V
THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS
DISPATCHES
LAST EDITION
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Weather Forecast:.
Fair and cooler.
V0L.X NO. 73.
ASHEVILLE, N. C, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 4, 1910.
3c PER COPY
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SESSON
CANCER'S CAUSE
15 NOTFISH DIET
So Contends Dr. Curtin He Thinks
Over-Nutrition May Cause of
the Dread Malady.
HE THINKS HALF
PURCHASED SEATS
Ex Senator Mason Says 50 per Cent,
of the Senate Practically Bought
Senatorial Togas.
CHURCH'S LEGISLATORS
HEAR BISHOPS' MESSAGE
uwrtiiti.
NEARLY ALL DELEGATES PRESENT
Practically Entire Clerical Representation at Roll Call, and There
Is Also a Good Lay Representation Impressive Scene
at Auditorium as Bishop Wilson Opens Six
teenth Quadrennial Meeting.
A, F. Walkins of the Mississippi Con
ference Is Secretary Matter of
Rules Goes to Rules
Committee.
The formal welcoming of the
..H..1 will take Dluce to- H
nlKht nt S . 'clock at the Audi
torium. Bishop James Atkins
will preside The address of
welcome mi hehuir of the
Methodists f the state will le
made by Dr. T. N. Ivcy, D. D..
if Kiting)). itPd for the city of
Asheville by dipt. W. T. Wea
ver. Bishop Candler of At
lanta will respond. There will
be music hy an orchestra and
singins nt "Carolina" by a
churns of girls. The public
are cordially invited.
THE sixteenth quadrennial general
conference of Methodist Epis
copal Church, South the first
session of the supreme body of this
church representing an aggregate of
nearly '-'.ooo.ottti souls, thut hits ever
convened In Nurth Carolina soil
was auspiciously opened this morning
in the Auditorium and for the next
three week this splendid body of
men, clergymen and laymen. Interest
ed not only In the advance of Metho
dism, hut also Id the spreading of the
religion of Jesus Christ to all the
parts of the earth will be the guests
ul the city. - .11 wo shortly after 9
o'clock when liishop Alpheus W. Wil
son of Baltimore let fall the gavel,
and immediately the crowd of more
than 1000 people were silenced. It
was un impressive eopening, prac
tically every onr of the cleri
cal delegates was present, and al
most all of the lay delegates; the few
absent members will arrive before
Saturday night. Upon the stuge
were gathered ISishops Wilson, E. R.
Hendrix of Kansas City, J. S. Key of
Sherman, Tex.; W. A. Candler of At
lanta, 11. c. .Morrison of Leesburg,
1'la.; E. K. I loss of Nashville, James
Atkins of Wuyncsvllle and Hev. Frunk
liichardson of Fountain City, Tenn.,
In addition to more than a score of
newspaper men and women.
The delegates were all seated In the
parquet of the great building, while
a large number of the people of the
city tilled the remaining space on the
first floor and the balcony.
liishop K.. E. I loss read hymn No.
660, an. I tht. vast body of men and
Women, rising, sang- with true Metho
dist harmony:
"And are we yet alive.
And see each other's face?
Glnry and praise to Jesus give
For I lis redeeming grace."
This was followed hy the recital of
the Apostles' creed, led by Bishop
Wilson.
liishop Morrison's Prayer.
The opening prayer was by Bishop
Morrison who expressed thanks for
the manifold blessings and unnum
bered mercies of the past and for the
Prosperity ..f the church since the last
quadrennial meeting:
"We magnify Thy name for what
"hou hast wrought In the homeland
here thousands have been brought
unto the ird. We have seen His
hand In the movement driving back
the whiskey curse, and In the fight
gainst the divorce evil; that Thou
rt with the church In the fight
gainst evil of every form." .
He prayed for special blessing on
the work of the women, and especially
the Rpwnrth league. He prayed for
the Lord to hear them, while think
ing of the widening of the church;
there Is no longer any thought of lo
calities,- the church has come to
orld thought and world field and
) prayed that the thought would
continue In this direction.
Finally he prayed for the grace and
e win of the Lord to direct them In
ne arralrs of the conference and to
be able to legislate for the beloved
Zlon so as to give a new Impulse and
new lire to the work for the Kingdom
Christ In the conference, In the
home life, in the committee ' meet
ings and In the hotels he prayed that
11 would remember Christ and to do
the best thing In the best way for the
advancement of His ktmiinm
He wp followed by Bishop Key
ho read the first lesson. Psalma S;
and Blshon Atkins whn ran A tha aan
ond lesson from Paul's Epistle to the
"I'urxinns z.
Bishop Candler announced Hymn
an,
"O Roirlt of the living God.
In all Thy plenteous grace," etc.
ms was followed by a prayer by
Frank Richardson. D. D.. In
which he Invoked tha nun f the
TJT lUh ln th thlnga. actions
mougnt or the conference,' and
guidance of the Hn1 Knlrlt in n
'"nation of the conference so
the kingdom of Christ could be
-uvanceo, .
T'o Who Had, KIW-n from the
. . Hanks. I
uishop Wilson, after the prellml-
nary exercises were over, spoke In
great tenderness of the loss that the
church and the conference had sus
tained since the last quadrennial in
the deaths of some of the beloved
bishops and workers. He thanked
Ood that they had led pure lives. He
trusted that the sense of His presence
would be shown In every act and that
His hand would guide and direct the
work of the conference so that the
scope of tho work could be enlarged
beyond Its present scope. He thank
ed God for what had already been
done and he looked forward with
faith to the future.
Nearly All Present.
The roll tall of the delegates was
made, showing practically every one
of the clerical delegates present and
nearly all of the lay delegates pres
ent. Some of the delegations) were
completed by the substitution of
Judge Longley in the place of H. C.
Stewart of the Holsten delegation;
John B. Simpson ln the place of T. O.
Slaughter, deceased, of the Northern
Alabama delegation; W. K. Macalory,
vice W. T. Saunders, absent; W. F.
Duncan vice O. K. Gnddnrd of the
Oklahoma delegation; A. W. Putton
vice D. O. Northey, absent, of the
Mississippi delegation; Mr. Hensley
in the Misourl delegation. Mr. Tnl
bert wll' be here later.
Election of Secretary.
For the place of the secretary of
the conference three names wore
placed in nomination: A. F. Watkins
of the Mississippi conference, who re
ceived 145 votes; John M. Barcus of
the Northwest Texas delegation, who
received 44 votes, and Dr. Gross Alex
ander of the Louisville conference,
who received 69 votes. Mr. Watkins
was then declared elected secretary.
He named the following assistant sec
retaries, and their appointment was
ratified by the conference: Dr. Gross
Alexander, J. A. Burrows, C. H.
Griggs, K. O. Wntson, J. M. Barcus,
J. E. Harrison. R. A. Meek, J. H. Mc
Coy and F. M. Parker.
A motion was made by John O.
Wilson that-the rules of the commit
tee of five of the last general confer
ence be adopted and thut all amend
ments be referred to that committee
of five. There was some discussion,
and the matter went to the rules
committee to report, and In the mean
time the old rules were adopted until
the committee's report.
DiwuHhlon Over Committee.
The greatest discussion and confu
sion of the morning came when James
Cannon, president of Blackstone Fe
male college, and Dr. Griggs offered a
resolution that the standing commit
tees of the conference be composed
of 14 and that each committee huvu
at least one representative from each
annual conference; the committees to
be of episcopacy. Itinerancy, revlsals.
publishing Interests, education.
church extension, missions, bounda
ries, moral and social Issues, Sunday
schools, Epworth league, appeals,
finance and church relations. This
made a change ln two committees,
that of temperance being changed to
morals and colportage dropped and In
its place substituted a committee on
church relations, to include also any
and all questions of federation.
There were several amendments
adopted, one by Dr. Mann, that the
committee on revlsals be aroppeti,
this was withdrawn later: there was
also a substitute offered to the effect
that the preterit 14 committees oe
continued and that also each commit
tee elect its chairman and secretury
by ballot and that seven other stuna
Ing committees be appointed to con
sist of five members each, among
which were to be committees on BiDie
cause, colportage. fraternal relations.
rules. Sabbath observance, etc.
Another amendment was otierea to
.k. ... that each committee De
composed of one lay and one clerical
delegate to be chosen from eacn an
nual conference, the object or wnicn
was to give the laity representation
on some of the Important committees.
it un. tated that on the committee
on episcopacy there was not a singi
lay delegate, only about nve on iw-
nnM snil about lour on rtt two".
That was voted down by a good sized
majority, those opposed taking mo
ground that there would not be
enough laymen to go around, aa eome
of the conferences only had one lay
.tuieiratR. and that such action as con
templated would hamper tne wora ui
xnmmitteca aa one man could not
attend several committee meetings at
once.
Cannon Resolution Pasae.
Tha matter Bi finally settled by
the adoption of Rev. Mr. Cannon's
resolution, with the exception mat me
order of the present committees be
not changed. This means that the
.,mnrnnfa committee becomes the
eommlttee on moral and social issues;
and the committee on colportage Is
dropped and that on church relations
substituted. It also provides for one
committee member from each annual
conference, members to be chosen by
the delegates of that particular con
ference.
After a few more petitions of minor
Importance were offered, the confer
ence heard the episcopal address,
read by Blshorv Hendrix.
Women's Demands Oppowtl.
"'fhe dIbcodbI address flatly op
posed the demand of the women for
laymen's rights and representation In
the conference. It says the demands
ore not "In harmony with the church's
Idea of what was woman's place In
church, home and society." , '
Washington, May 4. The congress
of American Physicians and Surgeons,
in eighth triennial session, began to
day discussion of medical, surgical,
therapeutic questions. More than
1000 delegates are attending.
Dr. R. G. Curtin of Philadelphia
took issue with those who contend
that cancer is cauited by 'eating fish,
particularly trout. He argued that
statistics show that cancer is more
common In centers of population
where not one person In 50 eats trout.
A country la who lived on trout, he
asserted, is seldom airlifted with this
disease. Ills position was that can
cer probably was caused hy over-nutrition.
ROOSEVELT Ai PARTY
Colonel Roosevelt Will Oeliverthe Nobel
Peace Pffce Lecture There
Tomorrow.
Chrlstlanlu, Norway. May 4. The
Roosevelt party arrived here this af
ternoon. The Roosevelts came by
train from Copenhagen, which they
left lust night. At every stopping
place they were greeted by large
crowds.
According to present plans the
Roosevelts will remain here until 7:30
Friday evening, when they will pro
ceed to Stockholm. Col. Roosevelt
tomorrow delivers the Noble prize lec
ture at the National theater, anil In
the evening will be entertained at a
banquet. Frlduy he will receive the
doctor's degree from King Frederic's
University.
Mr. Roosevelt was formally receiv
ed at .the railway station by King Haa
kon and Queen Maud. With the Roy
al party were Premier Konow and
other high officials. Great crowds
cheered Roosevelt us he drove to the
palace, decorations abounded, while
American Hugs were entwined with
those of the Norwegian colors.
LESS THAN 13 MINUTES
IS GIVEN PENSION BILL
And It Passes, With $155,000,000
Appropriation Consideration
of Naval Affairs.
Washington, May 4. Secretary of
the Navy Meyer appeared before the
senate naval affairs- committee today.
explaining the details of the naval
appropriation bill.' Appropriation for
the construction of two battleships
was considered. No decision was
cached.
Several republican senators prob
ably will make a strong fight against
the construction of more than one
battleship a year.
In less than 15 minutes time the
senate considered and passed the pen
sion appropriation bill, carrying
about $155,000,000.
MR. TAFT WILL NOT SAY
WHETHERHE1L VETO IT
Action Will Depend on Shape in Which
Railway Bill It Finally Passed
by Congress.
St. Louis, May 4. The possibility
of -a veto of the railroad bill, as it
will come- from congress ln emascu
lated form, was suggested to Presl
dent Taft today. The president would
not discuss the matter.
The president added that he would
go over the bill carefully and his fu
ture action would depend entirely on
the shape In which the measure final
ly passes. i
TUE WEATHER.
For Asheville and vicinity: Fair
weather tonight and Thursday; cool
er tonight.
For North Carolina: Partly cloudy
and cooler tonight; Thursday fair.
Light to moderate north to northeast
winds.
Shipper' forecast: Temperatures
near it degrees are Indicated to the
northeastward, but will return to
more normal conditions north and
northwest.
Anil-Oral Retting Hill rasaed.
Albany, N. T May 4. Tha Anew
anti-oral bookmaklng bill I passed
rby the senate In a form which pro
hibits bookmaklng, "With nr without
writing."
Chicago, May 4. "I believe 50 per
cent, of the seuts in the United States
senate can be said to have been prac
tically purchased."
This statement Is made by former
United States Senator William E. Ma
son in an interview urging the election
of United States senutors by direct
vote of the people.
Morning papers quote Senator Ma
son as saying he heard at Springfield
before the election of Senator Jjori
mer that the honor was for sale, and
that the senatorial toga would go to
the highest bidder. Mr. Mason, how
ever, foduy denied he made such allegation.
HAS IMPORTANT EVIDENCE
AS TO L0RIMER CHARGES
State's Attorney Says Two Persons
Will Tell Thlnga About the Alleged
Urllicry ln KeimUM-'s Election.
Chicago, May 4. State's Attorney
Wayman declares he has two demo
cratic state representatives who will
give Important evidence before the
special grand Jury, regarding the al
leged bribery in the election of Wil
liam Lorlmer as United States sena-tor-
. . ,m&
El
ADDRESSED BY MB. TAFT
Sees Baseball Game This Afternoon
and Is to Start On His Return
Tomorrow Morning.
St. Iuls, May 4.- President Taft
upon his arrival' today was met by
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, Gov
ernor Hadley and a reception com
mittee of the Business Men's League
The president delivered an address
efore the farmer's convention at 11
o'clock. He was the guest of the
business men at luncheon. After
uncheon he was driven to the base
ball park, witnessing the game be-
ween the Cincinnati and St. Louis
National league teams.
The president starts for Washington
at 1:30 Thursday morning.
President Taft wound up a day of
renewing old acquaintances by ap
pearing before a brilliant and enth
sinstlc throng at the opening of Cin
cinnati's annual May mimical festival
last night ns the dedicator of an he
roic statue of Theodore Thomas, first
conductor of the festival, and form
erly nead of the Chicago orchestra.
Having respected the president's
wishes that he be treated as a "citizen
of Cincinnati," all day the public took
full advantage of his appearunce at
night to proclaim him as the chief
executive of the nation. A fanfare of
trumpets ushered the president on the
stage, but the notes of the Instruments
were drowned by the shouting ap
plause of the thousands who had lis
tened to the strains of Handel's "Judas
Muccabeus" with its story of "love,
liberty and Justice."
Good to Be at Home.
At the Loyal Legion meeting Presi
dent Taft, after declaring that he had
been too young '.j tight In the Civil
war and too fat to take part in the
Spanish war, said:
'It Is a pleasure to come to one s
home, especially when you have been
In Washington and have been greatly
chlded for your shortcomings, and to
snuggle up close to those who sre
fond of you, who have respect for
you, whatever huppens, and who be.
lleve that however great the obstacles
are and however severe the criticism
may be In other parts of the coun
try, you are doing the best you can.'
President Taft read with the keen
est interest the despatches from
Washington dealing with the critical
situation In which tve administration
bill hss been placed. The president
would make no comment for publlca
tlon regarding the attltt of the
Insurgents in the senate and the
house toward the measure. That he
holds the insurgents responsible for
the legislative delay ts now fully rec
ognized. It Is known that the presi
dent has grown tired of the profes
slons of loyalty of members In both
branches of congresa that they are for
his measures when they visit the
white house but work against these
same measures, according to his view,
a soon as tbey get back to capitol
hill. In public speeches some of these
senators and representatives have
also expressed their loyalty to the
administration only to resort to tac
tics which the president regards as
being Inlmicable to the active meas
ures he has recommended.
WORK 84 HOURS A WEEK
AT BETHLEHEM FACTORY
Sern Days, of II Hours, for 1322
Men, the Most of Wlitim Get
12 Cents an Hour.
Washington, April 4. The bureau
of labor's report upon conditions at
the Bethlehem Steel company' works.
South Bethlehem, Pa., submitted to
the senate aays 2.12! men work twelve
hour a, day, seven day a we It,
large percentage of these laborer
earn only twelve and' a half cent an
hour. .'
LAI IS IN FIELD
AGAINST LOCKE CRAIG
His Candidacy for Governor Practically
Announced Notes from the
State Capital.
Gazette-News Bun an,
Chamber of Commerce Rooms,
Hollemon Building,
Raleigh, May 4.
Hon. W. C. Newland of Ltnolr is
here attending the Supreme Court,
and when asked about the report
tnnt he would be a candidate for the
democratic nomination for governor
two years from nw said that in all
probability he would. This wits an
announcement of his candidacy, prac
tically, and lends considerable In
terest to the political situntlon, par
ticularly in the western part of the
state. The Impression had gone
abroad that I,ocke Craig would have
the held all to himself, but It now
looks as though he will have to tight
even in the west where he was sup
posed to ;e the unanimous choice.
There are between 10 and 20 candi
dates for the position on the corpora
tion commission made vacant by the
death of B. F. Aycock. Some of these
are only receptive or passive candi
dates, while others are very active.
There is no intimation as to who will
be the successful man.
The appeals from the thirteenth dis
trict are being heard in the Supreme
court this week.
IS
No Announcement of Population of En-
tire C( jntry May Be Expected
by August
Washington, May 4. Returns from
he census enumeration, begun
throughout the United States a couple
of weeks ago, are beginning to ar
rive.
There is no prospect of the an
nouncement of the population of the
entire United States before August or
September.
AMERICAN TOBACCO CO.
Extra Dividend of 7 1-2 per Cent-
Regular Dividends on Common and
Preferred Stock.
New York, May 4. The American
Tobacco company today declared a
quarterly dividend of two and a half
per cent. A quarterly dividend of one
und a half per cent, was declared on
preferred stock. Alt these dividends
were the same as those last quarter.
The extra dividend declared a year
ago for the corresponding quarter was
tlve per cent.
BILL TO RAISE MAINE
PISSEIHinONGBESS
Bones of the Sailors Within Her to Be
Interred in National Cemetery
at Arlington.
Washington. May 4. After twelve
year, the ill-fated battlesshlp Maine
1 to be removed from Havana har
bor and the bodies of the men who
went down with the vessel will be In
terred ln Arlington national cemetery.
The bill providing for such removal
and burial, which had passed the
house, was today passed by the sen
ate.
EN ROUTE TO JAMAICA.
Lieut. Owen and His Bride, Who Was
Mrs. Leavltt, Spent Night
In Kansas City.
Kansas City. Mo., May 4 Lieut.
Reginald A. Owens of the British ar
my and hi bride, who was Mrs. Ruth
Rrvan Leavltt. the democratic ieaa
er'a daughter, spent last night here
enroute to Jamaica, where Lieut, uw
en I stationed.
Great Damnge Done by Hurricane.
Victoria. B. C May
4. New
brought by the ateamer Makura
ttatea that a hurricane ha devastated
Fill. It did great damage at Noumet,
Caledonia. A number of boat were
swept away. In the FIJI group the
hurricane did a million dollars dam
age. Plantations suffered
Episcopal Address Counsels: "Ours
a Government of Law Rather
Than of Men"
EVANGELIZATION OF WORLD
IS NOW THE IMMINENT TASK
The Various Memorials, Looking to
etc., Are Commented Upon An Eloquent Review and
Summary of the Quadrennium, and of
the Church Militant.
A
ER the Methodist General
conference had been organized
otlay by the election of the sec
retaries and assistants, and a number
of resolutions introduced, Bishop E.
II. Hendrix of Kansas City, read
the episcopal address. This is the
address which Is concurred in by the
college of bishops, and corresponds to
the president's address to congress.
It is an important document and Just
two hours were required in the, read
ing. Many things of Importance were
discussed and in the matter of Van
derbllt University it was recommend
ed that this subject ba taken up and
finally disposed of at this conference.
After referring to the death of Bish
ops John J. Tigert, Alexander Coke
Smith, John Cowper Cranberry, Wil
liam Wallace Duncan, Charles Betts
Galloway und Seth Ward, the College
of Bishops recommended that live
bishops be elected at this session.
Following are excerpts from the
Episcopal address:
Beloved brethren of the ministry
and laity, elect of the church for your
sacred responsibilities us counsellors
and legislators, grace and peuce be
unto you from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
we know the Father. We give unto
you our Christian salutations, and re
joice with you In our common Inheri
tance that God has given unto the
Gentiles repentance unto faith, and
has taken us also into his covenant
of Ufa and peace. "For this Is the
record that God hath given unto us
eternal lire, and this life is in His
Son." We worship the Eternal Fath
er of the Eternal Son, for without
sonsbip there is no fathership. It if
the Eternal Son in the bosom of the
Father by whom is made known un
to us the G.odhead of both Father and
Son through the Holy Spirit proceed
ing from the Father and the Son.
Called to be saints, our daily prayer
for the whole church is that she may
manifest the power of sons of God
and so realize her high calling of
God In Christ Jesus. We are yet the
potential church; but we devoutly
thank our Lord, who condescends to
be head over all things to his church,
for the ceaseless honor which he puts
upon the church which is his body
and which Is complete only ln him.
We are grateful to him for that great
religious movement called Method
ism, which has leavened and quick
ened the life of Christendom during
the eighteenth, nineteenth, and part
of the twentieth centuries, und has be
come the leading force of Protestant
Christianity throughout the world.
As we meet for the third time in this
eventful century, when our Divine
Lord is seen leading his hosts to their
greatest victories, we dare utter our
doxology: "Now unto him that Is
able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, ac
cording to the power that worketh
us, unto him be the glory ln the
church of Christ Jesus unto all gen
erations, forever and ever. Amen."
Lutheranism is the least part of the
work of the reformation led by Mar
tin Luther In the sixteenth century,
although numerically the largest Prot
estant force. So Methodism Is the
least part of the great religious
movement of the eighteenth century
under the Weeleys and Whitfield.
Both movements are unspeakably
great In the moral and religious free
dom which became the Inheritance
of all Protestant churches. Yet Meth
odism must stand as the peculiar ex
pression of that last great relglous
movement, and so the object of deep'
est Interest to all student of Chris
tianity. Harnack, the eminent Ger
man writer, whose theological posi
tion excludes all possibility of a bias
of partially toward Methodism, de.
Clares: "No type of believer ha In
terested me more than the Metho
diets. If I read church history cor
rectly, that denomination I richest
In experimental religion, most active
In Christian work, most fertile ln re
sults of all since the time of the Ref
ormation." We are familiar with
what the best English historians,
uch a Lecky and Green, have said
as to the Influence of Methodism In
saving England In the eighteenth cen
tury, but we are concerned to know
what may be expected of Methodism
in the twentieth century. In one of
the great quarterlies. In a notable ar
ticle on our "Representative Reli
gions," occur this tribute: "On the
whole, the Methodist church will be
seen to be a great organisation mov
ing on the world for definite and
powerful results, striking where there
Is most to be done. It converts for
alt the churches; but It (till keep It
self larger than any of the rest, and
Increase at a faster rate." A Uni
tarian organ frankly says: "Method-
Ism ha had a grand mission to ful
till In modern Christendom a mis
Ion of mediation between different
sect on the one hand and between
an exclusive church and a neglected
world on the other. And there la
Change in Organization, Policy,
a moral majesty In the firm and, sure
tread with which it has marched to
the accomplishment of Its work."
It is such tributes to modern Meth
odism thut make us serious as we
contemplate the responsibilities of
leadership. Not only do leading Prot
estant thinkers declare, "Methodism
holds the future; If Methodism falls,
America falls;" but a foremost pre
late of the Roman Catholic church,
the late Archbishop Spauldtng, said:
"The only sect that Roman Catholic
ism fears is organized Methodism,
and this fear is based upon its aggres
sive zeal and Its hearty presentation
of tr.ith to tho common people with
out any preposterous claim to apos
tolic successorship or offensive asser
tion of being 'the' church. I greatly
fear the influence of Methodism upon
the second and third generation of
Imported Romanists." If we have
such influence with other churches, it
is lurgely because our converts are
from the world and not from other
churches, and our fidelity to the faith
of the fathers has won for us the ti
tle given by the most influential
preacher of the Congregational church
as "the mightiest Protestant force ln
the modern world." Speaking of the
scanty supply of preachers In other
clutches, the " foremost minister in
another church recently remarked ln
public: "What would the rest of the
chuches do but for the preachers
that Methodism furnishes?" Is this
to be one cf the ways God will use ln
giving a preachable theology to some
other churches? Our rapid growth
has not been due to Immigration, as
in both the Roman and Lutheran
churches, but, as In all lands, from
the preaching of a gospel of spiritual
power. We are now laboring on all
the continents, and in not less than
one hundred and fifty of the babbling
tongues of earth ecumenical Meth
odism in nt once the John the Bap
tist and the apostle Paul of modern
Christendom, seeking alike to prepare
the way of tho Lord and to build up
in the faith as we spread scriptural
dullness over all these lands. Our
threatened pietism has become world
wide evangelism. Nor has there ever
appeared a more signal proof of the
vitality of our American Methodism
in ull her history than when the com
bintd Methodist laymen of the Unit:
ed States and Canada during the past
ycir pledged themselves to become
responsible for the evangelizing of
more than 200,000,000 souls,, or more
than one-fi.th of the remaining une-
vangelized billion of the pagan and
Mohammedan world.
The Church as a Force of Nearly Two
Millions.
Now, as the second largest Metho
dist church ln the world and the
third largest Protostant church In
America, we assemble ln our six
teenth General Conference at tho
close of the most peaceful and pi ?s
peruus quadrennium ln the history
of the; Methodist Episcopal church.
South. Every year of the quadren
nium has been marked by a net in
crease in the whole quadrennium
when we met In Dallas eight years
ago. Our net Increase during the
past four years ln members alone is
207,754. an Increase larger than tha
whole membership of all save a very
few churches In the United States.
This net Increase Is more than halt
of our entire gain during the lat de
cade. Our present membership, not
Including our 11,570 traveling and
local preachers, Is 1,822,402, which is
nearly 500,000 more than all the
Methodists on the continents of Eur
ope and Australia. To increase our
census to more than 1,056,000, we
need only add. and justly, the 123,(11
members of the colored Methodist
church ln whose behalf we legislate
antf aive. as in the forty year of their
separate history since we set them o..'
apart. Their steadfast friend ana i)t
counselor, charged In no small meas
ure with the responsibility for their j;
success, we rejoice no less In their A
prosperity than In our own: and our 1
constant prayer and hope 1 to see
them Increasingly effective a a great t
mlaslnnarv force both In this coun- J
try and In Africa,
IniTease In Our Ministry.
It I gratifying to report that dur
ing the past year we admitted the
largest number of minister on trial
In our history. These Stl new preach
er will greatly reduce the number
of charge left to be supplied, while
the noteworthy revival of lay activ
ity promises yet larger accession to
our itinerant rank In tha near fu
( Continued on page I)
Norfolk A Western Burgeon Meet, j
Norfolk, May 4. The, third annual
convention of the association of sur-)
geon of the Norfolk and Western'
L Railroad company composed of 20o
delegates front Virginia, West Vir
ginia. Ohio, end North Carolina, be gan
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