VISIT OF COMMANDANT BOOTH. CORDIALLY WELCOMED BY THE SALVATION ARMY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 49

VISIT OF COMMANDANT BOOTH. CORDIALLY WELCOMED BY THE SALVATION ARMY.

AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW

Commandant Booth, head of the Salvation Army in the Australasian colonies, Java, and Melanesia, arrived in Dunedin on the 12th by the north express. He wu«, met on the platform by Colonel E^till and the officers of the local branch of the Army, while outside the station the corps, accompanied by the band, waited to receive their leader with characteriptic enthusiasm. As Commandant Booth made his appearance he wa^ heartily cheered, and Staff-captain Bishop formally welcomed him to Dvnedm, calling on the corps to "fire a voPey." The noise having subsided, Commandant Booth thanked those present for their cordial greeting, and stated how delighted he was to be back in the beautiful city of Dunedin. — (Cries of "Hallelujah."') He regretted that it would be the la«t time — at any rate, for many years, — but he hoped that it would prove a blessing to everyone who came within the sound of his voice or the reach of his Influence. — (Voices : " Amen ") After firing another volley, the Army, preceded by the band, made their way to the barrackh in Dowling street, while the Commandant wts conducted to the officer's quarters in Moray place.

AN INTERVIEW.

As Commandant Booth is shortly to relinquish his charge of the Army affairo in this part of the world, and proceed to another appointment, o representative of the Otago Daily Times waited en him, and asked for f)Ome information in regard to the movement.

The Commandant is a man of great zeal and enthusiasm, and it is understood that it it. entirely owing to hie disregard of himself and the strain tie has placed unon his physical power of endurance that hi;> departure from the colonies takes place at such an early date

"This is iiot your first Mbit to New Zea land, Commandant?"'

"Oh. no, it is mv firth My fh'«t visit was 15 years ago ; of it I have the happiest recollections. Each vi^it has been more pleasant. I sincerely tru<t in the course of my life's work I may be privileged to come again."

"You have something r.o-\el to give us on this- occasion, I understand? " " Yoti refer to my lecture. Well, yes. it is. I suppose, quite a unique affair. Certainly it has met with a success bej'ond my most sanguine expectations. No hpJK have been large enough to hold the crowds in all the centre* of Australia The chance of spending an evening with the early saints, watching them live and move in all the exact surroundings of those early days, has been much appreciated My desires as regards the undertaking have been fully realised. I wanted to bring back those heroes from their graves and show them in their, triumphant- sufferings for their Master with all the realism v.ith which the events actually occxtrred. You see them in the catacombs, in the pp'laces. and in the dungeons. You watch them being surprised by the Roman soldiers, leaping into the open limekiln, marching with a cheerful song into the arena, and praying- at the stake. These living pictures have preached a powerful sermon on courage for Christ to tern of thousands.'

As to Commandant Booth's account of the colonies, lie is very sanguine an io the future of these fair l?nds of the Southern Cross, but for the present he admits that they have their seamy side. "In proportion to population, there is," hf said, "a sad amount of want and squalor. In new countries hke these it is an ominous symptom -that there^ =hould he so many work] ess hand 15 . Drink has unquestionably taken a ghastly grip of a large section of the community. 1 have seen more reckless drinking in some parts of Australia than in any part of the world. But the- most appallingsin of these fair countries is, I am afraid I must say, the growing tendency towards immorality. Amongst a large section of these peoples, notwithstanding all their privileges of freedom and education, I am afraid there is far too little restraint and sadly too little concern on the question. In my judgment here i& the plague spot of Australasia. 1 speak as one having some knowledge. Mrs Booth, who has had charge of our Resctie and Maternity operations throughout Australasia, has worked in close touch with me in the great developments that have taken place in this branch of our work. Last year above 1717 women, many of them of very tender ages, passed through our Kescue and Maternity Homes, and over 500 mfants came into this world under our care."

These are facts, calculated to -make every thoughtful citizen of these new nations ponder.

In answer to a query a& to whether any remedy could be sought by way of legislation, the Commandant proceeded: "About the legislation I do not complain. It could be improved in place, but on the whole it is splendidly ahead of other places. The statesmen of each of the colonies and States I have always found most happy to assist the Army in any of its schemes. The root of the difficulty lies not in the State, but in the home. It is the laxness of homo training in multitudes of families which is responsible for the want of moral 6tamina in the offspring of such homes. The tide of juvenile depravity is an appalling factor. .There is no section of our work at wiiich we have laboured more ardently during the past five years than this, and certainly none has yielded us greater encouragement."' Concerning the advance of the Army since his arrival. " there has been," -said the Commandant, "'but little new ground to open, but immense pains have been taken to conserve and consolidate that already covered. Our system of oversight ha.s been 'improved our spiritual work has been p-ashed ahead, an-d our junior -work has made great strides, whilst our missionary efforts in Java have been greatly increased. It has b-en a great joy to be able to do something by the way ot assisting the devoted officers 'to whose toil we owe so much of the Army's success, and who live in many instances a very self-sacrificing life. The establishment of the Officers' Clothing Club has enabled me x°> distribute over £9000 worth of apparel, t2500 of which have been a direct grant to officers. Tn addition to this we have granted £2000 towards the improvement of the scanty furnishings of officers' quarters, and I anticipate before I leave £4-000 will have been spent in this way.'' '■ Our social advance*! during the past five year* have been simply marvellous. Its reconstruction has been quite as wonderful as its development. Twenty three institutions which we found working under cramped and jymuuJilg gonxbtiono lava been converted

into homes which excel anything we have ' anywhere in the world. They have been for the most part transplanted into builclingb of our own, and refurnished and fitted out with such industries as give them every prospect of becoming self-supp jrrin p. Th<.i\j are the commodious r«rje and inatenuly homes at Duuedin. Clinetciiuirh, Wellington, and Auckland. There is iac renowned 'Haven' in Melbourne, with accommc daiion for nearly 60 girß Ihere is the beautiful ' Harbour ' m the same city, with accommodation for a.nother 60. There are similar imposing institution-, in Sydney. Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. Besides thete we have opened entirely new institutions of thu character at Bendigo. Broken Hill. Bath-ur.-t, Townsvllle, Newcastle, "Charters To-*er», Auckland, Wellington, sold Hobart. The poor women's shim and shelter work has been established in Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney, where multitudes of the poorest women are housed and fed and looked after by our Avm sifters. Jn addition, tho Leagues of Mercy h?-\e been established in all the great centres. In the Prison G;.te Brigade work more striking advance- have been made. Our new home m Melbourne has been built at a cost of nearly £3000. We have purchased another home in Brisbane, while a third has been taken in Sydney, and a fourth purchased iii Adelaide. In New Zealand a new horae has. been purchased in Auckland, and our p!ace in Christchurch practically remodelled. Workshops have been built and fitted out with machinery in connection with most of thes-e 1 homes, so that their inmates arc provided with suitable industries. The development of the work among the children has been as wonderful as any 1 bp]ie\ c there are great possibilities ahead of the Army in this work. There is our great and remarkable. Bayswater estate, which has been purchased and planned as one of the mo^t up-to-date industrial farm colonies in the world. We have 84 boys there now. Almost a< intere&tmg is the- farm J purchased in Queensland, dote to Ipswich, at which vie have now over 50 boys. There is the farm at Mount Barker, South Australia, winch ha<* just been opened, and there are the two home?— one for boys and one for girls — ■ which Mrs Booth and myselt are going to establish on the Collie estate m Western Australia. Large and splendidly equipped homes have been opened at Murrumbeeaa. Riddetl's Creek. Brunswick, Adelaide, and Brisbane. We have over 300 children in these home* I had hoped to have got them established m New Zealand before I left, but we have been unable to find suitable properties. Some of the aMe-t statesmen and shrewdest gentlemen in Australia have seen these homes, a-nd nronmmced them to be ahead of anything they have seen ov heard of for dealing with unfortunate children. Six shelters and hotels for men hate been estobMehed and fitted out. accommodating 1400 men. They are crowded nightly. Tlie Peor>leV Palace, in Sydney, is one of the philanthropic sights of the southern hemisphere. Six hundred persons crowd into it every night, and it is neees-ary to enlarge its capacity. In Brisbane. Sydney, Melbourne. Adelaide. Newcastle, and Wellington fhpsp institutions ha\e proved a, godsend to the 2>oor, homeless men. Next mcuith we are opening our Australasian Training Garrison in Melbourne It has cost about £18,000 for site and buildings. It will accommodate 200 men and women cadets, and is fitted with ever)' pos-sible convenience to render it a mo c t effective training for our future officers. Contribute is have been 1 received for it from all leadma: officials and statesmen, as well as the prominent citizens, of rite Commonwealth and New Zealand. From rhe Governor-General (who contributed £100), all have expressed their sineere^t sympathy with this undertaking. Tt will be a joy to Mrs Booth and myself, and to those wbo have laboured f-o devotedly with us to he able to eeusecrate it to God and the Army before we leave, and we are anticipating that it will be almost free from debt. "

In conclusion, the Commandant remarked that Mrs Booth and he had never contemplated laying down any commend more sorrow fully than this one. He had hoped to fenibh his term in due course, but Ins physical condition had for a long time been a source of great anxiety. Still, he thanked (4od for the privilege of having br>"iit five years in Australia and having been able to do something for Him in thee southern lands.