SALVATION ARMY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2268, 30 September 1914, Page 7

SALVATION ARMY

commissioner richards's new appointment.. (bTjlvh.) General Booth has appointed Commissioner Richards to tho command of the Salvation Army forces in Canada, and the Commissioner and Mrs. Richards, will leave New Zealand in November. The Commissioner came out from. England in Juno, 1912, when New Zealand was made a separate territory. For 18 years the affairs of the movement had been directed from the Australian headquarters, Melbourne, but owing to the rapidly developing and vigorous agencies of the Army in the 'Dominion, and the giwving necessities of Australia, the General decided to appoint a Commissioner specially to take charge of New Zealand. Tho separation of the two countries has been abundantly justified. In so far as New Zealand is concerned the numbers of officers and soldiers have substantially increased, and that epirit of development noticeablo under the old. administration has become emphatically" pronounced.. Tho Commissioner, w,ho hae been ably supported by Mrs. Richards, electrified the organisation from the first, and his vigorous personality, his intimate acquaintance with the details of every branch of the service, and his keen enthusiasm have aroused the ardour of all members of the organisation. One of the most striking instances of the character of the 'work effected by the Commissioner has been in connection with self-denial, on which the Army relies so largely to prosecute and develop its multifarious agencies. Last year a record was reached for the Dominion,, and the prospects of the present appeal, which is being vigorously engineered by the Commissioner, are most encouraging. The William Booth ' Memorial Training College has been erected and opened since- the Commissioner assumed of the territory, up-to-date maternity hospitals and' institutions, for the training of children, and the reclamation of the unfortunate have beck opened in both North and South Islands. In Canada the Commissioner -will no doubt-carry on the good work of Commissioner Rees, who, it will be recollected, perished in tho foundering of the Empress of Ireland. The appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Powley as chief secretary during tho past 12 months has been the meane of greatly facilitating the Army operations, and to the Cbmmissionor his services have proved invaluable. Not only Salvationists, but the general public will regret the departure of the Commissioner, who has ■ever ■ taken an active interest in all schemes to promote social amelioration and the general welfare of the community. At the same time they will congratulate him upon his transference to a sphere of enlareed opportunities and greater responsibilities. The name of the Cominissionur's successor has not yet been divulged.