HIGGINS TO LEAD THE ARMY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 588, 14 February 1929, Page 1

HIGGINS TO LEAD THE ARMY

SALVATION HIGH COUNCIL DECIDES END OF THE BOOTH DYNASTIC CONTROL (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) lAustralian and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service) Received Noon LONDON, Wednesday. THE High Council of the Salvation Army has elected Commissioner Edward John Higgins, Chief of Staff, as successor to General Bramwell Booth in the leadership. He polled 43 votes, against Commander Eva Booth’s 17.

Before the Council, Mr. W. A. Jowitt, K.C., for General Booth, made a two-hour speech, combining legal argument with impassioned pleading. He read a letter from the General offering a fresh compromise, allowing the Council to choose his successor if he retained the command in a slightly modified form. Mr. Jowitt urged the Council not to dismiss a man who had been ill nigh unto death. Many of the listeners were moved to tears. General Booth’s doctor, two eminent physicians, and also two friends including Mr. G. C. Pollard, the Army’s ex-chancellor, gave evidence that General Booth should be physically fit to resume duty in a month or two. The vote resulted in five for Booth and 52 against. Pour abstained from voting and the High Council elected Higgins. Questions are being asked concerning the cost of assembling the mem-

bers of the council from all parts of the world. Certain it is that the initiators of the sittings never anticipated that they would be so prolonged: Some of the delegates have provisionally booked passages by the Leviathan, due to sail oil Friday.

Each member of the council yesterday received a letter from Mrs. Bramwell Booth, asking them, out of regard for the memories of the past and the needs of the present, not to adjudicate the general unfit. The "Daily Express" says it understands that Mr. Lloyd George, the Leader of the Liberal Party, and the Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, have been asked by representatives of General Booth to attempt to mediate in the dispute. Mr. Lloyd George said it would be most inopportune for him to intervene. Mr. MacDonald said he was willing to serve if both sides approached him.

Edward John Higgins was born at Highbridge, Somerset, and entered the Salvation Army as an officer in 1882. He lias held various positions in evangelical and staff work in the United Kingdom, including an appointment on the staff of the International Training College, Clapton. He was chief secretary of the army in the United States for nine years, and later assistant foreign secretary at London headquarters. Until his appointment as chief of staff in 1919 he was Commissioner for Field Work in Great Britain and Ireland.