The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 16, 1901, Page 4

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1901. CANON ON DIVORCE FAILS OF DEPUTIES ON TO PASS THE HOUSE ITS FINAL VOTE BY ORDERS Eoror RABRET OF LfIABYZZAND,, AND ) )= #a0P NIES oF EW AMIBSHIRE, OV THER T e, d S0k Brsrae (h Wi /'/7 JOENFON., ISEC. = LART WITH PUSSAGES FROM TE LOUSE QF BIHE TP, e R e Ty i Cro. & TEarras FPLEV. SAMUEL FART AND ZBISHOP NIHILSom: >, —— Sl K= — T v e INCIDENTS OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH NOW IN SESSION IN THIS CITY. | CHURCH’S CONDITION " TOLD IN FIGURES Rev. Dr. Duncan Gives Statistics Showing Its Progress. 8 the ninth triennial conven- | scholarships are confided aws to its close e House of Deputies is striv; ing to finish up the business of the session. Every morning a large amount of business is sacted. Yesterday morning was no exception to the rule. Resolution followed resolution in rapid succession and reports of committees told of work accomplishe:l during the recess. The matters on the cal- endar are rapidly being discussed and de- cided, and there is every likellhood that before to-morrow mnight the business be- fore the body will be disposed of and the delegates will leave with a feeling that, although much time was taken up in ora- tory, it was well spent. When Chatrr Lindsay called the House of Deputies to order yesterday morning only half the members were in their seats. Secretary bad fimshed Hutchins | ding the munutes, how- ever, the house was comfortably fiiled. The discussion of message 3, sent down by the House OpS in reiation to the solemni; n of marriage, was disc 1 ttee of the whoie near the ciose | morning s ion, and Ch , after making the report, asked to have the committee relievea of further consideration of the subjec Next in importance the state of the church, by Rev. Dr. Duncan of Loulsiana. It was full of facts and figures and enlightened the deputies as to the progress of the church during the la Resolutions of sympathy on the death of Mrs. Twing, a prominent church work- er, were presented and adopted by a stand. ing vote. The secretary was instructed to forward a draft of the resolutions to the family of deceased Rev. Dr. Carey read an interesting re- port on theological seminaries. It was adopted, as were also a number of resolu- tions handed in by the committee. MORNING SESSION OF THEE HOUSE OF DEPUTIES Members Transact a Deal of Business in Order to Finish Work of Convention. When the minutes had been approved Dr. Lindsay read the following committee appoint- ments To report on the translation of the Bishops— Teport on Rev. Dr. McConnell, Long Island; Rev. Dr. Hopkins, Chicago; Rev. Dr. Grosvenor, New York; John W. Handall, W. H. Adams and Morris “W. Seymour. Prohibitive degrees of divorce—Rev. | Dr. Hughes, Rev. Dr. Olmsted, Rev Dr. de Wikt of | Chicago, W. B. Cutting of New York, Edward L. Temple of Vermont and B. L. Wiggins of Tenneseee. REPORT ON SEMINARIES. Rev. Joseph Carey, D. chairman of the committee on theological seminaries, read a highly interesting resume of the triennial re- port of these institutions. He said the com- mittee was gratified to the seminaries to be in a prosperous condition. As an evi- dence of this he noted their net value to be $2,206,021 22; that the par value of the personal perty was 3 and the et value m", A 7 L ';ll;le the books in the library are wvalued at $100,000 and the amount of contribu- tions from the several dioceses is as follows: Reported in 1898, §20,764 61; added since, $301,- 951 61; while the total contribution to May, 1901, was $2,076,144 6. The trust funds which em! sixty-nine foundations, fellowships and irman | was read | | section 3 of the digest. the care of the w York and are are 30,281 books in library, and among most valuable in ¢ colleetion are coples of Bibles printed by tenberg and other famous printers. At the conclusion of the reading the report was recelved and the following were adopted: “‘Resolved, That this convention recommends that scholars| examination Resolved, be sent abr than in the Dr. Carey by saving t went abroac to study th and would be eral Seminary MESSAGES FROM BISHOPS. Several messages were House of Bishops. The first Informed the deputies of concurrence in the resoiution of the latter with reference to the committees on Christian Endeavor. to nion Trust Com N vatued at $1,364,68 d hat the fellows of the seminary to some of the great universtites ¢ would come back with renown ligible to the chairs of the Gen- received from the proposed change in ted on at the mext General Convention and a proposition to add to the second sentence of section 1, article 2, after Convocation of the diocese” the ‘Provided, however, that when a ut of a mi op in chaj Bishop of said dlo- ese if he shall o elect.” The third message notified the deputies of a resolution cont! the Commiesion on Ecclesiastical ns. next message transmitted to the depu- the Bishops' reply, published in y & Call, to the communication_recei from the synod of the Mexican Episcopal ch, asking for the consecrat for that chur The last m age informed the the outcome of the tréuble In bishoprie of Honolulu, the princip thereof being the resignation of the church: full = particulars in regard to “h were In the Call's report of the preced ing day’'s proceedings of the House of Bishops. The deputies voted to concur in the action of the Bishops. REPORT ON DIOCESES. The Rev. Dr. Alsop of Long Island from the committee on new dioceses recounted the ac- tion of the Bishops as above set forth in regard to the request of the churchmen of Honolulu to'| be put under the supervision of a Bishop of | the American church, asking, in view of the | fact that the matter had taken a turn which cbviated the need of the intervention of the deputies, that the committee be discharged from further .consideration of the subject. The request was granted. The committee reported adversely upon the memorial of the diocese ofSpringfield, asking that a part of its territory be received by the General Convention as a missionary district. With the report verbal explanations were mads cuggesting that in equity it required a read- justment of territory as between Springfield and the State of Illinois, as the latter under present conditions, had all the fat while Spring- field had all the lean, and expressing the be- lief that a sense of justice would lead Iilinois to_recognize the Injustice of the present ar- rangement and agree to a readjustment of ter- ritory. The matter was placed on the calendar. STATE OF THE CHURCH. The Rev. Dr. Duncan of Louisfana read an able report on the state of the church. It was full of statistics and advice. The report was rendered in conformity with title 1, canon 20, The following statistics were contained in the report: i Since the last General Convention the un- usually large number of eleven Bishops of this church and many priestd and laymen have Continued on Page Five. be awarded by competitive | chop of | resolutions | studies rather | of Bishops | their marriage is not lawful. again. Seetion V. Section 1I. No minister, knowingly after due inquir; person who has a divorced lusband or wife still living, if such husband or wife has been put away for any cause arising after marriage; but this canon shall not be held to apply to the inno- cent party in a divorce for the cause of adultery, or to parties once divorced seeking to be united CANON ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE - EXISTING IN EPISCOPAL CHURCH HE rejection by the House of Deputies of the General Convention of the fira[wscd prohibi- tory canons on the remarriage of divorced persons and the discipline for a violation of the law leaves the ‘existing canon in full force and effect. This canon has been accepted for many years in the Episcopal church and is as follows: TITLE 2, CANON 13— OF MARRIAGE A Section 1. If any persons be joined together otherwise than as .God's Word doth allow, /D Section II1. If any minister of this church shall have reasonable cause to doubt whether I a person desirous of being admitted to holy baptism, or to confirmation, or “to the holy communion, has been married otherwise than as the word of God and discipline of this church allow, such min- ister, before receiving such person to these ordinances, shall refer the case to the Bishop for his godly judgment thereupon; provided, however, that no minister shall, in any case, refuse the sac- raments to a penitent person in imminent danger of death. Section IV. Questions touchinng the facts of any case arising under section II of this canon shall be referred to the Bishop of the diocese or missionary jurisdiction in which the same may occur; or if there be no Bishop of such diocese or missionary jurisdiction, then to some Bixvlmfi to be designated by the standing committee; and the Bishop to whom such questions have been so referred shall thereupon make inquiry in such manner as he shall deem expedient, and shall deliver his judgment in the premises. This canon, so far as it affixes penaltics, does not apply to cases occurring be- fore it takes effect, according to Title IV, canon 4. ’ C » shall solemnize the marriage of any s DIVORCE. % MISSION TO BE ESTABLISHED ' TO URGE UNIFORM MARITAL LAWS ' The Rev. Dr. Greer of New York Introduces Resolution Seeking to . Safeguard Sanctity of Ties of MMatrimony. HE proceedings yesterday in the General Convention of the Epis- copal Church were the most im- portant of any day since the gathering in this city of the dis- tinguished churchmen and lay- men. After three days of most stirring debate in the House of Deputies on the proposed canon on marriage and divorge the prohibitory amendment to the present law was finally defeated. The galleries and the aisles of the building were crowded with ladies, the debate dnd vote on the divorce section of the canon seeming to be especially attractive to the fair sex. Although the section of the canon pro- hibiting the remarriage of divorced per- sons was carried when the House of Deputies sat as a committee of the whole, it went down to defeat when the same body of men voted as clerical and lay deputations of the dioceses represented in the convention. The vote of the lay deputations resulted in the defeat of the measure. Of the fifty-nine clerical diocesan deputations thirty voted for the prohibitory section, nineteen voted in the negative and ten were divided. The lay deputations voted as follows: Highteen for the section; twenty-four against and nine divided. In order to havé carried the section would have had to recelve the votes of thirty lay deputations. The defeat of the sectlon allows the present canon on di- vorce and marriage to remain in force. The canon fs published on another page of this paper. The canon on ‘‘discipline for divorced persons who remarry” was voted down, having been defzated in commit- tee. The Rev. Dr. Huntington of New York secured the adoption of an amend- ment to the constitution providing for the spiritual oversight of a Bishop of differing congregations not in union with the Epis- copal church. - This favorite measure of the New York divine was only accepted, however, with ironclad provisos. Conslderable business of a routine na- ture was carried out by the House of Deputies owing to the near close of the convention. The Rev. Dr. Greer of New York, wha, favored the prohibition of remarriage of divorced persons, secured the adoption of a resolution to provide for a joint com- misslon to confer with other denomina- tions in the hope of securing universal laws on the subject of marriage and ai- vorce. The commission will report to the convention of 1904. The House of Deputies also received the important report on the state of the church. Resolutions of sympathy on the death of Mrs. Mary Ellen Emery Twing were adopted. 2 The Rev. Cameron Mann of Missouri was nominated by the House of Bishops to fill the vacancy in the missionary dis- trict of North Dakota. The House of Bishops received. the testimonials of others for Missionary Bishops and they were turned over to the committee on con- secrations. Bishop Potter was elected to glrepare the pastoral letter for 1904. The ouse of Bishops confirmed the election of four Missionary Bishops and commit- tees were appointed to apprise the fortu- nate men. Reports of various committees were received and adooted. 'VOTES OF LAYIIEN DEFEAT TEASURE 'Remarriage of Divorced Persons Is Not Prohjbited. HE final vote of the House of Deputies on the much-discussed should be taken up first, to be followed by amendments to the canons, canon on marriage and divorce | TAKES UP CANON ON MARRIAGE was taken yesterday afternoon and resulted in a victory for those deputies who were op- posed to the total prohibition of marriage of divorced persons. The canon providing for the disciplining | of divorced persons also went down to de- feat in the committee of the whole of the | House of Deputies. The resuit of the votes yesterday on the canons on marriage and divorce and on the disciplining of divorced persons who | remarry is to leave intact the church legisiation that has been in force for many | years. An important measure was also adopted by the House of Deputies yesterday arter- noon, when a majority vote accepted the amendment to the constitution presented by a committee of which the Rev. Dr. Huntington was chairman, providing for the spiritual oversight by a Bishop of cer- tain congregations not in union with the Episcopal church. by Dr. Huntington, but which was defeat- ed earlier In the convention. The new amendment clearly defines certain attri- butes which the congregations and their pastors must possess before an Episcopal Bishop can give them spiritual oversight. VOTE ON DIVORCE CANON IS TAKEN BY THE HOUSE Confusion Is Caused by the Tempo- rary Violation of Parliamen- tary Raules. " The House of Deputies resumed its sitting yesterday afternoon at 2:30, in accordance with a resolution passed in the morning, but a quorum was lacking when Chairman Lindsay called the house to order. Pages were sent out to bring in members and in a few minutes the business of the house was well under way. The Rev. Dr. Davenport, chairman of the committee on canons, presented a serles of resolutions. The committee recommended the concurrence of the house in the following mes- sages received from the House of Bishops: Providing for the resignation of ministers or deposition of the same by a Bishop in order to avold a trial; getting the limit of time 1in which the election of a Bishop may be con- curred in by other dioceses and providing that | the election may be declared void in the ab. sence of the concurrence and another election | held; providing that the House of Bishops shall have the power to declare a missionary distriet vacant when the Bishop in charge is unable on account of physical disability to discharge his duties; providing for the possession of cer tain qualifications in the consecrations of for. eign Bishops; providing for the examination of churches in a diocese by the Bishop and the application by a Bishop or congregation to the House of Bishovs for a council of con- | N ciliation to settle differences; providing _ for the manner in which a Bishop may resign his charge and the mode of acceptance by the House of Bishops, and providing for the or- dination cf- women as deaconesses of the church, These various recommendations of the com- mittee were adonted by the house and the actions of the House of Bishops in the prem. | ises concurred in. Many deputies, owing to the approachin of the convention, desired to take rrom | calender certain matters in which they were interested, but Chairman Lindsay asked the committee on the dispatch of business to make a report. The Rev, Dr. Greer reported for the committee that amendments to the constitution This amendment was | “| in line with the one previously introduced | ® | | of Deputies adopt the entire report of the com- At 3 p. m. the order of the day was called for and Deputy Lewis of Pennsylvania moved that the report of the committee of the whole be_heard. Chairman Joseph Packard of the committes of the whole then reported as follows: *“As chairman of the committee of the whole I have prepared the following resolutions as expressing the report of the committee, one relating to message No. 2 and the other to messa.s No. 3 ed, That the House of Deputies con- cur with the House of Bishops in its message No, with the following amendments: In section’ paragraph 1, strike out the last clause following the ‘marriage.’ he words stricken out are ‘or is perma- resident In a foreign country.’ iend section 3, paragraph 2, as follows, so that it shall read: ‘No minister shall solemnize a marriage except in the presence of at least two witnesses. In case the parties are un- known to the minister he shall not solemnize the marriage without the presence of at least tWo witnesses to whom the parties are per- sonally known, unless in the judgment of the minister it shall be Impracticable to obtain sch witnesses.’ he second resolutlon is as follows Resolved, That the House of Deputies con- cur with the House of Bishops In its message No. 3, with the following amendments: Strike after the word ‘repealed’ in the second line.’ Deputy Lewls sald that it was not necessary to take a vote on the canons by sections, and in order to save time moved that the House mittee of the whole. The Rev. Dr. Parks of New York moved to amend and asked for a aivision of the caaon | Into sections in order that the house might vote on the three sections relating to the solemnization of marriage and then on the fourth secticn as to the remarriage of divorced persone. The Re Dr. McKim of Washington desired a vote, vive voce, on the three sections on rriage and a vote by orders on the divorce | section. | 8 clerical, 8 lay; divided—3 clerical, 2 Ja; A flood of amendments, substitutes and. mo- tions .came thick and fast from all parts of the house and after a tangle it was finally decided to vote on the sections by arders. The secretary then read the three sections of the canon defining what marriage is and how it must be solemnized by the clergy of the Episcopal church; the number of witnesses to be present and the question of recéiving the consent of parents to a marriage in certain cases. The three sections were adopted by the fol- lowing vote: Ayes—dS clerical, 40 lay; noe: . The number of dioceses in the house are fitty L and it requires thirty votes each for clerical and lay deputations to carry a measure by orders. DIVORCE CANON IS DEFEATED. The vote was then taken on the adoption of the section of the canon which prohibits the remarriage of divorced persons. The vote resulting In' the rejection of ti section was as follows: Clerical. Lsx. 2 I Divided The result of the vote was received in silen by those who had helped to defeat the pro- hibitory section on' remarriage of divorced per- sons At this point the house became involved in a tangle as to the proper parliamentary method to pursue. Motions, amendments and resolutions again came from all parts of the house and the clerical and lay deputies who sought to explain just what was the proper method to pursue only served to increase the mixup. A dozen deputies were on their feet at the Continued on Page Five. 5