The Social Work of the Salvation ArmyLamb, Edwin Gifford
History
The Social Work of the Salvation Army
Lamb, Edwin Gifford
Poor; Salvation Army; Social history
The growth of the Hotel Department of the Army's work, like that of the
Industrial Department, has, of recent years, been great. Soon after the
publication in 1890 of General Booth's book, "Darkest England," the
hotel work was started in England, and its progress has been rapid. In
the United States at first the work did not make much headway. When
Commander Booth-Tucker came to take charge in 1896, there were three
small men's hotels situated in the cities of Buffalo, San Francisco,
and Seattle. At the present time, nearly every large city in England
and the United States has one or more of these hotels, the latter
country having 71 men's hotels and 4 women's hotels, with a total
accommodation of 8,688. The tendency now is toward fewer of the lower
class hotels, and more of the higher class; in other words, toward fewer
hotels where beds can be had for 10c and 15c, and more where they will
cost 20c and 25c. The Army gives as its reason for this the fact that
the cheaper hotel cannot be maintained in a wholesome manner and be
self-supporting.[47] Similar to the Industrial Department in its
management, the Hotel Department has its divisions, its graded officers
with their various responsibilities, and its head officer in charge at
the national headquarters. In the United States, however, unlike the
Industrial Department, the Hotel Department has no separate financial
company, in the form of a corporation, behind it. In some instances,
deserving men are given bed tickets and meal tickets free, by officers
detailed for the purpose, and, to that extent the hotels are a charity.
This is done with due discretion and does not make an appreciable
difference. The amount of charity indulged in by the Army in this way
is, however, probably responsible for the fact that in 1907, there was a
loss to the Army in this department of $4,500.00, not a very large
amount, considering the number of hotels concerned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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