese. Japanese. Bohemian and Hungarian. 

 Italian, Portuguese, and Hebrew), $146.756; Amer- 

 ican Indians. $8.937 : total for domestic missions, 

 $430.693: miscellaneous appropriations, f 120.000 ; 

 grand total of appropriations for 1897, $1.139.493. 



Woman's Societies. The fifteenth annual meet- 

 ing of the Woman's Home Missionary Society was 

 held in Springfield. 111.. Oct. 21. The receipts of 

 the society for the year had been $139,218. and the 

 expenditures $138,129. The property held by the 

 society, consisting of schoolhouses, homes, etc.. was 

 valued at $405.800. A debt which amounted at the 

 close of 1893 to nearly $50.000 had been reduced 

 nearly one half, without having to withdraw any of 

 the teachers from the field. Supplies had been sent 

 out during the year to families of frontier ministers 

 to the value of $70.000. Reports were made of the 

 condition of industrial homes at Greensboro and 

 Asln.-ville. N. ('.. Oran^cburg and Camden. S. C. ; 8 

 mission homes and deaconnesses' homes in Utah ; 



the Mothers' Jewel- Home; the Watts de P 

 Home, at Tivoli. N. Y. : and tin- Glen InduMiial 

 Home. Cincinnati. A gift of 40 acres of land had 

 been received from Mrs. Mary Kldridge by \\\< 

 Mexico and Arixona Mission, on which an adobe 

 house had been erected. Special reports were made 

 of missionary work among the Indians, particularly 

 the Nava; 



The twenty-seventh annual meeting of the Wom- 

 an's Foreign Missionary >o.-i. -ty was held in Roch- 

 ester. N. Y.. beginning Oct. 29. The income of the 

 society for the year had been $285,770, or $3.157 

 less than the receipts of the previous year. Twenty- 

 live missionaries had been sent out a larger num- 

 ber than in any previous year except 1888, when 

 26 were commissioned. The society supported 170 

 missionaries, of whom 22 were medical : 750 Bible 

 readers, assistants, and teachers :-39o day schools, 

 with about 12.000. pupils : 50 boarding schools, with 

 about 4,000 pupils; 11 orphanages, with 450 or- 

 phans; 10 training schools, with 200 pupils: and 

 14 hospitals and dispensaries, administering to 

 about 60,000 women annually. The society i- 

 much literature, having circulated 1,000,000 j 

 of leaflets during the year and publishing 3 Eng- 

 lish and 1 German periodicals in the United States 

 and 5 in India in as many languages, while the 

 young women connected with the school at Naga- 

 saki, Japan, publish a paper quarterly. Many of 

 the missionaries in foreign countries were giving 

 attention to literature for women and children, and 

 had translated several books. The society owned 

 in India, China. Japan. Korea. Mexico. South Amer- 

 ica, Bulgaria, and Italy real estate to the aggregate 

 value of more than $400,000, and held an invested 

 fund of $25.000. the interest of which was reserved 

 for the publication of its zenana papers in India. 

 Appropriations were made for the ensuing year to 

 the amount of $327.309. 



General Conference. The twenty-second Gen- 

 eral Conference met in Cleveland. Ohio. May 1. A 

 question was raised during the process of organiza- 

 tion concerning the eligibility of four women who 

 had been returned as lay delegates. In the formal 

 protest which was presented on the subject their 

 eligibility was challenged on the grounds 



" 1. That prior to 1868 only ministers, and they 

 under specific conditions, were eligible to member- 

 ship in the General Conference. 



0. That provision was constitutionally made for 

 the admission of laymen, under certain specified 

 conditions, and that laymen were seated in the 

 General Conference in ls70. 



"3. That the history of the movement culminat- 

 ing in the admission of lay representation shows 

 that the Church did not contemplate nor intend 

 the election of women: that whenever attention 

 was called to the subject it was definitely under- 

 stood that women were not eligible under the con- 

 stitution. 



" 4. That in 1888 five women were elected, and 

 the credentials of four of them were presented : 

 that the question of eligibility was referred to a 

 special Committee on Eligibility, which committee 

 reported women to be ineligible under the constitu- 

 tion. 



"5. That the General Conference adopted the 

 said report declaring women ineligible, and pursu- 

 ant thereto declared the seats vacant which they 

 came to fill, and seated the first reserves in said 

 seats. 



'6. That a proposition to alter the constitution 

 so as to admit women was submitted to the Church, 

 and lost for the want of more than 2,000 votes than 

 it received. 



7. That the action of the General Conference of 

 iO did not reverse the action of 1888 declaring 



