THE Y.M.C.A. CAMPAIGN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 19, 17 October 1907, Page 6

THE Y.M.C.A. CAMPAIGN.

Ur till a few years ago the Y.M.C.A. movement was little understood in this country, and the general public had the idea that the people connected with the movement were amiable faddists engaged in some obscure evangelistic activity. Of late years, however, the movement has been gradually pushed into a prominent place, and to-day the New Zealand public, and the Wellington public in particular, are educated up to the fact that the Y.M.C.A. stands for an organisation of great and real value to Society at large. The improved public knowledge of the Association's aims makes it almost superfluous to recount the obvious-enough wholesomeness of an organisation which exists to counteract those agencies of deterioration which threaten the moral, physical, and intellectual health of the young man as he steps from shelter into the storms of the world. In his speeches on Tuesday, Mr. Lyman Pierce, who has come from America to stimulate the Y.M.C.A. movement in this country, gave an. impressive account of tho hold which tho Association has taken on the public mind in America. Vast sums have been spent in erecting the building's in which tho Y.M.C.A. spirit does its work—sums vast ' enough to startle those folk who think that money is misapplied unless it goes into commerce. But, as Mr. Pierce pointed out, the cost of the Association's buildings is a bagatelle in comparison with the cost of the prisons that exist largely through the absence of movements that might keep thorn empty. For the next few days the citizens of Wellington will be " introduced to the high responsibility of giving" by the campaigners who have undertaken to gather tho £7000 required for the completion of the Association's building in this city. A generous and worthy example has been set by Mrs. M. A. Williams, who has promised the very large sum of. £1000 on condition that her fellow-citizens subscribe the rest of the necessary capital. I'iicre aro not many better ways in which tho citi.zen can invest a small sum than in as-

sisting. a movement that returns dividends none the less rich for being inexpressible in pounds sterling. In America they do not waste money, the Wellington citizen who may feel doubtful about the wisdom of subscribing his portion will find reassurance 1 on the point by reflecting on the £632,000 contributed to the Y.M'.C.A. •movement by the American railway Companies. The new building in this city must have a large and beneficial influence on our >young men, and it is to be hoped that the enthusiasm of the local branch of the Association will ; have the reward of success in the campaign.