THE SALVATION ARMY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5492, 25 October 1929, Page 2

THE SALVATION ARMY.

GATHERING OF THE EAGLES. (Contributed.) Commissioner James Hay, 0.8. E., Commander of the Salvation Army in New Zealand, has left these shores to take up a much higher command within hailing distance of London—the administrative centre of the organisation. He goes having failed to justify, as requested to do so by urgent and direct challenge more than once, the propaganda and tactics that have been adopted in support of recent actions of the High Council of the Salvation Army. It would be harder now for- him to answer these challenges, for the truth is coming to light in no uncertain manner. To those who fully recognise the value of this wonderful organisation —the Salvation Army—recent events are startling and alarming ; and to those who love the Army they are nothing less than agonising. Wherever a soldier of the Salvation Army shows any sign of resenting the action of the High, Council in deposing General Bramwell Booth a staff officer is despatched and an interview follows. On coming to a point these staff officers own that there was no fault to be found in the General himself, and the only justification given is a recital of tittle-tattle about the misdeeds of the General’s family—incidents so childish and so tinged with puerile jealousy that no one would lower himself to publish them as the reasonings of thoughtful men. Mrs Bramwell Booth, too, is blamed in these interviews for various ambitions and autocratic tendencies, but recent publications in the “War Cry,” the;Army’s official organ, give such base charges the lie direct from the very quarter now seeking to damage her wonderful reputation. “The Young Soldier,” the children’s paper, seeks to seize upon the minds of the young by such headlines as this : “The Grocer Boy who became the President of the Great High Council.” This does not tally up well with the statement of a very prominent London business man, who says : “The general public regard the action of the High Council as a determined effort, by hook or by crook, to get power and property into their own hands. The influence and work of the Army are already damaged for all time.” The Salvation Army in New Zealand is selling, under the title, “The Secret History of the Revolt in the Salvation Army,” a book, written by a person outside of its ranks— a book which blackens and defames and besmirches the name of the. dead General Bramwell Booth. It is incredible that a religious organisation should so far forget its principles as to circulate such a defamatory and uncharitable publication against so noble and blameless a man.

But the very things the revolting High Councillors charged the Booth autocracy with are the very things that are now being done under the new regime.

The elected General, Edward Higgins, has, according to latest information from 1 England, barred Mrs Booth from the platforms of the Salvation Army, refusing to let her speak at the anniversary of the Women’s Social Work next month. This work was practically founded by Mrs Booth. When even the General of the Army considered she was overworrying about things more imagined than real, she was probing amongst the then unrevealed sinks of shame and misery, unearthing the horrors and villainies of a white traffic in girls aged 13 and 14. Events of those days cast their gloom over her life where should have been happiness. But her sacrifice, her tears, her entreaties stirred civilisation to its depths. The ■world owes Mrs Booth an unpayable debt for that. And now she is refused admission to the platform on the occasion of the .anniversary of this work. Again, whilst Commissioner Hay is being moved to within easy call of International Headquarters, Commissioner Cunningham, who was outstandingly loyal to the General, is being sent out here to the obscure post of New Zealand. Opinion in England is sure that this is in accordance with the fixed policy of the new powers—to remove those who have been loyal to the General to the far distance. Worse still is the inhuman treatment of Mrs Commissioner Lucy Booth Hellburg. She is the youngest daughter of the founders of the Salvation Army, for 45 years a devoted officer. She is a widow and over sixty years of age. General Higgins has cancelled her appointment in Europe and ordered her away to the smallest possible command —in far away South America. With her service, her age, and her ability, the appointment is absolutely unjustifiable. This harsh treatment of the members of the Booth family is unwarranted. Their beloved father and husband died of a broken heart, and yet they show no signs of bitterness. Mrs General Booth, who for 49 years has made the Army her life, loves it more than ever she did, and her constant desire is that its members should remain loyal to it, push on the soul-sav-ing war, and walk on the highway of holiness. Could a desire expressed thus come from such a person as the exponents of the high-headed action of the High Council describe Mrs Booth to be ? Their tactics are threatening the whole structure from which these overshot martinets draw their livelihood, and unless the law steps in or the rank and file arouses itself from its spoon-fed lethargy to preserve the constitution as set down by William and Bramwell Booth under the direction of God, this wonderful Army will crash and the whole world will be the poorer. Friends and supporters of the Army would be well advised not to withdraw their support in spite of recent events, for the cause of right is sure to succeed, and these misled high officials who seek to tamper with the constitution as laid down by the cofounders William and Bramwell Booth will find their erratic course barred and the safety of the Salvation Army secured.