SALVATION ARMY

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 112, 11 April 1929, Page 11

SALVATION ARMY

CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF FOUNDER. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, April 10. To-night the big Town Hall was crowded from organ loft to back walls and galleries on the occasion of the celebrations of the centenary of the birth of General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. The Mayor (Mr G. A. Troup) presided and among those present was the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward). A united prayer, "giving thanks to Almighty God for the gift of Thy servant, William Booth, whom Thou didst give to this poor, needy world,” was recited aloud by all present. "With great daring and courage Thou didst endow him,” ran the prayer, “and didst call him out to raise this Army and to gather this force for the salvation of the world. May his life and labours inspire us and may we also follow Thee as he followed Thee, throughout all our days.” The Mayor said that General Booth laid down his plan of operations on a world-wide basis and scale .and so great was his faith that it gave him the needed audacity to press into all countries. He had the vision of the seer; the world was truly his because he conquered it. It belonged to him more than it belonged to any other living man. Mr Troup noted with pride that the Army headquarters were still in the land of its birth. He regarded William Booth as a great international institution. He was a great humanitarian, who established land and industrial colonies,_ banks, insurance companies, printing and publishing works and many other trading concerns, hospitals, hostels, homes, training institutions and emigration bureaus. These were all auxiliaries to his mission to seek and save the fallen and the outcast. Mr Troup also paid a tribute to Mrs Catherine Booth, wife of the founder. Sir Joseph Ward reviewed in detail the life of William Booth, and reviewed the work in New Zealand from its inception here in April, 1883. "The Army,” he concluded, "has obeyed the Divine instruction to go out into the highways and byways and has carried the gospel to almost every country. 1 hope the Army will continue its work for centuries to come and that it will ever be inspired and guided by the influence and ideals of its famous founder, William Booth.” Mrs Commissioner Hay, Commissioner Hay and others also spoke.