444 



METHODISTS. 



with the facts concerning the passage of the bill 

 and the final disposition of the money appropriated 

 under it." The bishops of the Church, July 4, 

 adopted a resolution which was duly communi- 

 cated to the president of the Senate, declaring that, 

 " while reaffirming the justness of our claim, pay- 

 ment of which has been sought for twenty-live 

 years, we insist that the Church can not afford to 

 iirre.pt it as a gratuity, or on conditions that reflect 

 upon its honor. Inasmuch, therefore, as some Sena- 

 tors have affirmed on the floor of the Senate that 

 they were induced to support the claim by mislead- 

 ing" statements on the part of representatives of the 

 Church statements, however, which did not affect 

 the merits of our claim we hereby give this as- 

 surance: That if the Senate, by affirmative action, 

 declares that the passage of the bill was due to such 

 misleading statements, we will take the proper 

 steps to have the entire amount returned to the 

 Government. (Signed) Robert K. Hargrove, Secre- 

 tary of the College of Bishops." 



This letter was regarded as making it appropriate 

 that there should be an expression of opinion on the 

 part of the Senate in response to the conditional 

 proposition to tender to the Government the money 

 paid to the book agents under the terms of the act 

 of March 31, 1898. The committee reported that 

 no new facts had come to its knowledge since its 

 report had been laid before the Senate, and sub- 

 mitted the following resolution, which was adopted : 

 " That the report of the committee made July 8, 1898, 

 be approved, and that no censure should rest upon 

 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for the 

 misstatements and concealments of the book agents 

 in connection with the passage of the bill for the 

 payment of the claim referred to in the letter of 

 the bishops now under consideration ; that the in- 

 jury resulting therefrom affected only the bene- 

 ficiaries of the fund and not the United States : and 

 the Senate should take no further action in the 

 matter." 



Federation. The Commissioners on Federation 

 appointed by the General Conference of the Metho- 

 dist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church, South, met in joint session in Washington, 

 I>. ('.. Jan. 7. A paper was presented as a basis of 

 action by the commissioners of the Methodist Church, 

 South, in which the report on federation adopted by 

 the General Conference of that body in 1894 was re- 

 ferred to, and the declaration and basis of fraternity 

 adopted by the " Cape May commission " in 1876 

 was cited : " Statutes of the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 

 and their co-ordinate relations as legitimate branches 

 of Episcopal Methodism. Each of said churches is 

 it legitimate branch of Episcopal Methodism in the 

 I'nited States, having a common origin in the Metho- 

 iliM Episcopal Church organized in 1784; and since 

 i In' organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 

 South, was consummated in 1846, by the voluntary 

 exercise of the right of the Southern annual con- 

 ferences, ministers, and members to adhere to that 

 communion, it has been an evangelical Church, 

 reared upon scriptural foundations, and its minis- 

 ters and members, with those of the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church, have constituted one Methodist 

 family, though in distinct ecclesiastical connection*." 

 The paper continued: "That commission decided 

 questions concerning conflicting claims to Church 

 property in so just and liberal a spirit as to settle 

 local contentions and give general satisfaction. The 

 questions which came before this commission relate 

 not to Church property, but to such occupation of 

 the same territory by the two great branches of 

 Episcopal Methodism as tends to promote friction 

 and waste and injury, rather than promote the 

 common cause namely, the spreading of scriptural 



holiness through this and other lands." The com- 

 mission then discussed, and adopted unanimously, 

 to be presented to the General Conferences of the 

 two bodies, recommendations for the preparation 

 of a common catechism, hymn book, and order of 

 public worship; for the recognition and regulation 

 -of the International Epworth League conventions; 

 for the just administration of publishing interests 

 in China and Japan ; for the co-operative adminis- 

 tration of foreign missions; providing that new 

 work be not organized by cither Church when the 

 other, is established and supplying the needs of the 

 people, without the consent of the bishops having 

 jurisdiction; and for co-operation in the work of 

 higher education, especially during the years 1900 

 and 1901 ; and resolutions commending the Amer- 

 ican University at Washington for contributions. 



III. African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

 The statistics of this Church for the year ending 

 May 1, 1898, published by Bishop B. W. Arnett, 

 Church historian, give the following totals : Number 

 of annual conferences in the United States, 52, with 

 4 conferences in Africa, 3 in the West Indies, and 

 3 in British America, making in all 62 ; of bishops, 

 9; of general officers, 9; of ministers on the rolls 

 of the annual conferences, 4,825 ; of presiding 

 elders in America and foreign countries, 242 ; 

 of local preachers, 8,709 ; of exhorters, 5,250 ; of 

 members, 556,289; of probationers, 57,836; of 

 churches, 5,172, valued at $0,150,175; of parson- 

 ages, 1,750, valued at $624,42.3: amount of indebt- 

 edness on Church property, $752,964 : number of 

 schools, 41, with 160 teachers, 5,257 students, 6GO 

 graduates, property valued at $756,475, and an 

 aggregate annual income of $115,560 ; of Sundav 

 schools, 3,447, with 21,514 officers, 37,916 teacher's 

 and 362,421 pupils; amount of benevolent contribu- 

 tions for missions, $29.938 ; for publication, $10,- 

 745 ; for Church extension, $17,252 : for education, 

 $115,560; for ministerial support, $753,404; for 

 presiding elders, $141,876; in the Sunday-school 

 department, $20,740 ; whole amount of money 

 raised in the Church, $1,570,329 ; total amount of 

 all property, $8,104,886. The most noteworthy 

 events of the year were the organization of two 

 annual conferences in South Africa, with 10,800 

 members, and the formation of a Church in San- 

 tiago de Cuba. 



At an educational convention of the three annual 

 conferences of this Church in Arkansas, held at 

 Pine Bluff, May 18, under the presidency of Bishop 

 Derrick, questions were discussed relative to the 

 necessity for a higher educational development 

 among the ministers of the State ; to what the lay- 

 men could do to assist in bringing it about ; as to 

 whether, as laymen, they should not be more inter- 

 ested in the general welfare of the Church; whether 

 the spiritual and moral interest of the laity are as 

 strictly watched over as they should be ; and 

 whether the laymen should not concentrate their 

 energies and consecrate their lives to the develop- 

 ment of the educational interests in the State. 

 Resolutions were adopted expressing the sentiments 

 that prompted these questions, and pledging more 

 energy and greater liberality in the support of 

 educational interests. An organization named the 

 Annual Educational Convention of Laymen was 

 instituted to meet annually, and to consist of dele- 

 gates invited from each mission circuit and station. 

 The convention advised, also, that a layman In- 

 elected from each presiding elder's district a~ a 

 " district lecturer on education," and to look after 

 educational interests. 



A full official report published by Bishop Turner 

 represents that a correspondence had been going on 

 between the " African Methodist Episcopal Church " 

 and the "Ethiopian " Church in South Africa, and 



