Church Waits and Strays Society.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume III, Issue 2, 1 August 1912, Page 22

Church Waits and Strays Society.

The thirty-first anniversary of the Ghtirch Waifs and Strays Socifety was celebrated ;on May ioth arid iith. Ori the evening of the first day thef e was a service m S. Paul's Cathedral, at which thb Bishop bf Kensington preached. On Wednesday morning there was a celebration of the Holy Gommtiriibn m the Chapel of S. Faith m Si Paul's Cathedral, and m the afternbon the Bishop of' I^oridon presided over the afihual' meeting, heid id the Kitig's Hall of the Hblbourn Restaurant^ m the presence of a very large gathering; ;

The imam: feature ,^|i th^ : re.p.brfo an abstract of which was presented by Prebendary. Rudolf;; ■ f ourider 3»d Secretary .of ; the Society was .. that the receipts for. the^-ear- .iwere the largest dn record., . >Tihey amounted to being m exfciess of those for the previous year. It was a satisfactory sign that; atthough the inednie had incrfeased, the > working expenses i were somewhat less— a proof tha% efficiency and economy were going' together m the working of the 'Society, :fthts number ,of children had been,increased, the number ©f Boines.;had been added to, more children had been sent to Canada, and progress was shown m every department. THE BISHOP p^tbNilbM'S AtJMESS. " You will agree t?tiat X-, '..d]p. oiip right thing m liry Tile v/fieji,! offered^ Mr." Rudolph a. j^febettdal Stall m S. Paulas Cathedral,'' said the Bishop of London at the outset of his address. He went on to congratulate all the workers' of ,the Society upon the. remarkable progress shoTyn , and referred to . the forthcoming visit; of prebendary Rudolph to Canada. '' Soitietinies people criticise little departures of those . holding important, posi&6hs, but I know the Secretarjy feels with me, that we cannot", do these -things m( a conjief.. It is a Avoirk, for tiie whole \, s Church throughout, the world. , We have got to keep the missionary spirit alive, t and , ,^tove ail, iii Canada.' ' The Bishop I:h^ti reacl to lhe .meeil:- A--ing a . resolution winch had been passed easier m tlie tj^ay at a meeting of. members' of, the Society m, S. Paul's . Chapter-hous^ : " tiat this .Conference is of opinion .that tjife flisestaMiskmeiit and pisfenaowiiifent 1 ' of thie Cliufch m Wales will ha¥e~ a disastrous efiect yifßn Church charities, arid sh'buld tMire-foi-fe be resisted by all Who ar'S intiirested in ' ■' thS Waif.s arid Stray's Society.'' His i/6fdship v then addressed t!lie fhegtih^ on the attf activeiieSs of goodness, aiid $g .a^jplifcatibh to the wdfk of tM Sdciety'; THE CIHIJ) qfHl;Ht)PB:6^ Canori Newbolt moved — :, c i That the Society is carrying; .out ah integral part of the GhtircH's Hohie Missioh workj and .thefjeforfe merits thfe heaftysuppott of all Ghurchpebple;" He gave ah elo^iieht. address on the existence of suffering, and the suffering of little childfen,

he said, was one ,61 the hardest things they had to face. " When . it is needless — as, alas ! it too often is — it excites our especial sympathy; when it is the result of cruelty and neglect, it simply revolts us ; when it is the result of an accident, we feel that here is something which we must all come to the remedy of as speedily as possible." One was sometimes tempted to despair of the State, but with all its evils the age was a thoughtful age — an age of thoughtful benevolence. "We must cling to our children, for they represent the hope of the nation. . . Help the children, help the parent, punish cruelty. It does not do to let people off by a policy of mawky sentiment. Help this Society, which is doing with skill, labour, and tact a simply imperative work fraught with the deepest consequences to ourselves, to the nation, and to the oncoming of Christianity." Lady Beatrix Wilkinson, who became a member of the Society at the age of eight, seconded the motion, and spoke of the work of the Children's Union. She . had good news all round to report. Money, members, and interest had all increased, over ,£BOOO having been collected among the 26,000 members and associates. CANADA AND ENGLAND. The motion having been carried; the Bishop of Willesden moved a second resolution expressing a sense of the value of the Society"^ work to the nation. He spoke of the opportunities offered by Canada. " Every time I left Liverpool," he declared, " I used to thank God that I should never see out m Western Canada what I saw m the neighbourhood of the docks of that city — children unfed, un-^ cared for, ragged, almost unclothed, and without shoes to their feet. Such a sight is absolutely unknown, and pray God never will be known, m the West of Canada." The Society, m its emigration policy, was acting on right prinriples. In its educational work, too, it was on the right lines ; and here .the Bishop called attention to ' ' the terribly damaging statistics of the outcome and effect of much of the elementary education of the people of to-day." Vast sums of money were being spent upon it, and, yet m the Metropolis only 18 per. cent, of the boys who left the elementary schools entered skilled

tirades, 40 per /cent, becoming nothing better than errand-boys, van-guards, and the like." "It is enough to make any statesman — or, indeed, any one who has the interests of the people at heartthink as to whether there is not something radically wrong, with the whole system of elementary education." The Society caught boys before they got into " the blind alley," but while that work proceeded, " this ambulance dealing with the wounded and the weak," the terrible evil still went on — a shame to our civilisation, an insult to our Christianity, and a sin against Almighty God. " May the efforts of this Society not only save some, but make men and women consider how it can be altered, the conditions changed,. the Kingdom of God come upon earth." The motion, having been seconded by Lord Haversham, was carried, and the proceedings came to a close. During the meeting purses were presented to the Bishop of London by a number of children.