SALVATION ARMY SOCIAL AND RESCUE WORK

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 33

SALVATION ARMY SOCIAL AND RESCUE WORK

THE ANNUAL MEETING.

The Salvation Army annual meeting in connection witb its social and rescue work was held in the Dow ling Street Barracks on Menday evening, when there- was a very large and most enthusiastic gathering. His Worship the Mayor of Dunedin (Mj* T. R. Christie) presided, and was accompanied on the platform by Major Cummings, th© Rev. W. Saunders, Messrs H. D. Bedford, M.H.R., J. F. Arnold, M.H.R., A. Tapper, J. F. M. Eraser, R. Chisholm, and Duncan Wright. Letters of apology for absence, with cheques enclosed, were received from his Honor Mr Justice Williams, Messrs T. Mackenzie, M.H.R., John Mill, J. B. Shacklock, G. Fenwick, A. S. Adams, E. Roseveal-, John Mitchell, the Rev. Mr Boreham, and a number of otheis, while cheques were also received from several firms.

Major Cummings said he desired to express the pleasure of the Army and of th© audience in welcoming his Worship the Mayor. — (Applauae.) As far as they were concerned, it was the first opportunity they had had of offering hi& Worship their most hearty congratulations upon his election to the mayoral chair. — (Applause.) Then there were gentlemen on the platform who had, in years gone by, taken a "very deep interest in the social work of the Bahation Army, and ho asked these present to give the Mayor and visitors a real Salvation Army welcome. — (Continued applau.«o.) He had much pleasure in handing over the whole proceedings to tho Mayor. — (Anplause.)

The Mayor, who was lecoivcd with continued applause, said he had come among9t the Army people for the fir^t time, but ho had noticed for many years pa«t tie good! work done through the instrumentality of the Arm}-. Men at all observant must have been compelled to notice the noble and selfsacrificing labours of those who formed the Dunedin branch of that great and worldwide organisation.— (Applause.) Varicn* undertakings had been established and carl'ied on by the Salvation Army in this community, and with the. most beneficial results. That was the annual mee-ting, and it was

quite fitting for him to refer to the great work undertaken by that great man whom they all revered, General Booth. — (Applause.) There was no doubt but that General Booth was a great man and a great organiser, one of the great men of the present age, whom posterity would look back upon with love and respect. — (Applause.) The work started by that great man had gone on successfully, and had spread over all the world, and they all wished it GodBpeed. — (Applause.) The social work of the Army was most extensive in its scope and the field was a ve^r broad one, but the) Salvation Army was not daunted by big things. It was there- to woi'k, and it worked to good and noble purpose. — (Applause.) Jle especially praised the Prison Gate work, for he knew that such great numbers of men and women had been picked up at the gates of our gaols and reclaimed, and their future lives had given testimony of the ennobling character of the Army's work. It was recognised by the magisterial bench that if the waifa and strays were placed in the hands of the Army officers most satisfactory results followed. — (Applause.) There 1 ..was a large number of institutions under the 'Army control — the prison gate homes, rescue 'homes, maternity homes, homes for waifs and strays, farm colonies for boys, and boys' and girls' reformatories. The farm colony in Australia had been a most marked success ; the farms were scientifically worked and the lads scientifically taught. In Dunedin there were rescue and maternity homes, and he ihoped and trusted that the work would go on with as great success and as ben-eficial results as in the past. — (Applause.) He was .ve-ry pleased to b© there that evening, and thanked the Army for the invitation-. He/would now call on Major Cummings for the annual report. — (Applause.) Major Cummings, who was received with ji round of applause, presented the following social statistics for the year ending April 60, 1904: —

He went cm to say that tho Army foeial work was widely and we'll known, and was looked upon by all light-thinking people a,s a work of blessing. — (Applause.) So far a-s boys and girls were concerned there wa? a gigantic and successful wctlc being carried en, principally in Aiistralia. The Army had received something like 250 boys during the past 12 months into what wag termed the Industrial Home, and 105 of tlio^e ladshad been handed over by the Government of the Slate of Victoria. In Caversham thtere weie two homes — a Rescue Hcme and a Maternity Home. There might have been some little misunderstanding as to the Army's intention in respect to the latter ; the idea got abroad that the object was to multiply the institutions in order to run others out of their work. There was no such intention whatever ; the Army was compelled to open up that home for the bene-flt of its own rescue work. It was impossible to ca-iry on successfully the work of rescue amongst women unless there was fomc attempt at classification. In Dunodin 46 women were admitted to the Rescue Home during the year, an-d 34- case? were : admitted to the Maternity Home during the ; li months it had been -in existence, some additional ones having been received after the statement quoted had been made up. | Of the 46 in the Rescue Home, 18 came from , the Police Court, 18 were taken from the i streets or from houses of ill-fame, and | nine were brought in by friends. He had. ! yet to learn that any girl had gone to that ■ institution with an. honest desire to imj prove her life and had been refused admission. Then nine caras up to the door on their own accord, tired, no doubt, of their shame and degradation, and they had all received a. warm, welcome. — (Applause.) I Some time ago one- of th© city detectives telephoned to the home, and a matron was i sent out to receive a. young girl of 13 who ' had been found^ in a house of ill-fam-^, and the poor unfortunate was received into that institution. The doctor reported that : so -A-as thst poor girl that three years at least must elapse before she would ', bo cured of her terrible trouble and dis- \ case. She was wasted, blighted, battered ; b-ufc she was now safely sheltered. — (Applause.) The Maternity Home had been in operation for 11 months, and during that time 34- inmates had been received. There had bean born in tihat time in the home 25 infants, aoid 12 infants had been received for nursing purpose*. Taking an average, tee ages of the inmates was 21 years and three months ; 11 of them were under 20 years of age, and four of those who weremothers were noi yet 16 yeai-s of age. Surely this work 1 demanded all the help the Army could give it. Over £7000 was spent in New Zealand during the past year in social and rescue work, and there was a debit balance of £179 19a 3d. The cost of maintenance (including salaries, rents, housekeeping, travelling expe.nsos, etc.) of the Dunodin Res-cuo Hon.e was £592 5s lid, ' and of the Maternity Home £160 3s lOd. ' The donations received and sales of work ; done by inmate? totalled £555 11s 8d in ■ respect to the Dunedin Rescue Home and £.33 16s in respect to the Maternity Hcme. Mr H. D. Bedford, M.H.R.. said_ he noticed representative's of all the Nanconformist communities on the platform, and amongst the tubscribe-rs were men of alt shades of opinion and religion. One of the reasons for this was that they r-eeog-nised that ths Army was doing what weourselves were not doing. — (Applause.) He spoke in high praise of various Army institutions, and said any institution which was building up character was deserving of he most hearty support of every wellwisher in the community. Whon he wanted to see the seamy side of life on his recant travels he went undea- the conduct of Salvation | Army officers, for N 1 knew they were work- . ing amongst the poor and tho criminal classes. He described the Army work in come of the slums of Chicago, where a good bed and a meal w-ere supplied for 10 cents (sd), and where a man hating no money could yet earn a meal in the Army institution. He noticed amongst the receipts a t -grant from the Government. He was clad j that this was so, for the Army was doing I great and good work, police- work, and preachers' and Samaritrms' work, and it was building up good citizens from the dregs of humanity. — (Applause.) Mr J. F. M. Fraser expresc-d his plersure at boing presa-ut at tho Army annual meeting again. Be came there in his official capacity purely as a tribute to tho excellent prison gate work of the Army ; but apart from that he felt it a privilege to come there a..-* a private citizen. Coming up Dowhng street that evening he had noticed what a square battlemented fortress the Army Barracks were, and he thought — possibly the idea was suggested by recent correspondence — that it might well be described as the Cathedra* for the legicns of tbe Lost — (applause), — a ca+hedral upon the platform of which, with on? or two necessary exceptions, o\ery minister of the Gospel might bo proud to stand — (applause), — &yen if, to uso an Americanism, the minister had to leave his principles otitside on the. wood pile in order to gain admittance. — (Laughter and applause.) lie (Mr Fraser) noticed honwell the Mayor presided over that meeting, a.nd he had hofjefe of tho Mayor yet. — (Laughter.) In th© ordinary routine, Yi. months was the- term for the mayoral chair, but the Major could join the Army for life. — (Laughter and applause.) He (Mr Fraser) felt that there was one want in tho Army ' work in this colony, and that v. ant should be &urp"icrl— it was a farm colony. — (Applause.) A modest fiu-m. well cuith-Ued, within 50 or 40 milus of Dunedm, and on a railway,

could he worked niost admirably. It would r>ofc only Ftippiy labour for fon.e of ths inmates of the pieient institution', but it would take th°-m ftway from tho en\ironm&nt of the city to the brighter and fresher ■ environment of the country, and set their , faces towards the fairer country at tho back. ' — (Applaus- 1 .) If the Army could get some 2000 of Bui.odin's citizens ir.to a hall and let Major Cunimings lootc on them, the money for that farm wou'd soon bo forthcoming. — ; (Laughter and anpinuse.) J The K-cv. W. Saundfrs said IMr FrasCr ' suggested a farm; did Mr Fra-er, as a repr<?- | ee-ntati' c of the Government, come to tell . them that the- Government would grant £2000 or £3000 to Ftart tho project.—(Applcuse-.) All the othpr speaker.-, were there I in somo official capacity, but he (Mr Saun- ' clers) came simply to a-surc th&m of his j sympathy and of the sympathy of his 1 church. Two of the members for the. city wero proud to l.c there; they were Ui^'reas enemies of drink and gambling and all other evils. They had two members of whom they wore proud. — (Applause.) lieferonce had hern n^ade to the different churches 1 prose-nt, but Mr Bedford forgot to mention I that the Anglican Church was represented on ih© platform by a lay member, and that some of th-e subscriptions had come from members of th-e Anglican Church. — (-\nplav.se.) The sjinpathy cf all the Evange-ii-cdl churches and also of the Anglican j Church — if it was to bo distinguished from the Evangelical ehuvche-s, — wi3 with the Army. It >\as only his wish that evening that th& Bishop of the Anglican Churrh. and tha Eev. Mr HewitsOn were there arm in iirm discufsiag that cathedral pourtray-ed hy 1 Mr l?ras;r, in the good works of which surely all were- at one, in that philanthropy j which proaelicd our 3lasler Jesus Christ. — (Applause.) Theie was a great deal of 1 differences amongst th& churches, and he ! thought it a pity that they should be* co \ divided. Surely all should be at one, in ; this day and generation, in interpreting the [ life of Him who went about doing good. i Tho Army should never know a moment's anxiety as to its funds, for it was, with reference to tho other churches, the fighter I on deck, and otbar preachers might feei themselves the stoker-. He heped tHe Army wouid come along to h : « church and ask for a collection.— (Major Cummiug*: '"I will go along, and preach the sermon, too.") — (Lr.ughter and continued applause.) Mr fc;auude-rs said it could bo considered an engagement. — (Applause-.) Ihen there was the Cathedral, and Knox Cluurh, and First Church ; tho Army should go to them all, and he was sure it would find them all readyto hep. — (Applause.) Mr J. F. Arnold. M.H.R., moved a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding, and f^aid he (Mr Arnold) felt satisfied that when, the Army saw fit to commence that farm, and if it was worked on proper lirjfs, the Government would give as much assistance as possible. — (Applause..) Major dimming? seconded tLe motion, and annoiineod that he had deiirc-d to obtain £50 from Dunedin for the social and rescue debit balance, but, he was glad to say, with the colLs-cticn jmd the cheques received the amount totalled £51 2s 3d, while more Lad be&n promised. — (App'ause.) He cordially thankpcl the Mayor and other gentlemen for their presence. The proceedings were closed with the benediction.

To women who wi-sh. to dispose of their literary work in Europe and America, the Lyceum Ciub, recently organised in London, offers special inducements. It offers a wel•eome to members from nny u-art of the world, :ia\ing high-class club-rooms where residential apartniv nfs may be obtained. Its committee of 160 members, is probably the most influential in the world. The bestknown women, workers, such as "John Oliver Hobbes," Lucy Kemp Welch (the famous artist), the Duchess of Leeds, Mrs Ake Tweedie, Miss C. Jones (mistress of Girton), Mis 3 Anderson, M.D.8.5., Mrs Humphry Ward, and many others e-qually well known are on this committee. The Lyceum. Club makes a special feature cf conducting- an ageucy for the disposal to publishers of colonial wonc. University graduates, composers of music, journalists and literary women generally, artists pnd scientific workers, are eligible for member-

ship, as are also the wives and daughters of men distinguished in those professions. The New Zealand rpnresentative of the Lyceum Club is Mrs F. C. Rollett, Purnell, Auckland, who will gladly reply to inquiries for further information.

The chairman of the Dunedin and Suburban School Committees' Conference communicated with Lord Ranfurly la.=t week suggesting that the specimen lecture which has been delivered -in Auckland and Wellington in connection with the proposal for the teaching of Imperial history might be> delivered in Dunod'n through ths medium of the Conference. Major Alexander (private seoretary) replied by wire yesterday that Lord Ran fury regrets that he is tak'ng the specimen lecture back as not really puitabl©. The proper lectures and slides, Loid Kanfurly thinks, cannot be ready for six months, as the preparation of them will require much rare and thought, but ho earnestly hopes that the School Committees' Conference will •'^ntiLite the idea.

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