GREAT PROGRESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 74, 24 September 1938, Page 11

GREAT PROGRESS

SCOUT MOVEMENT

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The conference of the New Zealand i Boy Scouts Association was held at 3 Wellington yesterday. The Domin-1 . ion Chief Commissioner, Mr. H. Chrisl tie, presided and the Governor-Gen' . eral, Viscount Galway „ the Minister 5 of Education, the Hon. P, Fraser, and . the Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev, j H. St. Barbe Holland, addressed the . gathering. .\ .■■ In his report the Commissioner stated that it was expected that 600 3 New Zealand Scouts would' be present at the Sydney jamboree in Decems ber. Arrangements for the New Zealand jamboree were in the hands [ of Mr. J. E. ,F. Vogel. The events were mentioned to draw the attention to the part Scouting was taking in promoting good feeling between the boys of the coun--1 tries of the world. Great value was - placed on those gatherings, for it was T only a question of numbers and the job of securing, world peace would be accomplished. When * reorganisation was under- : taken last year it was laid down that 3 money subscribed for Scouting should be used in direct instruction rather 1 than in administrative cost. In the - middle of this year the commissioner for training, Mr. J. R. H. Cooksey, started work as a full-time travelling officer. Commissioner Cooksey has * already been the whole length of the - Dominion. The activities of the . trading department had developed considerably. [ INCREASE IN NUMBERS. » The annual Census reflected an inJ crease in numbers. The grand total for the Dominion increased by 1347. ■ This advance indicated a steady growth 3 in all sections. The Census at June E 30 showed an increase of 48 Scouters, 73 Sea Scouts, 105 Rover Scouts, 512 Wolf Cubs, and 608 Scouts. Of the , 30 Scout districts 26 showed an in- . crease in strength. The world figures I recently compiled revealed a memberL ship of nearly 3,000,000 Boy Scouts in I 49 countries. The Scouting strength in New Zeaj land was now 11,090, an increase of over 12 per cent, on last year. The ; following are the strengths of the various units, with the figures for 1937 in " parentheses:—Cubs 4627 (4115), Scouts J 5921 (5313), Sea Scouts 377 (304), . Rovers 451 (346), Scouters 992 (944), Commissioners 69 (68). j Commissioner Christie said that f when headquarters were shifted to Wellington in May, 1937; there was r little in the way of cash or assets in .' hand. While he paid a tribute to the men who had controlled Scouting in ' the past he thought that office cxl penses were too great. Now woiSc which used to cost the movement up } to £500 a year was being done volun- [ tarily. In June Commissioner J. R. [ H. Cooksey had become travelling re* presentative, thus realising a long de- ' sire of the movement to have a Doj minion training representative. Bishop j. Holland praised the enthusiasm shown and hoped the progress would be still * greater in future. * HEADQUARTERS SHIFT JUSTIFIED. * Lord Galway commented on .the * splendid progress made during , the '• year. He said he had received a.letter » from the Chief Spout expressing J pleasure on the progress in New Zeal land and stating that the shift of head- * quarters to the capital : city had Been ■[ wise arid justified'by the results; '■' 1 The Dominion Chief Scout said he ' felt sure that the j amboree would result in a stimulus to the Scouting movement in New Zealand. He comment.- . Ed on the value of Scouting in training boys at a difficult period of life and ' giving them a sense of duty and reI spohsibility which would make them a '. stabilising factor in the Dominion in ; years to come. I He expressed the hope that the move- " ment would go from strength to strength in years to come. • j Referring to his remarks last year \ concerning the tteed for the movement yto stand on,its own feet, Lord Galway I said he recognised that perhaps a subsidy was necessary when the mover ment was changing headquarters and x - had no resources. However, independence would be something to aim. at in i the future. r Mr. Fraser said that in view of the work done by the association, the Govl ernment had no hesitation in granting ; a subsidy. He recalled the wonderful work done. by the Scouts in the 191.8 epidemic and at other times, arid' said [ he knew of no movement of more educational and character-building value. [. It supplemented the Dominion's educational system. He was convinced that a movement founded on such sound \ principles would go from strength to strength. • SOLID FOUNDATION. \ A letter from the Chief Scout,-Lord 5 Baden-Powell, was read. Lord Baden- * Powell said that the movement apr peared to be founded on a solid basis ' in New Zealand and he praised ComMissioner Christie for , the progress r made under him. • ' The statement of income and expen- \ diture showed a surplus of £1935. The chief items in income were:—-Public ; donations £531; and Government sub--1 sidy £750. The balance-sheet showed "■ a credit of £1302. Commenting on finance Sir James Grose said that fallowing Lord Gal- " way's enjoinder to the movement to 1 stand on its own feet, they were work- * ing towards the stage where a Govern-! t ment subsidy would not be necessary. 1 Mr. J. E. F. Vogel reported on ar-; rangements for the Centennial jamboree. He thanked various Government Departments, the Wellington Racing Club, and other local bodies for assistance given.in preliminary ort ganisation. The Commissioner for Lone Scouts, * Mr. H. V. Foster, reported that there - were now four troops and membership 3 had -, grown from 7 to 47 in the year, j The Dominion Commissioner for training, Mr. J. R. H. Cooksey, stat-.j ed that 70 candidates were now in I * training for the Pattl of the Woodj * badge. On his visits he had found 3 scouting on the up-grade. Reports on 3 the Wolf Cubs and kindred societies \ were submitted by Commissioners L. i G. ColUs and D. Boyle. OFFICERS. 5 Commissioner F. W. Homer (Ha- * wera) was appointed deputy-chief Do- * minion Comniissioner. I Messrs. E. Riddiford and W, Dyer ; were nominated for membership of : the Council. . ; The resignation of Mrs. R. Hannah * from the executive was received with regret.