METHODISTS. 



447 



student 'probationers amounted to between $10.000 

 and $11,000. The loans had amounted to about 

 $14,000, and $8,753 had been repaid on loans. 

 Seven hundred and fifty-three notes held by the 

 treasurers aggregated $38,007. 



The General Board of Missions, at its annual 

 meeting, Sept. 23, made appropriations of $20,886 

 to missions in Japan, $0.592 to those in China, 

 $0,725 to French evangelistic and educational work, 

 and $85,534 to domestic missions. The arrange- 

 ments made for the Indian missions by the last 

 annual conferences were continued. 



The Missionary Society had in Japan 25 mission- 

 aries, 33 assistants, 15 teachers, and 2,370 members ; 

 in China, 10 missionaries, 2 assistants, and 4 

 teachers ; in the 59 missions among the Indian 

 tribes, 37 missionaries. 17 assistants, 32 teachers, 11 

 interpreters, and 5,407 members. The 408 domestic 

 missions were supplied by 390 missionaries and 34 

 assistants, and returned 37,603 members. A mis- 

 sion to the Japanese in British Columbia reported 

 83 members. The aspect of the missionary work 

 among the Canadian French was not encouraging. 

 The sum of $21,455 was spent upon the mission in 

 Japan, besides $990 on the Japanese work in Brit- 

 ish Columbia; $12,193 upon the Chinese mission.; 

 $85,946 upon the work among the Indians ; and 

 $92,881 upon the domestic missions. 



The Woman's Missionary Society had laborers at 

 four stations in Japan Tokio, Shizuoka, Kofu, 

 and Kanagawa, and had recently entered also Na- 

 gano. About 30 pupils had been graduated from 

 the 3 schools during the quadrennium ; 29 pupils 

 and more than 80 women had been baptized ; and 

 30 children were cared for in the orphanages at 

 Tokio and Kanagawa. The pupils at Tokio have 

 for several years maintained a school for 50 poor 

 children, and were contributing to the work in 

 China. Four missionaries had been sent to China 

 since the previous General Conference, one of 

 whom had died. A rescue home for Chinese girls 

 was maintained at Victoria, British Columbia. 

 Among the Indians of the Northwest, the Crosby 

 Girls' Home was maintained at Fort Simpson, and 

 the Coqualectza Home at Chilli wack had become 

 an Indian institute, where about 100 children were 

 taught and trained. The French institute in 

 Montreal was attended by 80 pupils. 



The fifth General Conference met at Toronto, 

 Sept. 1. The Rev. Dr. Carman, general superin- 

 tendent, presided, and presented in his official 

 address a review of the history of the Church during 

 the past four years, and of its relations to the 

 ecclesiastical, fraternal, and the moral movements 

 of the day. On the presentation of the report of a 

 committee on that subject, the Conference ex- 



Sressed approval of an (Ecumenical Conference of 

 lethodism which it is proposed to hold in London 

 in 1901, and its readiness to co-operate in carrying 

 the scheme out upon the basis proposed ; appointed 

 a delegate, with an alternate, to represent the 

 Canadian Church; and arranged for the other 

 delegates to be apportioned to the different annual 

 conferences^ In response to the address of a fra- 

 ternal delegate of the Presbyterian Church, the 

 Conference declared " that in such fraternal fellow- 

 ship we find more than mere interdenominational 

 courtesy. Our cordial esteem for the Presbyterian 

 Church amounts to warm Christian love"; and 

 that the approximation of the two leading churches 

 of the Dominion was "an encouraging guarantee of 

 the continuance of an active evangelical influence." 

 The action of the General Conference of 1894 upon 

 the subject of a federal court for Protestant churches 

 was reaffirmed. A committee was appointed to con- 

 sider any proposals from other denominations look- 

 ing towards union. The committee on the " Twen- 



tieth-Century Thanksgiving fund " of $1,000,000, 

 which it is proposed to raise, reported that several 

 memorials and resolutions had been received from 

 districts and annual conferences, all favorable to 

 the scheme, and suggested the details of a plan for 

 carrying it out. The plan as adopted by the Con- 

 ference contemplated that contributors be allowed 

 to designate the objects for which their subscrip- 

 tions shall be used, and recommended as the inter- 

 ests from which this choice may be made: Educa- 

 tional institutions ; missions, home or foreign : 

 Superannuation and Supernumerary funds; and 

 local church debts. Donors were permitted, if they 

 prefer, to leave their contributions to be distributed 

 among the institutions, funds, and objects men- 

 tioned as the committee to be appointed by the 

 General Conference might deem advisable. It was 

 insisted upon that the givings to the Twentieth- 

 Century fund must not be allowed to interfere 

 with customary givings to the various Connect ional 

 funds. A motion proposing to strike out a note in 

 the Discipline specifying what amusements and 

 worldly practices were regarded by the Church as 

 inconsistent with Christian life, and also a motion 

 to modify the rule by making it a mere general 

 statement, were voted down by an overwhelming 

 majority, and the rule was left to stand unchanged. 

 In the revision of the disciplinary provisions re- 

 gardingthe superannuation of ministers, stipulations 

 are inserted for medical examination before super- 

 annuation ; for the refunding of only one half of the 

 money paid in by the minister to the Superannuation 

 fund, instead of the whole amount, as formerly, in 

 case he withdraws from the Church ; and permitting 

 the suspension or withdrawal of annuities in cases 

 where the minister does not intend to return to ac- 

 tive work. The rule limiting the number of years 

 for which a minister may be returned to the same 

 station was amended so as to provide that by the 

 request of the Quarterly Board expressed by a three 

 fourths vote taken according to specified forms, the 

 Stationing Committee may continue the appoint- 

 ment for four or five years in succession. The 

 Transfer Committee was constituted to consist of 

 the general superintendent and the presidents of 

 the annual conferences other than mission con- 

 ferences, to meet annually. It was given author- 

 ity to transfer a minister from one Conference to 

 another, by a two thirds majority, without his con- 

 sent. It was directed that four ministers shall be 

 transferred during the quadrennium from New- 

 foundland into some of the other conferences, no 

 Conference, however, to receive more than one such 

 transferred minister. It was further provided that 

 after a man had stayed ten years in Newfoundland 

 he could be brought back into one of the western 

 conferences if he desired it. In a resolution ex- 

 pressing regret at signs of the decline of class meet- 

 ings, the Conference "strongly recommended that 

 earnest efforts be put forth to make our class meet- 

 ings more and more attractive and spiritually help- 

 ful, and that more importance should be attached 

 to the holding of leaders' .meetings, to the prepara- 

 tion and diffusion of useful literature on the sub- 

 ject, and to the holding of class-leaders' conventions 

 or institutes in connection with our conferences and 

 district meetings, and at educational centers." It 

 was ordered that the allowance of home missionaries 

 shall include all items of a minister's support, such 

 as salary, board, fuel, and traveling expenses, but 

 not house rent. The missionary work among the 

 Indians was put under the immediate control of 

 the mission board. Mission councils were consti- 

 tuted, to consist severally of the missionaries sent 

 to any foreign field, when not less than five in num- 

 ber, to be subject to such regulations and rules with- 

 in its authority as the mission board may from time 





