GENERAL BOOTH IN DUNEDIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1967, 5 November 1891, Page 21

GENERAL BOOTH IN DUNEDIN.

General Bjoth held a council of war in the vestry of Knoz Church early on Wednesday forenoon with the officers of the Salvation Army, and subsequently drove to the barracks in Princes street, whero he addressed a large meeting of the army. THE PRESBYIERIAN BYNOD AND TBE GENERAL. In accordance with arrangements made previously, General Booth was formally introduced to the Presbyterian Synod of Ofcago and Southland in the First Church shortly after 12 o'olook yesterday. There was but a small attendance of members of the synod and only about 100 of tbe public— the fact that this meeting was to tike place \a the church not being generally known. The general, wbo arrived punctually at tha time appointed, was accompanied by Colonel Nicol and Adjutant Rutland. The Rev. Dr Stuart met General Booth at the ohuroh door, and conducted him t o a chair on the right of the moderator, within the communion rails. We are obliged to hold over our report of the proceedings. AT KNOX CHDRCH. At 3 p.m. General Booth attended a select meeting in Enox Church, admission to which was obtained by invitation There were several hundred persons present, including a large number of ladies. The Rev. Dr Stuart presided, and among others in the church were the following gentlemen : — The Revs. A M. Finlayson, J. M. Sutherland, A. B. Todd, J. Blackie, W. C. Oliver, G. W. J. Spence, W. Will, A. P. Davidson, G. Barclay, W. Saunders, D. Dutton, F. Milne, J. T. Hinton, J. M M'Kerrow, W. White, J. Baird, J. Lothian, W. P. Brown, J. Eirkland, D Borrie, J. M. Allan, W. Campbell, and A. Betfc, Hons. W. Downie Stewart, G. M'Lean, and J Fulton, MX.C's., Messrs W. Hutchison, W. Earnsbaw, M J. Soobie Mackenzie, and T. Mackenzie, M.H.R.'a, the Hon. T. Dick, Dr Hislop, Dr Stenhous?, Dr Fitohett, Professors Shand, Salmon*?, Bhck, Gilray, and Parker, General Fulton, Messrs E. H. Carew, J. Allen, E. B. Cargill, F Mallard, J. L. Gillies, E. Titchener, J. B. Callan, H. Mackenzie, J. A. D. Adams, R. H. Leary. J. F. BX. Fraser, T. Brown, G. L. Denniston, G. M. Bair, E. E.C. Quick, B. C. Haggitt, J M. Gallaway, N. Y. A, Wales, R. M'Laren, H. L»w, W. M. Hodgkins, W. Dymook, 8. C. Phillips, J. A. Corratice, A. C. Begg, W. H. Pearson, A Wilson, G. Calder, John White, Clement White, J Reid, and H. Webb. The Rev. A. B. Todd opened the proceedings with prayer. The Chairman said : In tb« Rlorious Gospel we have a banner of hope for our race, and do Oiue who has experienced the salvation it reveals ever doubts its sufficiency fur the gracious ends for which God gave it. In far-off times there were men, like Plato, whose Indies of the submerged masses of their day led to the conviction chit there was no hope for them uulets God Himself came to their rescue. Iv their ignoranco of suoh a purpose of grace on His part;, Plato gave to the world his dreams for their reclamation ; and, as you know, down the centuries scholars and philanthropists have spoken of him as the divine Plato for concerning himself with the recovery to hope and decency of the myriads whom oppfesßion and sin had demoralised and enslaved. As n student I had tbe privilege of hearing Dr Chalmers demonstrate that the old Gospel, faithfully and praotioally preached, could and would raise the fallen from dirt and rags, phybical and moral, to peace and purity. He selected for his experiment the Grass Market, Edinbargb, the scene of the wholesale murders of Burke and Hare, and where the demons of drink and harlotry revelled. His experiment was followed by ragged schools, w>ud churches, the noble labours of Guthrie, Lord Shaf tesbury, Mueller (of Bristol), Barnnrdo (of London), Quarrier (of the Orphan Somes of Scotland), and by those of General Booth, Mrs Booth, and their colleagues — which in many respects have overtopped those of their predecessors.— (Loud applause.) All honour to the tmitits of God who have diagnosed the disease with a view to its healing; all honour to 'boce like Mrs Brownii g who have proclaimed in the highest strains of poetry rthe claims of the down trod deu, or the patriot, and the Christian. General, we acknowledge your title to our eonfi lence and admiration for formulating a plan instinct with the love and wisdom of the Gospel for their reclamation and establishment in habits of industry, sobriety, and godliness. I welcome you to our romantic city ia the name of its philanthropists and Christians, who will gladly learn from you hew the problem of the ages i* to be solved in the interests of men's good and God's glory. — (Loud applausp.) General Booth, who was received with load applause, said he was somewhat taken aback at the character of that meeting as well as some of the other select meetings in New Zealand. There appeared to have been some misconception as to the natnre of the meeting he desired, for it was intended that a certain number— so or 60 individuals— of persons who were more especially interested in philanthropic and Christian movements should meet with him in a conversational and informal meeting, at which his colonisation scheme might be talked over, and at which questions might be asked of him. He referred to the interest that had been manifested in bis Boheme in various parts of the world, and said he presumed that this interest might be accounted for by the fact that the evils which it was designed to mitigate, were prevalent everywhere; and he could not but think that there was some sympathy for the persons whoso sorrows he had recorded, and whose misery he wanted to remove. There ought to be some little flow of sympathy to them, and on that plea, if the people cf these colonies could h Ip those persons without hurting themselves — that was not patting it strongly — on the lines he indicated, he thought they onght to do it with all their mind. — (Applause.) With regard to the evils he wanted to remove, he presumed that those present were all familiar with these melancholy facts — tbat there were existing on the shores of the old country three millions of people in a condition that was not only unfavourable to happiness, but tbat made happiness and religion almost impossible. He was » thorough believer in the doctrine of Dr Chalmers, to which Dr Stuart bad referred, and he had seen such ohanges, snob, transformation of character effected by the Gospel of Jesus Christ as compelled him to believe that that was the great remedy for mankind.— (Applause.) If they could only get at the heart of a man and get him to embrace the salvation of God — to throw himself at tbe feet of that Great

Redeemer— then, when the man within him was saved, he would soon find for himself food for the body and a home to live in. Among the criticism that was poured in upon him, he was charged with exaggerating, bat he said there were three mil* Sons sank in that dark, bleak, dismal ocean of misery, caused by theif destitution, their hunger, their thirst, their nakedness, and .by their vices »nd crimes. They, might justly oall it an earthly hell— tbe great bulk of these people were in despair. A great many of them /did not know »ny better ; they "were"' born"- in the great dark sen; and they were familiar with curses and abominations from their infancy. Now, he need not say to that audience that if anything could be done for these people, if there were any possibility of deliverance, that possibility ought to be wrought out. The methods and measures by whioh he proposed to deal with these people he would merely outline that afternoon. He proposed in the first place to take these people in hand— to get them under bis control. Howf it would be asked, and he replied, Under the possibility of human advancement. Did they not think that the enticement of human advancement would have a charm for these people? Then he would supply their immediate wants, and inspire them with hope, and then he would reform them, for they must be changed. He must make the drunken man sober, he must make the harlot chaste, he must make the idle man work, and he must make the criminal honest. He had three platforms in his scheme of reformation. First, he laid hold on the man in the city,' and bpened to him a harbour of refuge in which he would find the necessities of life by working for them. Then he trained the man and passed him on, if he stood the strain of the first test, to the second stage, which was that of the farm colony. A tract of country had been purchased in England,- in whioh these people were trained in such work as was likely to be useful to them and necessary in the future, when it was proposed to pass them over to some sort of a settlement in another land, whioh for want of a better name he called his M mVcolony over the flea." First, he prepared his peg, and having then prepared tbe hole for it, he transferred the peg to the hole, hoping that it would take root and become a- flourishing, fruit-bearing tree.— (Applause.) There were a certain number of people who said, " Hang it t let .us help the poor wretches." These were mostly ladies who had no vote, and whose help did not avail them muoh, but the most of the people wished first to see how the soheme would affect them. He might come and ask them for their help on the ground of humanity, he might ask it on the ground of Christianity, and he might ask it on the ground that they would never be the worse i for rendering their help, but he would not do that— he was not reduced to begging,' for he had numerous sweethearts, and he did not know yet which maiden to choose. Some offers had been made to him which he bad been very muoh pressed to accept, but he had decided that he must first see New Zealand, and now he most see Tasmania .before he made his choice. An increase of population must, he contended, be beneficial to suoh colonies as these. He should think that an increase of half a million of people would help nicely to pay our debt, to run our railways, and to build our breakwaters.— (Laughter and applause.) Then, they said, "We agree with you ; increase of population is very good, but of what sort? "—(Hear, bear.) As to that, he was afraid that his book on '* Darkest England" really went to defeat to a certain extent his own purpose. When he sat down to write the book bis heart was full of the miseries of these people, and he made up his mind that he would write such a book as would make John Bull listen, and as would make John 801 l " fork out."— (Laughter.) That being so, he took the oases of the people whose condition was most striking. The criminal portion of the community consisted, aocording to the polioe records, of 86,000 people, of whom 40,000 were juveniles, and surely these juveniles ought to have another chance.— (Applause.) If they took away the juveniles that only left a mere handful of 40,000 to 50,000, and of these he could only hope to get a very few. After he had set his dish and creamed it, and set it again and got the cream again, there could be only a small proportion of the very best of these criminals lefb, whom he might hope to make good, honest members of the community. — (Applause.) Tbe poor, lost women also were a small portion of the community, and there was such a demand for servant girls in England that he was able to dispose of nearly all of them, and his daughter-in-law gave him, just before he left London, the names of 3000 women who had been rescued from tbe streets, and were now living virtuous lives.- (Applause.) He was nob sure that the cream of these ought not to make decent* colonists, especially if they were first married to honest men. - (Laughter and applause.) There was only a minimum of what they might call the vicious classes, and as for the drunkards the moment the drink was removed from them they were decent people at once. Let him ask those present, what sort of immigration did they want? In Canada he was told that the people wanted young farmers with £250 in their pockets, but they would not go. In; Cape Colony he was told that the curse of the country was tbat people went out there to make a fortune, and that when they had made one they went Home to spend it, while what was wanted in the colony was men who would live on the soil. The sort of people whom we wanted in the colonies — he said it with all respect — was people who would come with no higher ambition or expeatation than to become sons and daughters of the soil, and who would be satisfied if they only earned a livelihood, if they enjoyed reasonable health, if they revered God, and if they, j had the prospeot of leaving something behind ! them to their children.— (Applause.) That was what he proposed i his selection would be made from different classes ; he would give every man a chance. But he was told, " We do not want General Booth to send the scum of England here." If he proposed to send the scum out, he would have to go to the West End as well as the East End for it. If he wished to skim the British pot, he would have to send men in broadcloth and women in silks and satins as well as those in rags.— (Load applause.) What a ridiculous notion it waß that he would send out here men of whose honesty and truthfulness he was doubtful— men whom he would not have equal confidence in sending to an English home and fireside. He had not settled yet as to where his colony would be taken. He had received a most enticing invitation from South America, where he was offered a million acres of land, in a temperate climate, with a fertile soil, far away from the haunts of living men — for his great fear was that the people of his settlement might be corrupted by the people round about —(laughter and applause)— with exemptions from import and export dues and from conscription, and with the opportunity of making his own laws. This was offered without price, but still be preferred to be under the British flag.— (Applause.) ijWhat should he do? First of all he wanted a good stretch of land, which mu6t be given to him. Of course the great difficulty of his carrying out the soheme in New Zea» land on any adequate seale — for he only proproposed an experiment — would be the costliness of it. Given a piece of land, he would first

put down en it 50 New Zealanders, who knew something about New Zealand farming, and who in nine or 10 months would have cleared a certain amonnt of land, would have put seed in, and who would have put barracks up, ready for the first batch of immigrants. Then he should send out 100 people, and upon their arrival he would expect that friends all round would send in all manner of provisions to help them. He should have to stand by them with funds until they were able to get out of the land what was necessary to support them ; but after a time they would have to pay by their labour for the cost of transit, and then they would have to pay for the cottage that had been built for them, and for the improvements that had been effected , for them. He was quite aware that connected with this scheme were a great many difficulties, but he believed every difficulty would be surmounted, and that the whole thing would be a success.— (Applause.) One difficulty, it was said, would be that some of these people would lapse. Some I of them probably did, but so did other immigrants, and so did the sons of some colonists. It was asked, " Will you keep them from going to the towns to compete with the artisans r Some might go, but if they did he would take artisans from town to replace them in bis 11 Heaven below." Then, again, if there were unemployed in the towns the Government could lend the Salvation Army the money and send the men to them.— (Hear, hear.) Indiscriminate charity was, he believed, the curse of the poor ' people at the present time— (applause)— and under his system no man would receive anything without giving something in return. It was said 'in Sydney that General Booth was conspiring with the capitalist to introduce labour in order to bring down prices. The only conspiracy that General Booth had entered into with the capitalist was to get money out of him to help the working man.— (Laughter and applause.) The difficulty of the working man at the present moment was a growing difficulty { —it was the superfluity of labour ; there were too many men and there was too little work, and the only remedy, he thought, was to take the superfluity of labour and put it on the land.— (Loud applause.) The Rev. J. T. Hinton asked whether General Booth's plan included any arrangement for preventing other masses in London from filling up the vacancies in the slums. General Booth said that the great mass of the people who came into the slums were born ; there, but if they took the fathers and mothers out to New Zealand the children would be born h ere< — (Laughter and applause.) Properly understood, the scheme had elements of prevention in it that were as worthy of commendation as the elements of rescue were. Replying to another question, General Booth said they would hang the fint man they caught endeavouring to Bell or dispose of intoxicating liquors in his colony.— -(Loud laughter and applause.) He had already discussed the matter with Mr Ballance, and a legal opinion had been given that a large licensing district stretching round the settlement could be proclaimed, and that they could have a prohibitory law of their own. A Gbntlbmah asKed if General Booth would be kind enough to give a good reason why he should not plant his colony in South Africa. Ha would be pardoned for saying that among working classes here, there was strong opposition to the scheme, and there was a feeling— and tbe speaker knew from experience — that there would be a great many more bad ones than General Booth anticipated in his colonists. ' General Booth replied that he did not take to South Africa ; because he liked New Zealand better— (laughter) ; he thought the climate was preferable. As to his friend's faith, he could not follow him, because he (General Booth) thought there was no foundation for it. He understood that the experiment had been tried before, but he begged leave to say that his experiment had not been tried before.— (Applause.) He was sorry if the working men were opposed to the scheme. He was sure it was because they did not understand it. Further questioned as to whether, in the event of a piece of land being granted to him, he would immediately demand a railway up to it, General Booth said he would demand all that he could get— (laughter)— but he hoped he would not demand what was unreasonable. He would guarantee that everything the colony did for his scheme would be repaid forty, fifty, sixtyfold. - Professor Black suggested, amid some merriment, that Stewart's Island, with an area of 500,000 'acres, would be the very place for General Booth to take up. There was, he said, plenty of tin for working, the. island only bad a population "of 300 men, and there was not a pnblic house in the whole island. General Booth said he would inquire about Stewart's Island. Mr E. B. Cabchll moved—' 1 That this meeting accords to General Booth their cordial thanks for his interesting explanations npon the measures he has inaugurated for the reformation of thq submerged masses of society; assures him of their profound sympathy with him in his noble 1 efforts, and prays that, they may be attended with great and far-reaching success." The Hon. W. D. Sthwabt, M.L.C., seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. General Booth briefly acknowledged the compliment', and proposed a vote of thanks to at Stuart for presiding. The meeting closed with the benediction.