METHODISTS. 



475 



ful growth and healthful influence in all depart- 

 ments of our Church work. We believe there is as 

 much reason for a denominational young people's 

 : v as for a denominational Sunday schonl or a 

 denominational church. We are ready for frater- 

 nal co-operation in the broad work in which all 

 Christians unite, and in which each society pre- 

 serves its identity and does its special work in its 

 own way. We favor fraternal local unions with all 

 young people where such local union* do not take 

 the name of any one society. We can not. there- 

 fore, consent that Kpworth Leagues shall become 

 known in such unions as Kpworth Leagues of Chris- 

 tian Hndeavor. as asked by the memorials, since we 

 have been constituted by' the General Conference 

 as Epworth Leagues of' the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church. Cherishing most friendly feeling for all. 

 we deprecate any plan which would tend to attract 

 our young people away from our own peculiar forms 

 of w'ork." 



In declaring Bishops Thomas Bowman and Ran- 

 dolph S. Foster unable, on account of their ad- 

 vanced age, to perform the full duties of bishops 

 for four years longer, the Conference recorded its 

 gratitude to God "for the extraordinary services 

 rendered by these venerated and beloved servants, 

 of the Church in the various capacities which they 

 filled prior to their election to the episcopacy, and 

 particularly lor the distinguished ability with which 

 they have filled the office of general superintend- 

 ent for nearly a quarter of a century: for the 

 purity of their character and lives, the sweetness 

 of their spirit, and the fidelity to the interests of 

 the Church which has uniformly characterized their 

 official life and administration " ; left them at lib- 

 erty to select their residences ; proffered them wel- 

 come on all occasions : and advised the Book Com- 

 mittee to make the most generous appropriations 

 for their support. The following resolution was 

 passed with reference to the election of a colored 

 bishop: " In the election of bishops there should be 

 no discrimination on account of race or color; but 

 men should be chosen because of their worth and 

 fitness for the position. In the presence of this 

 statement often reiterated by various bodies of our 

 Church, we believe the time has come when the 

 General Conference may safely and wisely choose a 

 bishop from among our 1.700 ministers of African 

 descent." In the election that afterward took 

 place a colored candidate received a considerable 

 number of votes, but not enough to elect him. The 

 Rev. C. C. McCabe. I). D.. and the Rev. Earl Crans- 

 ton, 1). D., were chosen bishops. 



Episcopal residences were established at Boston 

 or vicinity, New York or vicinity. Buffalo, Phila- 

 delphia or vicinity. Washington. Chattanooga. Xew 

 Orleans or Fort Worth, Cincinnati or vicinity. De- 

 troit. Chicago or vicinity. St. Louis, Topeka or 

 Omaha. Minneapolis, Denver. San Francisco or Los 

 Angeles, and Portland. Ore. The rule authorizing 

 the bishops to select their residences every four years 

 according to seniority was modified so as to pro- 

 vide that no place shall be open to selection which 

 is already occupied by an effective bishop. It was 

 ' ordered that the bishops shall be required to live at 

 the residences they select. Missionary-Bishop Wil- 

 liam Taylor, of Africa, was also declared non- 

 effective, and a minute was adopted respecting him 

 recording that "with a deep sense of the intrepid 

 heroism which has characterized his career as a 

 pioneer missionary in California, in Australasia, 

 India, and South America, in Africa prior to his 

 appointment as missionary bishop when past sixty 

 years of age, and for twelve years since that ap- 

 pointment, his fervor and power as a preacher, his 

 astonishing success as an evangelist, and the per- 

 manency of the fruits of his labors, and also with 



an affection for him which has increased with every 

 hardship lie has endured, we profoundly ivgn-t that 

 a >imilar fidelity to conviction to that which has 

 always characterized him compels us to this conclu- 

 sion." The Kev. .I.C. Hart/ell, I). I)., was elected 

 Missionary Bishop of Africa to succeed him. 



A rule was adopted, having special relation to 

 conditions in Germany, permitting any annual con- 

 ference to receive any synod, conference, Church 

 society, or other body of Christiana agreeing in doc- 

 trines with this Church, bodily into its communion 

 the members of the same to be as fully members 

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church and entitled to 

 their privileges as if they had been individually re- 

 ceived in the usual way. 



The resolutions on temperance declared that "the 

 Christian's only attitude toward the liquor traffic 

 is that of relentless hostility, and that all members 

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church who enjoy the 

 elective franchise should use that solemn trust so as 

 to promote the rescue of our country from the guilt 

 and dishonor which have been brought upon it by 

 a criminal complicity with the liquor traffic." A 

 memorial to Congress \\as determined upon asking 

 for such an adjustment of the internal-revenue laws 

 " as not to seem to legalize the traffic in ardent 

 spirits in sections of the Union when prohibitory 

 laws exist. The people of the Church were asked 

 to aid in the enforcement of all restrictions of the 

 liquor traffic found in State and municipal stat- 

 utes and ordinances. A protest was made against 

 the use of any property under the control of the 

 United States Government for the manufacture or 

 sale of intoxicating liquors, and a pending bill pro- 

 hibiting such sale in the Capitol building was ap- 

 proved. 



A proposition to remove from the Book of Dis- 

 cipline the clauses specifying certain amusements 

 as improper for Christians to indulge in was re- 

 jected, and the rule and its specifications were left 

 unchanged. 



In view of the law enacted in the State of Florida 

 to prevent the association of white and colored 

 teachers in the same school or in a boarding house 

 connected with a school, the Conference, depre- 

 cating such legislation as ''repugnant to the genius 

 of our Christian civilization and sympathizing with 

 the Congregationalists who are suffering under the 

 enforcement of the law," proffered its approval to 

 any efforts that may be made to contest its consti- 

 tutionality or secure its repeal. 



The Conference gave its approval to the demand 

 for a permanent tribunal of international arbitra- 

 tion "as a rational and Christian substitute among 

 the English-speaking races for a resort to the 

 bloody arbitrament of war,' 7 and suggested that it 

 be established immediately. Denominations repre- 

 senting 27.000,000 of the people of the United States 

 having given up all dependence on the General Gov- 

 ernment for financial aid in the support of their 

 schools among the Indians, the immediate feta- 

 tion of all appropriations in aid of denominational 

 schools among that people, now limited to a single 

 denomination, was demanded. 



II. Methodist Episcopal Church. South. 

 The estimate of the statistics of this Church for 

 1896 the reports of the conferences not having 

 been fully tabulated at the time of preparing this 

 article gives it 5,861 ministers. KUiT^l chu: 

 and 1.437.672 mem I 



The missionary collections for 1895 amounted to 

 $240.802. in addition to which $70.:!-!'.' were col- 

 lected by the Woman's Board, making a total of 

 s:;il.l.-)f. The society maintains missions among 

 Germans. Indians, and Cubans (in Florida) in the 

 United States, and foreign missions in China, 

 Japan, Brazil, and Mexico. The foreign missions 



