The Saint Paul globe., 1897-09-20
ON HIS Way TO THE COAST.
WILL OPEN UP THEIR WORK IN
SOME OF THE WESTERN
STATES.
FIGURES on ORDERS GROWTH.
Movement witch Is Distinctly
American Has Met with Phe-
-s-l. nOmenal Success.

of the Volunteers Of America, arrived
in st. Paul yesterday from Chicago
ever the Northwestern. Commander
Booth is on his way to the Pacific
coast, accompanied by his secretary,
Maj. Fred Gardner, and will stop ell
route at a number of points, including
Butte, Helena, Spokane, Tacoma,
Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, San
Diego and San Francisco, for the pur-
pose of holding meetings. He went
through to Minneapolis, where he spent
the day. s4t
Commander Booth was seen in the
sleeper at the union depot
q am on my way West in the inter-
ests of our organization, and expect
to hold over fifty meetings before my
return, about a month hence' said he
Il have undertaken the trip because
of the fact that we have for some time
been fairly inundated with appeals to
open UP our work in the West, and L
feel that the people are at length rec
ognizing the radical points of differ
ence between the Volunteers and the
Salvation Army Briefly summarized,
some of these points of difference arc:
The government of the old organiZa-
ton is an autocracy, or one-man pow
er. General Booth elects himself and
his successor, and the movement in
the United States is under his control,
with headquarters in London. In the
new movement the commander-in-
chief was elected by a council of Of
ficers, and will in the future be elected
by the votes of all the soldiers.
I'm the old movement the sacrament
tai and baptiSInal rites were not adopt
ed, while in the Volunteers they have
been introduced. In the Salvation
Army the principal officers are not or.
dained, but every officer of the Volun-
teers of or above the rank of major
is ordained in accordance with the
rules of the church Of God in general.
[ am myself presbyter and hold an
ordination certificate indorsed by cler-
gyrnen of almost every denomination.
The old organization was not affiliated
with the churches, but ours is a strong
auxiliary OF the churches.
Then, too, the uniform of the Saliva
tion Army is patterned after that of
foreign army, while ours is similar to
that of the United States army. All
the property of the Salvation Army
is held in the name of one man. The
property Of &le Volunteers of America
is vested in representative board of
trustees, themselves American citi-
ZenS."
Asked as to the practical work Of
the Volunteers, the comparative
growth and the actual increase. since
the beginning, Commander Booth
made the following precise statement,
which is very interesting and COM
plete and accurate:
1T is now about seventeen months since
God. in His Providence, revealed it to be
His will, and the American public made
known their desire that we should inaugurate
this new movement affiliated with the
churches, and distinctly American in char
acter.
Its growth has been truly phenomenal and
remarkable Though we have scrupulously
avoided any display Of figures, believing them
to be Inadequate in setting forth the great
coed done yet as they are perhaps the most
concise method of conveying our growth to
teers of America have now eight regiments,
their 'centers being located In New
York city Philadelphia, Boston, Buffa-
10, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Minneap-
oils and San Francisco These are
subdivided into sixteen battalions and detach-
ments, in addition to our national headquar-
ters, in which we publish THE Volunteer
Gazette" and employ some forty people.
There are already 92 staff officers, and over
500 commanding officers, whose whole time is
used in furthering the interests Of our phil
Work, Dy lar the larger majority
of whom have been raised in own ranks.
As a further instance of the manner in which
the movement has taken hold of the public,
l may state that / have just received through
our reports information that during
recent month 2142 open air meetings were
held, reaching about 100000 people, while
about 1000 attended our week-night SER
vices, exclusive of the 10000 attending our
Sunday services in the armories throughout
the states
ION an average 0,O0O people a year arc
processing conversion in our meetings and
we have every reason to believe that it is
only question of short time Until we shall
be able to raise force of consecrated evan
gelists from our own ranks, enabling to
more effectually reach the unreached.
'tThe Defenders league is a thoroughly
representative group of all evangelical de-
nominations, and includes some of the fore
most citizens of the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. min
listers. lawyers, physicians, literary men and
merchants, who subscribe s. per annum to-
wards the support of The movement. There
are several thousands of such permanent
friends ct the present time. By means least
in our work is the prison branch. The Volun-
teers have nearly ], 500 members in their pris-
on league with the state prisons, and are in
touch with nearly 5000 prisoners by corre-
sPcndence. Surely those figures at this stage
of our work are sufficient proof of its sue
cess, and Of the vast good produced by its
existence, to say nothing OF their promise for
its future advance.
Commander Booth held two meetings in