410 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



TEE NEW JESUITISM: AND SOCIAL 

 REFORM. 



TIIE General of the Salvation Army 

 has, without intending it, rendered 

 a very considerable service to society by 

 provoking just the kind of discussion 

 that was most wanted at the present 

 time in regard to the best means of com- 

 bating the poverty which seems ever to 

 dog the steps of civilization. The " Gen- 

 eral" was perfectly confident that, if 

 the public would only supply him with 

 sufficient money, he could grapple with 

 the problem as far as the city of Lon- 

 don was concerned. His confidence 

 in himself begot confidence in him on 

 the part of others, and sufficient money 

 has been placed in his hands to enable 

 him to set about working out his 

 experiment. But, while a portion of 

 the public has thus proved responsive, 

 another portion has sought to know 

 something more about the "General's" 

 schemes and methods before deciding 

 on giving him support. Every one is 

 probably aware of the position taken up 

 by Prof. ITuxley in reference to this 

 matter. Having been consulted by a 

 friend as to whether he would advise 

 the giving of a large sum of money to 

 the " General's " fund, he frankly stated, 

 in a letter to the London Times, that the 

 methods of the Salvation Army did not 

 inspire him with confidence. "What he 

 saw was a vast organization centering 

 round Mr. Booth, and obeying his com- 

 mands with a submission almost as ab- 

 solute as that rendered by a monk to 

 the head of his order. In Prof. Hux- 

 ley's opinion the world has seen enough 

 of this kind of thing, and has had suffi- 

 cient experience of the corruption that 

 such personally-governed corporations 

 naturally undergo. His conclusion, 

 therefore, is that it would not be wise 

 on the part of any one who does not 



fully believe in Mr. Booth as a spiritual 

 leader and teacher to devote money to a 

 scheme the main result of which would 

 certainly be to increase that individual's 

 personal influence. The objections thus 

 taken on general grounds were found 

 to be fully justified by the special facts 

 which further inquiry revealed. The 

 methods of the " army " were found to 

 be such as an absolute autocracy might 

 be expected to develop. Under such a 

 system policy becomes paramount, and 

 moral principles, if they conflict with 

 policy, must fare as best they may. As 

 Prof. Huxley's letters to the Times have 

 lately been republished in this country, 

 we should recommend those who are 

 interested in the question as to the ex- 

 pediency of trusting to Mr. Booth's ar- 

 my to undertake social work, and of 

 furnishing it with funds for the pur- 

 pose, to study that question for them- 

 selves in the light of the facts which 

 Prof. Huxley brings forward. 



Meantime, we protest on broad sci- 

 entific grounds against the idea of in- 

 trusting social work to any organization 

 the methods and principles of which are 

 not open to the fullest criticism, or to 

 one the operations of which are under 

 the absolute control of a single will. 

 Mr. Booth professes that his main ob- 

 ject is to save souls. The saving of souls 

 is, in his opinion, bound up with the 

 adoption of a certain theological creed. 

 He really aims, while satisfying material 

 wants, at extending the sway of his own 

 ideas and beliefs. He wants to trans- 

 form society into a salvation army, and 

 he asks for money to enable him to car- 

 ry on the work directly and indirectly. 

 Let those assist who believe that it is 

 well for the world that Mr. Booth's 

 ideas should be more widely spread 

 among mankind ; but we do not seo 

 with what consistency men who hold 



