The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-03-15
SAL NATION ARMY OFFICIAL TELLS
 OF CORPS WORK
Answer Statement Attribut. ed to Dr. Gerald H. Beard and Asks
 Questions.

-f
 Questions.
 Rev. Gerald H. Beard:
 My dear Sir: Ess
 In your letter of. the 10th inst. to the local papers you say that eight years ago there was not single place in the city to which men who were down and out could be sent with any assurance that they would be effectu- ally cared for and helped.
 The one or two missions that exist ed were either financially untrustwor- thy or, religiously soft or both. Now at this time we had home Lfor homeless men, or down and outs as you put it, in the north end or Bridgeport, so happen to be one or the missions that you designate finan- ciaIly intrusive orthy or rel1g1ously soft or both.
 You give me to understand that it is your opinion that any mission or organization which disposed Of public funds and did not keep a proper ac- count of same and did not issue a yearly report were financially un- trustworthy. I agree with you in this, but before making this assertion. would it not have been better for vou to have investigated these one or two missions to see if they did make a report and keep a proper account of all moneys entrusted into their care for the purpose of charity?
 Never mind the others. l want to point out to you that the Salvation Army Industrial Department does is- sue a yearly report. and also keeps an accurate account of all financial transactions. These accounts are audited at least twice year by an auditor from New York, who sees that we keep our ac- counts properly, and demands re- ceipt for every cent we spend of the public .money, also these receipts are pasted in voucher book for the au- ditor's inspection. Do you think this is untrustworthy or not?
 Perhaps it will be news to you to know how we deal with the problem of the men whom you call down and out. When a man applies to us Tor assistance, he is not asked what creed he is or what nationality, or a lot of unnecessary questions, all we see is a man who is down, either by his own fault or force of circumstances, and
 
 en a meal, and then we fill in an ad- mission card for our filing cabinet. This has the mans age, color of hair and eyes, height, weight and any other particulars that we think will be necessary. Also the name and ad- dress of his nearest relative so that in case of serious sickness, accident or death we can notify his relatives. Should this man die, having no friends, the Salvation Army will bury him and pay all necessary expenses, should he be sick he is given free medical attendance and his medicine is paid for until he is well again. Is there another, place%in the city that will give these men free medical at tendance and medicine? Does this give you the assurance that these down and outs are effectually cared for and helped?
 At this point let me tell you that we of the Industrial Department do not solicit or collect one red cent to carry on our work, but we try and meet our needs out of the money we get for the household waste that our wagons collect from day to day. We turn all this waste labor and waste material into usefulness again. Is this effectual and efficient in your judgment?
 Then we have the words of our Lord and master: 'I was hungered and you fed me-" The Salvation Ar my supplied last year 14.015 meals to hungry men. "I was, naked and ye clothed me- The Salvation Army last year gave away hundreds of gar ments and shoes to these men. 'I was a stranger and ye took me in." The Salvation Army supplied 4,650 beds to homeless men last year, and not one belonged to our organization.
 Kindly look over the above figures and see if this does convince you that these down and outs were effectually cared for and helped. l
 Then you say that any denomina- ton that does not preach the word in a proper manner is religiously soft.
 When we stand on the street cor ner we tell out of a full heart what God has done for us, and if our meth ods appear strange to you we6are only fulfilling the command "Go ye out into the highways and byways and compel them to come in.'' It does not take much grit to stand up in a church and tell out thE story, where everyone is sympathetic and friendly, but it does take some backbone to stand out in the open air and face jeering, sneering and sometimes a hostile crowd and tell out the story of the Cross.
 Our methods are strange, but never theless effective to win souls for the Master. This soft religion makes the heart soft, but keeps the head level. It takes out the stony heart and places in it's place a heart of flesh that can feel for it's fellow man.
 This religion which you call soft changes a drunken sot into sober man, a liar into a truthful man, a swearer into a man who can converse with anyone without using filthy Ian. guage, wife beater into loving and tender of soft hearted man, in fact we could go on to enumerate hun dreds of different types this soft re- l:gion changes. Thank God for a soft religion.
 Only this week a man got a doze of this soft religion. He was down and out through drink. as far down