“A conclusive argument in favor of separation would be made if it could be satisfactorily proven that the connection as it now exists is injurious and demoralizing to both parties; if it could be shown that their presence is a danger, and has a corrupting influence on the main body of the Church; and that such separation could be made without injury to the colored man. There has been an unwillingness, a hesitation on the part of the Church to discuss this question, but the undoubted use that was made of the colored votes in the last General Conference (1884) to secure places was so patent to every careful observer that it can not be kept down. The ease with which the influence and votes of these innocent and generally very ignorant representatives were secured by those nearest to them, shows how great a danger there would be in the abuse of the confidence placed by them in their avowed friends. “There are important movements among the colored people that should be noted. All will remember the enthusiastic patriotism, civil and religious, which was to abolish all color-lines and all laws that recognized black and white, or their intermediate shades. Yet a law of nature, of race, and of common sense is asserting itself among the colored people, in that they want to be separated from such close connection with the white man. They feel that there is an incongruity, an unfitness, a something that causes them to desire to be free from his presence and government. They have but little respect for the whites who remain among them. It is a growing belief among the more intelligent colored people that their religious growth would be increased by their independence of the white Church. So strong is this feeling in certain places, that a secession from the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the formation of independent Methodist Churches, is seriously discussed. In obedience to this growing sentiment, the General Conference, in 1884, recognized the policy of basing membership of annual conferences on a color-line. An argument in favor of caution in treating this question may be drawn from the relation of the colored people to the interests of the country. The colored vote in the United States is accepted as a source of danger in the future to this country. The present colored vote, as it has or has not had the privilege of free expression, has determined who should be President of the United States.... It may or may not be an idle fear, but wise men are looking at the question in sober earnestness.... The Church, then, should be carefully guarded against danger arising from the presence of so large a colored membership through the use of its power in the General Conference. The idea of separation for better work is not new among us.