THE SALVATION ARMY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16986, 9 March 1923, Page 4

THE SALVATION ARMY.

WORK IN INDIA. ' Among the officers foremost in the salvation Army is Commissioner Booth fucker, who arrived in New Zealand >y the Corinthie on Tuesday evening. I He pioneered the Army movement in J India and was actively engaged in the j work up till three years ago. when no j was compelled to take a rest owing to I ill-health. The Commissioner, who is accom- j panied by Mrs Booth Tucker, has come . Jilt from Fin grand to conduct the Army'.; j New Zealand annual congress at Wei- i lington from March I t to 19. and later 1 will go to Australia on a similar mis- j sion. He arrived from the north yes- I terclay morning, accompanied bv his j secretary. Major Bedford, and Comm;.-- j sioner Hoggard. of New Zealand, and j 1 it Christchurch by the first express for Dunedin. f-Tc will return on Satnr- j :iay evening after visiting Timaru. j Fn the brief time at. his disposal be- ! lore joining the southern express the j Commissioner chatted to a reporter, i mainly about land settlement—a sut>- • which might seem somewhat out- j -ule the scope of a Salvation Array offie!al, but the Commissioner revealed (hat there- were many reasons for his interest in the subject. “ I have been interested in New Zea o ire ;i long timed" be said. “ When 1 was in India 1 used to follow the ; movements of one of your great New i Zealand leaders, the late ‘ Dick •’ Sed'b;n » was very much interested in Ins plans for lending money at a low rate to the farmer's. I used to get ’ *' '"'d. slow them to the Indian Government. saying, ‘Go thou and do likewise.' After praising the New Zealand system the Commissioner said Denmark went one better in the matter oT easy terms. Payment was spread over eighty years. He understood New Ze.iJaiid was beginning to get the problem of congestion in the cities and said Denmark met a similar position by cutting up the land. Though it was flat country and poor soil, they had turned it into a veritable Garden of Eden. ‘" I have done a good deal along the lines of land settlement/’ said Commissioner Booth-Tucker. “ and T had the pleasure of starting one of the most successful colonies. in India we have 2000 men. women and children settled on 2000 acres of beautiful irrigated laud. Of course, they double crop and an area of 6£ acres is enough to sup- 1 port a family. We were able to do that because the Government did then* part by harnessing the rivers and making roads. The Government got 2() pc*-' cent out of most of the irrigation. We had to go into that because our business is to take care of the man who is down on his luck. We have to be his brains and his heart. We have studied this, we have made mistakes, and we have learnt our lesson. British rule has helped to make India famineproof. They have a wonderful system of finding work for the unemployed. There may be a famine in different parts every year, but you don't hear of it. The Government takes the whole matter in hand, and they have schemes for public works which they put through during the famine. ’They don't pay union wages, as they say that a famine is a jmblio calamity and that

the individual must help. In the meantime the State finds work enough for everyone to earn a living. They .also prevent profiteers exploiting the small harvest at- rocketed prices. In that way the Government puts through cheaply the greatest public works, the railways and canals. in one case they have five rivers flowing through a vastarea. The natural order is reversed in irrigation ; instead of the little river feeding the big one. the big stream is used to augment the water supply of the smaller one. Money is borrowed at from 3 to 5 per cent, never more, and the Government make a profit of 20 per cent, ft is indirect taxation of the most advantageous character. , On our 2000 acres we pay to the extent of about £I2OO in water and land taxes, and we can pay it with the greatest Reverting to the subject of the Salvation Army’s own settlement, tbs Commissioner stated the settlers, who were natives of India, were prospering to a marked extent. We haven’t had one default, and if we had a defaulter there would be 100 people to come in and take up his liabilities gladly. There is not one who could net come with the cash and pay us off tomorrow. They are a very happy community ; they have 100 acres for their village site, and each landholder has a certain area on which to live and keep his cattle. These people were previously tenants at will of the big landholders.” Commissioner Booth-Tucker was born in India, where his father and grandfather were in the Civil .Service. His first wife was the daughter of the late General Booth. The present Mrs BoothTucker is the daughter of a member of the Civil Service in India, who atone time held the position of Governor of Bombay. The Commissioner also spent nine years in America. His first wife was killed in a railway aceWentthere twenty years ago. He has a cousin. Dr B. E. do Lautour. in Dun-