A WORLD-WIDE MOVEMENT.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13333, 23 March 1911, Page 4

A WORLD-WIDE MOVEMENT.

The Young Men's Christian Association movement, in connection with which the young men of Wanganui are organising with a view to the establishment, of a branch heie, has during the past nine years eclipsed the accomplishments of the previous half-century in every department of its work. To-day it stands with 8 IDO agencies, a membership of over 900,000, and real estate, vested in it by citizens and public-spirited men, to the value of ,£10,U()t),00()'. As a civic force it has unquestionably to ho reckoned with, and moreover it has become recognised as possessing national importance. From a humble beginning, at which 12 young business men gathered to outline plans for benefiting other young men similarly placed in a large city, it has turned its attention to student life, to the young men in the professions, to those who arc the mainstay of the industrial pursuits, to the Army, to the Navy, to the company, to the foreign field, and, indeed, to every department of life open to its operations. Indeed, as an opportunity ior usefulness, it is second to none among the openings for service. It is an all-round work. It deals with a man four-square: it refuses at the outset to make a line of demarcation separating the ordinary duties of life from religious exercises and lessening the importance of one or the other. The Y.M.C.A. seeks to surround all the engagements of a young man’s life with an atmosphere that makes all life sacred, and consequently of value. Tims it caters for his spiritual advancement, his educational improvement, his physical development, and his social intercourse. And the methods adopted in order to secure these ends arc varied but eminently successful, while for the maintenance of this efficiency the associations have trained staffs—men who study the field which is open for service—fitted to meet the needs of that field, who avoid Hie mere imitation of methods that may or may not have succeeded elsewhere, who formulate a policy on well-defined plans, and who adopt a system methodically and carefully organised, yet which is capable of change according to requirement. Then the Association provides an attractive field of service from the fact that it is a union of Christian business men of all denominations—united for efficient service. Emphasising the points of agreement, it provides an adequate field of activity in its plans for the making of manhood, for the Association caters for all classes of young men. It is not limited in this respect, excepting where conditions make it essential. In America these special conditions are recognised, with the result that each group of men find companionships amongst those engaged in like occupations with themselves. There are Kailroad Associations, Navy Associations, Army Associations, etc. In the ordinary Association, however, where the constituency is not largo enough to justify specialisation, all classes of young men are to be found, and these different personal characteristics and varied temperaments make an opportunity for the grouping of men according to their tastes, for the membership of the Association is made up of all men, and its privileges are for all classes —it is nnsectarian and unlimited. The educational department of the Young Men’s Christian Association has in recent years become an important factor, especially in the larger cities. Some Associations show as many as 4IHIO students in one year, and every inducement is offered to youths and young men who arc employed during the day to better equip themselves for the engagements of life. Moreover, the special advantage of the Y.M.C.A. taking up this field is acknowledged in the fact of the moral atmosphere created by the Association, with the result that the obligation is put upon men identified with such an agency to develop character. Its physical and social departments are everywhere recognised. Its well-equipped gymnasiums and specially-trained leaders have entitled the Association' to the highest rank. “It is the. greatest physical culture school in the world,'’ said no less an authority than Hr. Anderson, of Yale. In entering into the social life of men and in providing opportunities in this direction, in its many athletic clubs, as well as in its religious work department which has stamped it as a Christian organisation, the Association not only recognises the needs of men, hut by these and other agencies seeks to meet) them. It is for. all-round development; its motto is the whole man—body, mind, spirit.