SALVATION ARMY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 893, 12 August 1910, Page 8

SALVATION ARMY.

THE AUSTRALASIAN CONGRESS. NEW PROVINCIAL SECRETARY. Colonel Knight, officer commanding the Salvation Army in the North Island, who returned on Wednesday from attending the Australasian Congress, held in Melbourne, informed a Dominion reporter yesterday that tho assembly more than came up to liis expectations. I hare been privileged now to attend theso 'congresses for a considerable number ol ; years, said Colonel Knight, "and I was delighted to find that the spirit and zoal of the organisation were as strong as ever lor the purposes For which h was brought into being. Tho great exhibition building was thronged three times on Sundays for special religions services, the. aggregate attendance on each day being probably 14,000. In addition there were not loss than thirty large, open-air* meetiugs held in the confines of the city prior to the commencement .of these services. The splendid Melbourne Town Hall was gorged also on the occasion of the Victoria Rescue annual meeting. The gathering was presided over by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael, who spoke very kindly of the work of the Army. Mr. Fisher, the Prime .Minister, and the Hon. Josiah Thoraus, Postmaster-General, also' represented the Federal Government. Another meeting was held in the Town Hall, tho programme of which was comprised purely of musical items.

four hundred officers;, including the leading staff of Australasia, attended the councils, wnich lasted over five days. Most of , the business was of a private nature, concerning more especially, the internal working. and organisation of the Army,_ and the consideration of spiritual conditions. Commissioner Hay has completed tho revision of all the regulations! covering the work of local officers, bandsmen, and others throughout 'tile territory. Considerable alterations . have been made, 1 and' the revised regulations will be issued immediately." Colonel Knight stated, in answer to a question, that . the • expediency of separating New; Zealand,. from Australia for purposes of Army organisation was not considered at the conference. It is probable, therefore, that if separation ever comes *to pass it will not be for some years. There is apparently, considerable differeicq of opinion j»s to tin, advantages and disadvantages of such a step. ■

Staff-Captain Oramw, provincial sccru tory of the Salvation Army, who'has been a' very popular officer in that position for tho past two years, has been transferred to an important post' on the editorial staff at Melbourne. . He will leavo •for Melbourne, via Sydney, ■on Fridaj next! His successor in' Wellington will bo Major Frank Johnson,; who is due to arrive hero on August 24. Major Johnson holds a position in Brisbane which is virtually a combination of tho offices of provincial secretary and chancellor under tho New Zealand organisation. .Commissioner and Mrs. Hay will make another tour of. New. Zealand at the beginning of next year. '. The' Salvation. Army's now inebri'ato home in Ruth's Island is within about ten days of'completion. ' : Brigadier Bray will go to Auckland next to sco about .the furnishing. . Preparations are • now being made .for the annual "self-denial" effort of the Army, which finishes about the middle of October.