THE WORLD'S CHIEF SCOUT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15005, 29 May 1912, Page 4

THE WORLD'S CHIEF SCOUT.

A DAY WITH BADEN-POWELL-

REVIEW OF AUCKLAND BOYS.

THE GENERAL ON SCOUTING.

PLEASED WITH AUCKLAND LADS.

The Chief Scout, the great chief, the man whose most famous achievement is personified in a,.bright-faced boy in the wideawake hat and a khaki uniform with badges and carrying a staff, spent a day in Auckland yesterday. Lieutenant-Gcneral Sir R. S. S. BadenPowell., "the hero of Mafeking," and founder of the boy scout movement, arrived from Sydney by the Wimmera in the morning, and spent a very busy day. A civic reception occupied the forenoon, a parade of scouts and cadets the afternoon, and a lecture the evening. At 9.40 p.m. he left by the express for Wellington, the train having been held back on purpose. Sir Robert Baden-Powell is a man of pleasant and cheerful manners, and somewhat slightly built. His light hair is becoming grey after 50 years, many of them spent under tho trying conditions of active service. He wears tho freckles of a fair man well sunburnt, and his skin is that of a man who has given up exposing himself over long periods to the training influences of campaigning. In short, his story is in his face. He has borne the heat and burden of the day and carries the marks, and now that he has retired with a rather strenuous hobby, he is still at work, and loolcs a little tired. The General was greeted, when the I Wimmera berthed, by a number of scouts i and a large gathering of spectators. The Northcote, All Saints', Devonport, and Richmond troops were represented by patrols. Captains Shannon and McDougall, A.D.C.'s to the Governor, Colonel Cossgrove, V.D. (Chief Commissioner of New Zealand Scouts), and . District Commander H. Stebbing, met him as he landed, and accompanied him to Government House, where he was the guest of Lord and Lady Islington. Eeceived on Behalf of the City. During tho forenoon the distinguished visitor was accorded a civic reception by the Mayor and City Councillors < at the Town Hall. Besides the councillors there were present: Bishop Crossley, Colonel Cossgrove, and District Commander Stebbing. The Mayor (Mr. C. J. Parr) welcomed the guest as a man famous the world over for his part in the Boer war, and for his connection with the boy scout movement. Courage, daring, and resource had characterised him during the war; but it was in the origination and organisation of the scouts that ho had found his chief fame. New Zealand particularly needed such an influence, for its young people were prone to " let ""things slide," and scouting was admirably adapted to instil respect for King, country, and authority. Further, tho training prepared the way for tho more serious work of defending the country. Mr. W. B. ' Leyland, president of the New Zealand Defence Association, welcomed the General on 'behalf of the association. Ho remarked that there were some men who, under the present territorial scheme, were inclined to hold and use all the privileges of citizens, but to shirk its responsibilities. He was quite sure that no shirkers would be found among the scouts. .- . :. ■'■' Colonel Cossgrove, who declared himself very proud to be alongside the Chief Scout, stated that in four years 15,000 boy scouts had been enrolled in New Zealand, and there were 990 officers on the roll. A great deal of good had been done also by the girl peace scouts movement. Making Soldiers With Brains. . General Baden-Powell was received with the utmost enthusiasm. He commenced his speech by referring in a pleased way to tho large number of telegrams and letters he had received from Auckland and from other parts of New Zealand when Mafeking was relieved, and expressed his gratitude for the. presentation that was then made to him by the people of Auckland. Referring to the scout movement, he said the essential element in the training of soldiers was not now to make machines of them by parade ground routine, but to appeal to their intelligence. A new discipline, rooted not in blind obedience, but in a sense of duty, was required, and it was taught to the scout*. The boys were given the ideas, and they were expected honorably to carry them out. Boys could be trusted if they wero put upon their honour; and this new training reached a higher plane in the boys than any parade ground discipline had done. The General's speech was chatty, and in the most happy vein, and the audience was delighted to listen to a man able to let them become at once comparatively intimate with him. He was cheered at the conclusion of tho speech, and was musically assured that he was a jolly good fellow. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. WONDERFUL WORK AMONG THE BOYS. Lieut.-General Sir Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell was born in 1857, and is the son of the Rev. Professor Baden-Powell, of Oxford and Langton Manor. He joined the 13th Hussars in 1876, and served with that regiment as adjutant in India, Afghanistan, and South Africa. From 1887 to 1889 he acted as assistant military secretary to the South African Staff. During tho operations in Zululand in 1888 be was mentioned in despatches. After three years as assistant military secretary at Malta he was given command of the native lovios in Ashanti in 1895, and for his service received the brevet rank of lieut.-colonel. He was chief staff officer in the Matabeleland campaign in 1896-97, and received the brevet rank of colonel. Then he became colonel of Irregular Horse in South Africa, and was promoted from his old regiment of the 13th Hussars to the command of the sth Dragoon Guards in 1897. The famous defence of Mafeking in 1899-1900 brought his promotion to bo major-general, and gave him world-wide fame. He was made a C.B. as the result of his further work in South Africa in the next two years. He reorganised the South African Constabulary, and was inspector-general of that force from 1903 to 1907. In the following year he took command, as lient.-general, of the Northumbrian Territorial Division, and then set about the organisation of the boy scout movement. . He has retired from active service, and : all his attention is now given to the vast ' work of directing the scout movement, ! which has spread in less than four years . throughout the British Empire and stands as the most wonderful work ever carried out by one man among the lads of the race. ' THE SCOUT AND THE CADET. MAKING BOYS MORE USEFUL. The Chief Scout, -m the course of a , brief interview, remarked that he intended while in New Zealand to see the Minister for Defence in order to reach some plans for the future of the boy scout movement in New Zealand, in view of the .establishvjhnenL- ( compulsory., graining system

and of the general training of cadets now " in operation. The scout movement -was < now less necessary for the good of grow- 1 injf boys than it -was before the defence i system provided an organised system for < training the soldiers of the future. But ' while ho believed that he was hopeful that > means could be arranged for welding the scouting and cadet systems so that they ' would fie complementary and co-operative ' in the training of boys. It had always been shown that the training given to , scouts was of great value to the boys not ( only as potential soldiers, but as useful , citizens. They learned the value of dis- ' cipline, became observant, and absorbed ' the principles of honesty and straight-deal-ing. That scouts were recognised at a value higher than that of untrained boys was shown by the keen demand made by business men in England for their ser- ■ vices. ' The Chief Scout said that there were . striking differences between the boys in - England and the Australasian material entered into the scout movement. The English boys took more kindly to discipline, , but needed training to make them inde- ' pendent and capably handy. In Austra- , lasia they were sturdy and already fairly handy, and quick at picking up new ideas, but they had much to learn about discipline. The English lad learned how to look after himself; the Australian learnt to , obey. The sea scouts had, Sir Robert said, becomo an important branch of scouting activity at Home. Guardsbips, usually old hulks, were provided for tho boys,' who spent evenings and weekends on board. They had plenty of boats, and the work done in these and on the guardship provided splendid groundwork from which to recruit youths for the navy as well as for the mercantile marine. The sea scouts had, he said, reached considerable efficiency, and their training in life-saying and coast-guarding made them useful adjuncts to the coastguard service, which with the Board of Trade had given them official recognition without being asked. There was a fishing branch of the scouts, too, and they supplied recruits for the fisheries. Australia had, ho said, seized eagerly upon the idea of the sea scouts when he explained it