YOUNG AUSTRALIA LEAGUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21829, 16 December 1932, Page 5

YOUNG AUSTRALIA LEAGUE

VISIT OF BOYS’ BAND At a well-attended meeting, held in the Mayor’s room yesterday ■ afternoon,. arrangements were made in connection with the visit to Dunedin of an Australian boy’s band. The Mayor (Mr R. S. Black) presided. The assistant organising director of the New Zealand tour (Mr H. Sweney) explained. that the., band represented the Hurstville (Sydney) division of the Young Australia League. .The three cardinal principals of the league were love, service, and tolerance. From small beginnings in Perth, Western Australia, the league had developed at an amazing rate, so that now it was an All-Australian organisation with divisions in every State. The movement was on much the same line* as the Boy Scouts, except that it sought to develop the arts. One of the purposes of the league was to encourage a more friendly interest between the various parts of the Empire, and the English-speaking world generally. With that idea in mind the Young Australia League brought three groups of boys from the States of America to study conditions in Australia, the first in 1909, the second in 1913, and the third in 1919. In 1912 67 Canadian boys were brought by the league to Australia, while in 1926- 42 British boys toured Australia under- the auspice* of the league. The first party from the league to go overseas was in 1911-12) when a tour of the world was' made. The second was in 1915-16, when a party called at New Zealand, en route to Canada and the United States. The third, in 1924, made an Empire tour, embracing the United Kingdom and Canada. A big overseas tour was conducted by the league in 1925, when 140 boys toured the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium. The most recent overseas venture took place in 1929, when 160 boys, representing the whole-of Australia, made a seven months’ tour of the United States and Canada. That was the biggest tour of boys carried out in the history of the world. .... ... Early in June of this- year, said the speaker, inquiries had been' made whether a tour of the Hurstville-division of the league could be arranged for Hew Zealand. Arrangements for the tour had eventually been made, and the band, which ; represented the division, would sail for i New Zealand this week. The party would j arrive at Auckland on December 20 I to commence its tour of the Dominion, and would reach Dunedin about. the. end of January. Mr Sweney said there were 38 boys and two adults in the band. The bandmaster was Mr B. W. Caten, professor at the Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, who was a member of the Conservatorium Orchestra which toured New Zealand under Henri Yerbrugghen in 1920. Mr Caten had also been a member of the famous Scots Guards Band. There were 20 boy* under the age of 12 and 18 between 12 and 15. It was considered that the time for such a tour was most opportune. The organisation was. .one which would have a- tremehdbus appeal on account of, the youthfulness of its members, as well as the excellence of its items. Considerable publicity would be given to such a tour throughout Australia,’ and thus tourist travel would be stimulated. The profitsarising from the tour would be devoted to charitable institutions in the various places visited, such institutions to be determined by the local committee. Assuming that the. gross receipts for the tour were £4OOO and the net profits £IOOO, and that Dunedin took £4OO, this city would receive, £IOO, being one-tenth, the proportion of the city’s receipts to the total receipts for the Dominion. Mr Sweney said <,he estimated that the guarantee from Dunedin would have to be £250, which could easily be collected. The expenses of • the tour would be £2500. The boys were coming to New Zealand as part of their worldwide scheme of travel. ‘ _ , Arrangements in connection with the visit of the band to Dunedin , were dis-i cussed, and a - guarantee of £IOO wa* secured at the meeting.