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METHODISTS. 



delegation that it should read, " The lay delegates 

 shall consist of one layman for each annual con- 

 ference, except such conferences as may have more 

 than one ministerial delegate, which conferences 

 shall each be entitled to as many lay delegates 

 as ministerial delegates"; and so modifying other 

 references to the subject in the Discipline that 

 their reading should be consistent with the amend- 

 ment proposed. This measure had been carried in 

 the annual conferences, the votes of the ministers 

 members thereof having been 9,270 in its favor 

 and 1,524 against it. In anticipation of the adop- 

 tion of the amended rule, provisional lay delegates 

 had been chosen in all the annual conferences in 

 addition to the regular ones, so that they might 

 be present and ready to take their places as soon 

 as the new rule should go into effect. The action 

 of the annual conferences in favor of the proposed 

 change in the rule governing the number of lay 

 delegates was concurred in by a unanimous vote. 

 Among the provisional delegates present to be 

 seated was a woman Mrs. M. Y. McMahan, of 

 Illinois. In order that the actual admission of the 

 other " provisional '' lay delegates might not be 

 complicated with the question of the eligibility of 

 women to seats in the General Conference, Sirs. 

 McMahan declined to present her credentials. 

 The secretary of the General Conference was then 

 directed to call the roll of provisional delegates, 

 for the immediate seating of all against whom no 

 objection should be offered. This was done, and 

 the provisional delegates were seated as members 

 of the General Conference. 



The commission appointed by direction of the 

 previous General Conference (1896) to prepare and 

 report, " first, a draft which shall set forth in 

 well-defined terms and in logically arranged arti- 

 cles the existing organic law of the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church; and, secondly, any modifications 

 of said organic law which the committee may 

 recommend for adoption by the concurrent action 

 of the General Conference and the members of the 

 annual conference," presented its report, and the 

 consideration of the paper constituted the principal 

 part of the business of the session. This report, 

 in its first part, defined the existing organic law 

 of the Church as being embodied in and limited 

 to the articles of religion, the general rules, and 

 the sections on the General Conference in the 

 Discipline of 1808, enacted by the General Con- 

 ference of that year, together with such modifi- 

 cations thereof as had been adopted since that 

 time. The second part of the report, embodying 

 recommendations for modifications of the organic 

 law, was taken up, considered section by section, 

 and adopted with such amendments as were ac- 

 cepted, for submission to the annual conferences. 

 With reference to the eligibility of women to be 

 members of the General Conference, an amend- 

 ment was proposed for approval by the annual 

 conferences, so changing the articles of the Disci- 

 pline prescribing the qualifications of lay delegates 

 as to substitute the term " lay members " for 

 ' laymen " wherever that word occurs. An amend- 

 ment was proposed to the rule respecting the an- 

 nual appointments of ministers to their several 

 charges, by striking out the clause limiting the 

 number of years during which a minister may be 

 sent to the same place to five, so that the passage 

 shall read, "He [the bishop] shall appoint the 

 preachers to the several pastoral charges annual-, 

 ly." While expressing its judgment that liberal 

 provision should be made by the Book Committee 

 for the support of the bishops and General Con- 

 ference officers, the Conference resolved that " no 

 bishop or General Conference officer shall receive 

 anything above actual expenses for his services in 



the dedication and reopening of churches, attend- 

 ing commencements of our educational institu- 

 tions, and such other like services as he may render 

 the Church." All the present active bishops were 

 declared effective, and two additional bishops were 

 chosen, namely, the Rev. David H. Moore, D. D., 

 and the Rev. John II. Hamilton, D. D. ; also two 

 missionary bishops, for southern Asia, to be co- 

 ordinate in authority, viz., the Rev. Edwin W. 

 Parker, D. D., and the Rev. Frank W. Warne, 

 D. D., already missionaries in India. In addition 

 to the episcopal residences in the United States 

 additional episcopal residences were constituted 

 at Zurich, Switzerland, and Shanghai, China, to 

 the former of which Bishop John H. Vincent, and 

 to the latter Bishop David H. Moore, were assigned 

 for four years each. It was decided that there 

 be but one general secretary for each of the organ- 

 ized benevolences of the Church, who shall be the 

 executive officer, except in the case of the Freed- 

 men's Aid Society, to which two secretaries were 

 given; with at least one assistant secretary for 

 societies requiring more than one secretary, to be 

 elected by the General Conference. Several of the 

 official newspapers having proved to be not self- 

 supporting, the number of journals was reduced 

 by consolidation or by requiring that arrange- 

 ments be made for their publication without ex- 

 pense to the Church. The offices of general sec- 

 retary of the Epworth League and editor of the 

 Epworth Herald were united. The committee to 

 whom a number of memorials on the subject were 

 referred recommended the removal in the disci- 

 plinary rule regarding worldly amusements of the 

 words condemning " dancing, playing of games of 

 chance, attending theaters, horse races, circuses, 

 dancing parties, or patronizing dancing schools " 

 from the paragraph relating to conduct liable to 

 reproof or punishment, and their insertion in the 

 paragraph designated as " special advices." The 

 recommendation was not sustained by the Con- 

 ference, and the advice of the minority report that 

 no action be taken on the subject at this time 

 was adopted. A petition to Congress was adopted, 

 asking the removal of the tax on legacies given 

 for charitable, educational, and religious purposes, 

 because it was, in the judgment of the General 

 Conference, contrary to public policy and to the 

 aim and spirit of our institutions, and practically 

 a direct tax on the institutions that do most to 

 aid government and benefit the people. A resolu- 

 tion was passed expressing regret that after the 

 passage of a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicat- 

 ing liquors at army posts and in forts, camps, 

 reservations used for military purposes, and na- 

 tional soldiers' homes, the plain intent of the en- 

 actment had been, " by construction, it seems to 

 us, forced and unnatural, placed upon the law by 

 the Attorney-General," defeated; and appealing to 

 the President to use his influence in favor of the 

 now bill, aiming to be more distinctly prohibitive, 

 which had been introduced in the House of Repre- 

 sentatives. The publishing agents were requosicd 

 to have prepared a map of the United States show- 

 ing the Conference boundaries in outline. Fuller 

 recognition was given to organizations for city 

 evangelization; their powers were increased, and 

 the general organization was constituted as the 

 National City Evangelization Union. The pro- 

 ceedings of the bishops taken in 1898 (see Annual 

 Cyclopedia for 1898) looking to the collection of 

 a twentieth century thank offering during 1901 

 were approved; their appointment of a commission 

 to have charge of the collection was accepted, and 

 the commission was continued: the designation 

 of the objects to which the funds collected should 

 be applied was ratified; and the duties of pastors 



