522 



MKTHOl' 



.s58. and the expenditure M 198.603. The 

 deficiency carried to the present account was 884 

 The extra income for pavi : l>i and on spe- 



cial plant account was 87.729. Gifts amountii 

 919 had been received on account <>f the Indian 

 Methodift Famine fund. iliary 



bftd \i :.d- -i '- I -'.'" !.'-., , ; ' in . I- Ol 



the society had been greatly Improved durim: the 

 t twelve tm> i ni r. o>e in the contribu- 



..... . , . . : 



past 



. 



ami the increase from all sources 8,69**. Special 

 nee wai made to the condition ..f tin- missions 

 in France and Italy, where the difficult i, 

 great: Germany, whrro it had IKM -n decided to 

 grant the request of the district synod to be t 



list Episcopal Church; China: 

 Western Africa, - an important held of ..; 



ami ' Juil and Swaziland district. 



_ ... :. , \. n department In 

 the mission- under the Immediate direction of tin- 

 society. church membership was returned , 



MS of 1,985, with 9.695 on trial. 

 an increase of 285. 



.- met at Leeds, July 20. Th. 



\Vilh nt. Con- 



rae missions tin- reports represented that 

 .inual income had been well maintained, al- 

 though there was still a diminution in tin- \. 



th. present return showed an in- 

 crease of 800 on the year. The mission cars were 



iiTfli/in^ agency. K 



able reports were made of army and navy work. 

 ami of the Joyful News mission. In the Chapel 

 Committee 880 new cases an unusually large num- 



ntly sanctioned, ihvolvin. 

 .-ut lay of 290,788, and providing 19,559 

 additional >ittiiii>. Four special gifts had IMM-H 

 received. One hundred and ri^ht.-.-n \<>unu r men 

 and 109 \oung women \\crc attending the training 

 schools Westminster and Southlands Th< 

 school departments numl>ered 747, with 1". 

 pupils. The total income had been 245,593 an 

 90S. A report of a special Commit- 

 tee on the Order of the Conference Sessions was 

 considered, upon which the Conference decided that 

 as the pastoral session had not yet had an oppor- 

 tunity of voting on the Mihject.it was desirable to 

 reconsider the whole question, and especially to con- 

 sider whether the necessities cf the case may not 

 be met by rearrangement of the course of Confer- 

 ence proceedings. A new committee was appointed 

 upon the The subject of removal of the 



headquarters of the Home Mission Department from 

 n to some other large city was referred to th. 

 Home Mission Committee for consideration. A 

 proposal for the creation of anew representative 

 bodv. or provincial synod, for Wales, to be culled 

 Velsh Methodist 'A >-mMy of Wales, was pro- 

 visionally agreed to. Concerning the extension of 

 rm of ministerial appointment t<> a circuit. 

 the pastoral session decided that th. matter be 

 dropped < far as it was concerned : and th. - 



vion. that in view of the I-XM ing divided 

 state of public opinion it wast pro- 



ceed anv further in the matter. The Wesley Guild, 

 which had been sanctioned by the pr 

 ^fe was represented to have 615 branches in 

 Great Britain and::: .hers. Besides these, 



several guilds were returned from f n 

 station*, and affiliated con f erences as in the West 



and South Afric- had given a welcor 

 the organization. The IV.-Md.-nt of the 



the discretion to appoint a prohatiom.rv 

 minister to assist the secretaries of the guild. Th'- 

 ma-a/jn-- puK -},. i i -. . i : - ,., ,j 



an aggregate circulation of 1,700,000 copies. 



Several important matters affecting the civil and 



us rites of Wesleyans ami Free Chun -hmen 

 generally were referred to tin- Committee of ivivi- 

 lege. these are the nonconformist mar- 



riage bill, the i . A liill. and the 



places of worship enfranchisement t>ill: also the 



"imtry of the a.t for the 



regulation -f met r|iolitan suluirl'.. 



and the (|iie>tion of the formal reeo^nition of Wes- 



a* cha|.lain- in \\orUhoii-es and 



irth< r in-trueted to 



!! . luring t he \ear I he elee|,.ral disadvantages 

 to which \\ ^^lll.ldi.t nnni-ters are si. 



in oonseoneDoe oi tiie Itii M| to take such 



legal action as may be advisable in order to th.ir 

 removal. A -p." i.'ii commiitee was appointed to 



Aith the pro|Misals of any imp.. riant in.. 

 concerning' elementary education \vhich ma\ i 

 trodu I 'arliament ; also a Special commit tee 



to tar alive mat 1 



to secondary education. A large committee wsj 



appointed to deal with Methods aggiv-si..n in 

 London. 



Mil. r.iiniti>c Mclho.liM (I, ,,,,!,. 

 <'oiinccti<.iial ivporN made to the C..i. 

 .lune gave the number of cliun-h memliers a 



i increase of l.'Jl'.t duriii. 



with K..V(i lav leader-. 1 . 1 -j: ministers, 16,698 

 local preacheix ."i.^'JT chapels and preaching places 

 valued at 



Sunday schools \\iih <;i.7}: ( leadi.r- and l 

 juipils. 



The Juliilee Thank-u'iviiiu' fund hm! 



I during the year, inakini; the \vh.-le amount 

 '.:J8. It is proposed to raise 50,0<xi for this 

 fund. 



The reports of the Connectional fund. Book I> 

 Superannuated Ministers' and Widows' an 

 phans' fumls. Chapel Aid Association, and other 

 interests, all showed inciva-e. The (Jem-ral .Mis- 

 sionary Committee had been succeful at home 

 and abroad. 



The Conference met in Manchester, June 16. The 

 James Jackson was chosen pioi.lent. The 

 report of the joint committee of this Church and 

 the l'>il)le ( 'hristians favoring union of the two c<.n- 

 nectioiiv was adopted l.y a very large majority, and 

 i- to l>e referred to the district in.- their 



judgment, and a fraternal deputation was ap- 

 pointed to attend the Bible Christian Coiife- 

 The Committee on i etfl reappointed. The 



principle of a su>lentation fund, under which all 

 ministers will l>e assured at least a minium: 



A as unanimously approved. The formation of 

 circuit and district libraries for local preachers was 

 approved. Changes were made in the mode of in- 

 viting probationers to circuits, will 

 laru'inu' tin- liberty of both circuits and mil, 

 IS expressed at the way in which t! 

 meiiian and Cretan questions had been tna' 

 the (iovernmcnt. I; a were adopt e>: 



t.-tint: a.L r ain>t recent educational le^i-latjon and 



he r.-enactment in any form of the 

 tagious diseases acts. The district committees 

 were empowered todealwiih all educational 

 lions, and it was provided that they should be allili- 

 ated M it h a central executive, to be appoint. 

 the Conference. A i idere.l for 



:uj a fund of 25,000 for the aid of local pr< 

 ers and other officers in old age and [>overt 

 deputation was received from the Ka-tern Primi- 

 tive Methodist Conference in the I" nit ..I - 

 but the Conference was not able to grant a request 

 that a deputation be sent to that body in tin: fall. 

 It was also found impracticable to send a deputa- 

 tion to the Australian colonies. The vilhi^c evan- 

 gelists appointed to act under the control of the 

 General Missionary Committee had done good work. 



