DOMINION BOY SCOUTS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 699, 8 May 1916, Page 6

DOMINION BOY SCOUTS.

To the Editor of THE SU>'. Sir, —I desire to thank you for thd prominence you gave to the Boy ! Scout movement in a recent issue of iThe Sun. Although your contribu* i tion was an account of the American [Boy Scouts, it, on the whole, sum* Imarised the.great underlying prinjeiples of our own organisation, and jit has already been the means of causing, some hitherto indifferent people to realise that the organisation is a power for good, and one j that should be supported by both , Church and State. Perhaps in a future issue you will permit me to give your readers an outline of the rise and phenomenal progress of the movement in this Dominion, and to jgivc them some idea of the splendid work now being carried on by our scouts in practically every part of the Dominion in this our Empire's hour of trial. In the meantime will you permit me to say that our association and uniform are recognised by Parliament. That the Minister and the •Director of Education have approved our recommendation that scout troops be formed in connection with schools, and that scout training take the place of military drill in those primary schools when such j forms part of the school work, if the ■school authorities approve. This : marks an important step towards rc- ! moving the opposition of many i schoolmasters to the Boy Scout j movement. Dr Garnett, Educational ! Adviser to the London County I Council, writing recently on "How !Scouting can help the Nation," says: | —"After the war is over England's j commercial capital as ordinarily estimated will have disappeared. Very many of her best men will have gone | with it, and the country's future wiH | depend very largely on what the j teacher makes of the present generation of school children. The : country's wealth must lie in the character and ability of the boys and girls of to-day." . . . "Self-reliance land resourcefulness are of supreme j value in the Army and Navy, as well )as in business, and there is probj ably no course of training which de- ! velops these cpialities in a school boy {as scouting under a good scoutmaster. Otliccrs in the Army and Navy I will join with those of the adminis- ; trative officers of the State in testifying to the value of. the scout training." Surely this call to the movement from so high an authority i should be answered by every teacher in our Dominion, and by every i young man who wants to do his bit [for the Empire, but is debarred by j circumstances over which he has jno control from doing it at the i front.—l am, etc., i D. COSSC.HOYE.