Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, September 18, 1904, Image 29
What Will Become of the Salvation Army? .Vy-.vv . If-'-.,' ' : Y-V;-" ".Vi' Mil A notpow Vi 1V.V '7 - " ' ' . ..Sb " S4 k X tttwyVa , i i i BUAMWBUj HOOT!!. INTKRNATIONATj CHIKF OF TUB SALVATION ARMY KINDEST SON Of OKNEKAL BOOT1I. COM,iANPKR lUlOTII-TiTKRIl AT HIS niOSIC IN TIIK ARMY'S IfKADQUAR TKHS CN AM KKICA IN NOVKMIIKIt UK (JOKS TO 1A)NIK)N TO A J'OSiTloN ON Tll-J INTKHNATIONA1, STAKK (Copyright, 1004, by Guy T. Viskniskkl.) ""nilAT will tinrnma itt Ihn Rilvntlnn 1 Army?" la soon to turn ovtr the work In America to a successor not yet named in order to take up a position on the International staff in Londun, smiled. "That question has girdled the globe with the army Itself. We meet it at every turn. I am daily asked tho question and daily I see It seriously discussed In the public prints. We of the army can't get away from it. We don't want to. We consider that every time the query Is propounded a high compliment is paid to us. It is proof positive that the world at large no longer regards us with, utter Indiffeit nee, to say th least, but now takes us seriously and reaJleps that we are a social and economic factor that has to be reckoned with In the general scheme of things. It recognizes that if we were to dissolve upon the death of our beloved leader there would neces sarily have to be a readjustment, socially and economically, in tho forty-nine coun tries and colonies In which we are estab lished. Hence, the constant reiteration of tho query, 'What will become of tho Salva tion Army?' "Hut no readjustment will bo necessary. It took a genius to Invent nnd manufac ture the locomotive; It takes only nn engi neer to run it. A KY.lton was needed to build the first steamboat, a licensed pilot can run one. So with the Salvation Army. General Booth Is the genius that brought It Into being; ho has spent his lifetime or ganizing1, vitalizing and Improving It. Juat bs Pulton taught hla helpers to run a steamboat, so tho general has trained hla lieutenants in tho work of the army; and there Is no more reason why the Salvation Army should cease to exist with tho last breath of the general than thero was far Methodism to die with John Wesley. "Wesley not only enunciated a strong religious principle, he organized It thor oughly from top to fcottom, so that the work he believed In could bo carried on after ho had laid It down; ho vitalized a movement that only rrovidenoe can vitiate. Whltefleld was different. He recruited his followers from tho various existing reli gious bodies of the time; ho made no. or little, effort to perfect an org.mlzatlnn that would carry on his work. Aa a rr suit when he passed off tho stago his following was dispersed and swallowed up by religious bodies such as Wesley's, that had been built up to Hvo beyond the!.- founders life time. "The Salvation Army lias been thor oughly organized from top to bottom; ft no longer depends on tha guidance of thli man or that to keep It alive. The wholo scheme for Its perpetuation has been worked out to the slightest dotal!. Kvery man and woman In It knows his or her work and Just what to do In this or that emergency. When a member Is promoted he does not and cannot set about revolu tionizing his department; ho can only bring novelty to the position. The entire army Is like- a well oiled machine, with each part doing its own particular duty. It can be left In charge of lieutenants for an In definite period If need be. I lately re turned from a two months' trip to Europe to find that the army In America had run along as smoothly during that time as if I had been here. I hardly ever visit or per sonally direct the work of any of our social Institutions, yet they are getting along swimmingly. What is true of America Is equally true of tho army in tho various countries. "I was In India ten years, leaving there fourteen years ago. Up to that time I probably understood the Indian work better than any other member of the army. Yet such Is the army's organization that the work there has gnno on without a hitch; indeed, the Indian army during my absence has Increased materially In numbers and power. In other words, the Salvation Army now runs on its own feet everywhere, and Is not dependent on any one man to keep It erect nnd sturdy of limb. "Tho general has worked in numerous ways that this might bo brought about. The army in each country has its own hoard of trustees, who are solely responsi ble for tho financial condition of the army therein, and arc subject to the laws of the country respecting Incorporated bodies. Tho army in America is Incorporated under the laws of tho stato of New York. The sec retary of stato must have a yearly ac counting of the army's business, and per mission must first bo obtained of tho sti- ' rremc court to sell or mortgage nny prop erty whatsover. Tho trustees pass on the expenditure of any sum of money above $500, and a general finance board on sums less than this amount. I could not get a piece of blotting paper without tho finance board' 8 'O. K.' So, you see, the financial side of the nrmy is as carefully organized as that of a big railroad, and it tends every bit as much to develop financial acumen. Indeed, tho army has any number of tip top business men. Tlie.ro Is one at tho el bow of every commissioner. Ho is known officially as a chief secretary, and it is largely duo to my chief secretary Colonel Iliggins that the property of tho army in America In tho last eight and Ji half years lias Increased In value from $1?J,000 to $1.52t,00O. In the last two and a half years eighty-six properties, valued ut $785,000, havo been added. "What is true of America on the finan cial sldo holds good elsewhere. Bays Sir John Rlgby, lord justice of appeal in Kng land: fairs undertaken by them they have, in years Into the weightier mutters connected with tho government and policy of tho Salvation Army (in England). In all that I have seen of the conduct of the vast a,f cier when it has so many already taking my Judgment, shown not only zeal, but also a sober and steady determination to admlnster their funds In a strictly legal and businesslike manner.' "There need be ir fear that the Salvation Army will go to pieces for lack of a finan cier when it has so many alread taking goed care of Its funds. "Neither are we who know tho army best con.'tmtd over the frequently repeated assertion that only the personality of our beloved general holds the component parts of the army together, and that Soulier or later they must split up. "There is no more liasun for such a fore cast than there is for one to the effect that tho Presbyterian church of America is likely to bo disbanded as a general or ganization becauso at the next general as sembly a new moderator will be elected. Tho l'resbterian church exists as a wholo for a set of religious principles, and not because of any one man. So witli the Salvation Army; and we love Its principles so well and ruvere our loader so highly for vitalizing it fvr us that we are not going to hinder its progress by neglecting to work fur Its advancement as one great homogeneous body. We realize that every army must have a directing hand. Two army corps working lndc pi ndently of each other, yet for the same object, may never attain it; there Is no converted action. Tho Salvation Army Is made up of many corps one in each of tho countries In which it is represented. Its fight is for the bet terment of tho lowly poor throughout tho world. To battle successfully it must, therefore, have a supremo commander. This fact Is fully realized by the army everywhere. Else what could have hin dered the Fece-sslon of tho army In America, say, years ago? For the nrmy here, as elsewhere, runs on Its own feet nnd Is dis tinct nnd separate from the rest of tho army In nil things except insofar as its movements aro directed by the general, assisted by tho international staff. "Tho army, by reason of this Interna tional staff and its various commissioners, Is assured fur years to come of a general who understands its work throughout the world; and a general so equipped will al ways be necessary. General liooth has never deviated from the policy of expand ing his lieutenants. Ho has sent Hu m from country to country and around the world many times that they might be b:oadcnr-d generally anil pt cifically iw regards tho army. He has been particularly Inslt-t.nt on Interchange e,f nationalities. A French man has command of the army In Holland. A Dutchman is chief secretary in Switzr land. Commissioner Elwyn Oliphant, In charge In Germany, formerly command d In Holland and In Sweden, was In ehaigo of our training college In Iondnn, speaks French, German utid Swedish with equal facility, and l.ns a wife who Is Dutch. If ho were rallnJ to be general he would not be without exteiu.lvo nnd vailed knowl'cdgo Of tho army. "Hut ho Is not tho only officer who has had wido experience; thcro are many others who havo nlso been In training for twenty years or more. Commissioner Thomas 11. Coombs, now In Great Hrltaln, has com manded In Canada and Australia. Thomas McKle, commissioner In Australia, was formerly In Germany," and h;u been around the world twice on revival tours. Commis sioner liooth-1 Ii'llherg of Switzerland bus commanded In France and speaks four lan guages. The International staff is com posed of men who have seen service In all parts of the world, and who are now la touch with the army everywhere. Thtei Is particularly true of Hramwell Itooth, tha general's eldest foti, who Is chief of th staff. "Indeed, every member eif the nrmy is liable to be shifted about and thousands nie shifted yearly, so that the broaden ing process is going on constantly throughout tho whole organization, nnd' material for possible future commissioners and generals Is continually In the making;. "With equal deliberation and foreslghted ness the plan whereby we Fecuro a new general whenever the occasion arises was long worked out nfter conferences with such distinguished men ns Gladstone, wtioas ndvlse was sought In thp matter. "Hrlefly, a general Is given the power to choose his own puccessor. Ho draws tip a document, naming hltn. This Is handed ov r to legal care, nnd Is put away for safe keeping until such time as it may be necessary to bring It forth. A second document, plmllar In character, but naming nnother mnn, Is also drawn up ond put for safe keeping In tho same lawyer's hands. This second document Is prepared as a safeguard. In the event that the per son named In the first document has died, or refuses to accept the generalship, then the second document Is opened, and h who Is named therein aaunies command. In case neither of these eventualities arises then It Is destroyed unopened. Rut if both men nre dead, or both refuso to ac cept tho honor, then ihe territorial nnd other commissioners form a grand council and select a successor. I'ntll th seals on the first document nre broken no nn knows who Is to succeed to tho general ship. "You may rest assured that General R-i.ith will nomn a suect ssor fully equipped for the executlvo task that will fall to his lot. What man Is thero who has bullib'd up un organization that has taken a lifetlmo of work who would think of entrusting the fruits of his labors to any one but tho person most competent to carry It on? Every man likes to pee his work llvo nfter Mm, If It is good. The general's work lias been good in the eyes of the world; tho 250,000 converts a year nnd the material nld It has given us In latter years since It has come to under stand us are proof of the world's opinion of tho army. i "Rut tho work wo have already ffons Is small compared with that to be dona. Since we have been called to do tho task (Continued on I'ago Fifteen.) ,