Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Wednesday 28 June 1911, page 12


PRACTICAL RELIGION.

THE GOVERNOR AND THE

SALVATION ARMY.

SPEECH BY THE PREMIER.

THE ARMY'S WORK COMMENDED

His Excellency the Governor (Sir Wil- i barn MacGregor) and the Premier (the Hon D e Denham) last night poid tri

bute to the a alue of the Salvation Anny s floeial woik The occasion avas what is

termed the "Queensland annual rescue ' .meotang,' and a crowded congregation m the Ann street Temple listened to interest ing accounts of what the Armv is accom pushing throughout the State His L\cel îency presided and with him were Lady AlaeGregor, Captain Scarlett ADC, Mr Denham the Alavoi and Mayoress oí Bris bane (Alderman and Airs H J Diddams) the Majoi and Alayorcss of boutfh Bias bano (Alderman and Mrs A Gillespie), the lion A Norton, MLC Airs Nor ton, Air Hugh Sinclair, ALH R Captain Peirson (Governor of the Brisbane Gaol), Mrs Peirson the Rev Dr Alerrington^ ComnU'wioner Hay (head of the Salvation Army in Australasia), Aire llaj, Lieut -Col Hoi skins Brigadier AVinter andAlajor AYilson (uecretdry of the social work for ¡men in the citj )

Vr AViTh im AlaeGregor, w ho was accord ed an ovation recalled the fact that the Salvation Army had been woikmg in AUB traba for 10 years, and went on to paj a glovwng tribute to the lifcvvork of its foundei, Goner d Booth now in his 83rd year Under the General s guidance the Army had survived oppo^taon and ndicuV until now there was not a civili/ed coun try in the woild where the name of Gene lal Booth was not respected, or where the work of the Armv was not lucid in the înghest appreciation Tims was due to the genuine sincerity of ever} membei oil the Arm/, the strenuously practical eborac ter of the avork and the fact that it had a religious foundation. He believed that

if the civib'cd world was asked to elect a saint to-day the name of General Booth would be at the heat} of the poll It was ttmpossible to exaggerate the success that had attended the efforts of that one man It« income which must have been very small in the eaily dajs, liad now risen to one and a half Millions sterling, while tho self denial effort of 1910 produced £70 000 lhe fact that at blood ona farm end true religious foundation was the principal secret of the extraordinary sue cess of the Armj It did not mm «implj at amelioration but at regeneration ot those unfortunate people they took in hand It wa« an absolutely pure and. genuino religious worl having no reference; to such mise-able things as sectan unison and denominalionali«m It was sufficient th it the individual was in misery and reauired assistance That was the pncticol aspect of true religion, and it was itlie polestar by wfliroh tho General and the Army hod steered all these years, and he trusted they avould dong continue to do BO, with the

aid of Providence

Commissioner Hay presented the annual report on the social work Referring to the work generally Oie said tlie street work had been so successful that had it not (been earned on tlie vice market in Australia would baie been much moro terrible than it ii as to day The Army went down and risked its character among tiie sunken in the endeavour to raise them Tlie methods cmplojed were sometamea sensational, but he asked the public to judge the Armv, not by methods, but by the icsult With the growth of popu lation difficulties grow more complex, and last j ear it nas found necessary to start five new different institutions involving * a capital expenditure of £30,000 Much

expansion work was pressing its claims upon them in Queensland and that day they had opened a People's Palace that they believed would be a valuable in fluence for the moral preservation of the people who were traveling about. He mentioned that they had 11 homes for betrajed girl«, which last j ear admitted CSO girls, and sent a large number back to fnenas or to situations In the mater inity homes 012 babies wcie born last year In nine girls homes they accom-modated 384 girls, tlie eiglit prison homes admitted ÍXJÜ people, and incidental!}, he acknowledged the splendid facilities e\ .tended to help et-pnwwieí» in this State, thej had men i aud boys' homes indus-trial homes, and inebnate homes A mew i enture last j ear was special private

classes to teacn lads The League of ¡ Alercy was doing a wonderful woik, and there ?was a special effort to save bojs from smoking and gambling Though the income ot tlie Wmy i\ is large, the de mand ivis leij great, and the Army in stitutnons cost -L220 a day, ulule 5000 helpless people were being cared for in Salivation -Vimi homes that night They thanlwulJV icknowledged til that had been done in the pu»t, and trusted to a grateful public for future supphes

Mrs Comm ¡»lonei Hay spoke particu-larly of the rescue -work among women. She said the love and svirnpathy oi the workers was conquering rebellious natures, breaking through stubborn spirits and turning them into helpful women Thou sands liad been leclanned permanent!}

Hie Piemier moved the adoption of the I report, and refened to the splendid work which the oiganisation is carrying on " 'Hie Sahation Anny was the pile nomenon of the Victorian penod It was absolutely a triumph of deiotion to God and humanity, a triumph of business perspicacitj, of effectue oiganisation, of good over evil, of going out into the high ivays and byways to do what others had failed to accomplish Just as the Empire ii as s iid to be broad based upon the people's will, so tlie Armj was broad based i/on the Rock of Ages Ne\t lo the Union Jack, he believed no flag floated in so man) countries, or stirred enthusiasm among so many people as the flag with the strange device, Blood and Tire ' lhe report showed tint the Armj had 21,390 officers and emplojees, connected with 8678 centres, in 50 eountnes, and com trolling 054 homes and institutions, of avhich 78 -were in Austialia In Queens land they had nine bpeeiul organisations ab ivoik, and they weie effecting a splendid avoik of refoim All this was being dono tit a net lobs of only £72l/J/8 last j en Nor did thev lean heavily upon the State, less than £1000 per annum being contributed by til« State, and Air Denham added that no vote went through the House .with more jo) or less difficult., than that for the Salvation Anny He congratulated the officers upon the splendid work they were doing in the State It was a magni Ificent testimony to the vcrilj of the Christian faith-a magnificent tribute to the earnestness and common sense methods emplojcd bl the organisation In each depaitment the object was to recover, to restore, to reclaim, and to redeem 'lhere was nothing coddling about the ile thods employed, but alwavs vigorous self help and real honest woik Hie Armv tried to teach others to help themselveb, and that was the highest form of help that could be emended He lejoiced at the measure ot success attending the work, felicitated the State upon th"> operations of the Anny and wished it godspeed, and ttusted the dav might never dawn -when the Anny would lose its vim and deter imnntion to go forward

The (Mayor of Brisbane seconded the adoption in an appreciative speech, in which he emphasised the usefulness of

tihe work in connection with the police

courts

The Rev Dr Mernngton supported the motion which -was earned with acclama tion Dunng the evening songs weie ren dercd for the Yeronga girls and tho River view bovs and selections by tlie united brass bands A collection was taken dur ing the evening