Chapter XXVI: Organisation

The high reputation which The General gained as an Organiser seems to make it desirable to explain, as fully as we can, what he aimed at, and by what means he made The Army the remarkable combination it has become. We have, happily, in several of our books his own dissertations on the subject, for he always sought to make clear to all who should follow him, especially in this respect, the reasons for his plans. In his introduction to _Orders and Regulations for Staff Officers_, he writes as follows:--

"Some of the Converts resided in other parts of London, and they
soon commenced themselves to hold Meetings afterwards, and to win
souls in their localities. I was entreated to care for these also.
The Christian Churches, even when they were willing to receive
these Converts, were as a result generally so much occupied with
the maintenance of their own existence, or so lukewarm in coping
with the necessities of the poor people, as to be unequal to the
task of caring for them. I soon found that the majority of those
who joined the Churches either relapsed again into open
backsliding, or became half-hearted professors. I was, therefore,
driven to select men and women who I knew to be lovers of souls,
and to be living holy lives, for the purpose of caring for these
new Converts. These helpers I afterwards directed to hold Meetings
in the streets and in cottages, and then in Halls and other Meeting
Places. The Lord was with them in great power, and hundreds of
wicked and godless people were converted and united together in
separate societies.

"These operations were, in course of time, extended to the
Provinces, where my late beloved wife, who was my unfailing helper
and companion in this work until God took her from me, preached
with much acceptance and remarkable results. It soon became
difficult, and at length impossible, for me to express my wishes
and give my instructions to my helpers by word of mouth, and
consequently I had to issue them in the form of correspondence.
This I also soon found to be a task beyond my ability. And yet, if
unity and harmony were to be preserved among the people God had
given me, and if the work were to be carried on successfully, it
was evident that they must know my wishes. I was, therefore,
compelled to _print_ such Directions and Rules as I deemed to be
necessary.

"This practice has continued to the present day, and been increased
by reason of the advance of the Work to an extent I never could
have anticipated. Some seventeen years ago I issued a volume of
_Orders and Regulations for Field Officers_. More than once since
then this book has been enlarged, and revised to date, and,
although some further developments have been made since that time,
that volume may be taken as the expression, in general terms, of my
present convictions of what a Field Officer of The Salvation Army
should be and do, and as such I commend it to the attention of
Officers and Soldiers of every rank in The Army throughout the
world.

"Soon after the publication of the _Orders and Regulations for
Field Officers_, a volume describing the duties of Divisional
Officers was issued. This volume has also been outgrown, by reason
of continued developments in the organisation of the Army rendering
further enlargements necessary.

"Meanwhile, the ablest and most devoted Officers throughout the
world have been contriving, and, with the authority of
Headquarters, executing what have seemed the wisest and best
methods for attaining the objects we have in view. It now appears
to me not only desirable, but absolutely necessary, that these
usages should be again examined and classified, and, if found to be
in harmony with our principles, corrected, reduced to writing, and
then, endorsed by my authority, published for the benefit of The
Army throughout the world, and for the advantage also of those who
will hereafter be our successors in the responsibility for carrying
forward the War. The _Orders and Regulations_ contained in this
volume are the result.

"It was my intention to make this book a complete Compendium of
Regulations for Staff Officers of all Departments in all parts of
the world; but it became evident that, owing to the multiplication
of the different branches of our operations, and the diversity of
the Regulations required by their varied character and conditions,
such a volume would have been swollen to most inconvenient
dimensions, and I therefore determined to omit everything not
applying to the Officers under the command of the British
Commissioner.

"It must not be inferred from this that the Staff Officers employed
at International Headquarters, or of those engaged in the Social
Work, do not rank equally with those whose duties are herein
described. Further _Orders and Regulations_ required by them, and
for Staff Officers in other Territories, will be issued from time
to time as needed. The Regulations contained in Part I of this
volume are to be carried out as far as possible in all Territories
and Departments.

"The Regulations herein contained must not be regarded as a final
authority on the duties and responsibilities to which they refer.
Development has been the order of The Army from the beginning, and
will, I hope, remain so to the end. Our methods must of necessity
be always changing with the ever varying character and
circumstances of the people whom we seek to benefit. But our
principles remain as unchangeable as the Throne of Jehovah. It is
probable that in succeeding years other _Orders and Regulations_
will be issued by the Central Authority to take the place of these
I am now publishing. It is right, and safe, and necessary that it
should be so. God will, I believe, continue to make known from time
to time, to those who follow His good pleasure, the way in which
the War should be carried on, and The Army will, I hope, continue
to receive and record in _Orders and Regulations_ that manifested
Will, and, by obedience, continue to go forward from victory unto
victory!

"I think I may truthfully say that in no words which it has been my
privilege to write in the past, and in no work that it has ever
been my lot to undertake, have I been more conscious of the
presence and guidance of another Spirit, than in the preparation of
these Regulations. That Spirit has been, I believe, the Spirit of
Eternal Light. I have asked wisdom of God, and I verily believe
that my request has been favourably regarded. Of this, I think,
these Regulations will, to those for whom they have been prepared,
bear witness.

"These Regulations are not, I repeat, intended as a finality. If
any Staff Officer into whose hand this book may come, or may be
brought into knowledge of the working of the Regulations contained
in it, can suggest any improvement, let him do so. If he can show
any plan by which the end aimed at can be more simply, or
inexpensively, or effectually gained, either as regards work, or
men, or methods, or money, by all means let him make the discovery
known to us. God is in no wise confined to any particular person
for the revelation of His will. It would be the vainest of vain
desires were I so foolish as to wish that it should be so. Let Him
speak by whom He will. What I want to see is the work done, souls
saved, and the world made to submit at the Saviour's feet.

"I cannot conclude without saying that there has been present with
me, all the way through the preparation of this book, a vivid sense
of the utter powerlessness of all system, however wisely it may
have been framed, which has not in the application of it that
Spirit of Life who alone imparts the vital force without which no
extensive or permanent good can be effected.

"And now, on the completion of my task, and at the moment of
placing it in the hands of my Officers, this conviction is forced
upon me in an increasing, I may almost say, a painful, degree.

"No one can deny that the religious world is full of forms which
have little or no practical influence on the minds, or hearts, or
lives, of those who travel the weary round of their performances
day by day. Are the Regulations that I am now issuing at no distant
date going to swell the number of these dead and powerless systems?
God forbid that it should be so! Nothing could be further from my
contemplation than such a result.

"However, there must be Regulations. They are necessary. If work is
to be done at all, it must be done after some particular fashion,
and if one fashion is better than another--which no one amongst us
will question--it must be the wisest course to discover that best
fashion, and to describe it in plain language, so that it may be
acted upon throughout our borders until some better method is made
known. We want certain things done in The Army for the Salvation of
souls, for the deliverance of the world from sin and misery, and
for the glory of our God; and the Regulations herein set forth
represent the best methods at present known either to me, or to
those around me, for the accomplishment of these things. Therefore
praying for God's blessing upon them I send them forth with the
expectation that the Staff Officers whom they concern will render a
faithful, conscientious, and believing obedience to all that they
enjoin."

All this was only written in 1904, and there has been nothing since materially to change the system set forth in the 350 odd pages which follow, and which explain as fully as was necessary how the plans which are so fully explained in the volume of _Orders and Regulations for Field Officers_, above referred to, were to be carried into effect throughout the whole country.

The opening chapter of these _Regulations_ explains the Organisation as follows:--

"THE GENERAL DIVISIONS OF THE ARMY

"The divisions of The Army in the Field are at present as follow:--

"Ward, under the charge of a Sergeant.

"Corps, under the charge and command of a Field Officer.

"Section, under the charge and command of a Sectional Officer.

"Division, under the charge and command of a Divisional Commander.

"Province, under the charge and command of a Provincial Commander.

"Territory, under the charge and command of a Territorial
Commissioner.

"A Ward is a part of a town or neighbourhood in which a Corps is
operating, placed under the charge of Local Officers, whose duty it
is to watch over the welfare of the Soldiers and Recruits belonging
to it.

"A Corps is that portion of a country in which a separate work is
carried on, and for which it is responsible. It may consist of a
city, a town, or a particular district of either, and it may
include one or more Societies in adjoining places, or it may
consist of a number of such Societies grouped together, in which
case it is called a Circle Corps.

"A Section is a group of Corps placed under the command of one or
more Officers.

"A Division consists of a number of Corps grouped together with
that part of a country in which these Corps are situated.

"A Province comprises a number of Divisions.

"A Territory consists of a Country, or part of a Country, or
several Countries combined together, as The General may decide."

In _Orders and Regulations_ for his Territorial Commissioners, that is, those who hold the highest command over whole countries, he writes:--

"The higher the authority with which Officers are entrusted, and
the larger the responsibilities resting upon them, the greater is
the need for that absolute devotion to the principles of The Army,
and that complete abandonment to the purposes of God which our
_Orders and Regulations_ express and represent, and without which
no system, however perfect, and no body of men, however capable,
can achieve the great work He has called us to do in establishing
the Kingdom of God in the earth."

One of the greatest problems connected with all organisation is the keeping up to the ideal of those who are in danger of forgetting it; and, therefore, the following section will, we think, be found especially interesting to those who may ask, How has it been done, or how is it to be done? It is the section on "The Development of Field Officers," and reads as follows:--

"The Divisional Officer is responsible for seeking to develop the
spiritual life of the F.O.'s. No matter what gifts or zeal the
Officer may possess, if he is not walking in the light, and living
in the favour of God, it is vain to hope that he will be really
successful.

"The D.O. must always, therefore, when he comes in contact with
Officers under his command, make inquiries with regard to their
spiritual life, leading them to acknowledge their faults and heart
conflicts, so that he may give suitable counsel and help.

"The D.O. must regard himself as responsible to God for
maintaining the _devotion_ of the Officers under him to the great
purpose to which they have already consecrated their lives. He
cannot expect to deal faithfully with an Officer on such matters
unless he does so, and he must bear in mind how easy it is to draw
back from that whole-hearted sacrifice without which no Officer can
succeed.

"The D.O. must see that his Officers possess, and live in, the
_spirit_ of The Army. Without it their Officership will be like a
body without a soul, or like a locomotive without any power. The
D.O. must encourage Officers to cry out to God for this, and must
continually explain its importance.

"The D.O. must understand that if Officers under his command
decline in their love for souls and become careless about the
progress of their work, he will have failed in a very important
part of his duty. The D.O. exists for the purpose of helping and
saving his F.O.'s.

"The D.O. is responsible for the development of energy and
enterprise in his Officers. One great temptation of F.O.'s is to
settle down and to be content with a formal discharge of duty, and,
what is worse still, to offer all sorts of excuses for their
lackadaisical Laodicean condition. Few people have in themselves
sufficient force of character, human or Divine, to keep them
pushing ahead for any considerable length of time. Officers who
when they first enter the Field are like flames of fire, will, if
not looked after, get into ruts, and content themselves with
holding so many Meetings, doing so many marches, raising the
ordinary Corps funds, Meeting the ordinary expenditure, keeping the
ordinary number of Soldiers on the Roll, and doing everything in
the ordinary day, while the world, undisturbed, is going forward at
express speed to Hell. The D.O. should endeavour to prevent this
settling down on the part of his Officers by continually stirring
up their minds with inducements to labour and encouragements to
renewed activity and increased sacrifice for the Salvation of the
world.

"The D.O. is also responsible for the improvement of the gifts of
his Officers and of their efficiency for the work they have in
hand. He must not only show them wherein they fail, but must teach
them how they may do better.

"The D.O. must encourage his Officers. If they have gifts and
capacities--and none are without some--he should cheer them
forward by acknowledging them. He should point out where they do
well, at the same time setting before them the higher positions of
usefulness they may reach with a little application and
perseverance. He may always remind them of Officers who during the
early part of their career have had little success, but who, by
sticking to the fight have reached positions of great usefulness.
There are few Officers who during their early days are not cast
down and tempted to think that they do not possess the gifts
necessary to success, and that they have missed their vocation in
becoming Officers. This class of melancholy feelings should be
battled with by the D.O. with all his might, for if allowed to run
their course the result will be not only depression, but despair,
and perhaps desertion.

"The D.O. should give particular attention to the development of
the ability, energy, and religion of the Lieutenants in his
Division. Their position in a Corps often makes it difficult for
them to exercise their gifts to advantage, and they are often
depressed and discouraged. A D.O. should always inquire on his
visiting a Corps having a Lieutenant--

"Whether he is happy with his C.O. and in the Work;

"What special work he has to do and for which he is actually
responsible.

"Every Division must have its own Officers' Meeting, which should
always be conducted by the Divisional Officer, unless the
Provincial Commander, or some Officer representing Headquarters be
present.

"Every Officer in the Division must be present at, at least, one
Officers' Meeting in each month; and where it is possible, in great
centres Meetings should be held once a week. The D.O. must be
careful that the Officers' Meetings do not involve a financial
burden on the Officers, and he must make such plans as will avoid
this, and submit the same to the P.C.

"It will sometimes be found convenient to pool the travelling
expenses, but this may easily work unfavourably to the smaller
Corps instead of in their favour, and in such cases the D.O. must
assist his F.O's with part of the travelling expenses incurred in
attending Officers' Meetings in all such cases where F.O's are
drawing the standard salary or less for their support. Should his
Funds be insufficient to meet the whole of the burden in such
cases, he must apply to the P.C. for assistance.

"The Officers' Meetings should always be held in a comfortable
room of a size proportionate to the number of Officers present. The
Officers should be seated directly before the leader.

"Only Field Officers shall be admitted. A D.O. who wishes to meet
his Local Officers with his F.O. may announce a Special Meeting for
that purpose at any time.

"There shall always be at the beginning of a Meeting some
considerable time spent in prayer for--

"The Officers present and the Division in general;

"The universal Army, its Officers and Soldiers, and especially for
any portion of it that may be suffering persecution or passing
through trial;

"For wisdom for those upon whom the direction of the Army lies;

"The supply of money and all else needed to carry on the War.

"The mightier baptisms of the Holy Ghost, and the Salvation of a
large number of souls.

"The D.O., or any other Officer present, shall have the
opportunity, if desired, of pouring out his soul in loving
exhortation to his comrades, but nothing in the nature of
discussion or the expression of opinions on any orders that may be
given must be permitted.

"The Officer being most used of God at the time should be asked to
urge his fellows to more holy living, greater self-denial, and
increased activity.

"There shall be the opportunity for the publication of any great
blessing that may have been obtained, or any remarkable work of
grace that may have been realised in the souls of the Officers
present, or in their Corps, or for the description of any other
wonderful work of God that may have been wrought during the week in
the Division. When at all possible, every Officer present should
pray aloud during the Meeting.

"There should occasionally be a time set apart for the confession
of unfaithfulness and for the open reconsecration to God and the
War on the part of any Officer.

"There should be a general rededication of all present to the War
at every Meeting.

"There must be a time set apart for the statement by the D.O. of
any event of general interest to the whole Army, or of any
remarkable occurrence in the Division, or any Meetings,
Demonstrations, or other services of importance that may be likely
soon to take place in the Division or elsewhere.

"There must be an opportunity after the Meeting, to transact
business. It is of the greatest importance that there should always
be time allowed for personal intercourse between the D.O. and the
Officers present. The D.O. should always announce at the
commencement of the Meeting that he will be glad to see any Officer
present, personally, at its close.

"It will be seen what an enormous power the D.O. possesses in this
Meeting for inspiring, directing, and controlling all the forces of
his Division; how every week he can spend the greater part of a
day, and as much more time as he likes, in making his Officers, who
have the leadership of The Army in that neighbourhood, think and
feel exactly as he does. How solemnly important, then, must it be
that the D.O. should think and feel just as our Lord Jesus Christ
would have him think and feel on such an occasion, and in the
presence of such an opportunity.

"It is most important that the D.O. should arrange beforehand, with
great care, such business as will have to be transacted. For
instance, he should have, among other things--

"A list of the matters requiring attention. He will save himself
much trouble and correspondence, much loss of time, and much
expense in travelling by seeing the Officers about matters that
concern their Corps, and themselves personally at the Meeting. If
he have no such list, it is probable he will forget some of the
most important questions of business he has on hand.

"He should have a list of the Officers he wants to see, together
with the business upon which it is necessary that he should confer
with them.

"Notes must always be taken by him of the results of these
interviews, according to rule. Especially should any engagements
the D.O. makes for himself be carefully recorded.

"The D.O. should make some personal spiritual preparation for the
Meeting. There must of necessity be many things of a perplexing and
trying character in connexion with the Officers whom he will have
to meet, and the condition of the Corps concerning which he will
have information. He ought, therefore, to make an opportunity
beforehand for special prayer for Divine guidance and strength, and
so enter the Meeting with his mind calm, and confident in the
assurance not only of the Divine favour in his own soul, but that
God will sustain and direct him in the Meeting and in all the
business that may subsequently come before him.

"The condition of heart and spirit in the D.O. at such times will
be instinctively felt by every Officer in the room before the
Meeting has been going on for a quarter of an hour, and this will
have far more influence--as has been remarked before--on his
Command than anything he may say or do. How important is it, then,
that he should be as Saul among the prophets--not only head and
shoulders above every one present as regards authority, but in the
possession of the wisdom and power of the Holy Ghost!"