There are four large conservatories, especially for tomatoes and flowers. A good many potatoes are raised, and there is a good deal of land in berries and orchard. There are three brick-yards with the latest improved kilns and machinery. These yards have been a very heavy expense and have not been satisfactory. For instance, in 1898, the year's sale of bricks amounted to £4717, while the expenditure of this department was £5563, this latter sum including the expense of repairing the drying fields, which that year were injured by a flood.[22] In the dairy department about twenty-five head of cattle provide the colony with milk and butter, while sometimes milk is sold at Southend. In the piggery the number of hogs runs from 200 to 500. The poultry department is given over to prize poultry breeding and has been successful in winning some noted prizes. The Inebriate's Home is licensed for twenty male inebriates who are charged from 25s. to 30s. per week. Between 60% and 70% are stated to be reclaimed after an average period of eight months' treatment. In addition to these departments it might be noted that there is a school on the colony with an attendance of 100, some of whom come from outside the colony, and a good sized hall, seating about 400, where gatherings are held for social and religious purposes.

For the feeding and lodging of the colonists, large preparations are made. They are graded according to their position in the colony, and an opportunity is given them to rise from the lower to the higher grades. The superintendent stated that this plan was found useful in stimulating ambition. There are two dormitories, both clean and well-kept, but the higher grade with better bedding and surroundings than the lower. This grading system is also maintained in the dining room, the higher grade of colonists being served with better food than the lower. Everything around the buildings is well-kept and orderly, and the general moral atmosphere of the colony seems to be healthful and up-lifting.

The industrial colony at Ft. Herrick, near Cleveland, Ohio, differs in many ways from the one at Hadleigh, and doubtless has been instrumental in aiding a good number of outcast and fallen men, but it has been such a burden financially, and such an unsolved problem in many ways, that it may be considered a failure. The reason for its failure is not so much bad management as lack of foresight on the part of those choosing the site. The site is in no sense suitable for a colony, the soil being unfit for intensive farming. Probably the best work done there has been the reformation of drunkards, a work in which, according to reports, the colony has been eminently successful.[23]

Coming now to the management of the Industrial Department in the United States, we find that it is an up-to-date business enterprise. The department is controlled by a corporation called "The Salvation Army Industrial Homes Co." already referred to in our introduction.[24] The management of the company is in the hands of the Army.[25] Under this central authority, we find the United States divided into three districts; the eastern district, with headquarters at New York; the central district with headquarters at Cleveland, and the western district with headquarters at Chicago. Each one of these districts has at its head a social secretary, and under him are the different officers in charge of the respective plants. Generally speaking, each local officer is supreme in his individual plant. He can adopt methods and means to suit the environment of his district, provided always that his methods mean success. There are no iron-clad rules to hold him in check beyond a system of bookkeeping and of making out detailed reports, which must be sent to headquarters. When about to engage in some new venture, however, such as securing a new location for his plant, opening up a store, or renting or purchasing new property, he must refer the project to his superior officer, before undertaking it. The local officer in charge has trusted employees under him, such as a warehouse boss, a kitchen boss, and stable boss, etc., each of whom is responsible to the officer for his department.

Although present to some extent in other countries the special field of the industrial work is the United States. The growth in this country during the recent years has been great. In 1896 there were no regular industrial homes; in 1904 there were 49 industrial institutions, and in control of these 49 institutions, there were 70 Army officers and 820 regular employees. The accommodation was about 1,100. During one month there were 225 cases that were considered unsatisfactory. There were 239 horses and wagons in daily use. About 1,000 tons of paper were baled and sold per month. Contrast this with the year 1907. In this year there were 84 officers engaged in these institutions and over 1,200 regular employees. There was accommodation for 1,651 men. The unsatisfactory cases for the year amounted to 1,389. There were 460 horses and wagons in daily use. An average of 2,500 tons of paper was sold each month. 16,875 men were placed in outside positions during the year. No large city in the United States is without this industrial work, and it is to be expected that, within a few years, there will be no city in the country with a population of 100,000 that does not have an industrial home, and that many cities with a smaller population will have one also. Already there are several cities with a population of less than 50,000 that have promising industrial plants. In London, the growth has not been so rapid, and the industrial institutions are run at a loss to the Army, but there are about eight industrial plants in that city, and others are to be found in other large cities of England.

We come now to the question of the value of the Salvation Army industrial work to society. From the preceding brief outline of the methods, material, labor, management and extent of the industrial work, it will be seen that it is a movement, unrestricted in scope, with an unlimited field of development as an economic enterprise. In certain fields where the Army is active, its work is considered of little or no value; but as a result of our investigation into this particular field, the conclusion is reached that, with the exception of the industrial colonies, it is a practical, social work, of value to society.

We make an exception of the industrial colonies because we do not consider that the two experiments already tried by the Army justify their own continuance or the starting of other similar colonies. The reference here is to Fort Herrick in Ohio, and the Hadleigh Colony, near London. These colonies have necessitated a continual sinking of funds contributed by the charitable public, and the return does not justify their expense. The Army should realize this, and admit the fact, instead of drawing wool over the eyes of the ignorant public by the constant