500 



METHODISTS. 



MEXICO. 



purposes had been 6,680 ; and the debt 

 against the Missionary fund had been reduced 

 from 2,243 to 1,698. The six Connectional 

 funds together returned a gross income of more 

 than 14,000. 



The Methodist New Connection Conference 

 met at Stockport, June 13. The Rev. John K. 

 Jackson was chosen president. The subject of 

 Methodist union was considered, in view of the 

 informal correspondence which had taken place 

 respecting it in the previous year (see '' An- 

 nual Cyclopedia" for 1886), and a resolution 

 was adopted declaring 



that this Conference desires to express its devout 

 thankfulness to Almighty God for the spirit of unity 

 and fraternal kindness which, during the past year, 

 he has so graciously poured out upon many Christian 

 churches. It recognizes, with great pleasure, the 

 evident desire for closer communion and intercourse 

 on the part of large numbers of the followers of the 

 Lord Jesus Christ, who have hitherto been content to 

 move within the limits of their own separate organi- 

 zations. The Conference has special joy in noting the 

 growing spirit of union among the various branches 

 of the iMethodist Church, and the kind and friendly 

 references made to the Methodist New Connection by 

 honored brethren connected with the Wesleyan and 

 other Methodist bodies. These various indications 

 inspire the Conference with the hope that events ere 

 long may travel with increasing rapidity toward the 

 more perfect realization of the prayer of Him who is 

 our master "That they all may be one; as thou, 

 Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may 

 be one in us : that the world may believe that thou 

 hast sent me." Believing that the movements toward 

 union are the result of divine leading and influence, 

 the Conference instructs the Annual Committee for 

 the ensuing year to maintain an attitude of friendly 

 observation, and to avail itself of any opportunities 

 which may arise to foster and advance the closer fel- 

 lowship of the Methodist Churches. 



X. Bible Christians. The statistical reports of 

 the Church, made to the Conference in June, 

 showed an increase of 819 members and 947 

 pupils in Sunday-schools. The receipts of the 

 Chapel fund had been 25,411. The receipts 

 of the Mission funds had been 7,273 and the 

 disbursements 7,876. The number of home 

 missions was reported to be 38, and these were 

 cared for by 45 ministers, and returned 4.969 

 members. The amount of 4,404 had been 

 raised on the missions for the support of the 

 ministry and missionary purposes. The Con- 

 ference directed that the home missions should 

 be visited by the secretary once a year, or 

 oftener, if necessary. 



The sixty-ninth annual Conference of the 

 Bible Christian Connection met at Swansea, 

 July 26. The Rev. J. H. Bate was elected 

 president. The following resolution, on the 

 subject of Methodist union, was adopted : 



Resolved, That this Conference affirms its conviction 

 that the union of the Methodist bodies in this country, 

 on an honorable basis, would be of incalculable ad- 

 vantage to our common Christianity ; and wishes 

 therefore to record its unfeigned satisfaction and 

 thankfulness at the numerous tokens of the manifest 

 growth of the spirit of unity among them, and its de- 

 sire that the Connectional attitude should be one of 

 sympathetic interest in all well-considered movements 

 to bring these churches into closer fellowship. This 

 Conference further directs the Connectional Commit- 



tee to take the necessary steps to join any committees 

 which may be appointed by other Methodist churches 

 in devising a scheme to prevent the present waste 

 which is going on in many parts of the country. 



The question of union with the Primitive 

 Methodists and the Methodist New Connec- 

 tion in Australia was deferred. 



MEXICO, a confederated republic of North 

 America. (For area and population, see "An- 

 nual Cyclopaedia" for 1886.) 



Government. The President is Don Porh'rio 

 Diaz, whose term of office will expire on Dec. 

 1, 1888. His Cabinet is composed of the fol- 

 lowing ministers : Foreign Relations, Sefior 

 Ignacio Mariscal ; War, Gen. Pedro Hinojosa ; 

 Public Works, Gen. Pacheco; Justice, Sefior 

 Joaquin Baranda ; Finance, Sefior Manuel 

 Dublan ; Interior, Sefior Manuel Romero Ru- 

 bio. The Minister to the United States is 

 Seflor Matias Romero ; the United States Sec- 

 retary of Legation at Mexico is Joseph L. Mor- 

 gan ; the American Consul-General, James W. 

 Porch. The Mexican Consul-General at New 

 York is Sefior Juan N. Navarro, and at San 

 Francisco Sefior Alejandro K. Coney. 



Re-election of the President. The constitution- 

 al amendment permitting election to the presi- 

 dency for two consecutive terms, after receiv- 

 ing the approval of both houses of Congress, 

 was officially promulgated on October 23. 

 Diaz clubs were organized, and a large num- 

 ber of newspapers proposed the President's 

 candidacy for a second term. 



Finance. On Jan. 1, 1887, the consolidated 

 national indebtedness of Mexico amounted to 

 14,000,000. Up to Dec. 31, 1890, the Gov- 

 ernment has reserved the right to redeem at 

 40 per cent, and later at 50 per cent. The 1 

 per cent, interest due in 1886 and the 1 per 

 cent, in 1887 were punctually paid. In 1888 

 2 per cent, and in 1889 2J per cent, will fall 

 due. Toward the close of November a settle- 

 ment of what is known as the English Conven- 

 tion debt of 1851 being bonds issued to pay 

 the claims of British subjects was effected, 

 the Government to issue a bond for 150 

 in place of every $500 silver bond, the extra 

 amount being for arrears of interest. The orig- 

 inal debt was $4,984,914. A large amount was 

 redeemed between 1851 and 1863, but there 

 remained $2,925,000, all but $95,000 of which 

 has now been converted. On December 8 

 there was introduced in Congress a bill to per- 

 mit the Government to contract a loan for 

 10,500,000 for the purpose of funding the ex- 

 isting national debt. The new issue is to be 

 made in Berlin and London at 5 per cent, in- 

 terest per annum, the bankers agreeing to take 

 up the bonds at 84 per cent, of their face value. 

 This will enable the Government to buy up the 

 English debt at 40 per cent., as provided by 

 law, and have in hand over $16,000,000 in 

 gold, with which it will cancel its indebtedness 

 to the National Bank. The maximum rate of 

 interest on the English debt, as recently con- 

 verted, is 3 per cent., while the new rate of in- 



