THE SALVATION ARMY.

Evening Star, Issue 24917, 15 July 1943, Page 4

THE SALVATION ARMY.

Tx a time when the battle flags were furled, except for a Rnsso-Turkish war, William Booth reorganised his " Christian Mission," as it was called, on h quasi-military basis, and before long it was officially as well as popularly known as the Salvation Army. The time of peace was an exceptional time for the world, whose history has compelled Britain's foremost historian, Mr G. M. Trevelyan, to conclude that peace is unnatural to man. however it may be desirable It is not likely that the first Salvationists were especially interested in the Russo-Turkish conflict, because their organisation when that began had not spread much beyond London, and they had a warfare against want, ignorance, and sin close to their hands with which to cope, sufficient to tax all their energies. Hut the Army of peace grew, through warlike and tranquil times, and

it has never been demobilised. Misunderstood and derided at the beginning of its crusade, it lias long held the world's respect, welcomed everywhere except by those Nazi rulers who have chosen to make evil their good. On the eve of the war ib was preaching in nearly ninety languages, its day schools numbered more than a thousand, it had 16,776 corps and outposts, its officers, cadets, and employees (including social) numbered 35,536, its local officers (unpaid) 113,500, its bandsmen 50.000, songsters nearly 40,000, and corps cadets 34,788. The total number of its institutions aud agencies exceeded 1,600, and in one year it supplied over twelve million beds and more than twenty-five million meals.

The war only enlarged its opportunities and the variety of its work. Before the war it could give expert advice on subjects that will have prime importance after its conclusion, such as immigration and many problems of rehabilitation. In Europe ati the present time it is working to feed the hungry, where it can gain access to them, and in other ways for the relief of suffering. But New Zealanders have their own reason to be grateful for what it is doing in this country. .In addition to the'industrial homes for men and women, homes for giris aud boys, aged men and women's retreats, maternity hospitals and other activities that have been its normal concern, the Army is manning over 140 posts in the Dominion for the benefit of the men who are in the various camps and at vital points. Tomorrow an opportunity will be given to assist the "indispensable Army op the home front. Its annual street da,y collection will be held for the Self-denial Fund which furnishes a main part of its finances for doing good, and we have no doubt that the occasion will be generously recognised.