GENERAL BOOTH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22100, 4 May 1935, Page 14

GENERAL BOOTH

TOWN HALL WELCOME AM ELOQUENT ADDRESS PURPOSE OF THE ARMY WINNING MAN FOR GOD The world leader of the Salvation Army, General Evangeline Booth, who returned to Auckland yesterday, was given a tumultuous welcome in the Town Hall last night by Auckland members of the Salvation Army and a large gathering of the general public, which filled the hall in every part. Lieutenant; - Commissioner F. H. Adams, commander of the Salvation Army in New Zealand, presided. Among those on the platform were the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, the He v. E. 1). Patchett, president of the Council of Christian Congregations, the American Consul, Mr. W. F. Boyle, and a large number of leading citizens.

General Booth was loudly applauded as she entered; the hall carrying a bouquet of crimson and yellow chrysanthemums, tied with ribbons in the colours of the Salvation Army. The audience joined heartily in the song. "0 Boundlessi Salvation," composed by the founder, General William Booth, the Congress Hall Band accompanying the singing. The Mayor's Tribute

On behalf of the citizens the Mayor cordially welcomed the General, recalling the visit not long ago of her predecessor, General Higgins. Mr. Hutchison remarked! that press references to General Booth had emphasised her gifts as an administrator more than as a spiritual leader. The world's ills, especially in international relations, would never be cured until the individual human being had been made better, and this was the primary aim of the Salvation Army. The Mayor paid a tribute to the splendid philanthropic work of the Salvation Army in Auckland. •Mr. Patchett said the hold of the Army upon isuch vast numbers of people was due to the fact that it upheld the ideals of both the soldier and the saint. In philanthropic work it practised even more than it preached, and the work was the fruit of the spirit within its members. Dominion's Warm Welcome

General Booth, who was given an ovation oli rising to speak, said she had been overwhelmed by the sincere enthusiasm with which she had been greeted iij Auckland, and by the goodwill, confidence and love which New Zealand people had shown to her as the God-appointed international leader of the Army., Their regard made her all the more conscious of her own small merit.

As the Mayor had said, her life was devoted tc bringing Christ into the hearts and lives of men. However, the Salvation Army flag floated over 87 countries, and she prayed for the energy, judgment and executive ability that were required .of her to help 011 the progress of the movement throughout the world.

" My spirit is bowed, but I am not afraid, for I know God," she declared with emphasis. "Through sorrows and storms 1 know God; Ho has been my fortitude."

The General went on to speak of her father, who, she said, had often told her of his great love for the people of New. Zealand, his admiration for their political institutions, their hospitality, their love of all good, their pioneer spirit, and their quickness of thought. The Question of Matrimony

Much amusement was caused by General Booth's remark that she camp not " in " but " with " the name of Booth, adding that, though compassed on every side, she had acted on the 'Scriptural prediction that " one shall chase a thousand." Someone had onco said to her when she was commander in the United States: " The time has come when you should seriously consider the question of marriage." She had replied: " I have, and that is the reason why I am single." " So I have the immense advantage," she concluded, " of coming to you with the name of Booth." Ever since she had come to understand spiritual things, she had looked to her father as her life's example, and had tried to follow in his footsteps in order that with her aid others might find life more abundantly. She was not diffident in calling the Salvation Army great—not as the world counted greatness, although experience had shown that its members, when the call came, could rise to any demand • that was made upon them. Its one purpose was to save the man, with his boundless and eternal destiny; to find the immortal spark called the soul, however deeply it might bo hidden. The Army went out into the dark j:! -ces with songs of praise on its lips, charity in its hands, faith in its heart and peace in its soul. "I hope I do not seem presumptuous," she added. ''J. was bojn in it; I started in it as a little girl. It has always been to me the miracle, never the common thing." / General as Song-leader

Mr. A. J. Stallworthy, M.P., expressed the thanks of the public to the General for her address, and wished her a happy voyage and a safe return to New Zealand in the future.

Before the meeting dispersed, General Booth mounted a stool and conducted the whole assembly in the chorus of her own song, "The World lor God." The Genera), who arrived from Wellington by yesterday morning's express, spent the day in dealing with voluminous correspondence. She will leave by the. Mariposa to-day for the United States and Britain.