Show LADS AND LASSIES I The Salvation Army and its Work in England IN MEMORY OF MRS BOOTH The Author of In Darkest England and Ills Plan of Salvation Her Jrs Analysis LONDON Nov 5 ISDOrSpecial correspondence corre-spondence of THE HEHALD Perhaps the most effective object lesson over given qn the Salvation army its elements and strength was the service held in memory of Mrs General Booth a tribute to the I woman Tvnose death called it forth Scarcely had the last clod fallen on her coffin before the papers were heralding the I coming forth of In Darkest England and L the Way Out the latest production from L the pen of tbe noted general This wont is I a detailed plan of his great social scheme for the temporal salvation of the slum I classes of the larger cities of England These he terms the Submerged Tenth The journals and magazines full of arc art ful comments com-ments some praising and others condemning condemn-ing i his theory For the past hundred years Englands greatest politicians statesmen and philanthropists philan-thropists have been wrestling with this question perhaps in a measure having ameliorated the conditions of some of these poor creatures but their success has been limited Many professing Christian socle ties have been and are raising thousands of pounds annually for the propagation of their doctrines in uncivilized countries they are sending hundreds of missionaries out yearly who with great zeal and energy advocate their dogmas their claims bein to alleviate the sufferings of mankind and to inform the heathen nations of the beauties beau-ties of Christianity but at the same time they pass over the poor Whitcchapei walls ana Piccadilly unfortunates They ignore the misery that exists before their very I eyes and the thousands of children tnat are being reared and fostered in all the vices of a corrupt world and they parado themselves on their gre success in foreign lands Understanding and realizing these absurdities I ab-surdities I General Booth now comes forth with his remedy and attempts to solvo this great illconsidered problem by means of his worldfamed Salvation army sp soldiers and his plan of campaign p Twentyfive years ago General Booth was a Methodist preacher and by not being retained in the ministry he commenced a religion on his own basis and in company wit his deceased wife established compal what i Snow S-now known as the Salvation army Through indefatigable efforts he succeeded in gain ing followers until today over nine thousand thou-sand officers are laboring in twentynine different countries assisted by many thousand thou-sand soldiers and lay members The results that have attended his labors are wonderful considering the disadvantages L disadvan-tages with which he has had to eal Year by year his plans have been advanced success suc-cess seemingly sure gradually they have been materialized first upon a small scale demonstrated and then in mammoth under L takings applied nothing however being advanced until assured confidence otsatis 1 factory results The public and press of England with eagerness have watched his progress not infr every thing they thought to be of a commendable nature and severely censur ing all things to the coctrary Not however how-ever until recently have his schemes been fully understood and their magnitude comprehended com-prehended Their apparent socialism pro ducea a friendly contact with the many adherents of that cause the professing Christian denominations recognize his strides towards the spiritual interests and the moral promoters whether religious or infidel unite in acknowledging his triumphs acknowledging umphs tr Unless a person will peruse closely his scheme and actions he cannot arrive at a thorough comprehension of his policy therefore the issuing of his new book has created unusual interest for all classess of society are anxious to know the extent of his plans especially as it pertains so much to temporal affairs His ideas i are paramount that unless you can satisfy the natural requirements a portrayal of the spiritual would be use less l For says he what good will result from preaching of a heaven of plenty to a hungry man Feed and clothe the poor give them work and then give them the gospel allow only those who will labor to eat but furnish work for tho willing i wiUng The position he has now assumed to this quiet observer exemplifies the weakness of his foundation for during the past twentyfive years he has been advocating Belief alone in Cnrist is sufficient to salvation sal-vation but now after all these years he u comes out with the bold declaration that works are essential and really of more importance im-portance than faith claiming that unless you produce employment furnish sufficient food and clothing care well for the physical physi-cal necessities that the spiritual teachings I are worthless He thus sets up a principle princi-ple in direct opposition to the popular religious dogma of the age which he has 1 so zealously advocated and proclaimed His assumption of power as a religious 1 oracle is now by his own course proven to I be fallible He merely relies on his own wisdom trusting in human understanding discarding the infinite knowledge power and intelligence of God and as his theology is identical with that of all sectarIan denominations and cannot but exclaim excaim 1 Oh ye preverters of Christs words when will ye recognize the authority of God and the necessity of obeying His precepts and commandments tIn t-In his new book he has written for al 1 and dedicated It to The memory of the companion adviser and comradn of nearly forty years The sharer of my neary bition for the welfare of mankind my lov Ing faithful and devoted wife The title tte of his latest production is drawn from Stanleys Darkest Africa and the I analogy is notdifttcult to establish between them The miasmatio swamp of Africa is the fever den of the English cities The I ivor raiders of tho 1 ivory African forest he compares com-pares to the publican flourishing on the I weakness of the poor Why he says I talk about Darkest Africa so much whei we have un infinitely darker England He endeavors to disperse this darkness and though the social evil is hideously large ho does h not despair thinking there Is ligh I U vnnr His preface is rather long but coming to his subject he takes a birdseye view o f the field into which he would enter then without loss of time he comes to a close examination of the evils which his scheme attempts to cure He seeks for the lost the outcast the disinherited those having no capital or income of their own and not capable by their own exertions to obtain the food which the law prescribes as iqdespensable even for the worst criminal crimi-nal This class the general calculates at about three million or onetenth the total population of England Scotland ana Wales He depicts in forcible terms the terrible terrble social condition of the country and calls at tention to the fact the private charities haphazard schemes of emigration trades unionism and socialism of the age have been insufficient to deal with the social quagmire which has to be bridged Still he advocates the unity of the laboring classes for their own protection The more working people can be banded together involuntary in-voluntary organizations created and administered ad-ministered by themselves tho better a t any rate for this world not only forthei own interests but for those of every other section of the community But he exclaims we cannot rely on this agencies as a means of solving the prob lem which confronts us I these have failed what then 1 Try my scheme I And what is that scheme l A cab horse is taken to illustrate it the u horse gets shelter and food is picked up uu u when it falls put theoutcasts in a favorable favor-able a position as the cab horse insure 1 them shelter and food keep them out of the I gutter But how Here is GeneralBooths answer The schema I have t offer consists ort or-t he formation of thesepeople e Into self elping and selfsustaining communities cap cti being a kind of cooperative society or ca-p family governed and disci pUned on the principles which have already proved so effective in the Salvation army The committees we will call for want of a b etter name colonies < There will be 1 th city colony 2j the farm colony 3 he oversea colony The city colony would be a shelter and food deposit a place where all would be re eived where all would have to work for their rations Lad beds I would be a labor egistry and there would be workshops and yards in connection with it I after a period at the city colony a man became a eformed character he might find work in another direction or i ho was thought alit G lit subject he could be sent to the second post the farm colony of which General Booth writes This would consist of a settlement of he colonists on an estate in the province in the culture of which hey would find employment and obtain I upport His idea is to obtain possession of a tract of land at a reasonable distance from London secluded from towns and villages This 31 would grow up by the exertions of the colonist cl themselves An industrial vi l age or group of villages would spring up in i connection with the land colony Tae I refuse of London collected by tno city I I colony would be dealt with here and when inhabitant i of the farm colony had acquired ac-quired some knowledge of agriculture and tnbibcd i country ways they would be dU atched to the oversea loony upon whiih the general renmKs We propose to secure 1 se-cure a tract of land in one of our foreign I countries prepare it for settlement esta ish in it authi rty govern it by equitable j I l aw assist it in times of necessity settling set-tling it gradually with prepared popple I all so secure a homo foe theao destitute multitudes In his raindseye General Booth con j urqs up a salvation shp with white wiugs sailing away from those shores with ordained or-dained masses to found and build up the over sea colony and once founded would develop into great < ommjnito Regulations Regula-tions would have to no made ioi punish meat for repeated offences he adults that there is a reasonable residuum for whom nothing could be done unless in deed it woro to lock them up for life as moral lunatics I it must be hove seme kind of broad moors to whicn those lost beyond hope of recovery might be sent He has other plans which he incorporates in his cardinal scheme which are neither few nor important Prison gate brigade would be found in every part of the country to redeem Iho criminals emerging irota jai inebriate asylums for the drunkard army sisters to rescue the fallen women who in the labor colonies would be able to begin life anew homes for respectable homeless and friendless women and girl who require care and protection industrial schools improve lodgings model suburban I sub-urban villages a poor mans lawyer and advice bureau and even 1 matrimonial l i agency is mcntionedvet rather tentatively Finally the general comes to the question ques-tion are all these proposals beautiful Out a mist practicable a Utopia in the clouds or are they The author of Darkest Enrlina thinks they are practicable and that the Salvation army which already has the workerf on hand and the organization in existence can execute the plan He calls attention to whay they have already al-ready accomplished in the social field and hon contemplates the amount necessary for the new undertaking calculating that one millions pounds would give the scheme a fair chance of being effective He is prepared pre-pared to make 1 beginning if he has one tundrec thousand pounds down and an assured as-sured income of thirty thousand pounds annually How far the three colonies would be selfsupporting has been si selfsuppqrtiu estimated i esti-mated and ho then attempts to reply to objections which might nhtseu themselves Ho appeals to menand money to assist him not to sects or classes but to alf and in i those words ho deprecates the introduction introduc-tion of denominational feelings Sup pose you do not lIke my salvationism surely it is better for those miserable wretched crowds to have food to eat clothes to wear and a home in which to lay l their weary bones after their days toils toi i s done even though the change is accompanied accom-panied by some peculiar religious notions and practices than it would be for them toe b to-e hungry and naked and homeless and possess no religion at all To me he says has been given theTIdea but to you t ihe means by which it may be realized I Lf this advice would realze I meet the demand one million pounds or even ten million pounds would not be denied but as in all manmade man-made systems the Father of the Salvation Army has not been able td cope with the question at hand Not only the slum classes need to be cared for but philanthropic measures should be extended those who are bound down by the inhuman and detestable sweater systems which at present infest the east end of this great Metropolis and many of the larger cities of this and other countries The popular Dr Parker in his characteristic one minute speech of a few Sabbaths ago commended the scheme as far as it goes and exprejsed himself as being sorry it did not include all people requiring re-quiring assistance He cited the fact that a few days ago a gentleman advertised for a clerk at twentysix shillings per week and within four postal deliveries over two thousand applications were received That a change is necessary in the temporal tem-poral affairs of mankind cannot be denied the generals plan will not produce the required result I throe million people were all that were to be cared for he might succeed but he has not contemplated the increase and supply of this class of population popula-tion He attempts to clear the gutter but by his operations he merely opens up in ducements for country people to flock to the cities and refill the cesspools The un fortunates are to be reformed but the sensualists sen-sualists who create them and the capitalists who by their oppressive measures increase poverty and crime are not prevented committing com-mitting their ravages His scheme is not broad enough and doe not strike at the root of the evils Heendeavors to remove those now effeted but the causes are allowed to flourish unrestrained His ideas are by no means new the mode of operating may be detailed more extensively but he is simply following the footsteps of Cyril of Alexandria and the early fathers The organization of industry and emigration Carlyle preached in vain lortyflve years ago are also Incorporated Lord Beaconflelds tenets in Sybil and Charles Kingsleys Yeast and famous Alton Locke portrayed these evils and advanced the principles that underlie In Darkest England and the Way Out All these have failed and will continue to1 do so The true remedy has been bofpro the world for ages it lies in practical1 Christianity the gospel taught by the Lord I i Jesus Arecognition of and obedience to the authority and commandments of God afford the only way for a salvation of the 5 temporal as well as the spiritual The only way open for the deliverance of humanity from tho powers of evil is the path marked out by the Divine Master and Redeemer of the world Practical Christians Chris-tians have been content with mere belief as a power of salvation neglecting the more potent force that of works which necessarily accompany and give life to the true Christian faith REX JR |