Youth ‘more concerned now’

Press, 18 February 1978, Page 2

Youth ‘more concerned now’

Young people in the United States are more concerned for the needs of others and this is one reason for increasing recruitment into the Salvation Army there.

This theory is held by Commissioner Lawrence Smith, New Zealand’s new Salvation Army territorial commander. He is an American and has been in New Zealand for a month, visiting various divisions of the Salvation Army throughout the country. Commissioner Smith and his wife arrived in Christchurch on Thursday to receive their official welcome from members of the Canterbury-Westland division. Before he came to New Zealand, Commissioner Smith was second-in-com-mand of the Salvation Army in the western territory of the United States. He was

also based at the army’s international headquarters in London for six years. Today’s young generation had much more of a social conscience, he said. They were more concerned about the needs of others. This has increased recruitments in the United States; last year the army commissioned the largest number of officers since 1932, Commissioner Smith said. There was little difference between administration of the Salvation Army in the United States and New Zealand, Commissioner Smith said, and he would not make any dramatic changes here. “The Salvation Army has a responsibility to provide the best administration pos-

sible and changes will only come as society shifts. We are concerned about what is happening in the world and the army hopes the battle against the evils of the day will be won,” he said. He said he would encourage the Salvation Army to watch more carefully the costs involved in building and maintaining various welfare homes. He would like to see the building cost of an eventide home match the Government subsidy given for this purpose. Commissioner Smith and his wife will travel to Ashburton on Saturday before returning to Wellington on Monday, where they are based.