SALVATION ARMY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 50, 23 October 1912, Page 2

SALVATION ARMY.

WELCOME TO COMMISSIONER RICHARDS. The arrival of Commissioner Richards in Stratford is an event that has been eagerly looked forward to for many months by the small but enthusiastic band of Salvationists in Stratford. The new chief of the Army in New Zealand arrived by the 3 o’clock train yesterday afternoon accompanied by Brigadiers Vince and Bray, and Captain Suter, and in the evening was accorded a very hearty welcome in the Town Hall. There was not a large attendance, hut the enthusiasm was there in inverse proportion to the size of the audience.

In welcoming the Commissioner, Mr J. Masters said he thought that Stratford, in not according the guest of the evening a civic reception, had missed a great opportunity, especially since this visit came in such close proximity to the death of General Booth, a man whom he regarded as one of the greatest religious social reformers history had ever known. Commissioner Richards, he knew as a man who had spent a life-time in the Army, a man who had come from the bottom of the ladder. He had worked in many lands, and, furthermore, had seven sons, all of whom were in the Army. (Applause.) v .. In the coarse of an eloquent address, the Rev. Metson, on behalf of the Christian churches of Stratford, welcomed the Commissioner to New Zealand. The Dominion had room for such a man. There were rich possibilities in the Salvation Army, and in the arrival of a trained man of proven abilities great things lay. (Applause.) Councillor R. Mels'. Morison, in the unavoidable absence of His Worship the Mayor, extended a hearty and cordial welcome on behalf of the Councillors of Stratford. Commissioner Richards then addressed the gathering. He is small in stature, sparsely built, but conveys the impression of being a much younger man than the thirty-five years active service in the Army would tend to signify. An excellent speaker, he conveys his message in short, sharp sentences, illustrated with eloquent gestures. No need to ask for his credentials. There is a power behind his words that speaks of grit, energy, and determination; a man of ability, ho is unquestionably a leader. Asked what he thought of New Zealand, Commissioner Richards answered in a passage from Deuteronomy: “But the land whither ye go to possess, it is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. \A land which the Lord thy God careth for. The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year.” That was his description of New Zealand. As for the people, they suited him, and he thought he could say without egotism that he would suit them. (Applause.) He paid a tribute to the work of those officers who had laid in New Zealand the solid foundation on which ho intended to build. (Applause.) The Methodist Choir rendered several musical items during the evening.