712 



SALVATION ARMY. 



SANTO DOMINGO. 



fore buying, and buy without money and with- 

 out price. They name their buildings Salva- 

 tion barracks, store, factory, or warehouse, as 

 the case may be anything to avoid the pre- 

 judice that is supposed to exist in the minds 

 of the common people against churches arid 

 religion generally. By adding the head " Sal- 

 vation," they describe the nature and object 

 of the meetings held there. 



They parade the streets with banner and 

 music. Their songs of praise, instruments of 

 music, and distinct uniform, attract the crowd 

 wherever they go. By this means many are 

 induced to enter their " barracks " who for 

 years have never entered a church, and sel- 

 dom, if ever, listen to the word of God. They 

 recognize the philosophy of making the people 

 feel at home. Formality and stiffness must be 

 got rid of, and the services rendered homely, 

 varied, and bright. They do not adhere to any 

 particular routine or form of service ; but, as 

 a general rule, the leader announces a hymn, 

 and reads and expounds it verse by verse in 

 the order of singing. The singing is of the 

 heartiest description. The tunes are mostly 

 old Methodist tunes ; but even worldly airs do 

 not come amiss to them. Many of their songs 

 have lively and inspiriting choruses and re- 

 frains, which easily impress themselves on the 

 popular mind. The chorus, with the Salvation 

 Army, is the principal part of the singing. It 

 is repeated over and over again, sometimes with 

 striking variations. The soldiers are massed 

 upon the platform facing the audience, and 

 beat time on their drums and tambourines. 

 "While singing the last stanza, they drop on 

 their knees. Their prayers are invariably short, 

 and are characterized by an apparent free-and- 

 easiness which seems to border on undue fa- 

 miliarity. But they never for a moment lay 

 aside their consciousness that they are in the 

 immediate presence of God. After about three 

 prayers, interspersed with snatches of song, 

 they rise from their knees. Then follows a 

 Bible-lesson, and sometimes a brief comment. 

 Their creed is extremely simple ; it is just that 

 which is deemed essential to salvation by all 

 orthodox churches. They say to their hear- 

 ers: " You are serving either God or the devil. 

 It is infinitely blessed to serve God, and eter- 

 nally disastrous to serve Satan." And on this 

 statement they base their appeal for an instant 

 decision to renounce the evil and choose the 

 good ; at the same time they declare that Christ 

 is present, ready to save every one who feels 

 he is a sinner and desires to be saved. 



Their public speaking is singularly destitute 

 of the controversial element. There is no theo- 

 logical discussion, no expounding of doctrines. 

 They never argue or dispute. They attack no 

 system of religion. There is nothing that can 

 possibly stir up resentment in any person of 

 another faith. At the close of a meeting, sin- 

 ners are urged to come forward for prayer. 



They live and move in the revival spirit all 

 the year round. As a preaching medium they 



use the experiences of their converts, on the 

 principle that the class they seek to rescue can 

 best be influenced by members of the same 

 class. They teach their converts that they are 

 responsible for the salvation of others, and ex- 

 hort them to put forth continuous and daily 

 efforts to this end. 



Contributions are received at the services 

 of the various stations, and the converts are 

 taught that they must contribute to the sup- 

 port of the work. Local treasurers have charge 

 of the finances, and present balance-sheets to 

 their corps, and all accounts are inspected by 

 the staff. The officers have no salary guaran- 

 teed, but are instructed to trust in God for 

 their support. Every station makes a weekly 

 return of its receipts and expenditures, attend- 

 ances and converts, so that the material and 

 spiritual state of the force may always be seen 

 at a glance. After the expenses of the corps 

 are met such as rent of hall and gas, officers' 

 support, etc. the remainder, if any, is sent to 

 the " war-chest," at headquarters, to become 

 the "sinews of war" for prosecuting the work 

 in other fields. General Booth receives noth- 

 ing out of the Army funds, being sustained 

 from an independent source. 



Major Moore says: "In this our America, 

 after three years of severe toil and suffering, 

 the work has taken a deep hold, notwithstand- 

 ing many unexpected difficulties. It is confi- 

 dently expected to extend its efforts to every 

 State' of the Union, and never retreat till the 

 judgment-day. It is only a question of time 

 requisite to train officers for the work, and 

 every city in the United States will have its 

 corps of the Salvation Army, and the question 

 of how to reach the masses will have been 

 settled by reaching them." 



SAJTTO DOMINGO, a republic occupying the 

 eastern portion of the "West Indian island of 

 that name, the western portion being Hayti, 

 which see. 



Area and Population, The area of the republic 

 of Santo Domingo is 17,827 square miles. The 

 population was estimated in 1880 at 300,000, 

 but it has since then been considerably on the 

 increase, a strong current of immigration hav- 

 ing set in from neighboring islands, and many 

 settlers and planters arrived from the United 

 States. The republic is divided into five 

 provinces and four maritime districts. The 

 capital city is Santo Domingo. 



Government. The President is Gen. Ulysses 

 Heureaux, and the Vice-President Gen. Casi- 

 miro N. Moya. The Cabinet in 1883 was com- 

 posed of the following ministers: Interior, 

 W. Figueredo; Foreign Affairs, S. Imbert; Jus- 

 tice, Public Works, and Instruction, T. Mejia ; 

 Finance and Commerce, E. G. Marchana; and 

 War and Navy, A. Woz y Gil. The United 

 States Consul at the city of Santo Domingo is 

 Mr. H. C., C. Astwood, and the Dominican 

 Consul-General, for the Union, at New York, 

 is Mr. J. Delmonte ; the Consul at New York, 

 Mr. H. Billini ; and at Boston, Mr. E. M. Fowle. 



