Earlier text: Our Mission Fields and the Foreign Mission SeminaryTHE editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch makes the following sensible observation concerning the order of the War Department to the colonel commanding at Fort Banks, near Boston, to drive sabbath-breakers off the reservation; that is, to permit no more Sunday baseball there: “The sabbath-breakers are driven off the reservation. They can be driven off as far as official authority can reach them. When they are driven as far as they can be forced to go, they are farther than ever from the ideal of goodness held by those who do the driving. After having its own way for centuries, the driving process has nothing to show now except failures which are supposed to call for more driving. Why not try something else—education and moral suasion, for instance?” And the War Department is urged on in this work of driving by the professed representatives of Him who abjured compulsion, and always said, “Come.” WE find in the last number of Colorado’s Echoes From the Field an excellent suggestion from Elder J. S. Wightman, religious liberty secretary for the Central Union Conference, relative to the circulation of religious liberty literature in the territory of that union. He is urging each member of the conference to circulate at least one hundred copies of the tract “Do You Wish Congress to Prescribe Your Religion?” and each church to circulate at least a thousand copies. The suggestion is just as good for all the conferences, and we pass it on. We shall look for good results wherever it is followed. IN the department of “The Teacher” in the last Homiletic Review we find the following very excellent teaching: “Christ taught; he did not compel. He laid down laws, but he did not use force. Christ wants willing followers. A forced Christianity is no Christianity.
“The sweet persuasion of his voice
Respects thy sanctity of will.
He giveth day; thou hast the choice
To walk in darkness still.”
This is in a weekly Scripture lesson, the one from which quotation is made being on the subject, “Christianity and Democracy.” We are glad to increase the breadth of its reading. AT a clerical conference held under the auspices of the Federated Churches in the Metropolitan Building, Manhattan, New York City, a few days ago, the actor-pastor of Ascension Episcopal church, Greenpoint, N. Y., made this declaration: “We all feel that Protestantism is on its last legs. There is a coming Catholicism, and perhaps this federation is aiding it. Let us find some way we can stand by each other in a Catholic plan—or the old apostolic plan, which was all to be together in one place and of one accord. . . . Could we not give up some of our poorly attended evening services, combine forces, and hold meetings in theaters or some other places not used, and thus get away from our frozen piety?” The suggestion of the speaker that federation may be aiding Catholicism is truer than perhaps he thought. The kind of Protestantism the Federal Council of Churches stands for is paving the way for the culminating campaigns of Catholicism. “THE government is not to go into the business of religious propagation,” says Dr. Robert E. Speer in Men and Missions, organ of the Laymen’s Missionary Movement. This is indeed Scriptural. How disappointing, then, to find him saying, in the very next sentence: “But this country is a Christian country. We have the judgment of the United States Supreme Court, written by the late lamented Justice Brewer, the highest possible authority, there could be in this land, for declaring that the United States is not a non-religious nation, that the United States is a Christian nation.” Dr. Speer is discussing the necessity for a larger display of Christianity by people of this country in its “impact” on Eastern peoples, if we would do our duty by them, and nearly all he says is excellent; yet how strangely contradictory of his announced principle, as at first quoted, to find him not only declaring this a Christian nation, but demanding that this government should send into those Eastern lands as diplomatic representatives only men who properly represent us; that is, are Christians. Does he not see that that would be of the very essence of religious propagandism, of which he has announced this government must not be guilty? FOR the first time in four hundred eighteen years a Jew holds a public office depending on the franchise of the Spanish people. In the recent election the district of Coruna chose the Jewish banker, Gustave Bauer, to represent her in the national parliament. In the very year that Columbus discovered America occurred the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and until now they have been too thoroughly banned to have any hope of political preferment. The Spanish constitution of 1869, to be sure, proclaimed full religious liberty, but in 1876 it was so modified that no church but the Catholic could display insignia of public services. The present upheaval in the direction of religious liberty seems to extend even to the Jews. DR. F. Y. PIERCE, pastor Second Avenue Baptist church, New York City, in conference with ministers of all denominations, recently explained the method of preaching the gospel by the federation plan, as practised by himself. During the heated summer term he goes out upon the steps of his church, and preaches to an assemblage of from a thousand to twenty-five hundred. If he sees Jews in his audience, he gives them to understand that he does not wish to convert them, but to have them go to their homes better Jews, and to the Catholics he gives the same “brotherly” talk. To such a man, the saying frequently on the lips of certain religionists, that “one religion is as good as another,” is the expression of a profound truth. Paul did not seem to have for the Athenians that sort of “brotherliness;” nor for Agrippa. ENGLAND is making a determined effort at the settlement of the question of religion in the common schools. The recent failure of the educational bill in Parliament seems not to have discouraged everybody; and since then an educational settlement committee of a thousand members has been appointed, and its executive committee of fifty-five representative men has formulated the following aim: “To promote and maintain religious teaching as an integral part of the national system of education, and to work on non-party lines for an educational settlement which will respect all forms of conscientious belief.” There were no bishops of the Church of England and no Catholics on the committee; so all its labors are hindered by both Catholics and Anglican high-churchists. Stormy times are ahead of these earnest men, and we shall watch their progress with no small interest.20 By a vote of 7,413 to 1,036 the canton of Basel decided upon a complete separation of church and state. Only about half of the voters went to the polls. The churches retain the possession of their property, and are authorized to tax their members for support of the services. The state withdraws all support for church purposes except the payment of clergymen for state hospitals and prisons. Pensions now in force in the case of retired pastors will be continued by the state. The only churches not entirely satisfied with this innovation are the Roman Catholic, but these constitute a small minority in the canton.—The Independent. As an illustration of the Catholic Church’s readiness to interfere in the domestic affairs of nations, we cite the following: A journal published in Portugal, bearing the name of the Franciscan Review, was recently suppressed by Archbishop Braga upon orders from Cardinal Merry del Val, the papal secretary of state in Rome. This was done because the hierarchy in Rome thought the journal was not necessary to the support of the national Catholic party in Portugal. The Portuguese government became incensed at this unwarranted interference of the Vatican in Portuguese affairs, and a royal decree was issued at Lisbon on July 12, nullifying the action of the archbishop. The decree declares that the archbishop has no right to execute such instructions without the previous consent of the government, and warns him that the repetition of such action would not be tolerated. Success Under Difficulties
By N. Z. T.
MR. D. L. MOODY once told of a man who said he had a splendid well, only it would freeze up in the winter, and would dry up in the summer. The canvassers in the Southwestern Union Conference are certainly not like this well. The three experiences which follow appeared on one page of a recent number of the Southwestern Union Record:— “You will find enclosed report for last week, which is a little better than for the week previous. Yet I worked under the most discouraging circumstances I have met since I began last spring.” “That last rain and storm very nearly spoiled the cotton crop. I have never seen the cotton crop as nearly nothing this time of year as it is now. The rain, hail, and wind have beaten it to death. Much is dead, and some have planted over.” “I have seen fields this past week that I would not work if they were given to me, and I was furnished stock and tools to work them with. The leaves have all fallen off on much of the cotton, and there is nothing left but the stalk and the bud, and it looks as if it had the rust. Yet we have taken orders right along where things are this way. This is certainly a good time to talk of the coming of Christ, and we are making good use of the opportunity.” The orders of these brethren for that week were $74.40 and $77.55. We certainly ought to be thankful that our work does not depend upon crop conditions and difficult times; for if it did, it would be on the decline. Times will grow worse and worse, and therefore our books will sell the better. Let us do as these brethren are doing,—talk the soon coming of our Saviour. This is the secret of their success. “Although the grass is very bad in this section, and many have had to hire help, all were ready to take their books. One man stopped his plow, and went five miles to borrow money to get his book, and I must say the Lord worked upon the hearts of many, for they greatly feared to miss the book.” Speaking of a visit to West Texas, Brother W. W. Eastman says:— “I recently spent one day with one of the canvassers in the West, and although we worked in a neighborhood where it had not rained for a long time, yet the Lord gave us $30 worth for the day.” Such experiences have the right ring, and the result of such a spirit as is manifested in them is seen in the large reports which come in from the Southwestern Union Conference. “For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” N. Z. T. _Magazine Sales in Panama_
By A. J. S. B.
_A Six Months' Report—Jan. 1 to June 30, 1910_
Brother H. H. Cobban, manager of the Watchman Publishing Association, of Cristobal, Canal Zone, Panama, sends the following interesting report of the sales of the Caribbean Watchman magazine and El Centinela de la Verdad during the first six months of 1910:— *_The Caribbean Watchman_*| MONTH |
COPIES |
VALUE |
|---|
| January |
4,673 |
$166.19 |
| February |
4,757 |
182.67 |
| March |
5,120 |
198.68 |
| April |
6,337 |
243.53 |
| May |
7,011 |
263.85 |
| June |
6,829 |
258.39 |
| Total |
34,727 |
1 $1,313.31 |
*_El Centinela de la Verdad_* |
COPIES |
VALUE |
|---|
| January |
3,046 |
$152.30 |
| February |
2,520 |
126.00 |
| March |
3,230 |
161.50 |
| April |
3,969 |
198.45 |
| May |
4,100 |
205.00 |
| June |
2,982 |
149.10 |
| Totals |
19,847 |
$992.35 |
| Watchman totals |
34,727 |
1,313.31 |
| Grand totals |
54,564 |
$2,305.66 |
In explanation of the different prices at which these periodicals are sold, Brother Cobban says: “Throughout the British West Indies the Caribbean Watchman is sold for three cents a copy, but in Panama, Canal Zone, and Central America, the price is five cents a copy. El Centinela sells at five cents a copy everywhere.” Of the success of the agents the writer says: “Brother C. N. Moulton is disposing of 500 copies of El Centinela each month in San Domingo. Brother J. B. Stuyvesant was using 300 each month in Costa Rica, but the earthquake there made it necessary to reduce his club to 100 for the present. Five hundred copies are disposed of in the city of Panama alone each month. Both of our papers depend almost entirely upon agents for their circulation. The island of Porto Rico is now being worked by Elder Wm. Steele, and our paid-up list is about 1,000 copies, after dropping nearly 1,000 names from our list in that island during May.” This is a most encouraging report, showing, as it does, the powerful effect of steady, systematic work in the circulation of our literature in periodical form. We shall look with interest for further reports from that field.
A. J. S. B. News and Notes
By A. J. S. B.
BROTHER G. C. HOSKINS, secretary of the Iowa Tract Society, reports the sale of 14,183 of our various magazines and periodicals in that conference during the month of June. The next largest report comes from the Northern Illinois Tract Society. It shows a sale of 9,127 periodicals in that conference the past month. Both of these reports include, of course, all the weekly and other periodicals as well as the ten-cent magazines. BROTHER PAUL CURTIS, missionary secretary of the Central Union Conference, reports the recent election of Brother Leslie Curtis as field missionary secretary of the Wyoming Conference. Speaking of the periodical work, Brother Curtis says: “We recently sent three young women to St. Louis, Mo., to sell magazines during the summer. I understand that Brother R. C. Spohr is there at present, with a company of magazine agents. Two young women plan to go next week to Kansas City to earn a scholarship by selling Life and Health.” THE resourcefulness of one of our Canadian magazine agents is illustrated by the following incident: Having ordered 1,000 copies of the Temperance Instructor, one of our agents had sold only 200 copies in the large city where she was planning to dispose of the 1,000 copies, when the authorities demanded a license. Not being financially able to pay for the license, our sister called on the officers of the W. C. T. U., and secured their recommendation for the magazine, and their promise to distribute as many copies as she could furnish them free of charge. Taking with her the recommendation of the W. C. T. U. ladies, in a short time she solicited, from the business men of the city, sufficient money to pay for the magazines. Such skill in meeting existing conditions, and such perseverance under unfavorable circumstances, are highly commendatory. The Missionary and Publishing Work
Notes, Plans, Reports, Statistics, and Other Information Regarding Missionary Endeavor and the Circulation of Gospel Literature. Conducted by the Missionary and Publishing Department of the General Conference. E. R. PALMER — — — — Secretary N. Z. TOWN — — — — Assistant Secretary A. J. S. BOURDEAU — — — — Missionary Secretary Fireside Correspondence School
By W. E. HOWELL
These are days when the latent power of self-development concealed in our young people is being transformed into kinetic energy. It is the time when the touchstone of opportunity is being applied to the cherished desire which every young person harbors, or thinks he does, of obtaining an education. “All is not golde that hath a glistening hiew,
But what the touchstone tries and findeth true.”
It is easy for a young man to admit that he wants an education, that he ought to go to school. But how deep-rooted, how genuine, how earnest, that desire is, may be determined by applying the touchstone of opportunity and noting the result. This is the work now going on at our camp-meetings and other general gatherings which are attended by representatives of the schools. Men who have themselves fought their way through a college course against great odds, men who have year after year stood as teachers and trainers of youth, who have forced their way to school through tangles of difficulty and obstruction,—such men are now in the field, standing face to face with young people and parents, encouraging, stimulating, and helping to clear the path schoolward. This is a noble work. God bless these faithful recruiting officers, and God bless and arouse the recruits. But after all is said and done that can be, there still remain a host who are confronted with the insurmountable, so far as leaving their homes or their work is concerned. Thank God that educational opportunity is now broad enough to include even such! It is said of Mohammed that when praying for a certain mountain to be removed nearer his domicile, he made the provision that if the mountain would not come to Mohammed, Mohammed would go to the mountain. In the case of the school, we may truthfully say, If you can not go to school, the school will come to you. This is the special mission of the Fireside Correspondence School. “We Will Catch Them Later”
So says the president of Union College, who is spending part of his summer campaigning for students. At his own instance, he writes:— “We find at the camp-meetings so many who are unable, for various reasons, to attend school; but if we can get them to doing work in the Correspondence School for a year or so, we will catch them later.” And the Correspondence School is willing to have them caught; it will even be a party to the catching; for it counts it part of its mission to help fill the residence schools with those who ought to be there. Our first year's work is already producing some “catches” of this kind. Some have felt a little fearful lest the Correspondence School should be “unfortunate enough” to attract some students who might otherwise go to our residence schools. It seems to us that such fear is groundless, and that the president of Union College has struck the key-note that sounds true. But this is not all he says; hear him further:— “I can assure you that when I again come to pay attention to the matter of obtaining students for school, I find myself appreciating more and more the value of our Correspondence School. I feel that the heads of our schools ought to avail themselves of this very valuable means of filling their schools; for it goes without saying that young men and women who otherwise would never become interested in their further education, may, through the Correspondence School, be aroused to put in force earnest efforts to attend one of our schools. I am so glad that I can say to these people that their credits are acceptable to our schools. Not only are young people benefited by this work, but when I see our brethren and sisters who in all probability never can have the advantages of one of our schools, and yet who long for greater education, I feel grateful that we can offer them the Correspondence School, where they can obtain work in Bible, history, and other lines which will qualify them better for service in their homes and neighborhoods and for the general enjoyment of life. You may depend upon it I shall do what I can to forward the interests of the Fireside Correspondence School.” At the recent educational convention, the following action was taken:— “That we accept the credits of the Fireside Correspondence School in single subjects in any year of our regular courses; that the total number of such credits not exceed one half the amount required for the completion of said courses in our colleges and academies; and that the last year's work be taken in residence.” For further information on courses of study and terms, address the Fireside Correspondence School, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. — A number of daring robberies of valuable gems and jewelry have occurred recently in Pullman cars running in the vicinity of Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond. — While engaged in target practise on July 21, at Fort Monroe, Va., 11 men were killed and several seriously injured as the result of the blowing out of a breach block in one of the 12-inch guns. The safety devices on the gun, supposed to make a premature explosion impossible, failed to work. — The enterprising and up-to-date city of Buenos Aires has reached the place where some relief for the traffic that crowds its streets is necessary. The city government has approved a comprehensive plan for electrically operated subways; and the concessions have been secured by the Anglo-Argentine Tramway Companies and the tramway company of Buenos Aires. — Whitefield McKinlay, a prominent Negro of Washington, D. C., has been appointed by President Taft to the important office of collector of customs at Georgetown. — An exemplary stand was recently taken by the mayor of Des Moines, when he refused to deliver an address of welcome to the Iowa Retail Liquor Dealers’ Association at their convention. — The lowest temperature yet recorded was registered Aug. 30, 1909, by a thermometer sent up in a “sounding balloon” to a height of 12 miles. The ascent was made at Shirati, on Victoria Nyanza; and the temperature recorded was 119.7° below zero Fahrenheit. — The twenty-second annual statistical report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, just issued, shows that 8,722 persons were killed, and 95,626 injured, on the railroads in the United States during the year ending June 30, 1909. This is one passenger killed for every 3,523,606 carried; and one injured for every 86,458 carried. — Six hundred acres of a large estate in the Adirondacks was burned over recently in an attempt by the mountaineers to destroy the whole preserve. The owner incurred the ill will of the natives by closing the old trails, driving all fishing and hunting parties off the estate, and placing an armed guard of fifty men in charge to enforce his regulations. — “The United States and Great Britain have signed a treaty which will serve to regulate the use of water for commercial purposes at Niagara Falls. According to the provisions, the New York side will be permitted to take 20,000 cubic feet from the river above the falls, and the Canadian side may divert 36,000 cubic feet. The treaty contains a provision which allows the Canadian companies to transmit and sell on the United States side at least fifty per cent of the power generated in Canada.” — After a bitter fight of six years the Bucks Stove and Range Company of St. Louis, Mo., yielded unequivocally to the demands of organized labor in a “peace conference” held July 19, and made up of the officers of the company and representatives of the American Federation of Labor. The company agrees to abandon its open-shop policy, and hereafter employ none but union men. This capitulation follows the death, in May last, of James W. Van Cleave, who was the head of the Bucks Company, and the leader of the antiunion fight. Labor leaders are elated over this victory. — Further particulars regarding the remarkable plebiscite on prohibition recently taken in Sweden illustrate the thorough nature of the agitation in that Scandinavian country. The state was sown almost knee deep with prohibition tracts; an army of volunteer workers were enrolled; and the question was discussed in every church and chapel throughout the land. The overwhelming victory for prohibition confirms the judgment of a well-known writer, that “Sweden has been changed in a few generations from one of the drunkenest countries of the world to the soberest.” In all the country parts of Sweden, with a population of four millions, there are at present only about 140 spirit shops. Conducted by the Department of Education of the General Conference H. R. SALISBURY - - - - - Secretary ATLANTIC UNION CONFERENCE
Northern New England, Burlington ............ Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 New York, Syracuse ............ Sept. 1-10 Western New York, Rochester ............ Sept. 9- CANADIAN UNION CONFERENCE
Maritime, Fredericton ........ Aug. 18-28 Quebec, Fitch Bay ............ Aug. 25 to Sept. 5 Ontario ........................ Sept. 8-18 North Missouri, Hamilton .... July 28 to Aug. 8 Southern Missouri, Springfield .... Aug. 4-14 Kansas, Ottawa ............... Aug. 18-28 Colorado, Denver .............. Aug. 18-28 Nebraska, York ............... Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 Western Colorado, Grand Junction, Sept. 15-25 COLUMBIA UNION CONFERENCE
Virginia, New Market ........ Aug. 4-14 Ohio, Marion ................. Aug. 11-21 West Virginia, McMechen ...... Aug. 18-28 Chesapeake, Chestertown, Md. ................ Sept. 22 to Oct. 2 East Michigan, Jackson ....... Aug. 11-21 West Michigan, Battle Creek ... Aug. 18-29 North Michigan, Traverse City ................ Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 Indiana, Indianapolis ........ Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 Wisconsin ..................... Sept. 1-11 Southern Illinois, Shelbyville ..... Sept. 8-18 Southern California, San Diego (general) ........................ Aug. 4-14 California, About the Bay (general) ........................ Aug. 18-28 California, Visalia (local), Sept. 29 to Oct. 9 Utah, Salt Lake City (conference only) ........................ Oct. 4-9 Arizona, Phoenix (conference only), Nov. SOUTHEASTERN UNION CONFERENCE
South Carolina, Union ........ Aug. 4-14 North Carolina, Kernersville .... Aug. 18-28 Cumberland, Chattanooga, Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 Florida, Leesburg ............. Oct. 13-24 Florida (colored), Sanford ... Oct. 28 to Nov. 7 SOUTHERN UNION CONFERENCE
Alabama, Calera ............... Aug. 4-14 Tennessee River ............... Aug. 18-28 Kentucky ...................... Aug. 25 to Sept. 3 Mississippi, Enterprise ....... Sept. 1-10 SOUTHWESTERN UNION CONFERENCE
West Texas .................... Aug. 4-14 New Mexico, Roswell ........... Aug. 18-28 Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 Arkansas ...................... Sept. 1-11 WESTERN CANADIAN UNION CONFERENCE
Saskatchewan (North) .... July 26 to Aug. 1 British Columbia (Western) ... Aug. 12-21 British Columbia (Eastern), Vernon ........ Aug. 24-31 British Union, Watford .... July 28 to Aug. 2 Wales ........................ Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 North England ............... Oct. 6-9 EAST GERMAN UNION CONFERENCE
East German Union Committee, Friedensau ................ July 25, 26 WEST GERMAN UNION CONFERENCE
Holland ........................ Aug. 4-7 French-Swiss Conference, Gland .. Aug. 10-15 Southern France ................ Aug. 17-21 Notice of Meeting of the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
By M. C. KIRKENDALL
NOTICE is hereby given that a meeting of the members of the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will be held at 2:30 P. M., on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 1910, at 53 Clara Ave., Toronto, for the purpose of obtaining the assent of the conference to the execution of a deed from George W. Sowler, as trustee for the conference, to William Brant, of lots Thirty-four and Thirty-five on the east side of Clinton Street in the city of Toronto, according to registered plan No. 560, being the lands purchased by the said Brant23 at the auction sale held (pursuant to the resolution of the conference passed on the fifth day of July, 1910) at the auction rooms of C. J. Townsend, 66 King St., East, Toronto, on the sixth day of July, 1910. M. C. KIRKENDALL, President. The Florida Sanitarium and Benevolent Association
By R. W. PARMELE
The second annual session of the Florida Sanitarium and Benevolent Association (incorporated) will be held on the Seventh-day Adventist camp-ground at Leesburg, Fla., beginning at 10 A. M., Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1910, and continuing until all the business is transacted. R. W. PARMELE, President, Florida Conference Association
By R. W. PARMELE
THE third annual session of the Florida Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists (incorporated) will be held in connection with the session of the Florida Conference, beginning Oct. 10, 1910, and continuing until the business is all transacted. The first meeting will be held at 10 A. M., Monday, Oct. 10, 1910. R. W. PARMELE, President. North Carolina Conference
By G. W. WELLS
THE North Carolina State camp-meeting will be held Aug. 18-28, 1910, at Kernersville, N. C. The first meeting will be held Friday, Aug. 19, at 9 A. M. It is earnestly desired that a full delegation be present at the first meeting. Officers will be elected and other business pertaining to the conference and the progress of the work will be considered. Oklahoma Conference Association
By DAVID VOTH
THE Oklahoma Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists, a corporation, will hold its annual meeting at Oklahoma City, Okla., in connection with the camp-meeting, Aug. 25 to Sept. 4, 1910. The first meeting will be held at 9 A. M., Tuesday, Aug. 30, 1910. A board of trustees will be elected, and such other business transacted as may properly come before this meeting. _Colorado Conference_
By C. R. KITE
THE annual session of the Colorado Conference will be held in connection with the camp-meeting at Rocky Mountain Lake Park, Denver, Colo., Aug. 18-28, 1910. The first meeting will be held Friday, August 19, at 9 A. M. It is greatly desired that a full delegation be present from all the churches. At this time there will be an election of officers for the ensuing year, of an executive committee, and of heads of departments. Such other business will be transacted as may properly come before the conference. North Michigan Conference
By J. J. Irwin
THE eighth annual session of the North Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the camp-meeting at Traverse City, Aug. 25 to Sept. 4, 1910. The first meeting of the conference will be held Aug. 26, 1910, at 9 A. M. During this session, officers will be elected for the ensuing year, and such other business transacted as may properly come before the conference. Each church is entitled to one delegate for the organization, and one additional delegate for each ten members or fraction thereof.