IS THE WESTERN CONFERENCE GROWING STRONGER, OR WEAKER? With the division three years ago, the Conference fell to considerably less than half its former strength, and is probably still somewhat less than half as strong as before the division. But the delay made (perhaps necessarily made) by the American Unitarian Association in appointing a secretary for the West and opening a headquarters in Chicago, has of course operated both to discourage the friends of the Association in the West, and to encourage the friends of the Conference. As a consequence a considerable number have, during the three years of delay, gone over to the side of the Conference. Thus the Conference is increasing in strength, and in two ways. The first is by the very slow but steady falling into line with it of those who did not approve its action at Cincinnati and would have much preferred to work with an organization standing on a distinct Christian or theistic basis such as the Conference formerly had, or as the A. U. A. still has, but who, feeling the need of fellowship and general organized work in the West, have preferred resuming their relation with the Conference to remaining isolated. The second way in which the Conference is increasing in strength is in the growing confidence felt by its leaders and constituency. At each one of the three annual meetings the spirit has been increasingly hopeful and the tone of the leaders more assured. The causes of this have been two: first, the fact already mentioned, that so far as general organic work and organization have been concerned (headquarters, permanent western secretary, general annual gatherings, etc.) the West has been left wholly in their hands, with seemingly less prospect each year of any change; and second, the fact that they have received a large amount of sympathy and aid from the East. The importance of this last fact is great. The strength of the Unity movement has never been large enough in the West to enable it to stand by itself. Without outside aid and encouragement it could only have been a question of a little time when the Unity leaders would have been compelled either to consent to a theistic basis for the Conference and thus gain the help again of the men and churches lost on account of the Cincinnati action, or else to surrender to the A. U. A. the guidance of the missionary and, church extension work in the West, in either of which cases the division in the West would have passed away. But by aid of the moral support extended to them in the East by a few influential individuals, added to the financial aid of certain friends, they have been able to go on, keep up the working machinery of the Conference, and even make a little gain each year. As a result they have become more and more determined in their position, and less and less willing to listen to any suggestion of compromise; hence of course our western difficulties seem today farther than ever from a solution. In saying this we are not censuring those friends in the East that have thus helped the Unity cause in the West, for no doubt they have done it with good intention: we are simply pointing out the result that has come from what they have done. THE NEXT STEP IN THE WEST. Why should the strong, vigorous, earnest Unitarian churches and workers of the West, who are not in sympathy with Unityism comprising much more than half our total Western Unitarian force-remain longer scattered and disunited? Why longer lose the inspiration for themselves, and the momentum and influence for the cause, which come from a general joining of hands? We hope the American Unitarian Association will before long see its way clear to appoint a Western Secretary, and establish a permanent headquarters in Chicago. But whether it finds itself able to do this immediately or not, why should there be any longer delay among all these churches, missionaries and workers in the West who are in harmony with the A. U. A. in planning to hold regularly an annual conference or convention at some central point,say Chicago? In Chicago, doubtless, either of the two largest Unitarian churches would be open for their use. The gathering might easily be made a very large and strong one, with a large amount of work to report, and questions of the highest interest and importance to consider. More than half our leading western churches, more than half our best known and most active pastors, more than half our most successful missionary workers, would naturally be in terested in it. Nearly all of our college town mission work, most of our church extension work, most of our ministerial education work, done in the West, would come in for report at such a meeting. Moreover the holding annually of such a meeting-planned and carried out by the western men themselves would greatly simplify the problem that is before the A. U. A. as regards the West. Will not the officers of our State Conferences, our leading pastors, and the missionaries of the A. U. A. in the West, take it upon themselves to plan for such a meeting? Possibly it might be held to advantage immediately before or after the National Conference at Philadelphia, or, possibly it would be better to defer it until midwinter. But it is none too early to begin making plans. It will be easy to have meetings quite as strong and helpful as have ever been held in the West. THE WESTERN CONFERENCE: ANNUAL MEETING. The Western Conference held its annual meeting in Chicago, May 14-16, in the First Methodist Church, corner of Clark and Washington sts. The opening sermon (Tuesday evening, May 14) was preached by Rev. S. R. Calthrop, of Syracuse, N. Y., on the subject "God," and was unique and masterly; we have never heard from Mr. Calthrop an abler discourse. Four sessions of the Conference were devoted wholly to papers and discussions, namely, those of Wednesday afternoon and evening and of Thursday morning and evening. On Wednesday afternoon an hour was given to answering the question, What shall we say to Hetty Sorrell? (one of the characters in George Eliot's Adam Bede) or, What can we do to help thoughtless, unprotected young girls who are fallen or are liable to fall? Excellent short talks were made upon the subject by Mrs. C. T. Cole, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Rev. Ida C. Hultin, of Des Moines, Iowa, Rev. W. C. Gannett, of Hinsdale, Ill., Rev. F. L. Hosmer, of Cleveland, Ohio, and others. After an hour devoted to this subject a paper was "The Ministerial Education for read upon To-day," by Rev. J. C. Learned, of St. Louis, and another by Mr. W. M. Salter, of Chicago, giving an account of the School of Philosophy and Applied Ethics which the Ethical Culture Societies of this country are proposing to establish. The Wednesday evening session and that of Thursday forenoon were devoted to "Thirty Years of Darwin," that is, to papers and addresses upon Darwin, his Work and Influence. There were papers by Rev. C. F. Elliott, of Jackson, Mich., Mr. W. L. Sheldon, of St. Louis, Prof. S. A. Forbes, of Champaign, Ill., and Rev. E. B. Payne, of Leominster, Mass., and addresses by Mr. Calthrop, Rev. Henry D. Maxson, of Menomonie, Wis., Rev. Arthur Beavis, of Iowa City, and Rev. Thomas Kerr, of Rockford, Ill. The papers and addresses differed a good deal in merit; two or three of them were excellent. 66 The Thursday evening meeting attracted by far the largest audience of the Conference, to hear a series of addresses upon but the absence of some of the speakers "Types of Religion in Robert Elsmere;" somewhat deranged the programme, so that the meeting was perhaps the least satisfactory of the week. sessions of Wednesday forenoon and ThursAs usual, the Conference devoted the day afternoon mainly to business, except that it gave the first hour of the last named session to hearing a paper from Mrs. Celia P. Woolley, of Chicago, upon "The Ideal Unitarian Church "-setting forth the Unity idea of Unitarianism, or the idea of Unita rianism embodied in the Western Conference. The paper was a clear and strong one, forming perhaps the best popular presentation of the position occupied by the new western Unitarianism that has yet been made. It was the same paper that was read by Mrs. Woolley last winter before the Chicago Association-noticed in the Unitarian at that time. The annual report of the Secretary of the Conference, Rev. J. R. Effinger, was long and generally interesting. It described somewhat more in detail than is usual the year's work of many of the western churches, and their present condition, mentioning by name perhaps three-fifths of the whole number. By what principle the Secretary was guided in his reporting we were not quite able to see, since many of the churches which he included in his report are certainly not in any way connected with the Conference. Of the over 80 churches in the West, 27 or 28, according to the official figures, are now connected with the Conference - by having about two-thirds of the churches were unrepresented, including such leading societies as Unity Church and the First Church, Chicago, the Messiah, St. Louis, the Meadville church, the two Cincinnati churches, the churches in Toledo, Louisville, Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis, Madison, Milwaukee. this year contributed to its treasury and sent delegates to its annual meeting. We had hoped the Secretary would confine his report to the doings of the Conference, and of these churches; then it would not have been misleading. But instead of that he reported upon nearly all the churches and work of the West, including the western missionary tour of the Secretary of the A. U. A. and his companions, the Meadville Theological School, the labors of men who have no sympathy with the Western Conference, like Crooker, of Madison, Wis., Jennings, of Toledo, Ohio, and others, and local conferences that are in sympathy with the A. U. A. and its position, and have no connection with the Conference. The Secretary did have the consistency this year, however, to leave out half a dozen or so of the ministers and churches that have been most conspicuous in their protest against western ethicalism; WOMEN'S WESTERN CONFERENCE: but with this exception he carried out his former policy of reporting upon the whole West, as if it all belonged to the Western Conference. The treasurer reported the Conference out of debt. The receipts for the past year from the churches of the West had been between nine and ten hundred dollarsabout one-third the amount usually received previous to the division of three years ago, and less than a single one of our western churches sometimes gives to the A. U. A. in a single year. However, from the guarantee fund pledged last year and from individual friends west and east about two thousand dollars more had been received by the Conference-making the total receipts for the year about three thousand dollars. Last year a movement was started by the Conference to raise a permanent fund of $50,000, two or three thousand dollars being subscribed at that time toward the same. This year the movement was taken up earnestly and pushed forward much further, and subscriptions were received to the amount (including last year's subscriptions) of between eleven and twelve thousand dollars, members of All Souls' Church, Chicago, subscribing over five thousand dollars of this sum, and Mr. Gannett a thousand. The subscriptions become due when onehalf the $50,000 is subscribed, and may be paid at any time within five years. The hope was expressed that this fund might lay the foundation of a Unitarian Building in Chicago. The officers of the Conference chosen for the coming year were nearly the same as those of the year past-Mr. D. L. Shorey of Chicago being elected president, and Rev. J. R. Effinger secretary. The spirit of the meeting was enthusiastic. The attendance was about the same as last year and the year before. To one accustomed to attending the meetings of the past nothing was so conspicuous as the absences. More than half the older and better known ministers of the West were absent, and Mr. Snyder's suggestion made in the Christian Register and the Unitarian, looking in the direction of a possible harmonizing of western differences, received no attention; indeed so far was the Conference from manifesting a disposition to change its present position that both the president and Mr. Gannett took pains to re-affirm the action taken at Cincinnati, and no word to the contrary was uttered by any one on the floor of the Conference. ANNUAL MEETING. The Women's Western Unitarian Conference held its annual meeting in Chicago, Tuesday, May 14. The President, Mrs. Victoria Richardson, of Princeton, Ill., made a brief opening address at 10:30 A. M., after which Mrs. Emily Fifield, of Boston, a delegate from the Woman's National Auxiliary Conference, made an address in behalf of that organization, conveying the congratulations and regard of that body and explaining the character of its work; and Mrs. Theodore Williams, of New York City, expressed the greetings of the New York League of Unitarian Women, and gave an account of the very extraordinary history of that organization. Mrs. E. E. Marean, of Chicago, read a brief report of the year's work of the Chicago Ramabai Association, Mrs. E. A. West, of Chicago, reported upon Temperance, and Miss Florence Hilton, of Chicago, upon Post Office Missions. The secretary reported nineteen societies connected with the Conference. The treasurer reported the general receipts for the year as about five hundred dollars, besides a little over a hundred dollars received for P. O. Mission work. In the afternoon, after a short devotional service led by Rev. Carrie J. Bartlett, of Sioux Falls, Dak., a number of excellent short papers were read, on the following subjects: "The Great Opportunity," by Rev. Elinor E. Gordon, of Sioux City, Iowa; "Philanthropy," by Mrs. Theodore Williams; "Self-Supporting Women," by Mrs. Catlin (?) of Brooklyn, N. Y.; "Higher Moral Tone in Society," by Mrs. J. C. Learned, of St. Louis; "Intellectual Development," by Rev. Ida C. Hultin, of Des Moines, Iowa. Also a short but beautiful and deserved tribute to the late Mrs. B. F. Felix, of Unity Church, Chicago, was read by Mrs. C. P. Woolley. About a hundred women were present at the meetings, the papers and addresses were short and to the point, and the spirit manifested all through was earnest and admirable. The one drawback to the Conference was the conspicuous absence of representatives from some of the leading and most efficient working churches in the West. The close identification of the Women's Conference with the General Western Conference, and the treatment given last year to the St. Louis ladies when they asked to have the organization place itself upon a Christian or theistic basis, have resulted in drawing a line through the ranks of the Unitarian women of the West similar to that drawn through Western Unitarianism generally by the Cincinnati action of three years ago, making it impossible for many of our best women workers longer to attend or co-operate with the Women's Conference. This is of course greatly to be regretted. The existence of this state of things gives special interest to the meeting of women held in the parlors of the Sherman House on Wednesday morning for a consultation over the question of a general re-organization of the Unitarian women of the whole country. There were present representatives of the Women's Auxiliary Conference, the New York League, and the Women's Western Conference, also several western women not members of the Women's Conference. We are not at liberty to report the proceedings of the meeting, but only to say in a general way that it is hoped it may be possible at the meeting of the National Conference in Philadelphia the coming autumn, to form a new National organization of women which shall merge into itself the Women's Auxiliary and the Women's Western Conference-it being thought that thus the general cause may be strengthened, the west and the east be more closely united, and the divided women workers of the west be drawn together. Of course such a scheme should be carefully considered by all the interests involved before any attempt is made to carry it out. To give up the Women's Auxiliary, which has done such admirable work for these years, would be no light matter, and of course should not be consented to unless there are good reasons for believing that something really more effective can be put in its place. But the question which will need to be most seriously considered will doubtless be that of the basis of the proposed new organization. Shall that basis be Christian, or theistic, or only ethical? Last year the Women's Auxiliary appointed a committee to prepare and report a new constitution with a view to making the Auxiliary in some particulars broader and more satisfactory. We are not informed in what direction the proposed broadening was expected to look, but the fact that the two members of the committee appointed to represent the West are both leading workers in the western ethical movement has suggested the query whether the attempt may not be made to broaden in the direction of ethicalism. The question naturally arises, too, whether something in the same line is not meant by the National League of women, which it is now thought to have take the place of both the National Women's Auxiliary and the Women's Western Conference. If so, it should be clearly understood. We do not believe the Unitarian women of America, with their eyes open, will give up an organization which stands broadly but distinctly for Christianity for another that shall have no such basis. Certainly the attempt to bring about such a change could not produce in the denomination the increased harmony which all concede is desirable, but would be certain greatly to increase the present divisions. Said the pastor of one of the largest churches in the West, in view of the delegates and greetings sent by the Women's Auxiliary and the New York League to the Women's Western Conference: Do those good women in the East think it fair to our churches, which certainly should have some consideration from them, to take all this pains to bolster up and encourage this Unity movement which is so dividing and hurting our Western work? Do they fail to remember that the women workers of our churches are their sisters, too? and that what gives encouragement and strength to this dividing ethicalism, in effect, if not in intent, discriminates against all our Western churches which do not accept ethicalism. Our Eastern sisters profess to stand for a religion of love to God and love to man. Then surely they should be unwilling to take a course to give pain and discouragement to their sisters in the West who are trying to make Western Unitarianism stand for just that. And when these good sisters from the East go back and report what good times they have had, and what good people these Western Unity people are, will they remember to report also that we who are not Unity people know all that, and have said it times without number, but that this does not make the situation in the West any less serious? The Unity people are delightful people; so are Episcopalians, and Presbyterians; but Unitarianism in the West cannot be built upon a Presbyterian or an Episcopalian basis. As little can it, many of us believe, on a basis of Unityism-with ethics and free thought as its only essentials,—worship, belief in God, discipleship to Christ, etc., admitted if people want them, but forming no necessary element in our movement. If our esteemed Eastern sisters will kindly carry back to their friends who sent them, word that at the meetings in Chicago where they so warmly expressed their congratulations, the Unity church ladies of Chicago were not present, nor the church of the Messiah ladies, nor the hundreds of others lic repute, who doubts that behind nain the West who sympathize with them, ture there is an eternal Power and an and that those absent ones are certainly as eternal Godhead." devoted, as intelligent, as hard workers for Unitarianism as any that they met in the Women's Conference, they will do something to help their Eastern constituency to understand the real situation in the West; and perhaps, something therefore to prevent them from making, with the kindest intentions, mistakes which hurt us in the West very keenly. LET US BE FAIR. Mrs. Woolley's paper on the Western ethical position, read before the Western Conference, was asked for for publication as a tract, and money was raised on the spot to print an edition of 5,000 copies-the request for its publication coming, we were told, from our visiting sisters from the East, that they might have it to circulate there. Would not our good Eastern sisters be willing to take steps to get some good statement of the Western Christian position published, too, that they might have this also to circulate? There seems to be quite as little understanding in the East of the Western Christian position as there is of the Western ethical position. The Mr. Gannett has read his strongest put ting of his position (his essay on Faith of Ethics") before the Boston Mon day Club of ministers. Has Mr. Sunderland ever read his "Issue in the West" there? Two years ago Mr. Jones was invited to give the paper before the Berry-st. Confer ence of Ministers, in Boston, in Anniversary week. He gave a paper which he called "Religion from the Near End," which was the strongest setting forth that he could make of the new Unityism of the West. Would it not have been wise and fair to have invited some one from the West this year-say Mr. Barber, Mr. Crooker, Mr. Snyder, or Mr. Clute-to present to the ministers the other side? EDITORIAL NOTES. John Bright defined agitation as "the marshalling of the nation's conscience to right its laws." Says Dr. F. E. Abbott: "Since the death of Ernest Haeckel in Germany and Professor Clifford in England, there is not a well-educated scientific atheist in the world. There are agnostics, men who say, We do not know what kind of a power this is that lies behind nature; but not an intelligent, well-educated student of science of pub Says James Freeman Clarke: "Christianity includes ethics, but ethics does not include Christianity; an ethical society, therefore, is not so inclusive as a Christian church. The greater life includes the smaller, and comprehends it. The larger truth includes the lesser. Ethics includes only human duty, or love to man. Christianity accepts this, and adds to it the love of God." |