第123章 A PRACTICAL CONCLUSION.(7)

5.But those show a curious ignorance who set down our successes to this discipline,as though it were something of the prison order,although enforced without any of the power lying either behind the prison warder or the Catholic priest.On the contrary,wherever the discipline of the Army has been endangered,and its regular success for a time interrupted,it has been through an attempt to enforce it without enough of that joyous,cheerful spirit of love which is its main spring.Nobody can become acquainted with our soldiers in any land,without being almost immediately struck with their extraordinary gladness,and this joy is in itself one of the most infectious and influential elements of the Army's success.But if this be so,amid the comparatively well to do,judge of what its results are likely to be amongst the poorest and most wretched!To those who have never known bright days,the mere sight of a happy face is as it were a revelation and inspiration in one.

6.But the Army's success does not come with magical rapidity;it depends,like that of all real work,upon infinite perseverance.

To say nothing of the perseverance of the Officer who has made the saving of men his life work,and who,occupied and absorbed with this great pursuit,may naturally enough be expected to remain faithful,there are multitudes of our Soldiers who,after a hard day's toil for their daily bread,have but a few hours of leisure,but devote it ungrudgingly to the service of the War.Again and again,when the remains of some Soldier are laid to rest,amid the almost universal respect of a town,which once knew him only as an evil-doer,we hear it said that this man,since the date of his conversion,from five to ten years ago,has seldom been absent from his post,and never without good reason for it.His duty may have been comparatively insignificant,"only a door-keeper,""only a War Cry seller,"yet Sunday after Sunday,evening after evening,he would be present,no matter who the commanding officer might be,to do his part,bearing with the unruly,breathing hope into the distressed,and showing unwavering faithfulness to all.The continuance of these processes of mercy depends largely upon leadership,and the creation and maintenance of this leadership has been one of the marvels of the Movement.We have men to-day looked up to and reverenced over wide areas of country,arousing multitudes to the most devoted service,who a few years ago were champions of iniquity,notorious in nearly every form of vice,and some of them ringleaders in violent opposition to the Army.We have a right to believe that on the same lines God is going to raise up just such leaders without measure and without end.

Beneath,behind,and pervading all the successes of the Salvation Army is a force against which the world may sneer,but without which the world's miseries cannot be removed,the force of that Divine love which breathed on Calvary,and which God is able to communicate by His spirit to human hearts to-day.

It is pitiful to see intelligent men attempting to account,without the admission of this great fact,for the self-sacrifice and success of Salvation Officers and Soldiers.If those who wish to understand the Army would only take the trouble to spend as much as twenty-four hours with its people,how different in almost every instance would be the conclusions arrived at.Half-an-hour spent in the rooms inhabited by many of our officers would be sufficient to convince,even a well-to-do working man,that life could not be lived happily in such circumstances without some superhuman power,which alike sustains and gladdens the soul,altogether independently of earthly surroundings.

The Scheme that has been propounded in this volume would,we are quite satisfied,have no chance of success were it not for the fact that we have such a vast supply of men and women who,through the love of Christ ruling in their hearts,are prepared to look upon a life of self-sacrificing effort for the benefit of the vilest and roughest as the highest of privileges.With such a force at command,we dare to say that the accomplishment of this stupendous undertaking is a foregone conclusion,if the material assistance which the Army does not possess is forthcoming.

THE SALVATION ARMY SOCIAL REFORM WING.

Temporary Headquarters 36,UPPER THAMES STREET,LONDON,E.C.

OBJECTS.--The bringing together of employers and workers for their mutual advantage.Making known the wants of each to each by providing a ready method of communication.

PLAN OF OPERATION.--The Opening of a Central Registry Office,which for the present will be located at the above address,and where registers will be kept free of charge wherein the wants of both employers and workers will be recorded,the registers being open for consultation by all interested.

Public Waiting Rooms (for male and female),to which the unemployed may come for the purpose of scanning the newspapers,the insertion of advertisements for employment in all newspapers at lowest rates.

Writing tables,&c.,provided for their use to enable them to write applications for situations on work.The receiving of letters (replies to applications for employment)for unemployed workers.

The Waiting Rooms will also act as Houses-of-Call,where employers can meet and enter into engagements with Workers of all kinds,by appointment or otherwise,thus doing away with the snare that awaits many of the unemployed,who have no place to wait other than the Public House,which at present is almost the only "house-of-call"for Out-of-Work men.

By making known to the public generally the wants of the unemployed by means of advertisements,by circulars,and direct application to employers,the issue of labour statistics with information as to the number of unemployed who are anxious for work,the various trades and occupations they represent,&c.,&c.