METHODISTS. 



521 



educational work, and the second Sunday in 

 June was designated as "Children's Day," and 

 appointed for the collection for the " Sunday- 

 school Fund of the Board." The Freedmen's 

 Aid Society was recognized as a regularly-con- 

 stituted society of the Church, and the office 

 of corresponding secretary was established as 

 a General Conference office. A Board of 

 Church Extension was organized, to take the 

 place of the previously-existing Church Exten- 

 sion Society. It consists of twenty-one minis- 

 ters and twenty-one laymen, to be chosen by 

 the General Conference for terms of four years. 

 They are invested with the power of filling 

 vacancies in their body. A corresponding sec- 

 retary was provided for, who is to be chosen 

 by the General Conference. He is expected 

 to give his exclusive attention to the affairs of 

 the Board. He may have one or more assist- 

 ants. It was provided that the General Com- 

 mittee of Church Extension shall consist of 

 the General Superintendents (bishops), the 

 officers of the Board of Church Extension, and 

 twelve members, one of whom is appointed 

 from each of the districts denominated Gen- 

 eral Conference districts, as is provided in the 

 plan for the organization of the Missionary 

 Committee. The functions of this committee 

 are, to act in an advisory capacity to the Board 

 of Church Extension, and to determine the 

 amounts to be asked from the churches, and 

 the distribution of the grants. The organiza- 

 tion of an auxiliary Board of Church Exten- 

 sion, in each Annual Conference, was directed. 

 Hitherto the bishops of the Methodist Episco- 

 pal Church had been supported from the prof- 

 its of the Book Concern. As a large increase 

 in the number of bishops was contemplated, 

 by which the expense of their support would 

 be rendered much greater than this establish- 

 ment could afford, it became necessary to de- 

 vise another method of maintaining them. A 

 plan was adopted by which their support is 

 thrown almost directly upon the members of 

 the churches. The bishops are to be classi- 

 fied as effective and ineffective ; the ineffective 

 class comprises those who have become inca- 

 pacitated, by reason of age or infirmity, from 

 performing regular work. It is made the duty 

 of the committee who have supervision of the 

 affairs of the Book Concern called the Book 

 Committee to estimate the amount necessary 

 to furnish a competent support for each effec- 

 tive bishop, the amount necessary for the com- 

 fortable maintenance of the ineffective bishops, 

 and the amount necessary to assist the widows 

 and children of deceased bishops. The ag- 

 gregate sum required for these purposes is to 

 be divided by the Book Committee among the 

 Annual Conferences, according to their sev- 

 eral ability, and to be apportioned among the 

 districts and charges in the Annual Confer- 

 ences. The funds thus raised shall be for- 

 warded to the agents of the Book Concern, 

 who will pay all drafts for episcopal support. 

 If there be any deficiency in the amounts col- 



lected, the General Conference will provide for 

 the reimbursement of the Book Concern. Pro- 

 vision was made for the gradual establishment 

 of a fund to be called the " Permanent Fund," 

 the interest of which is to be applied to the 

 expenses of the General Conference, to the 

 payment of deficiencies in the salaries of the 

 bishops, and to the support of worn-out 

 preachers, and their widows and orphans. 

 Eight new bishops were elected, as follows : 

 Thomas Bowman, William L. Harris, Ean- 

 dolph S. Foster, Isaac W. Wiley, Stephen M. 

 Merrill, Edward G. Andrews, Gilbert Haven, 

 and Jesse T. Peck. The residences of the bish- 

 ops were fixed as follows : The old bishops to 

 reside at their present homes; the newly- 

 elected bishops to reside at or near the cities 

 of San Francisco, St. Louis, Boston, Atlanta, 

 Chicago, Cincinnati, Council Bluffs or Omaha, 

 and St. Paul ; they are to choose in the order 

 of the priority of their election. 



The troubles in reference to the accounts 

 and business of the Book Concern, at New 

 York, which have been referred to in previous 

 volumes of the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA, received 

 a final and unexpectedly harmonious settle- 

 ment. The subject was presented to the Gen- 

 eral Conference, in majority and minority re- 

 ports of the Book Committee, in reports of the 

 Book Agents, and in reports of experts who 

 had been employed by the committee and 

 agents to examine the accounts of the Con- 

 cern. Their different reports involved contra- 

 dictory views which it seemed almost impossi- 

 ble to reconcile. On the ninth day of the ses- 

 sion (May 10th) a special committee, of one 

 delegate from each Annual Conference, was 

 appointed to take the several documents into 

 consideration, and examine into the validity 

 of the charges. This committee, after making 

 "as thorough and searching investigation as 

 the limited time allowed would permit," re- 

 ported on the twenty-sixth day (May 30th). In 

 their report, they announced the conclusion : 



That repeated frauds have been practised upon the 

 Book Concern. These frauds are found in the manu- 

 facturing department, and are located chiefly, if not 

 wholly, in the bindery. Mr. Hoffman was superin- 

 tendent of this department at the time of the perpe- 

 tration of these frauds, and the evidence indicates 

 that for a series of years he carried on a system of 

 frauds by which the Concern sustained very consid- 

 erable losses, the amount of which it is impossible 

 to indicate w-ith accuracy. 



1. We are of the opinion that the business meth- 

 ods of this department were formerly such as to 

 afford opportunities for frauds and peculations by 

 subordinates, which these investigations show have 

 been taken advantage of. 



2. Your committee concur with Mr. Kilbreth in 

 the statement made by him in his report before us, 

 in which he says that " in former years it is apparent 

 that there was a great lack of system in the business 

 transactions of the house, as shown on the books, 

 and a great deal of confusion and careless book-keep- 

 ing," as also in his further statement that " the 

 business entries of the years 1862 and 1864, includ- 

 ing also the bindery and periodical account of 1861, 

 are totally inexcusable as specimens of accounts." 



3. Your committee also find that the losses sus- 



