474 



METHODISTS. 



women ineligible, or take any action equivalent to 

 a reversal of the same. 



"8. That the proposition submitted previous to 

 1892 was resubmitted during the year and lost; 

 and that therefore all women professedly elected, 

 though their credentials are in proper form, are 

 not eligible to membership in this General Con- 

 ference." 



The question was referred to a committee partly 

 appointed by the delegates in their several General 

 Conference 'districts and partly appointed by the 

 bishops. While the subject was pending, a com- 

 munication was received from three of the women 

 delegates (the fourth, from China, not having yet 

 arrived) offering in the belief "that were the Con- 

 ference relieved from the tension which our pres- 

 ence occasions, it might speedily devise a plan of 

 admission upon which the great majority of the 

 members could agree " " to relinquish all claims 

 to membership in your honorable body, and await 

 such a settlement of a long-vexed question as your 

 wisdom may devise, confident that your action will 

 embody the spirit of the golden rule." The fourth 

 woman delegate subsequently withdrew also. The 

 report of a majority of the committee to whom the 

 subject was referred held that the challenge was 

 not sustained, and that the lady delegates were not 

 ineligible to the body. The report of the minority 

 presented a historical review of the question and 

 arguments deduced from it, and found that the 

 challenge of the eligibility of the women was sus- 

 tained; that the elections of women by the lay elec- 

 toral conferences were illegal acts; and "that to 

 seat the claimants would tend to destroy all respeet 

 for the constitution of the Church and for I he de- 

 cisions and interpretations of the General Confer- 

 ence." The question was recommitted for the pur- 

 pose of securing a report upon which all could 

 agree, and in pursuance of this the following was 

 presented : 



" Your Committee on Eligibility respectfully 

 submits the following report : 



" We agree on the following points : 



' 1. That the question of eligibility is a constitu- 

 tional question. 



" 2. That the General Conference has full power 

 in its judicial capacity to interpret the constitution. 

 the question being raised on a case which properly 

 invokes the judicial function. 



" 3. That the terms of If 62 are such as to admit 

 of serious doubt and raise questions on which your 

 committee is unable to agree. 



"We therefore recommend for your considera- 

 tion, first, that under ^ 68 the General Conference 

 act upon the following: 



" That 2, t 67, be altered by striking out all the 

 words in said section following the word ' provided' 

 in the fifth line of said section, and substitute the 

 following: 



" ' That no person shall be chosen a delegate to 

 the General Conference or to an electoral confer- 

 ence who shall be under twenty-five years of age or 

 who shall not have been a member of the Church 

 in full connection for the five consecutive years 

 preceding the election; and provided, also, that no 

 conference shall be denied the privilege of one 

 ministerial and one lay delegate, provided, that 

 where there shall be in any conference a fraction of 

 two thirds the number which shall be fixed for the 

 ratio -of representation, such conference shall be 

 entitled to an additional delegate for such frac- 

 tion'; so that the entire section ^hall read: 



'" SEC. 2. The General Conference shall not allow 

 more than 1 ministerial representative for every 14 

 members of an annual conference, nor of a less 

 number than 1 for every 45, nor of more than 2 

 lay delegates for any annual conference ; provided, 



that no person shall be chosen a delegate to the 

 General Conference or to an electoral conference 

 who shall be under twenty-five years of age or who 

 shall not have been a member of the Church in full 

 connection for the five consecutive years preceding 

 his or her election: and provided, also, that no 

 conference shall be denied the privilege of 1 minis- 

 terial and 1 lay delegate, provided, nevertheless, 

 that where there shall be in any conference a frac- 

 lioii of two thirds the number which shall be fixed 

 for the ratio of representation, such conference 

 shall be entitled to an additional delegate for such 

 fraction.' 



/.V.WivcZ, That, the foregoing having received a 

 majority of two thirds of this General Conference, 

 the bishops be and are hereby instructed to submit 

 to the several annual conferences, at their first ses- 

 sions following the adjournment of this General 

 Conference, the foregoing alteration of $ 2 of * 07 

 for the concurrence of the members of said annual 

 conferences ; and if it shall be found that a majority 

 of three fourths of all the members of the several 

 annual conferences concur in such alteration, they 

 shall declare the fact through the official papers of 

 the Church, proclaiming that g 2 of *j 67 has been 

 amended as above, in accordance with the provision 

 68 of the Discipline. 



" Resolved, That, in consideration of the general 

 desire for the early and final settlement of the 

 whole question, and in view of the proposed sub- 

 mission to the annual conferences, we recommend 

 that no formal decision of the question of eligibility 

 be made at this time. 



" The challenge not having been judicially passed 

 upon, those occupying the seats in question do so 

 under a title in d'ispute. yet without prejudice to 

 the rights of either challengers or challenged, and 

 without establishing a precedent." 



This w r as adopted by a vote of 425 to 98. 



A communication from the General Conference 

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, announ- 

 cing the appointment of a commission of federa- 

 tion with power to enter into negotiation with simi- 

 lar commissions that may be appointed by other 

 Methodist bodies with a view to abating hurtful 

 competitions and the waste of men and money in 

 home and foreign fields, was referred to the Board 

 of Bishops. 



A minute was adopted justifying the work of the 

 Methodist Episcopal Church in the South, and show- 

 ing why it should be regarded as permanent. 



A proposition was adopted for submission to 

 the vote of the Church in the usual form to make 

 the number of lay delegates from each conference 

 to the General Conference equal to the number of 

 ministerial delegates the conference is entitled to 

 send. 



An address was adopted to the President of the 

 United States in favor of international arbitration. 

 A petition to Congress w r as adopted that it author- 

 ize the President to negotiate with the European 

 powers most immediately interested, with reference 

 to putting an end to the atrocities in Armenia. 



The Board of Control of the Epworth League 

 was made to consist of 15 members appointed by 

 the bishops, one of whom should be a bishop and 

 president of the League and the Board of Control, 

 and one member from each General Conference dis- 

 trict, to be elected by the General Conference dele- 

 gates of those districts, and was directed to meet 

 twice in each quadrennium. With regard to the 

 fraternity of the Epworth League with the Young 

 People's Society of Christian Endeavor, the Gen- 

 eral Conference resolved : 



" The need and demand for the Epworth League 

 as a distinctively denominational young people's 

 society have been fully demonstrated by its wonder- 



