ASPERSIONS DENIED.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 102, 20 June 1911, Page 5

ASPERSIONS DENIED.

WELLINGTON GIRL PEACE SCOUTS. BOY SCOUT COMMANDANT WHITES. When the Stratford troop of Girl 1 eaco Scouts were being formed statements were made regarding a certain troop of girls who set up to >3 Girl Peace Scouts, who were alleged to be composed of not the most desirable class of girls, and who were designated “the monkey troop.” Reports of these remarks have reached the cars of Lieut.-Col. Cossgravc, Dominion Chief Scout, who now writes to its as follows:Kindly allow me, through the medium of your widely-read paper, to contradict certain statements made by some men in your town to the effect that the Girl Peace Scouts of the city of Wellington are not of good character; that they are seen about the streets at night and are in the habit oi meeting the Boy Scouts in their outings, etc. When the report reached me from Startford, I requested the Wellington Council to make the fullest enquiries into the conduct of their girls, and Mrs' Quick, the Acting-Pre-sident in the absence of Lady Ward, desires me to most emphatically deny the; charges made, as there is not a vestige of truth in thorn. The G.P.S. of Wellington are a very respectable class, and their conduct at all times is above reproach. Two cases, ...Mrs Quick says, were open to suspicion. One girl on returning from her troop meeting had to run for the doctor before she had time to change her uniform. The other went with her brother to a place of amusement after the meeting. The Wellington Council has set a very high standard of conduct for their troops, and naturally arc very indignant at the unmanly attack made upon the'characters of a large number of highly respectable gins and young women. Indeed, it is the unanimous visli of the Council to take this matter to the; Education Board of the offending teachers, and, if necessary, to the Minister himself. Personally, I do not favour such an extreme stop, but I, think these men should, in a manly way, admit their error. Tiie Hon. the Minister of Education, in a recent speech in Wellington, said:—“The time has gone by when sensible people ridiculed the Girl Peace Scout movement. ” Lady Islington is patroness of the movement in Now Zealand, and Her Majesty has expressed her approval too. Tho G.P.S. of Stratford are, therefore, in company and can afford to smile at tho criticisms of the ignorant.