“The Army” and it’s Founder.

Southland Times, Issue 13338, 15 October 1895, Page 4

“The Army” and it’s Founder.

At the meeting to welcome “ General” Booth to Wellington, Sir Robert Stout, who took the chair, said the Salvation Army was a great factor. It had displayed wonderful powers of organisation and marvellous development, showing that it must have had a capable leader and officers, and had been started on a sound basis. That basis was humanity. It had not been content to point out to men and women sn tiering in vice, crime, and poverty, that there was some hope for them in the future, but it had striven to reform their life on earth. If it had not done this it would not have met with the success it had. He was not a theologian in the general sense of the term, but he had sympathy with the Army, looking at its work from a humanitarian point of view. The Army’s work tended to raise humanity,to make better men and women, better citizens, and better people in every way. It was known over the whole face of the earth. The General was leading on an army to help and save humanity, and whatever a person’s views on religion might be, he hoped all were broad-minded enough to hope for the continued prosperity of his work, tor when the history of their times came to be written, there would be no name they might more revere than that of General Booth. General Booth thanked Sir Robert Stout for his kind words, and the people of Wellington for his hearty reception. As to what Sir Robert Stout had said regarding theology [and humanity, his theology was humanity, and his humanity was bis theology. A beautiful theology was theirs, and he was not without hope that Sir Robert would yet come to embrace it. The Salvation Army had brought peace and assurance to the hearts of crowds and crowds of people, and given them a mastery over their vices and sins, and brought to all precious salvation. The Army was the friend of humanity. When the Army prospered all other branches of the Christian church prospered, and there was not a church in the world which ought not, in justice, to give the Army a collection once a year. It had been a stimulus and a blessing to them in every part of the world, and was the greatest living encouragement to those who wished to live and work for Christ that existed upon earth. No church organisation could afford to look slightingly upon the Army. It was not 30 years of age—not a long period to look back upon. Thirty years ago the whole Army walked about under one hat, and he (General Booth) wore it. His wife was at that time engaged in evangelical work in the West End of London. He was in the East,and the misery and the vice which he saw there induced him to give his life to the work—to put his hand to the Gospel plough. It was 14 or 15 years before any striking results were obtained,but the seed was sown, and then the fruit began to be seen. The movement spread through England, to Scotland, and afterwards to Ireland; through France, on to Switzerland, ;.beset at every turn with difficulties, and eventually spread over the whole Continent of Europe. In Germany they had had a great struggle. They had anticipated a march of victory, but it was exactly the opposite. They had now, however, established themselves there on a firm footing. They were in Scandinavia, had got to the walls of St. Petersburg, and unless the Polar expeditions soon found the North Pole the Salvation Army would be there before them. They were in Canada and the United States, in Africa, and Asia. In India,with its peculiarreligious distinctions, they had reached the natives through their own people, and there were now in India something like 600 native officers, the great bulk of whom had been converted from raw Hindooism, and trained into missionaries for their own people. The position of the Army (which some peoplehad said was going down) was that in July last the number of officers (men and women) was 11,600, an increase in a j ear of 919 ; cadets, 1074 ; an increase of 178; local officers, 24,126, an increase of 1100 ; bandsmen, 12,042, an increase of 481; the increase in soldiers and recruits was 14,364. Last year the Army held 737,880 open-air meetings, and increase on the previous year of 52,520; indoor meetings, 1,762,960, an increase of 100,000; the weekly newspaper circulation was 827,658, an increase of 59,000 per week. Add to this the various magazines and literature, it placed them, as far as newspaper circulation was concerned, ahead of any other religious denomination in the world, viz.,about 1,000,000 copies weekly, and very nearly 52,000,000 copies every year. This had all originated from the work of one man—a man not particularly remarkable, or endowed with any particular ability. He besought their help in furthering the Army work, believing that they had got hold of the true spirit of Christianity, on which God Almighty had put his seal.