PART IV.-CHAPTER III.

PROVISIONAL FUNDS.

Board of Conference Claimants.

T301. There shall be a Board of Conference Claimants consisting of twelve ministers and twelve laymen, chosen by the General Conference, who, together with the Bishops of the Church (who shall be ex-officio members), and the Corresponding Secretary, shall constitute a Board of Control. And they shall be duly and legally incorporated, with such powers and prerogatives as shall be needful for the accomplishing of the objects of the Board as shall be hereinafter stated. Nine members shall constitute a quorum. The place of business shall be Chicago, Ill.

T302. The term of service of members of the Board shall begin on the first Monday of June following their election by the General Conference, or immediately, if appointed by the Board of Control, and continue until their successors are elected and qualified. Vacancies during the interval of the General Conference may be filled by the Board on the nomination of the Bishops. The officers shall have power to convene the Board when necessary.

1303. The officers of said Board shall con

sist of a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Corresponding Secretary, all of whom shall be elected by the Board from among its own number, except the Corresponding Secretary, who shall be nominated by the Board of Bishops, and may be either a minister or a lay

man.

¶ 304. The Corresponding Secretary shall perform his duties under the direction of the Board and shall conduct its correspondence. He shall travel among the Annual Conferences, or elsewhere, in the interest of the Society, with the approval of the Board, and be authorized to secure pledges, make collections, and do such other work as will increase the funds of the Board. He shall receive such pay as the Board of Control may determine, and shall be paid out of the proceeds of the Permanent Fund.

¶ 305. The funds of this Society shall be known as the Permanent Fund and the Disbursing Fund. The Permanent Fund shall consist of special collections, grants, wills, bequests, or other conveyance of property, from which expenses shall be deducted, and the balance placed on interest by direction of the Board.

¶ 306. The Disbursing Fund shall consist of collections by the several Annual Conferences for Conference Claimants, together with the amounts coming from the profits of the Book Concern, and all interest from the Permanent Fund.

¶ 307. The claimants upon this fund shalf te: all Superannuated Preachers and the Widows and Children of deceased Preachers. A Supernumerary Preacher may, by vote of his Confer ence, be made a claimant.

T308. Each Annual Conference may organize a Board of Conference Claimants, auxiliary to the General Board, which shall, through its Secretary, report to the General Board, on or before the 1st of January or July next following the session of the Conference, the name and age of each claimant of the Conference, and give such other information as may be provided for by Clanks furnished by the General Board. The Conference Board shall report to the General Board any urgent cases of need that arise during the Conference year, in order that relief may be given at once by the Board.

¶ 309. The Board shall have power to grant honorary membership to any person giving at any one time one hundred dollars, which shall allow such person a seat and voice in its deliberations, but not a vote. The Board shall have power to receive grants, gifts, or bequests, to be kept in the name of the donor, subject to the same rules as govern other parts of the Permanent Fund.

¶ 310. The Board shall cause a proper division of its funds to be made, based upon the number and needs of claimants, and through its Corres

ponding Secretary forward to the Bishop presiding at each Annual Conference the amount appropriated to said Conference; and the Conference Board, or the Conference Stewards in the absence of such Board, shall divide it among the claimants of the Conference on such a basis as the Stewards may determine, with the approval of the Conference.

¶ 311. The division by the General Board shall be made on the first day of August yearly.

¶ 312. Any person may contribute to the Permanent Fund a sum to be preserved and perpetuated in his name, the interest on which shall go to the Disbursing Fund.

T313. The Board of Control shall, through the Corresponding Secretary, make to the General Conference a full report of all its doings during the preceding quadrennium. And it shall send to each Annual Conference an exact statement as to the condition of its funds, together with such other information as may be useful.

T314. It shall be the duty of the Quarterly Conference of each charge within whose bounds a Superannuated Preacher or the Widow or Child of a deceased Preacher may reside, to appoint a Committee whose duty shall be to make an estimate of the amount necessary to assist such Preacher, Widow, or Child in obtaining a comfortable support; and such estimate shall be

sent up to the Annual Conference with which the claimant may be connected, and be subject to the action of the Conference; but the Conference Board may consider and report upon the case of any claimant that the Quarterly Conference has failed to report.

The Chartered Fund.

¶ 315. To make further provision for the distressed Traveling Preachers, for the families of Traveling Preachers, and for the Superannuated and Worn-out Preachers, and the Widows and Orphans of Preachers, there shall be a Chartered Fund, to be supported by the voluntary contributions of our friends; the principal stock of which shall be funded under the direction of Trustees chosen by the General Conference, and the interest applied under the direction of the General Conference, according to the following regulations, namely:

§ 1. The Elders, and those who have the oversight of Circuits and Stations, shall be collectors and receivers of subscriptions, etc., for this Fund.

§ 2. The money shall, if possible, be conveyed by bills of exchange, or otherwise, through the means of the post, to the General Book Agents, who shall pay it to the Trustees of the Fund; otherwise it shall be brought to the ensuing An nual Conference.