DOMINION SCOUTS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14159, 27 September 1911, Page 2

DOMINION SCOUTS.

To set tie Cause above renown, To love the game beyond the proe, To honour, whilo you strike him down, The foe that cornea with fearless even; To count the life of battle good, And dear the land thai gave yoa birth, And dearer yet tho brotherhood That binds the brave of all the earth. —Sew bolt.

(Bt ViortAST.)

It is rerwrtod that the Avonsido Troop has won over 400 proficiency badges already, and that if thero had been another week or fortnight to go, exerv member of No. 1 Troop would have been n Kind's Scout. Saturday, the 30th inst., is the closing dato for the competition throughout the Empire. It would be quito impossible In the space at mv disposal to give tho faintest idea of the amount of work that has been done by both boys and officers in connection with this competition. When ono considers tho amount of work a boy has to overtake to become a King's Scout, tho amount of training he has also to undergo and the examinations he must pass, one cannot but marvel at tho hold Scouting has upon our boys, and rejoice at the pertinacity with which both men and boys have stuck to the work during tho past fix months. [ should not be surprised to learn that New Zealand lias once more carried off j the palm, and be returned as having j the highest percentage of King's I Scouts among tho oversea Dominions.

The great Taft-Grey Peace Treaty between tliis country aud America has been during the last few weeks one of tho most interesting topics of conversation, opening up as it does new relationships, new hopes, new aims, and 1 new ambitions between the two Powers; may we hope that this is only the thin end of tlio wedge to a universal peaco and the gradual limitation of armaments? We can, even now, look into the future when that grim horror, war, shall bo but a name, when affairs affecting the honour of nations will be adjusted by arbitration, by friendly methods in an equitable*way. | Towards this world's peace there are other factors at work, one of these factors, and no insisnificant one, being the Boy Scout Movement. 1 One of tho obiects of the movement since its inception some four years ago has been to promote peace, to inculcate men and boya with tho spirit of universal brotherhood, whilst at tho same timo fitting them for a battle — ' the battle of life. __ j • The movement has been accused of : militarism, of fostering and promoting a military spirit, but tho accusation is without foundation.. The scheme does not promote militarism, neither does it foster tho military spirit, but rather the reverse, the movement priding itself upon the fact that it promotes peace in tho truest 6ense. ) Again, the movement has been re- ' ferred to as the finest recruiting ground of modern times for tho Army and Territorials, but this is not so; the Boy Scouts, the Army, and the Territorials have little in common. 1 Still, easy as it is for mc to refute accusations by giving them the lie, 1 would attempt to justify my refutation. < The Chief Scout, in his handbook. "Scouting for Boys," says, and that j very definitely, that tho Scout movement is one of peace, and this fact is further emphasised by him in speeches delivered from time to time on the public platform. The Scoutmasters and their assistants know that the object of tlio scheme is to promote peace, and from them this idea is conveyed to the Scouts until the whole movement is inculcated, not with tho principles of militarism, but of anti-mihtarism. Some element of what is nopularly called "military drill" is absolutely essentia] to tho maintenance of discipline and good order, but there i e an entire absence of those more complicated movements which our military friends seem ..to delight in. Because wo wear a : recognised uniform, it does not necessarily follow that wo are a military organisation. Are there no other non-military bodies which do so? Our brother Scouts are spread all over the world, the scheme being firmly established in all our colonies, whilst most of the other foreign Powers, copying "8.-P.'s" idea, have also taken lip the peace training for boys.