BOY SCOUTS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 2 May 1923, Page 6

BOY SCOUTS

MOVEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND, j

The _ annual meeting of the Dominion' Council of the Boy Scouts Association was held last week, the Governor-" General, Lord Jellicoe, presiding in his capacity as Dominion Chief Scout. j In opening the proceedings his Ex-; eelleney said he was pleased" to see so! many present at the meeting, and it was iikly to be a, very important meet- i ing in the history of the movement. \ It was no use blinking the fact that' the movement was not in as sabisfac-1 tory a position as it should be. It! had been said that the Dominion' was studded with the relics of dead troops. That could not be said to be satisfactory. One of the causes of this was the fact that the movement ■was inclined to be a "one-man show." j There were not sufficient understudies to the Scoutmasters. In his own experience of life a ' "one-man show," no matter how excellently it was managed, was a-mistake. In the English constitution stress was laid upon the importance of Scout committees and assistant Scoutmasters. He realised the great difficulty there was in the Dominion in getting Scoutmasters and assistant Scoutmasters. It was a lot to expect from a man to give up the necessary. time to the movement. More honour' to those who did so. Me honed that more men would come forward for this important work. Unless they did so the movement must die. There were other treasons why the movement was not in a satisfactory condition. More propaganda was necessary., and if the press could be induced to stress the value of the movement it must in timn filter through the Dominion. Much. good could be done through various! clubs, such as the 'New Zealand .Club j and various rotary clubs. He realised the financial difr'icu]tip« which the authorities were faced with.

His Excellency referred to various criticisms which he had heard in connection with the movement. These included : (11 Difficulty in getting; replies to representations; (2) absence of visits to local troops by headquarters; and j (3) too much centralisation. He did j not endorse these criticisms, but he i certainly favoured decentralisation as I fai as possible. I

! His Excellency expressed his regret at the decline of the Sea Scout move- j ment. Six months ago he had every I expectation that the movement would make rapid progress, but such had not j proved the case. Six months ago he had ordered a silver trident from Home to be as a trophy to the best Sea' Scout in the Dominion. Unfortunately this was still locked up in Govern-! ment House, as there were not sufficient troops to compete for it. Sea Scout training should have in it a considerable element of sea training, and the troop at the head of the Dominion shouid comprise boys wlio were really imbued with the sea spirit. They should, to a certain extent, be boy sail-' ors. He looked to the Sen Scout tvainim* and the association of the boys with, boats and the sea to imb^e the youth of the "Dominion with the sea spirit, which he looked upon as essential to the British Empire. It was no use looking to Britain always to staff the Navy and the mercantile marine. The time was not far distant when the Dominion must take its past in this important wo,~k. Regarding the proposed visit of a Dominion troop to England in 1924 to attend th* Imperial ■ , Exhibition his Excellency said he hoppd j this would be made possible, jas it I would be a big tiling for cho movej ment. i The balance-sheet showed the receipts ' (including a balance of £950 19s lOd brought forward)- to have been £3255 5s Bd, and the expenditure to have ' been £2502 13s, leaving a balance of , £752 12s Bd'. The liabilities were £96 7s Bd, and the assets amounted to £849 0s 4d.

j The meeting went into committee to hear a statement by the Dominion . chairman of the executive. It was resolved that the following motions had been carried in committee:

I _ "That we record our hearty appreciation of, the work done by the chairman of our committee, BrigadierGeneral S. W. Andrew, during the recent serious crisis, and that we pledge ourselves to do all in our power to promote and advance tiie Boy Scout j movement." j "That a vote of thanks be accorded ;to the Dominion Chief Commissioner, ! Captain D. C. W. Cossgrove, for his ! past services."

j Brigadier-General Andrew was reflected chairman of the" council. I It was resolved that the New Zea- ( land policy, organisation, and rules of ! the Boy Scouts' Association be dropped, I and that the policy, organisation, and rules of the English Boy Scouts' Association be adopted. I _ In regard to Boy Scout representa- , tives at the Empire Exhibition in Lon- ; don n€tet year, a motion by Mr. L. i M. Isitt, M.P., that the matter be deferred until the executive had J.ime Ito make enquiries from shipping comI panics as to the concession they were I likely to give, and what was likely to be the cost per boy while in England, , was carried. I The Rev. D. Campbell moved the following remit from the Wanganui ! Association: "That a Dominion cam- . paign be" organised with a view to wiving publicity to the moral and ethical value of our movement, so that parents and guardians and the public in general might be better able to appreciate the value of Boy Scout training in all its varied phases of character j Inu.drns and good citizenship." The mover said that in view of " teaching that was being given in certain circles to the youth of the Domnion, to the ettect- that it was wrong to be patriotic and to loveT3od, it was necessary to talce action The motion, which"'was seconded by Mr. I, M. Isitt, M.P., who referred to teaching of the Maoriland Worker, was carried.

An Auckland remit, "thot the headquarters be transferred from Christchurch to Auckland." was lost by-an overwhelming majority. j The follotvi«B remits were carried- ' Dunedm.-'<T l hat this local associathA W^lf Club movement, and respect-

Cambridge.—"That it be a recommen^ntioTi to the executive, to reauest the Government to raise tfce ace limit of Boy Scouts liable to militar^ train .ing from 14 to 16. so that" Scouts training may be extended to 16, and tnevebv secure more lasting results » ChnstcWh. - "That assistant Scoutmasters' commissions be granted &„* *"* StT\* who as *n£ S r»e!? s than tw y€ars An Auckland remit, "that a proWiov test and h«d TO b e instituted f-t the encouragement of. the interest of the youth of onr to^ns in on re of nml respect for vv h]\ c mrkg a^l^ den,." was referred f« the exe"utive TKe «xeontive vn>* instnjpt^d to request the FoiWry Dopartmont fo issue as soon as possible tW coalitions neoelsaryo anahfj W „ ,nvofi,ie^ v bad^. _ Art^r considerable diV^ussW renarrl' wcr +h» nnnoiutme"*. » pbiVf'"corv, rms«!ione>*. it w. s dr-firT^ fbnt tbo should p/»vf,> rm ( 7,, +1 - ec , of ar-ti""- chiVf PomV.-i> ? iorer until the next meeting of the coyn-il