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REPORT OF PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE.

The following is the report of the Provisional Committee of the National Council, its meetings and actions:

FIRST MEETING, Cleveland, Ohio, October 14, 1907. The following were elected members of the Program Committee: The Moderator, Secretary, Rev. Charles L. Noyes, Rev. Francis L. Hayes, and pastor of inviting church.

It was voted: To accept the invitation offered by Rev. Alexander Lewis and Rev. J. A. Seibert, that the National Council meet in Kansas City, Mo., in 1910; to invite the National Societies to meet with the National Council at that time and place; that the Chairman approve all bills; that the Secretary give credentials to corresponding bodies; that the Finance Committee be requested to call for an assessment of two cents per member for each year during the next three years; that the salary of the Treasurer and Registrar be $200 per annum; that the salary of the Secretary, beginning January 1, 1908, be $3,000 per annum; that the following sums be appropriated: For rent of office, $300; for clerk hire, $600; that the question of expenses of delegates be referred to the Moderator and Secretary; that the call for the next meeting be referred to the Moderator, Secretary, and Treasurer; that a sub-committee be appointed to represent to the National Council at this session, some further possible service in mediating in the interest of Beneficence, Evangelism, and Absent Members; that the following be that committee: Rev. Dan F. Bradley, Rev. Francis L. Hayes, and the Moderator.

SECOND MEETING, Boston, Mass., February 10, 1908.

It was voted: That the amount of money called for as the share of the Congregational churches in the expenses of the Inter-Church Federation be raised through an appeal for a definite sum of ten dollars ($10) to such churches as would be expected to respond; that the printing of certificates for dele

gates to the International Council be referred to the Secretary; that the question of filling vacancies on committees appointed by the National Council be left with the committees themselves; that, inasmuch as the action of the National Council in adopting the report of the Committee on Polity is omitted from the printed minutes, though the report of the committee is printed in full, the Committee on Polity be authorized to act in the premises as intended by National Council; that the Provisional Committee appoint Mr. Henry Baldwin, Maui, T. H., delegate to International Council, Edinburgh, 1908; that the naming of alternates to the Inter-Church Conference, Philadelphia, Pa., December, 1908, be referred to the Chairman and the Secretary; that the communication from Thomas Todd, chairman of Publishing Committee, be approved and authority asked for be granted, viz., — to contract for printing and publishing YearBooks, 1909, 1910, 1911, and the Minutes of National Council, 1910; that the matter of dues from the states in National Council assessment be referred to the Treasurer with power; that the Secretary be authorized to send all National Council Minutes and Year-Books, on hand in post-offices and express offices, to the secretaries of the states, respectively; that the matter of filling vacancies in the delegates' list to International Council, 1908, be referred to the Chairman and Secretary; that the Secretary correspond with state registrars in the matter of absentee members, and, if thought wise, prepare a circular suggesting methods of reaching such absentees, that they might transfer membership to the local church, and his willingness to assist in every way possible to this end; that the Secretary be authorized to inform the registrars and scribes of state and local bodies to notify their respective bodies that the Provisional Committee has instructed him to decline certification in cases of delegates elected contrary to Article 2, Section 3, of the constitution, which provides that the "number of delegates be in all cases divided between ministers and laymen as nearly equal as possible"; that the Provisional Committee of the National Council, being exceedingly desirous of securing the adoption of the plan of proportionate beneficence, trusts that the benevolent societies will see their way clear to discuss with our committee the feasibility of nominating to us an officer satisfactory to them who shall work under the supervision of our Secretary by our

appointment, his salary and incidental expenses to be paid by the societies named; that the Secretary send a copy of the minutes of this session to each of the members absent from the meeting; that a sum not exceeding $50 be appropriated for the uses of the Secretary in his attendance at the International Council, Edinburgh, 1908.

THIRD MEETING, Brooklyn, N. Y., October 14, 1908.

It was voted: That the vacancy caused by the resignation of Rev. George A. Hood, member of Publishing Committee, be filled by the appointment of Rev. Roy B. Guild; that the Secretary be instructed to inform the second named member of the Committee on Order of Public Worship of the resignation of Rev. Charles L. Noyes as chairman of said committee; that the vacancies in the list of delegates to the Federal Council, Philadelphia, Pa., December 2, 1908, be referred to the Chairman and Secretary with power to appoint alternates; that the question of changes in Year-Book schedules suggested in a communication from Secretary Hubert C. Herring be committed to the Secretary and Treasurer, and held in abeyance for reference to the next session of the National Council; that the Treasurer receive as added compensation an amount of $50, to be appropriated from the receipts from advertising in the Year-Book; that the change from the fiscal year to the calender year be referred for action to the next session of the National Council; that, in view of the fact that at the meeting of the American Board corporate members, to be held on Thursday afternoon, October 15, the question on a joint session of the National Council and Societies in Kansas City, Mo., 1910, may be referred to, it was voted: That the chairman of the Provisional Committee present the views of the committee to the effect that the Provisional Committee recommend that the meeting of the National Council be held in Kansas City, Mo., in 1913 if the American Board will vote to meet with the National Council and the Societies at that time; otherwise, the Provisional Committee recommend that the National Council meet in Kansas City, Mo., in 1910, in accordance with the invitation sent by hand of Rev. Alexander Lewis to the National Council, Cleveland, 1907; that the Secretary send a copy of the minutes

of the meeting to absent members of the committee; that the thanks of the committee be extended to the pastor, Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, and the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church, for the use of their parlors for this meeting.

FOURTH MEETING, Boston, Mass., December 23, 1908.

It was voted: That the Committee on Incorporation of National Council be requested to insert in Article 2 two words, "and purposes," following the words "general interests"; that the Secretary be instructed to communicate the action of the committee to the chairman of the Committee on Incorporation; that the matter of raising funds for the maintenance of the Federal Council be referred to the Secretary with power; that the election of five American representatives in the Interim Committee of the International Council of Congregational Churches be deferred, and that the Secretary of the National Council be empowered to act until such committee shall have been appointed; that the Publishing Committee be requested to secure and publish in the Year-Book the amounts received from states by the Congregational Board of Ministerial Aid; that the Rev. Charles L. Morgan represent the churches in the Board of Trustees of the Anti-Saloon League of America; that the session of National Council, 1910, be held in Boston, Mass., and, that it be recommended to the delegates to said Council to avail themselves of the cordial coöperation and hospitality of the people of the Congregational churches of Boston and vicinity; that the Committee of the Conference of the Representatives of the Suffolk North, West, and South conferences, the Young Men's Congregational Club, and the Boston Congregational Club be advised by the Secretary of said action.

Circular letter dated December 29, 1908.

By circular letter, the following-named persons were appointed members of the committee from the United States in accordance with the provision of the constitution of the International Council of Congregational Churches: President William Douglass Mackenzie, the moderator of the National Council, the chairman of the Provisional Committee, Rev. Albert J. Lyman, the Secretary of the National Council.

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