BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20362, 20 March 1928, Page 11

BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT.

' COMMISSIONERS’ CONFERENCE. I ; GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS. 1 I (From Our Own Correspondent.) i LONDON, February 8. During last year there has been an .increase of 61,076 Scouts in the British ; Empire alone, making a total of 582,223; 1 while 1,711,643 boys are being trained i in 62 countries registered with the lu--1 ternatioual Bureau in the ideals and methods of the Boy Scout movement. • This the Chief Scout announced at tho • dinner of Scout commissioners after their I: day of conference. 1 Sir Robert Baden-Powell, speaking of 1 his visits to other countries, said that 1 ho would go to any country, but he had to ask for a fee for going. “ The fee,” | he added, “is a day’s fishing for every day’s scouting. That will drag me to the ends of« the earth if they ask me.’ 1 New Zealand’s chance of obtaining a visit from the Chief Scout would seem to be particularly good under these circum- ’ stances. 1 At the conference the following telegram from the King was read in reply [ to a message of loyalty; , “In thanking the Headquarters Council for their kind message of loyalty and \ devotion as patron of the Boy Scouts’ ■ Association, I warmly congratulate all i who have co-operated in the development . of the splendid work which you initiated, j Indeed, as your report shows, the associa- ■ tion’e efforts have not been in vain; the J enrolment of millions of the youth of the world inspired by the high and ■ healthy ideal* of the movement is in | itself a triumphant advance towards the . promotion of international brotherhood.— i George R.L” The Prince of Wales, Chief Scout for ' Wales, wrote: “ Dear Chief Scout, —I send my best wishes to all present at the annual meeting of the Headquarters Council- and am delighted to learn, from the annual report, of the steady progress made by , the movement, as shown bv the increase, in the British Empire, of 61,000 on last year’s figures j am specially pleased \ to hear that scouting is now adopted in most of the public schools. This is a step that will be of the greatest , assistance in ensuring a supply of public school men as scoutmasters in the future.—Yours sincerely, Edward P.” The President, the Duke of Connaught, wrote from Cap Ferrat: —“ I am sending m~ best wishes to yon and to all who are > devoting so much time and trouble for the continuance of their splendid work l in so good a cause. A year of hard work and steady progress has just been completed, and I hope that 1028 will bring with it an ever-increasing advance in progress and in numbers. The Boy Scout movement has a right to look back with pride on its great advancement ann the high estimation in which it is held by the Empire. Its principles are sound and generous, and are such as to appeal to the best and most manly instincts of , the rising generation. Connected as I have been now with the movement for many years, I feel the warmest interest in its progress and efficiency, and I retain my firm belief in the great good it is doing, both morally and physically, to ’ the boys of our country and of the whole Empire. Let me congratulate yon, our Chief Scout, on the success of the. great movement which you initiated, and of ’ which you are the moving spirit” The dinner in the evening was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, South Kensington, and among the special guesrs were Mons. Constantin Skirmunt (Polish Minister), Colonel John R, Thomas (representing the American Ambassador), Mons. T. Sopock (International Commissioner, Poland), Dr T. Egidins (International Commissioner, Holland), the ' Hon. J. S. Smit (High Commissioner for South Africa). Sir Atul Chattcrjcc (High Commissioner lor -.ilia), Mr Vic- • tor Gordon (High Commissioner for j Newfoundland), Colonel Sir A. HoreRuthvcn (Governor and Chief Scout of '• South Australia), Sir Herbert Read (Governor and Chief Scout of Mauritius), and Sir Claude Hill (Governor and Scout President of the Isle of Man). Earl Jcllicoe was present as one of the commissioners. Sir James Parr was unable to be present. WONDERFUL RECORD IN INDIA. Sir Atul Chattcrjee, who proposed “ The Scout Movement and the Chief Scout,” told a remarkable story f the movement in India. In the last five years the number of Scouts bad increased from <3OOO, to 104,000. The increase would have been tenfold had not the directors of the movement wisely determined to maintain a very high quality. The movement in India was not confined 1 1 any particular community. It would be found in tho Northern Provinces right down tr Bengal and the southernmost districts and to Tiurmah. The movement was going forward among all religions, classes, and castes. They could not have found a b'tter instrument for the building of real solidarity in India. The spirit of service was not new in India, but it had ahvaj-s been restricted to special channels. The country could not _ remain where it was 100 years ago, and in order t ■ progress it must attain a common civic standard and common nationhood. He was quite certain that the movement which the Chief Scout had initiated was fraught with immense possibilities m India. REASONS FOR ENCOURAGEMENT. The Chief Scout, referring to the splendid progress in India, said that there they had been the pioneers of Scouting in the prisons. It had proved a success among the young delinquents. In Burmah they were also going ahead. In South Africa things were going ahead splendidly, inero was “really a healthy growth there. It would be’ well when the present generation, who had fought against one another, died out and the country was run by comrades as it ought to be. In Australia the numbers now stood at 37,000, where five years ago it was 21,CC0. “ Looking forward,” said the .Chief Scout, “ one see s the greaty twenty-finst jamboree of 1929 rapidly drawing nearer, when the Scouts of the world will gather together in the North of England to celebrate the coming of age of the movement.” After referring to the general increase in the number of Scouts, Sir Robert said: “ If we needed additional encouragement we have it in the recent declaration of war made against ns by the Communists. These haVe recognised that our work in building up loyal and sensible citizens, is bearing fruit among the oncoming generation, and is proving detrimental to their effort to pervert the youth of the conntry.” As young men grew to manhood they began to look round for a consort in life. The Girl Guides were doing excellent work. In both movements they were working to develop character and citizenship in the rising generation. It was time they tried working th e two organisations together more than they had done in the past. The Guides were gbing to swamp the Scouts. Their numbers had gone up bv 30,009 compared with an increase of 18,000 in the Scout movement. The best thing for a youth to do when he found a girl richer than himself was for him to marry her right away. A pleascr;' ceremony at the dinner was a presentation to the Chief Scout. The Polish Minister having borne testimony to the immense amount of good that had come to Poland through the movement, presented Sir Robert Baden-Powell with the order of Polonia Restituta. The silver buffalo, the highest deco; ation of the American Scout movement, was presented by Colonel Thomas, on behalf j of the American Ambassador, to Mr Hubert Martin, director of the inter- . national bureau. Colonel Thomas said what the schools in Australia had failed to do —to stimulate a spirit of citizenship amongst the mixed races—the Boy Scout was now accomplishing.