“THE THIRTY MILLION TRUST.”

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3898, 24 January 1929, Page 1

“THE THIRTY MILLION TRUST.”

A fowl peoples who do not sufficiently kntow The Salvation Array may have been misled by the re- , 1 eren'ces recently made in the press to its property holdings (says the “Wjar Cry.”) W(e have only to point out that Salvation Army buildings are eree- ' ted solely for Salvation Anny pur - poses, for the fallacy to be seen of any argument th'at because its property holding's are large the Organization is an income-producing “trust.” The putting up df a building by an ordinary landlord means that lie gets returns by way of rent, and the mlore buildings he owns, the wealthier, if he has built wisely, he will be, but the 'erection of a build- ! ing by The Salvation Arimy, while | it increases the facilities for -doing ’ its world, am} saves money when compared with the cost of renting buildings owned by others, is in many respects on increase of its liabilities because it brings an increase of the work it exists to do | for the poor and needy, which it can only t meet if increased public support is forthcoming. It may, therefore, in this respect be said that the “richer” the Salvation Army becomes the “poorer” it ''is. The more buildings! it possesses I the greater are the obligations resting upon the organization for carrying on the Work for which they were erected. In many instances, indeed, the cost of carrying on the Work is more than that of providing the buildings necessary to its being 'done. The Salvation Army has no endowments or other funds upon which it can draw for general purposes. The legacies it may receive have of course to be applied to the . objects directed by the legators. It 1 does its utmost to selcure from the industries carried on by the men and women its institutions shelter 'as large a measure of self-support as possible, both because of the moral effect it has upon the initiates themselves and because of the obligation it accepts from the public with the Money provided by it to make the funds donated gb as far as "possible and do all the good they can be made to accomplish, but there is still a wide margin between what income may be secured in this and other ways and what is needed.