SCOTTISH SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 223, 14 June 1919, Page 11

SCOTTISH SOCIETY

COMPREHENSIVE ORGANISATION MOOTED Air. Alexander Campbell, chief of the Wellington Scottish Society, has issued tlie following appeal to Scots folk: — Fellow ' Scots,—This is an appeal to .Vim. oi( behulf of unity and our couimon cause. In the city of Wellington there are at the present time three Scottish societies, all working independently, but having aims in common. It is clear that no good can be achieved by their energies being dissipated. They should come together and work together. The clanmnt need of the hour is a united body that will unite the Scots people of Wellington and the Dominion for the common purpose of reviving and keeping alive the sentiment of the race, and all that it means to the Scot. Hitherto efforts in this direction have been spasmodic, and too much confined to social intercourse. The time is ripe for putting tho work of Scottish organisations on a permanent footing, and providing machinery for carrying on the work by business methods, find to take steps to enablo the youth- of our race to be properly taught the history, lijprature. song, music, pastimes, and traditions of their fathers.

It cannot be too well understood .that there is a great danger of Scottish literature, language, song, and story dying out in the Dominion, uuless an organised and businesslike effort is made to keep them alivo by serious efforts to teach and inculcate them. This makes it alf the more necessary that effort should be well-directed, united, and that the very best talent available for the purpose should be utilised. In other centres tho educational work that: should form the very foHndatioii of all Scotiish societies is undertaken, but in this city no serious effort is being made in the direction of educating tho children of Scots parents in the culture of Scotland. This can ho done only by a having tho support of the entire Scottish 'community, well provided with funds, and in a position to pay for tho best talent procurable for the work. ■ ■ Social gatherings and concerts, doubtless, help to ■keep alive Scotish sentiment, but if effort is to end here, littlo permaucnt good can be accomplished, and all the Scots of Wellington can look forward to is a repetition of the haphazard work of the past. ■■ There aro infinito opportunities ahead of the Scottish : pebplo oith'is community. Money is not lacking. Scotsmen are not ■the niggards they are often supposed to be, and are never behindhand in a liberal response to any good causo connect-i ed with their "auld respectit mither." .What is lacking is the combination of the business senso with tie sentimental object. • A-. Scottish Society, to succeed a'/ the present day, must be a business organisation. It should have a constitution, and objects as .well defined as- thoso of,a friendly society. It should be, in ;its own way, a friendly society, and one ■of its objects should be to , 'help deserving Scots who have , fallen by tho wayside,- and. to assist struggling parents to gjve their children a liberal*education. 'Nothing is being done in 'Wellington in ulis direction.- Considering the'position Scotland occupies in education, and the strong love' her sons have had, in all times , for'the knowledge which is power, it is surely not too much to expect thai ■prosperous Scots should give of their means to assist those less fortunate ta get a training .that will enable them to use their talents to the utmost. Particularly should this be done in the case of promising boys-and girls with a talent for music. By this menus the love of Scots inusic and song would be inculcated and popularised, and a body of sTcTlled teachers gradually erganised to carry out the work. Unless the. Scots of this city,, desiro to see Scottish sentiment fado away and become, a mere ~ tradition, gasping foi existence, eome determined and serioun effort must be made to start tho work ol Riving it a new and permanent lense of life. It is idle to play with it; either Scots culture is worth keeping alive or it is not. If it is, it deserves to be put on such a, level- that Scots will be able to; say -that-they-can put'brains , into this work as well 'as that wheieby they eavii a livelihood. - At present this is far from being the case, and, to speak the plain truth, it is not a credit to Scotsmen. AH that is wanted is the will; where there is the will tho way will be found. -•' It is intended to call a meeting of all Scots-folk in Wellington on Saturday, Juno 28, to discuss the question of formnig a comprehensive organisation foi tho carrying out of the entire work that shoufd be undertaken by a Scottish so'ciety; including the fostering of the ntv lional literature and languages; soiii; music, and story; tho history of Scotland; national sports-, pastimes) and dancing; social intercourse; educational classes; the establishment of relief funds ior deserving members; and scholarships to be competed.for by the children of members.

', It is Hoped that as a result of Uiie appeal, whioh is being widely circulated, the Scots folk of Wellington will rally to the call and. show that they can work together (or tho good of their national cause. "Now's the day, and now's the hour,"