SALVATION ARMY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11454, 20 June 1899, Page 6

SALVATION ARMY.

The annual social meeting .in connection with the Salvation Army was held last evening. There was a" good* attendance. Besides the, Army , officers, Messrs James Allen, ;AI.H.R.,' R.*.Chisholm,'and .F. Graham occupied seaJts" on tiie'platform. .' .-'"

- 'The proceedings were opened with a prayer, ' offered: up *by: Ensign ..Sparks, after which , Adjutant Tyler welcomed the visitors. He stated that Mr Alle-j had shown his practical sympathy with the work of the Army by cancelling, a political engagement he had previously made in .order 'to', attend the meeting. Mr; Chisholm -and.'Mi'Graham had also by their presence aided', the* operations of the Army.—(Applause.).; .-These were the only three gentlemen who had attended the meeting out .of the had been invited. Adjutant Tylerl.ths.iv palled-upon Mr Allen to coiiduct.lhe-proceedings. r ... , Mr Alleii rekd apologies, from IV Coughtrey (who, .Stated .tliat those* present had-'his .warm sympathy), *. Di^St&pherison, and- the Rev. Mr Muirhead.; The ipb'aker. then wont op. to say thathe consideredrit'aprmlege to preside at that*me'eting*;.cfo'K-h%';:i'ert he could, do' some- ; tiling.for,his,'f.ellpSyjcrcatures.by. showing,'by• jljis ''presence; ■ lijs".siniipathy -,i;ith"the'A'rhiy's (work; ■■■Se.spupAtn^Mas mth':the''work"of-*the .' -army, aridj'-Sqrjfirjis-lie could; ,he would, as give';it-countenance and sympathy aud Support;' He had placed in his hands a synopsis .of'th'e'SaJvatiou* Army'social opemtio v n; in./Aiistralasia ,for 1898-99,. and he confessed he had" "beeii astonished when he read it. He wished* the press would copy it, more particularly:certain* parts. .of it; because for-practical;Christianity and practical sympathetic work lie'liad seen ho such work" before in these Australasian colonies. The record of the rescue-work" for the year ended December,, 1898,^showed that the total number admitted to the homes during- that period was 840;-no; fewer: than *252;207 meals were supplied,* and oven 90,000 were provided with beds.: 173 persons..were restored to parents a,nd friends,-and 316 sent to situations. In the,-figures .connected;'with Alio Maternity * Homes and hospitals,.oveiCl4o,o()o meals had oeeii supplied during the year ended IS9B, while -over: 47,000" had' been provided with beds; 155 restored ;to parents and friends, ancl '■086 admitted., This latter was:. a': terrible record, yet it was a; noble work, and no one couldgainsayit:. If they turned to what was proposed for the year, 1899, they would see a progressive social tjudget mapped out, which the press might also do well to publish. What they .wanted .was the press and the public to ■know the work, the Army was doing. . Howmany of the public knew,1 for instance, that the Army had in Hie:colonies 16 rescue homes for fallen women in complete running order. Many objected to the'music of the. Salvation Army, but if the music and the methods of tne Army produced results such as these they were .consecrated,—(Applause.) What was the work the officers of ,;the" A'l'ftiy' were engaged in? The-record answered that ques■..onm -the-following quotation: "The work itself is monotonous and discouraging, but the results repaid for every weary hour of toil and anxiety." He believed firmly that the results were such as to afford them that encouragement, and that they were sufficient, in fact. L-o; keep.them' going for ever.—(Applause.) * Quoting agam from the report, he found that the rescue homes are ever open; night or day there is:a welcome for any girl, however ei-riag, the^ only credential necessary being a desire to. be better, and conformity to the regulations." These harbours of refuge, then, were ever .open. The erring had no difficulty 7 gaining an admittance, but he supposed tH-difficulty, was iii getting them to come in. Although he did not wish to speak in any v. ay disparagingly of the work of other churches", a good deal of. if.would be more effective if it were devoted to. Hie-practical side of Christianity. However, he believed that their attention was being more and more drawn to social work by the example of the Salvation Army. Referring generally to social work, the speaker expressed the opinion that its nature was such that it must be carried on by the individual- rather than by the State. Many reformers wanted to reform with the aid of the law, but sympathetic help, words ot hope ancl encouragement, and bright deeds of example could,not be effected by legislative enactments.—(Applause.) • Ensign Sparks made a few remarks concerning the other social work of the Army. Mr Chisholm, who was received with applause said that; although he stood there as a true-blue Presbyterian, lie was an extreme radical in religion, for lie held that it did not matter whether a man was a Presbyterian, a Baptist, an Episcopalian, or belonged to the Salvation Army, so long as that man's life work was an evidence that he was a true soldier ot the Cros3.—(Applause.) He had come there to show his sympathy with the work done by the Army. He always had sympathy with its work, and he had many pleasant memories of Ins associations with its earliest officers here, tie always looked upon the Army as doing more practical work than any other religious organisation he knew of,'and the good that they were effecting- was being more and more generally recognised every day. Adjutant Hutchinson, a lady officer, who had worked for a considerable time in Melbourne, gave, in the course of an eloquent speech, an outline of the rescue work effected by the Army in the groat centres of population. 1

During the evening several hymns were rendered, a duet was sung by Sisters Hardy and 13ewley, while Sister Newey delivered a recitation.

A collection lakeu up realised £6 9s, ancl a further sum of lis was subsequently collected. J-he proceedings closed with prayer.

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