682 REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



REFORM IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. 



the church that, " out of regard to the fact 

 that membership in Masonic and similar orders 

 gives offense to many Christian consciences, 

 and has become a fruitful source of injurious 

 agitation and division in the church, they, in 

 accordance with the law of Christian love, re- 

 frain from connection with such societies." A 

 few churches in the West which had withdrawn 

 from connection with the Synod during the agi- 

 tation of this subject, were invited, in view of 

 the present action, to return. A resolution 

 adopted by the Synod called attention to the 

 fact that as the Sunday-school is one of the 

 religious services of the church, it is under the 

 same supervision of the consistory as are all 

 the other religious services. The title of the 

 " Adsessor " of the Synod was changed to 

 ''Vice-President," and that of "Quasstor" of 

 the Classis to "Treasurer." 



II. Reformed Church (German) in the United 

 States. The following is a summary of the sta- 

 tistics of this church, as they are given in the 

 " Almanac of the Reformed Church in the 

 United States" for 1884: Number of synods, 

 7; of classes, 51; of ministers, 767; of con- 

 gregations, 1,432; of members, 166,578; of 

 unconfirmed members, 101,309 ; of persons 

 who communed, 133,435; of baptisms, 13,431 

 of infants and 1,163 of adults; of Sunday- 

 schools, 1,344, with 107,356 scholars ; of stu- 

 dents for the ministry, 128. Amount of con- 

 tributions: For benevolent purposes, $133,901 ; 

 for congregational purposes, $745,749. The lit- 

 erary and theological institutions of the denom- 

 ination comprise 17 colleges, collegiate insti- 

 tutes, seminaries, and academies. The periodi- 

 cals include 15 weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, 

 and quarterly periodicals in the English lan- 

 guage, and 6 in the German language. Four 

 orphan homes are supported. Home missions 

 are conducted by the Joint Board of the East- 

 ern, Pittsburg, and Potomac Synods, and by 

 the separate boards of the German Synod of 

 the East, the Ohio Synod, and the Synod of 

 the Northwest. The general foreign mission 

 is in Japan, with the principal station at Tokio, 

 conducted by two missionaries and their wives. 



REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The ninth 

 General Council of the Reformed Episcopal 

 Church met in Baltimore, Md., May 23d. Bishop 

 Latan6 presided. A statistical report was pre- 

 sented, showing that the number of commu- 

 nicants of the Church was 6,193 ; number 

 of baptisms during the year, 923 ; number of 

 confirmations, 519 ; number of Sunday-school 

 pupils, 10,507; amount of collections, $132,- 

 538; value of church property, $614,500. The 

 treasurer of the General Council reported that 

 his receipts had been $26,857, and that he had 

 a balance on hand of $687. Reports of the 

 condition of the several Synods were marie by 

 Bishop Stevens, of the special jurisdiction of 

 the South; Bishop Latane, of 'the Synod of 

 the South ; Bishop Cheney, Bishop Nicholson, 

 Bishop Fallows, of the missionary jurisdiction 

 of the West and Northwest ; Bishop Cridge, 



of the missionary jurisdiction of the Pacific ; 

 Bishop Wilson, of the Synod of Canada; and 

 Bishop Sugden, of the Synod of Great Britain. 

 The Synod of Great Britain asked to be allowed 

 an organization independent in administration 

 and government, and this was granted. A gift 

 of 160 acres of land near the city limits of 

 Chicago, for a theological seminary, condi- 

 tioned upon the Council raising $20,000, was 

 accepted, and a Board of Regents for the pro- 

 posed institution was organized. A report 

 from the General Committee recommending a 

 suspension of the publication of the amended 

 Prayer-Book was approved, and a revision of 

 the Prayer-Book was referred to the Commit- 

 tee on Doctrine and Worship. 



The observance of Dec. 2, 1883, as the tenth 

 anniversary of the organization of the Re- 

 formed Episcopal Church, was commended to 

 the churches. The subject of restoring the 

 use of the service for the fourth of July from 

 the Prayer-Book of 1785 was referred to the 

 Committee on Doctrine and Worship. 



REFORM IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. An act " to 

 regulate and improve the civil service of the 

 United States," which had been prepared by 

 the Civil - Service Reform League and intro- 

 duced in the Senate by Mr. Pendleton, of Ohio, 

 became a law on the 16th of January (see CON- 

 GKESS, page 183). The national example was 

 followed by the Legislature of the State of New 

 York, which in May passed a similar act appli- 

 cable to the State service, with authority for 

 its extension to municipal service in cities of 

 50,000 inhabitants or more, in the discretion of 

 their mayors. (See NEW YOEK, page 566.) 



Commissioners were appointed under the na- 

 tional act, and confirmed by the Senate before 

 the adjournment of Congress in March. They 

 were Dorman B. Eaton, of New York ; Leroy 

 B. Thorn an, of Ohio ; and John M. Gregory, ot 

 Illinois. Their first meeting was held in Wash- 

 ington, March 9th. Silas W. Burt, of New York, 

 who had lately been superseded in the office 

 of naval officer of that port, was named for 

 chief examiner some days before, but had de- 

 clined the appointment ; Edward 0. Graves, 

 Chief of the Redemption Bureau of the Treas- 

 ury Department, nlso declined the place. Dr. 

 B. Randolph Keim, of Pennsylvania, was after- 

 ward named by the President, on the recom- 

 mendation of the commissioners, but the selec- 

 tion occasioned so much criticism that, after 

 some delay and hesitation, Mr. Keim was in- 

 duced to withdraw. Charles Lyman, a clerk in 

 the Treasury Department, was then appointed 

 to the office. W. Woods White was appointed 

 secretary of the commission, on recommenda- 

 tion of Dr. Gregory, but a statement having 

 been publicly made that the selection was in- 

 fluenced by the consideration that it would give 

 Dr. Gregory's son a business advantage in con- 

 nection with Mr. White's private affairs, the 

 latter promptly resigned, with an indignant de- 

 nial that his appointment and acceptance had 

 been influenced by any such consideration. 



