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March 13, 1912]
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QUESTIONS SENT DOWN BY LAST ,
ASSEMBLY.
It seems likely that all four questions
sent down by the last Asembly will be '
answered in the negative. The proposed
wording of the amendment to the Con. ,
fession Is not any more satisfactory <
than that just rejected by a nearly two ]
thirds vote of the Presbyteries sending ]
answers. It Is not the clear-cut unam- (
biguous statement desired. I
The otherwise desirable piece of legis- \
latlon relative to a new case without <
process (Par. 235) is ruined by dovetail- i
ing It Into a paragraph where it does 1
not fit at all, with the result that by
reason of the provision for consent of
the offender It is rendered not merely ^
nugatory but ridiculous. It Is certainly
a remarkable piece of legislation which (
takes the power of Judgment out of the
hands of the court and lodges it in the (
nands of the criminal.
The proposed radical change of our ;
constitution which makes both the hlgb- ,
er courts to be constituted differently (
from the present plan does not come
down with the Assembly's recommcnda- i
tion it is true, but it is discouraging that (
the Assembly should need to ask the r
advice of the Presbyteries on the question
so revolutionary as this, and a
change for which there has been no 1
general call in the church. But this r
proposition which is in this way need- "
lessly kept before the church, takes on
an additional interest by reason of the 1
?
question concerning the judicial court
which does come with the Assembly's
approval.
This proposes a court virtually constituted
bv th? Svnorts and +hnn nrn. '
duces a conflict of representation and
authorities. It is the new mode of
representation sought to be introduced
alongside of the old and the result will
be contradiction and chaos. It is evident
that the committee which advised
this plan conceives that the new so-called
commission will be a part of the Assembly
for a commission like an "ordinary
committee" (Par. 92) must be a
part of the court appointing it. Besides
this the committee advise us in their
rule fourth that the intention Is not to
make a new court. Assembly's MinuteB
1911, P. 47. Then we have an Assembly
composed of discordant elements In that
they represent separate authorities.
Will the reply be made that they are
really not a court until they are appointed
by the Assembly? Tbe answer
is, that these men are to be appointed
by the Synods?"nominated quadrennially,"
and if the Assembly exercises
any choice In the matter of their "appointment"
it will be simply that of
choosing as at present a smaller number
from the whole number of commissioners.
It Is evident from the committee's
fifth explanation (49) that they conceive
that the Assembly's appointment,
or to use the very language of the paragraph,
"commission and charge." is all
that is necessary to make them a regu.
lar commission. But this Is not true;
they will be men without commissions
or proper credentials, and the Assembly's
appointment cannot supply the defect.
The Synods dare not give them
credentials or commissions, for this
would bring them Into direct defiance of
the Presbyteries. They will be in a
position of interlopers, a bastard court,
uncertain whether to credit their parentage
to the Synods or the Assembly,
neither of which will have any right to
delegate an authority which they do not '
possess themselves, and which they can- ?
not have until It 1b given by the revision i
of paragraph 87, which tells how the 1
General Assembly Is constituted. The 1
Assembly's effort to constitute them will <
make a bastard court out of a rump
parliament. The thing will be a combln- 1
THE PRESBYTERIA
Discussed >
ed effort of Synod and Assembly to i
usurp the authority of the Presbyteries ]
and the people, and it will be a hler- 1
archy already begun. (
The Assembly can no more constitute '
a court outside of the constitution than 1
It can constitute Itself without the com- 1
missions of the Presbyteries, so if the (
Presbvtprlps want tha AaRomhlv n ho '
given absolute authority so that it shall
become at least in part Its own creator,
:hey will have to write this into the
:lause which is specially devoted to dejcribing
the constitution of the Assemjly.
We call attention JuBt here to a mis:ake
in the language of the third paragraph
which is either a mistake (probibly)
of transcription or else of the
ypes: "The commissioners of the
3ynod and General Assembly shall try
auses, etc." The word should be "comniBsions."
Were it not for the fact that (
:his is intended to apply to the com- t
nissions of Synod as well as to the j
MiriouB oody proposed to be set up, j
'commissioners of Synod and Assem- ,
>ly" might be taken as very accurately t
lescribing the sources of power of these ,
lewly made judges. E
But cannot the Assembly delegate a 1
>art of Its powers to those who are not I
egular commissioners to its body? The J
inswer is, No It cannot. Nobody regu- J
arly appointed to a taBk has the right t
o transfer the duty and commission to t
lomebody else. This raises the same ?
luestion which is raised by the theory t
vhich some have held that a commis- ?
ilon is the court itself clothed with 1
denary powers. Balrd well says that 1
his is "at variance with correct prin- ?
iples as to the limitations of delegated 1
jowers. Whether we view the authority 1
>f the several Church courts (he says) t
is derived from the constitution, or I
nore properly as received from the i
lead of the church and defined in her '
Itandards Jn Anrh man (ho nnoiai-o on. C
)ropriated are vested in specific bodies, <
ind neither in the constitution or the 1
Word of God is there a trace of a pro- J
rision to authorize their alienation by !
heir defined subjects to any other, much '
ess to a smaller body, and hence pretumably
less capable to exercise them <
visely and well." Digest p. 213. 1
The committee sought to avoid this
jrror by laying down as its first rule ,
hat "the right of appeal and complaint '
s inalienable," by which they mean the
ight of a hearing by the court itself.
While this is true as regards a commis.
lion it is not true absolutely. There
s no reason in the nature of the case
vhy a whole General Assembly should
>e compelled to give up all its other
)usineB8 and try a Judicial case; it is _
>nly the present arrangement which
nakes this necessary. There is no
'eason why a separate tribunal should '
lot be provided by the constitution for '
ludicial cases, as is done by the civil '
aw. But although the committee was
ippointed to "prepare and submit to the
lext Assembly a plan for the erection !
if a separate tribunal for the hearing of 1
ludicial cases," they proceed to do this '
luslness by determining in their own 1
ninds "that no changes should be proposed
which may involve the addition 1
if another court or tribunal to our
present series of graded courts." In
>ther words, they were in their own
estimation wiser than the Assembly that
appointed them, and so they have given I
ib this marvelous non-descript tertium I
juid, which is neither court nor commission,
neither flsh, flesh nor fowl. It
Is the irony of fate that a committee 1
which thinks that "changes in our
organic law should be as few as possible"
should propose a plan which contravenes
the fundamental principle ofnl
N OF THE SOUTH
Presbyterlanlsm, and Introduce* chaoa
nto our organic law.
And what 1b It all for? What 1b the
let result of the proposed change? Why,
it Is almost nil. They have not relieved
the court of the necessity of hearing
cases, they have only eliminated the
consent clause and forced a hearing by
commission In the first instance. There
s absolutely nothing in their recommenlatlon
except that a permanent so-called
commission is estaousnea, appointed in
i new way. It 18 an expensive and exceedingly
cumbersome plan for securing
ipecially suited men for the judicial
work. It requires the attendance of a
large number of men at the Assembly
who will often have nothing to do. It
requires these men to be paid by the
Synods, which is a different plan from
the one adopted for all regular comnissloners.
Where will the Synods get
:he money to throw away after thiB
fashion?
But why should not a regular judicial
:ourt be formed under our present sysem
whose decisions shall be authora;ive
and final? and yet this court be a
iart of the Assembly so that when there
8 no judicial business they can do the
'egular deliberative business as under
he present plan of commissions? They
nust be specially appointed commlstioners
of the Presbyteries of course.
>Vhy not the larger Presbyteries that
lave double representation be allowed
o select one set as specially adapted to
udicial business, and definitely appoint
hem to it? Or, if the smaller Presbyeries
object that this deprives them of
>qual rights, why may not the Presbyeries
of a Synod vote for men from the
itate at large for this business? The
Presbyteries might take it turn about
n making the nominations. These
ipecially endowed commissioners would
lot be deprived of their rights as regu
ur commissioners wnen not engaged In
heir special work and hence would not
>e compelled to be idle hangers on when
here is no judicial business. The court
hue constituted would, as a matter of
:ourse decide concerning the regularity
>f all cases coming before it, in other
fc'ords would be judges of their own
lurisdiction just like the civil courts,
md the Assembly would then be rid of
;he whole judicial business.
If one set of commissioners from the
erritory of each Synod makes too large
i court, let them divide themselves into
:wo courts like the supreme courts of
nany 0f the states, so that they can try
:wo cases at the same time; arranging
imong themselves as to handling all
rnses. Luther Link.
FRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS IN
TEXAS.
The call issued by us sometime since
ind given in full below, has not had
jufhcient response to meet the end In
>dew. It was sent to several Ladies*
Vid Societies, some Sunday schools and
:o a few individuals. You or your
"hurch school or society may not be
n this number, but we ask you now to
lelp us in whatever amount you will,
rhe children are not In a town where
picture shows thrive, but they love picLures
just the same and we want you
to help us put this endless source of
profit and pleasure Into their hands.
Read the call and reply at once as requested
In our appeal. Here It Is:
Pleasure and Instruction for Our
Orphans.
Our orphans love pictures. Don't you?
They are In the country and have so
few pictures, we feel It would be a
great kindness to put some thing In the
nuine 10 arauue, dui at tne same time
to Instruct and refine. We can get at p
marvelously low price a fine stereoptlcon
outfit complete with enough views
to give 20 new pictures each week for
two years?The Life of Christ; Ten
?hts In Bar Room: the Ram's Horn
; r (355) 17
Cartoons, each a sermon In Itself, and
many others. Concerning our plan Dr.
McLean says: "I know nothing of this
kind more useful to the children. It
will be greatly appreciated by all of
them." We ask you to give only |
Send It to our treasurer, Mrs. D. G. Mc
Kcllar, Forney. Texas. Help ub in giving
our orphanB this endless Bource of
profit and pleasure. We need about
$250. Will you not help ub at once?
Thanking you in advance.
Yours sincerely.
Ladles' Aid Society, First PreBbyterlan
Church, Forney, TexaB.
-A MINISTERS' MEMORIAL FUND.
To the Ministers of Onr Church,
Dear Brethren: One night recently I
sat in my study thinking of our beloved
church?of her glorious past, and hoping
for her a still more glorious future.
I thought of the noble fathers of our
Zlon and how they founded her in
sacrifices both human and divine. T
thought of that long list of missionaries
on the firing line, both at home and
abroad, enduring hardness and sacrifice
to hold up her blue banner and the
banner of the cross. Mv hA?r? an
drawn especially to those 350 missionaries
in our mountains and on our
frontier, giving their lives silently and
unnoticed in order to enlarge the border
of our tent; and of those 250 houseless
churches crying to us for some help
that they may rise and build a house to
work and worship in. And most of all
I was moved by the thought of Him
whose sacrifice is the chief cornerstone
of our church, and whose, last words
were, "Go into the world, beginning
at Jerusalem."
With such thoughts in my mind, the
question came to me, Am I worthy of
such a heritage? Can't I and the other
ministers of this church make som?>
sacrifice to commemorate the sacrifices
of our fathers and make this heritage a
greater blessing to the next generation'
It was then that the following plan
cpme to me. prompted, I believe, by tbe
Holy Spirit
Tbe plan is that the ministers on the
roll at this Seml-Centennlai of our
church start a memorial fund similar
to the Moore Memorial Fund to assist
Home Mission congregations to build
churches, and to be known as The Ministers'
Memorial Fund, to be used for
the same purpose and under the same
conditions as the Moore Memorial Fund.
The proposition I suggest Is that the
ministers of our Church give one (1%)
per cent, of their respective salary for
the year 1912 to start this fund. This
proposition should not be conditioned
on all or any definite number of ministers
concurring In the plan, but
those who do concur will start the fund
as best they can. Supposing the ministers'
salaries for this year to be the
same as in 1909 and that all concur in
the plan, we could start a fund of $11.
ijor.as, wnicn wouia he enough to help
build at least 60 of those churches this
year, and would go on increasing in
pcwer and blessing.
If tjie ministers should do this (and
it will not fall heavy on any of them),
then it would give a little encouragement
to those self-sacrificing men who
are bearing the brunt of our battle, and
it would write the resolution of our
General Assembly in living characters.
If wnnlH nlflrv law a ?rnnn/( r\f annual
? ~?V ? J ? 1
and an example worthy of following before
our people. Now, my brethren, If
the Spirit commend this plan to you
write me a postcard or letter, and If
a considerable number join me in this
proposition, I will address a circular
letter containing the proposition to all
ministers of our church. Praying the
Master's blessing on you and all the
work of our church, I am.
Yours in His Name.
McComb, Miss. B. C. Bell.