Thirty-First Meeting

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jun 10, 1909

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 23.

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Thirty-First Meeting

May 31, 5:30 P. M.

(Including under the one number three meetings of the Conference, held in the Seminary chapel.)

MINUTES OF MEETING, MAY 27, 7:30 P. M.

O. A. Olsen in the chair.

Prayer was offered.

The chair called for reports, and the committee on reference presented the following report:—

Whereas, A. T. Jones has appealed to this Conference against an action of the General Conference Committee taken at Gland, Switzerland, in May, 1907; therefore,—

We recommend, That A. T. Jones be granted a hearing on his appeal, and that he be given one hour to make his statement, the General Conference Committee to be granted one hour for replying, and that each side be granted a further fifteen minutes for the purpose of closing up their respective statements.

The report was unanimously adopted.

Inasmuch as the chairman, O. A. Olsen, was a member of the General Conference Committee concerned in the appeal, it was suggested that another chairman should be elected, and C. W. Flaiz was elected by the meeting to act in that capacity. W. T. Bartlett was elected secretary.

The chairman, C. W. Flaiz, made a few remarks, and A. T. Jones then presented his statement.

As stated by himself, his appeal was based on the claim that “without any notice or information of any kind to me that any question was to be raised or any action taken in reference to me; and wholly in my absence in every sense; and without my having any kind of a chance to be heard; your executive committee tried my case, found me guilty, condemned me, executed their judgment upon me, sent to me their official notice to that effect; and then, without waiting for any reply from me as to whether I would repent or not, further executed their judgment by publishing it to the denomination and to the world.”

In support of his appeal, A. T. Jones presented a lengthy paper. After reading for one hour, time was called by the chairman, but by the consent of the meeting the speaker was allowed to finish his argument, which occupied a further forty-five minutes.

At the close of the paper the meeting adjourned to 7:30 P. M., the same place, on the 29th inst.

C. W. FLAIZ, Chairman, W. T. BARTLETT, Secretary.

MEETING HELD MAY 29, 7:30 P. M.

The Conference convened in the Seminary chapel at 7:30 P. M., May 29, according to appointment. C. W. Flaiz in the chair. I. H. Evans led in prayer. Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

In view of the fact that the statement of A. T. Jones had occupied more than the hour first agreed to be given to it, the Conference decided that A. G. Daniells, speaking for the General Conference Committee, should be granted a length of time equal to that taken by A. T. Jones.

A letter was read, by consent, from A. T. Jones, making a correction in his statement of the 27th inst.

A. T. Jones then requested the privilege of making a further statement, which was granted.

A. G. Daniells then made his statement in reply. He made reference to circumstances relating to the connection of A. T. Jones with the denomination since 1901, and presented facts to prove that on several occasions various members of the General Conference Committee had sought to show to A. T. Jones that he was out of harmony with his brethren, and pursuing a course entirely opposed to the one previously followed by him. In the year 1906, at a conference held in Berrien Springs, the whole situation had been set before A. T. Jones in the clearest way. Various published utterances of A. T. Jones were also referred to, which made it plain that his attitude toward the organized work of the denomination was a hostile one.

In view of these facts, A. G. Daniells claimed that it was not true that A. T. Jones had been condemned “without having any kind of a chance to be heard,” and that when the action of the General Conference Council was finally taken in Gland, it had become an unavoidable necessity, and the only reasonable step that could possibly be taken.

Following the statement of A. G. Daniells, a few remarks were made by A. T. Jones, and a short further answer was made by A. G. Daniells.

It was then moved and seconded that the meeting adjourn, and the motion was carried.

C. W. FLAIZ, Chairman, W. T. BARTLETT, Secretary.

MEETING HELD MAY 31, 5:30 P. M.

C. W. Flaiz in the chair. Prayer was offered by Wm. Covert, after which minutes of the previous meeting were read, corrected, and approved.

The chair called attention to the fact that the previous meeting had adjourned without taking any action on the appeal before it, and asked for some expression of the mind of the Conference thereon.

C. H. Edwards remarked that the hearing on the appeal had been full and deliberate. Two days had intervened between the statement of A. T. Jones and the reply of A. G. Daniells, and now another two days had given them time to weigh the matter in their minds. He moved that the decision of the Conference be as follows:—

Whereas, A. T. Jones has appealed from the action of the General Conference Committee at Gland, Switzerland, in May, 1907, by which he was requested to return his ministerial credentials to that committee; and,—

Whereas, A. T. Jones has stated fully before this Conference the ground of his appeal, and an answer to his statement has been made by A. G. Daniells before the Conference; we find,—

1. That the declared reason for an appeal from the said action of the General Conference Committee is that the action was taken without giving the appellant any opportunity to make any statement in his own behalf.

2. That the reply to this claim shows that at various times individual members of the General Conference Committee had interviewed A. T. Jones, endeavoring to show him the extent to which he was departing from what they considered to be the right course, and that at the session of the Lake Union Conference held in Berrien Springs, Mich., in May, 1906, the question of his published utterances and his attitude toward the denomination was fully considered, A. T. Jones being present by invitation, and that at his request he was given opportunity to state his position, which he did.

3. That the action at Gland, Switzerland, was not taken arbitrarily, or apart from other steps in the case, but as the logical and necessary conclusion of these steps.

General Conference Proceedings

(Continued from page 22)

4. That the action was not in the nature of a condemnation for heresy, but a protest against an inconsistent course, sufficient evidence of which was found in ‘public utterances and published statements.’

5. That in view of the facts here recited, the General Conference Committee was justified in asking for the return of A. T. Jones’s ministerial credentials without granting any further hearing, and that they were justified in publishing this action in the church paper in order that all the members of the denomination might understand the true status of the case.

R. F. Andrews, speaking as one of the oldest ministers in the denomination, was in entire accord with the motion, and seconded it.

By request of the meeting the motion was slowly re-read, and then put to vote. It was carried without dissent.

W. W. Prescott moved, That the records of the meeting of last Thursday evening (the 27th), and of last Saturday evening (the 29th), and of this meeting, be made as of one meeting, in three divisions, and that this meeting be the regular number following the last meeting held. The proposal was accepted.

Meeting adjourned to meet in the tent at 7:45 P. M.

Thirty-Second Meeting

May 31, 7:45 P. M.

J. O. Corliss in the chair. Prayer was offered by G. B. Starr.

The chairman stated that the time of this meeting would be devoted to the presentation of reports from the Indian Mission field, and that Elder J. L. Shaw, the superintendent of that field, would lead out in making the report.

Reports From India and Burma

J. L. Shaw then presented a review of the field.

Following Elder Shaw’s general report, H. H. Votaw, of Rangoon, was called upon to give an account of the work in Burma.

Again these Macedonian calls stirred mightily the hearts of all. [They will be printed in the REVIEW at an early date.]

The meeting adjourned.

Thirty-Third Meeting

June 1, 10:30 A. M.

G. A. Irwin in the chair. Prayer by Dr. H. F. Rand.

New delegate seated: Dr. W. B. Holden, of the North Pacific Union.

[The conference hour was given to reports of the Medical Missionary Council, by Dr. W. A. Ruble. Other physicians representing various fields and institutions made brief reports. These reports will be printed in the REVIEW later.]

G. A. Irwin: Before adjourning the Conference there is a little matter of business that must be attended to. The secretary will read the minutes of the thirty-first meeting for approval.

The secretary read the minutes of the thirty-first meeting.

M. A. Altman (England): I move that the minutes be approved by vote of the delegation.

F. W. Field (Japan): I second the motion.

The motion was carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned.

Later Reports

FROM later reports of the Conference, for which we have not space in this number, we take the following recommendations of committees:—

Report From the Committee on Distribution of Labor

1. That in harmony with the request of the delegates from the Australasian field, Elder J. E. Fulton take the presidency of the Australasian Union Conference, made vacant by the removal of Elder O. A. Olsen.

2. That in harmony with the request of the delegates from the Western Canadian Union, Elder H. S. Shaw take the presidency of that Union Conference, made vacant by the resignation of Elder E. L. Stewart.

3. That we concur in the recommendation of the Columbia Union Conference that Elder W. D. McLay take the presidency of the West Virginia Conference.

4. That Prof. B. G. Wilkinson take the presidency of the Columbia Union Conference to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Elder G. B. Thompson.

5. That we concur in the request of the delegates of the Canadian Union Conference that William Guthrie take the presidency of that union to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Elder W. H. Thurston.

6. That E. C. Townsend of Western New York make Indiana his field of labor, in harmony with the request of that conference.

7. That we concur in the arrangements of the local conferences for Frank Busz of Indiana to make South Dakota his field of labor.

8. That we approve of the arrangements made by the Australian delegates for J. M. Cole to make Australia his field of labor.

9. That R. E. Burke of Iowa make Australia his field of labor, in harmony with the request of the delegates from that field.

10. That we approve of the arrangements made for Leonard Spear to go to Australia, and connect with the Signs Publishing House at Warburton.

11. That we concur in the arrangements made for W. C. F. Ward of Western Oregon to make the Cumberland Conference his field of labor.

12. That A. F. Haines of California go to Colon, Panama, to act as foreman of the printing-office at that place, as has been arranged by the delegates from that field.

13. That P. G. Stanley of West Michigan make Kansas his field of labor, in harmony with the arrangements made by the delegates from that field.

Report of the Committee on Nominations

The committee on nominations has presented the following further report:—

For Treasurer: W. T. Knox.

For members of the Board of Trustees of the General Conference Corporation: A. G. Daniells, W. A. Spicer, W. T. Knox, W. W. Prescott, I. H. Evans, G. A. Irwin, S. N. Curtiss.

For members of the General Conference Association: A. G. Daniells, I. H. Evans, H. E. Rogers, W. T. Knox, W. A. Spicer, O. A. Olsen, W. W. Prescott, G. A. Irwin, K. C. Russell, Allen Moon, Wm. Covert, A. G. Haughey, R. A. Underwood, E. K. Slade, S. N. Curtiss, D. W. Reavis, W. A. Westworth, E. T. Russell, S. E. Wight, Frederick Griggs, H. R. Salisbury.

Foreign Mission Board: A. G. Daniells, W. A. Spicer, W. T. Knox, O. A. Olsen, G. A. Irwin, G. B. Thompson, W. W. Prescott, H. R. Salisbury, W. A. Westworth.

The recommendations of both of these committees were adopted.