SOCIAL SERVICE WORK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16019, 10 September 1915, Page 4

SOCIAL SERVICE WORK.

PRESBYTERIAN ASSOCIATION.

GREAT RESULTS ACHIEVED.

TRIBUTE FROM MAGISTRATE.

The first annual meeting of the Auckland j Presbyterian Social Service Association ' was held at St. David's Hall last evening. The Rev. J>M. Saunders presided over a gathering of about 300 persons. The first report of the superintendent, the Rev. Frank R. Jeffreys, was a very interesting document. "On arrival in Auckland," said Mr. Jeffreys, " I found that the new association had embraced the work of the incorporated City Mission, which, under the 29 years of faithful and earnest efforts of Mr. Duncan Macpherson, had done such good work. I must pay a tribute to Mr. Macpherson for the way in which he came to my assistance' at the outset, and has always proved himself a most willing and devoted helper. The main feature of social service work as carried on in the other centres is, that the method of prevention is of more value than that of reformation. In the Auckland Courts, a juvenile probation officer, Mr. F. S. Shell, working under the Department of Education, was already at work, and proving himself thoroughly capable and most successful.

Work Accomplished During Year. : " The following necessarily brief outline will give an indication of the association's activities: There have been about 150 attendances at the City Police Court and considerable work arising therefrom has been undertaken. Work and homes have been found for several who have been in trouble. The Supreme Court criminal sessions have been attended, in all, over 30 times, individual cases have been studied and, where possible, assisted. Sometimes it has been necessary to break the news to relatives when heavy sentences have been given. On one occasion, when passing sentence on a young man, the presiding Judge expressed his pleasure that I, and other chaplains, were carrying on this work. This unexpected and frank expression of appreciation from so high an authority was most encouraging. " The gaol has been regularly visited, principally on Saturday afternoons, and help has often been given to discharged prisoners. The governor of the gaol and his staff help most materially in this important work The Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society meetings have all been at tended and full and free co-operation with the other chaplains of the gaol has been entered into.

Many Homes Visited. ! '* In response to information received, (sometimes anonymously, a number of homes in distress have been visited and help and comfort given . Quantities of clothing have been distributed. What could have been done in this connection without the splendid help of individual ladies, ladies' guilds, and others, I do not know. *' Through my work in courts and gaol I have been appointed probation officer for Auckland and suburbs, under the First Offenders' Probation Act of l£)8, and I am now established in an office tor that purpose. The office will prove of great assistance to the work, for it will centralise efforts, providing a clothes depot and a place for interviewing those requiring my services. i '"In various districts of "the province, agents have been appointed and annual subscribers have been secured. The work of the agents will bo to watch the association's interests generally, and to advise any in trouble or in need of assistance while in the city to get into touch with .the association. By this means much i good can he accomplished, young people i coming to the city can be helped to suit- | able lodgings and" associations, and young ! people going to the country can be helped |in a similar way."

! Development of Movement. ' The chairman remarked that the growth .of the social work was one of the signs of tho times, for the Church was awakening to activities in new directions. The development of social service work was due to the efforts of the Salvation Army and others had been glad to follow on. Tho association's work in Auckland was a partial fulfilment of the duty of Presbyterians to Christ. In moving the adoption of the report. I the Rev. R. Inglis said he thought that the Roman Catholic Church did social service work before the Salvation Army. Ho was proud to belong to a Church that spent £8000 last year in social service. (Hear, hear.) He paid a tribute to the pioneer work done by Mr. Duncan Maepherson and to the splendid services of Mr. Jeffrey*;, who was a natural enthusiast. The seconder was Mr. A. Wi.eonMr. R. L. Stewart moved the adoption of the balance-sheet, which showed that | though the year was begun with a debit ; balance, there was now a credit of £40. The city churches, said Mr. Stewart, subscribed three-fourths of the amount collected and the country churches had done magnificently. The report and balance-sheet were adopted.

Mr. Prazer's Praise. Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M., complimented Mr. Jeffreys on the excellence of his work. Mr. Jeffreys was a regular attendant at the Police Court and, thanks to his assistance, the Court was being transformed into a eocia! service institution. (Hear, hear.; That was much more so than most people realised. Numberless waifs and strays found their way to the Court each year, and it was that class that Mr. Jeffreys was able to help. A great number of the vagrants only needed a friendly hand, and wherever it was possible to "assist them Mr. Jeffreys did so. It was saddening and astonishing to think how many children had developed well-marked tendencies for crime. That did not occur to country children to anything like the extent as to city children. Formerly, offenders were sent to industrial schools, but latterly a form oi probation had been adopted. It was to the interest of the whole community that the children should grow up freed of the tendency to crime, and at the ages of 14 to 16 a great deal could be done to correct propensities for vice or" crime. The work done by Mr. Jeffreys and Mr. Shell was sometimes very thankless, but the success attained amplv justified it Remarkably few children v were now sent from Auckland to industrial schools. Mr Jeffreys was everything for the kind of work he ought to be and nothing he ought not to be. (Hear, hear.) He obtained the respect of those with whom he came m contact, and was eßsentialy a man's man. He had the power of guidance, and will to lead weaker people into better ways. As a church gave more and more of its energy to social work, its spiritual side would grow. Men who never went to church would then hold it in higher esteem. The social work' of the Salvation Army was the cause of the respect in which it was held by the man in the street- The church that did things and not merely talked, would reap the blessing (Hear, Hear.) °

Humanity of the Police. Mr. Jeffreys gave an interesting resume of his work, and quoted instances of men who had " made good" after receiving the benefit of the social service. A great work was being done in a way that never came before the public. The people did not know what the police force had done in the way of social service. The police officials did humanitarian work far outside the scope of their official duties. The following committee was chosen: Til* Revs. R. Inglis, D. D. Scott I. Jolly, R. L. Walker, G. B. Munro. W. McDonald, and Messrs. J. Robertson, J. A. Bradstreet, Douglas Gordon, J. Fitzgerald, R. L. Stewart, Ryburn, A. Wilson, D. Macpherson, Gordon* Dennison, Wilkinson, Renshaw Stewart, and John Fleming. During the evening St. James's Choir, under tie conductorship of Mr. Walter Impett, sang two part songs.