SCOUT LAW TALKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 96, 26 April 1933, Page 16

SCOUT LAW TALKS.

(By KATA.) A Scout is a irrlcna to Animals. If asked what knot gave me most satisfaction when I was learning the tenderfoot test, my answer would be, without the least hesitation, the bowline. Why? Well, I had just read "Scouting For Boys," and had grasped the meaning of the pen painting of the Chief about the accident in America when a man lost ! his life in a flooded and icy river through not being able" to hold on to and grip a plain rope. His would-be rescuers saw him drown in front of their eyes because they did not tie a bowline for him to slip over his shoulders. To me this knot signifies the life-line —there to be used in cases of difficulty or danger. There are three styles of bowlines, and quite a number of ways of tying them, and I feel sure that as scouts you will make this knot one which you can tie with your eyes shut. The idea of the bowline being a life saver is a point that we as scouts can well remember, particularly in connection with the sixth law, which, states that a scout is a friend to animal life. Perhaps the following may explain a deeper meaning to this law and its inclusion in our code. » Some time ago in America a certain bird was doing a great deal of damage to the crops and Senate passed a law to encourage the destruction of these birds. So successful was the effort that in a very, short space of time their number had oeen so depleted that the whole of the farming community were filled with joy at the thought of another pest got out of the Way. But the unexpected happened, for in the same area the insect life of the countryside soon began to show itself in such large proportions that heavy crop losses resulted. On making investigations the scientists found that these birds were the natural enemies of the grub whose depredations were worse than those of the birds which kept them in check. What happened? The law was repealed very quickly. Every creature in this universe of ours has its job to do. Life below the soil aerates it; grubs and winged insects are the scavengers who clean up the rubbish; birds keep insect life in check and are sowers of seed. So wonderful is the scheme of things that each one keeps the othev in check, and at the same time does a littlo good in the world. And that is why scouts are kind to animals, and stalk them with a camera instead of a gun. In being kind to animals, is not a scout at the same time being kind to himself and the interests of mankind generally ?