CIVIC RECEPTION

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 137, 12 June 1919, Page 4

CIVIC RECEPTION

TO COMMISSIONER HOWARD

THE ARMY 'AND THE HOUSING PROBLEM.

Commissioner Howard, second in command of the Salvation Army, who is paying a farewell visit to the Dominion prior to.relinquishing office, was accorded a civic recoption in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall yesterday afternoon, There was a numerous gathering of members of the Army and friends of the cause, and as the Commissioner, accompanied by the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), entered the Chamber, he, was given, a hearty welcome. 111 opening the proceedings, the Mayor, who wfls, received with applause, said that they were there in the name of the whole of the people of New Zealand to extend a hearty welcome to their esteemed friend, Commissioner Howard. He had been interested in the work of the Army since its inception in New Zealand, and he remembered as a boy in Cornwall the appreciation that was evinced by hia own father of the services rendered by General Booth. This was not Commissioner Howard's first visit to Wellington; he was here before. Welcomed then, he was doubly welcome now. There was no organisation which had done more good than tho Salvation Army. Its basis was religion, and without that basis it would not have done such good work as it had achieved. The citizens of Wellington, for that reason, greatly appreciated its work, and in regard to social work tlie Army stood out pre-eminently, particularly in regard to its rescue work among boys and girls and women. (Applause.) 'Speaking of the housing problem, which was one of the problems that had to be solved, ho re-' marked that the Government had an opportunity to remedy conditions which if they were not removed would mean eternal condemnation of the ' Government. (Applause.) He had been Mayor a long time, and it might be. suggested that it was time he should get a move on. During the war it was impossible to remedy conditions, but the men were now coming back, and the money was not so great a problem. If they could find £68,000,000 to carry on the war they could easily borrow another million or so to erect additional homes. They wanted 500 new liouses, which would mean about onefifteenth of a penny in the £ on the unimproved value for the first- fifty houses, and he did not think the taxpayers would grudge that extra taxation. He suggested that tho money could be raised at 5 per cent., and if it cost more the extra cost could be borne by the General Government. (Applause.) In conclusion,'the Mayor made reference to the valuable work done by the Army in connection with the war, and its treatment of our soldiers at the front and on leave. "All honour to thorn," he said, and on behalf of the citizens of Wellington he extended to Commissioner Howard a very hearty welcome, (Loud cheers.) » Commissioner Howard, in replying, expressed full appreciation of the honour accorded him, but remarked that the honour was really an expression of feeling in favour of the Salvation Army. It was reassuring to the friends Mid members that the Army was still filling the place in the world that God had given to it, and that during the years of war it had grown larger in its activities and certainly larger in its influence in the world. That was something, at least, in which they could rejoice. As to the " Jubilee" Coiigrcss now being held, he said-the jubilee cele-1 bratious should have taken placo in 1915, but circumstances were not favourable then, owing to the war, and the celebration had to be postponed.' But they had to remember what the fifty years of Army existence had meant to the world, and to be grateful that they had, by the grace of God, been able to carry out their endeavours over such a long period. The Salvation Army stood for " service," social and spiritual. He found that public men so often desired to distinguish between the social and the religious work of the Army. Tho service rendered by the Army, however, could only be rendered as the outcome of a spiritual inspiration. The recent years had been a strain on the Army, but it had done its be:^ to go along on the original lives. Much of its work was in connection with the military 'army; and he had received a ceaseless stream or commendation from the King and Queen, and the most valuable of those commendations were from the-soldiers themselves. The Army valued those appreciations, because they meant larger' opportunities, and the Army was going, by way o£ veply, to endeavour to grapple with the afterwar problems that would need to be faced. (Applause.) The conditions of life would have to be changed, and as the Army had always been ready to play its part m peace and ordinary times, it coulfl be relied upon to give its help in solving those problems. The Army belonged to the people and was always ready to do its best to help thfe people. (Hear, hear.) In this connection he paid a very high tribute to the work done by the Salvation Army women during the war period—a reference that was received with loud applause. The Army was out to do what it could in a practical way, and he also j thanked the people of.New Zealand for their generosity in responding to appeals for patriotic funds. Gratitude had been defined as "a lively sense of favours to come," and the Army would in future make other appeals and hope for similar results. (Applause.) Commissioner Hodder also addressed the gathering, remarking that the Salvation Army stnod where it did, not hecause of its ideals, but because of its resolve to put its ideals into practice and to strive to accomplish the great purpose for which God had called it. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the Mayor and the singing of "God Savei the King."