SALVATION ARMY

Southland Times, Issue 21660, 23 March 1932, Page 8

SALVATION ARMY

THE GENERAL’S SMILE A LONDON JOURNALIST’S IMPRESSIONS ONEROUS DUTIES A London journalist records his impressions of General Higgins, head of the Salvation Army, as follows:—■ Guiding the Salvation Army is one of the biggest jobs in the world. Its strength in officers is 25,000, and its “other ranks” run into hundreds of thousands. It is a farflung battle line, and its communications go every country. It is not surprising, therefore, that the first impression one gets at its headquarters is of organizing capacity. The men at the head of the Army are all organizers. They seem to have something of the quality of the city man with whdm they rub shoulders.

Yet General Higgins (who arrived at Auckland on Monday) shows nothing of the organizer in his normal expression. In that he is like his two predecessors in this high command. There was no shrewder man than the old general, William Booth. His son was a great organizer. The present General is a keen-eyed man of affairs. But you have only to be with Edward Higgins a few moments to see that, like the Booths, he has the quality of inspiring leadership. His smile .is not the smile of a business man. It is an enveloping smile. It breaks out at the moment of greeting and it remains throughout the conversation, renewing itself continually and without effort. Beneath it one can trace the features of a man of affairs. There is the dominent chin, the decisive mouth, but the forehead broad and high, the nose that denotes will power even more than chin and mouth. But. it is the smile that persists. A smile will carry a man a long way. His smile has carried Edward' Higgins to the leadership of the church he joined when he was a lad in 1882.

The rank and file of the Army know him as an impassioned speaker who can lead them in prayer and song as mightily as the most robustious of them. He gives, indeed, such an impression of vitality that it comes as rather a shock to hear him confess to being tired sometimes after a long day at administrative work. But he is never weary after a big religious meeting. Like all the soul-savers of History, he renews himself while strengthening others.

At the Army’s International Headquarters in London, they know him for his extraordinary mental quickness. He is able to turn from one subject to another in astride. He will not bother about details, but he has often surprised an expert by his sudden grasp of a long nurtured scheme, and by indicating where weakness exists. He is a carefully guarded man. He is in hourly touch with every phase of the Army’s activities, and his aides are naturally anxious that his time should be conserved. The stranger will not penetrate very easily to his refuge, but nobody is- more easy of access, if the reason is sufficient. His room at the Army G.H.Q. is almost bare of any suggestion that it is the centre of a great religibus organization.

There is just one picture which typifies the rescue work of the Salvation Army. On the mantlepiece are photographs of the General’s father and the General’s wife, both of them soldiers in the same fight. At the back and above him is a simple Cross. For the rest the room is furnished simply but substantially like many other city offices. There is a high, almost monastic type of desk near the fire. But its purpose is not devotional. “We have found it more convenient for signing documents.” he says with a laugh. His day starts at half past six all the year round. “I breakfast at a quarter to eight sharp,” he tells you. “I like to make -sure of that meal. I leave home at eight-thiry. I get to bed when I can.”

It is a simple summing up of a crowded life. At the G.H.Q. the arrangement of his day’s work is a very- fine art indeed. His desk is open and ready- for his arrival. Everything in action is at hand, with the personal letters and decoded cables waiting on the blotting pad for immediate attention. He deals with all. communications at once, dictating detailed replies where it is possible. It is one of the most comprehensive postbags in the world.

Cables and letters come from every quarter of the globe. A property scheme is the subject of one, a reference to a dying officer is another, and then perhaps an appeal for reinforcements for Japan, arrangements for a campaign in South Africa, a request for a. newspaper article, for a message to a Western Congress, changes of Army appointments, and reports for Army progress and setbacks.

About a thousand letters come to this G.H.Q. daily, many of them reaching his hands. He is the most interviewed man in London, not necessarily by journalists, but by his staff, for all decisions are put up to him eventually. And occasionally you get just a glimpse which shows the difference between particular business and that of the normal city concern. Entering his anteroom, you may be told that the General cannot be disturbed for a few minutes. If you are sufficiently curious to ask why, you will be told quite simply. He is praying with an officer and his wife who are going out as missionaries to a dark spot on the Army's map of India. Like a monarch he has to make many inspections, and give his blessing to many activities, social and religious. He is continually presiding at congresses and even here there is much preparation. “I do this sort of organization at home,” he tells veu, again with that smile, “because one

can get a little more quiet at home.” He writes a good deal for the Army publications, and finds time to correct proofs and read over the writings of others. Not that he may ever be sure of peace at home. At busy times there are always messengers coming and going, the typewriter clicking and the telephones ringing. He is one of the Army’s most travelled officers. On his tours he gets very little time to himself. Showing the Army Flag is a very exhausting business, for Army meetings and ceremonials are all pitched of the fervent note, and after the fervour the General has to switch back to organization. Truly a strange job, that of General Higgins. In the old days the religious teachers expounded their message and did not trouble about organization. This modern leader has to save souls with - one hand, and arrange about the purchase of land and property with the other. He gives the kiss of blessing to an Army babe, and returns to sign a lease. But this perhaps is his secret—he does both things heartily. Nothing is a task to this man. Heartiness sums him up, after all. A keen eye and a laughing face; shrewdness and kindness; strength and gentleness. He succeeded to a great office at a difficult time, but there is no doubt at all that he has won the confidence of the thousands who call him leader. j