GENERAL HIGGINS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 196, 12 April 1932, Page 7

GENERAL HIGGINS

GREAT ORGANISER LEADER OF SALYATION ARMY KEEN EYED MAN OF AFFAIRS. SMILE THAT PERSISTS. General E. J. Higgins, head of th© Salvation Army, will arrive in Rotorua .on a short visit on Thursday morning. General Higgins is the executive head of the Army throughout the world and as such carries a load of responsibility such as few men would care to undertake. Guiding the Salvation Army is one of the biggest jobs in the world. . Its strength in officers is 25,000, and its "other ranks" run into hundreds of thousands. It is a far-flung battle line, and it? communications go into every country. It is not surprising, therefore, that the first impression one gets at its headquarters is of organising capacity. The men at the head of the Army are all organisers. They seem to have something of the quality of city men with whom they rub shoulders. Yet General Higgins shows nothing of the organiser in his normal expression. In that he is like his two predecessors in this high command. There was no shrewder" man than the old General, William Booth. His son was a great organiser. The present commander is a keen-eyedl man of affairs. But you have only to be with Edward Higgins a few moments to see that, like the Booths, he has the quality of inspiring leadership. His smile is not the smile of a business man. It is an enveloping smile. It breaks out at the moment of greeting and it remains throughout the conversation, renewing itself continually and without effort. Beneath it one can trace the features of the man of affairs. There is the dominant chin, the decisive mouth, the forehead broad and high, the nose which denotes will power even more than the chin and mouth. But it is the smile that persists. A smile will carry a man a long way. His smile has carried Edward Higgins to the leadership of the Church he joined as a lad in 1882. I

Impassioned Speaker. The rank and file of the Army know him as an impassioned speaker who j can lead them in prayer and song as mightily as the most robustious of them. He gives, indeed, such an impression of vitality that it comes as rather a shock to hear him confess to being tired occasionally after a long day at administrative work. But he is never weary after^ a big religious meeting. Like all the soul-savers of history, he renews himself while strengthening others. At the Army's international headquarters in London, they know him for his extraordinary mental quickness. He is able to turn from one subject to another in his stride. He will not bother about details, but he has often surprised an expert by his sudden grasp of a long nurtured scheme and hy indicating weakness where it exists. He is a carefully guarded man. He is in hourly touch with every phase of the Army's activities and his aides are naturally anxious that his time should be conserved. The stranger will not penetrate very easily to his refuge, but nobody is more easy of access if the reason is sufficient. His room at the Army G.H.Q. is almost bare of any suggestion that it is the centre of a great religious organisation. There is just one picture which typifies the rescue work pf the Army. On the mantelpiece are photographs of the General's father and the General's wife, both of them soldiers in the same fight. At the back and above him is a simple cross. For the rest, the room is furnished simply but substantially, like many other city offices. There is a high, almost ryionastic type of desk near the fire. But its purpose is not devotional. "We have found it more convenient for signing doeuments," he says with a laugh.

Makes Early Start. His day starts at half-past six all the year round. "I breakfast at a quarter to eight sharp," he tells you. "I like to make sure of that meal. I leave home at eight-thirty. I get to bed when I can," It is a simple sum-ming-up of a crowded life. At his G.H.Q. the arrangement of his day's work is a very fine art indeed. His desk is open and ready for his arrival, Everything in action is at hand, with the personal letters and decoded cables waiting on the blotting pad for immediate attention. He deals with all communications' at once, dictating detailed rejjplies where it is possible. It is one of the most comprehensive post-bags in the world. He is the most interviewed man in London, not necessarily by journalists, but by his staff, for all decisions are put up to him eventually, And occasionally you get just a glimpse which shows the difference between this particular business and that of the normal city concern. Entering his ante-room, you may be told that the General cannot he disturbed for a few moments. If you are sufficiently curious to ask why, you will be t.old quite simply. He is praying with an offieer and his wife, - who are going out as missionaries to a dark spot on the Army's map of India. I

Like a Mqnarch. Like a monarch, he has to make many inspections and give his blessing to many Army activities) social and religious. He is continually presiding at congresses and even here there is much preparation. "I do this sort of organisation at home," he tells you, again with that smile, "because one can get a little more quiet at home." He writes a good deal for the Army publications and finds time to correct proofs and read over the writings of others. Not that he may ever be sure of peace at home. At busy times there are always messengers coming and going, the typewriter clieking and the 'phone" ringing. He is one of the Army's most travelled officers. On, his tours he gets very little time to himself. Showing the Army flag is a very exhausting business, for Army meetings and ceremonials are all pitched on the fervent note, and after the fervour "the General" has to switch back to organisation. -

ligious teachers expounded their message and did not trouble about organisation. This modern leader has to save souls with one hand and arrange abont the purchase of land and property with the other. He gives tjie kiss of blessing to an Army babe, and returns to sign a lease. But this, perhaps, is his secret — he does both things heartily. Nothing is a task to this man. Heartiness snins him up, after all. A keen eye and a laughing face. Shrewdness and kindness; strength, ^enfieness. He succeeded .to, a great pfijce at a difficult time, but there is ho. doHh^at alT