Salvarsan or 606

The announcement of the founder's death was accompanied by the intimation that his eldest son, William Bramwell Booth (q.v.), formerly his chief of staff, had become the new general. Under the deed poll of 1878, each general appoints his successor under seal, but the name of the person so chosen is not divulged until the proper time. At an International Staff Council in 1904 a supplementary deed poll was adopted, the principal object of which was to set up machinery for removing from the position any general who proved to be unworthy of confidence, and also for the selection of a general by a high council of the Army called into being for this purpose, in the event of the position becoming vacant through failure to appoint or other cause. In Jan., 1929 the high council voted to remove General Booth on the ground of incapacity but Booth carried the issue to the courts. The court decided that the removal was illegal because no hearing had been given the general or his representatives before the vote was taken. On Feb. 13 after such a hearing a second vote resulted as the first, and the council proceeded to elect Edward J. Hig gins, formerly chief of staff, as the new general. Booth intended to continue the fight, but he died in June. In Sept. 1934 Com mander Evangeline Booth, the founder's daughter, and leader of the Army in the U.S.A., was elected to succeed General Higgins, and assumed command in November.

Extension.

In many quarters it was feared that after the withdrawal of the forceful and picturesque personality who had dominated Salvation Army affairs for a generation, and had raised up a worldwide following from what was originally a de spised and derided local effort in the slums of London, the Army would decline. The World War also was a menace to all inter national organisations. These fears, however, proved to be ground less. The number of adherents has steadily increased, and the "field" occupied has grown greatly in extent. The Army has more than 14,00o corps or societies, each of which serves not only for the establishment of its own members in the faith, but as a centre of aggressive evangelistic effort. It has also 1,400 social institu tions for the friendless, unfortunate and wayward. In the British Islands the centres number 1,5oo, and reach a similar figure in the United States; in Canada there are between 600 and 700, and in Australia and New Zealand nearly 1,900. India, with Ceylon, has nearly 5,000 such centres, and the Far East 450. The number of officers and cadets engaged in field and social work is about 22,36o. The Army's mission field has greatly extended, and many of its officers who work devotedly in their own dark lands were, but a few years previously, themselves in the bondage of super stition. The right method of evangelising the people is found in the employment of converted officers of their own race and speech.

In Japan, for instance, 98% of the officers are Japanese.

New Organisations.

The progress which continued under the second general is not to be measured merely by an extended front. New organisations have been called into existence, espe cially for influencing and instructing the young of both sexes. Careful provision has been made to insure a constant replenish ment of officers by means of institutes for the training of cadets.

In each year upwards of 1,800 young men and women are trained for Army work, to which they have to devote the whole of their time. Congresses on national and international lines are held fre quently for the instruction and encouragement of officers; and constantly increasing use is made of the printing-press.

Social Work.

The social work, which received its first great impetus in 1890 with the publication of In Darkest England and the Way Out, by William Booth, has become not only more ex tensive but more varied in character. This work from the first has been regarded by the Army leaders as an organised warfare against social evils in order to clear the way for evangelisation.

It was realised that the physical and environmental condition of many of the people, especially in great cities, made it extremely difficult for them to apprehend the spiritual message which the Army had to deliver. Therefore various social activities arose, diverse in character but all actuated by the same purpose, from the provision of free breakfasts and night shelters to the settle ment of people in overseas dominions. This last is a department of work characterised by careful selection of the emigrants, and is coupled, particularly in the case of the young, with training beforehand and effective provision for future care, while work is assured upon arrival. The efforts of the Army in getting men to work on the land, both in England and overseas, have called forth many commendations from statesmen and others.

Rescue work among women was one of the earliest social tasks to which the Army set its hand. In this work Mrs. Florence Booth, wife of Gen. Bramwell Booth, was the responsible leader from its inception until 1912. Maternity work has been carried out by the Army's ministering women, and for this in 1918 the Army received a grant from the British Government—the first state subsidy made to the Army in the country of its origin. In other lands also social work has proceeded, adapted to the different national conditions and needs, and often commended and assisted by the governments concerned. This is true also of eastern lands : thus settlements for criminals have been established in India, and leper colonies in the Dutch Indies; and these are but instances of many such works.