THE BOY SCOUTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18257, 16 August 1921, Page 2

THE BOY SCOUTS

I VISIT OF CHIEF COMMISSIONER. 3 t Incidental to his tour on behalf of 1 the Scout movement, the Chief Com--3 missioner for the Dominion, Captain 3 D. W. Cossgrove, was a visitor to " Wanganui yesterday. During the noon hour, Captain ’ Cossgrove was tendered a civic re- - ception at the Borough Chambers. ’ There was a thoroughly representa--3 tive attendance. The Mayor, Mr. J T. B. Williams, in bidding a hearty ■ -welcome to the visitor, spoke in • warmly appreciative terms of the ■ Scout movement, its high ideals, and the fine spirit of community service ' by which its officers and members were actuated. Mr. Williams re- ! ferred particularly to the splendid service rendered by the local Scouts • throughout the period of the influenza epidemic. It was then, he ! said, that the people had been able ■ to realise the value of the principles ■ in which the boys associated in the ■ movement were trained. They had ' worked skilfully and zealously, not ’ for what they themselves could get 3 out of it, not for any monetary or other reward, but freely and unsel- ' fishly and for the sake of the good ■ they were able to do in a time of 1 need. Remembering what they owed ’ the Scouts, and recognising the great ! influence for good which the move--1 ment exercised among the boys of the community, the citizens were glad to be able to extend a cordial welcome ' to the Chief Commissioner, and to convey to him their appreciation of the services he was rendering to the nations. Mr. W. R. Taylor, Secretary to the Y.M.C.A., read a telegram of apology for unavoidable absence from Mr. W. A. Veitch, M.P., and then, on. behalf of the boys of Wanganui, voiced a warm welcome to Captain Cossgrove, supplemented by an eloquent endorsement of the Mayor’s eulogy of the Scout movement. Captain Cossgrove, who was enthusiastically applauded on rising, expressed his Keen.appreciation of. the heatoy welcome that had been accorded to him. It was such manifestations of live public interest in the movement and its aims which helped materially to “buck up” the members of the national executive and to hearten them in the work to which they had set their hands and their hearts. The N.Z. Scouts had come into existence simultaneously with the inauguration of the movement in the Mother Country, and it was because of that that they had been granted the privileges enjoyed by no other overseas Dominion, of independent self-government. That privilege had been accorded to them by the distinguished founder of the Boy Scouts, Sir Robert Baden Powell, and it was for them to prove worthy of their trust. The movement had grown to such an extent that the executive responsibility had become ' too much to be borne single-handed, and his (Captain Cossgrove's) father ‘ had come to reaiise before his death ' that the task would have to be en- * trusted to a national executive. That had come about, and now they had a representative national council . linked up under proper constitutional „ conditions with the self-controlling 1 Scout organisations from one end of t New Zealand to the other. Their c aim was to extend to the utmost limit j the scope and influence of the move- a ment, to “rope in” every eligible boy, and so to lay the foundations of v a higher and more useful citizenship. a To that end they needed one man in t every centre such as this who couid J devote his whole time to executive, administrative and organising work. The District Commissioners, though they gave freely of their time, -were gentlemen concerned in other activities, as for instance their local Commissioner, the Rev. Mr. Campbell, g That gentleman, as the Mayor had f said, had rendered yeoman service i lor the Scouts and was a most enthu- “ siastic champion of the cause. But, obviously, he could not devote other than limited time to the work. I Hence the need of paid officers. He I (Captain Cossgrove) thought the » State should do more than it was t doing for the support and encour- I agement of the movement. In Eng- c land, recognising the fine work the 1 Scouts had rendered during the war, s the Admiralty had decided to grant a capitation of 6/- per Scout per annum, and he believed it would be in the best interests of New Zealand were our Government to give the movement equally substantial assist- 3 ance. Happily, they were making ( some progress in this direction, and J had been promised £lOOO on a pound I for pound basis, with the hope of a 1 further £l5OO on Mr. Massey’s re- e turn from the Imperial Conference. 1 in the meantime, and until their 1 finances were assured by the State, ; voluntary help was needed to keep the movement going. In the case of -Wanganui, their Commissioner needed at least £3OO for the purposes he (Captain Cossgrove) had indicated, and he felt sure that an appeal for that comparatively jsmall ' amount would not be made in vain. 1 Captain Cossgrove went on to voice ' the hope that a troop of Sea Scouts ‘ would be formed in Wanganui in the ' near future, and concluded by voicing . an eloqent tribute to the beneficent j work and influence of the Girl Peace Scouts. ‘ The Rev. David Campbell, District Commissioner, thanked the Mayor, Council and citizens for the welcome they had extended to the Chief Commissioner. Mr. Campbell eulogised ’ the life, character and work of the ' deceased Chief Commissioner, Colonel Cossgrove, and expressed his ' own pleasure, and the pleasure of the Boy Scouts of the Dominion, in the knowledge that Captain Cossgrove was so ably and enthusiastically devoting himself to the furtherance of the work which his worthy father had had so close to his heart. Cr. Crampton endorsed the sentiments expressed by Mr. Campbell, after which the jMayor declared the proceedings closed. Captain Cossgrove, members of the . Council, and others interested in the Scout movement were afterwards entertained at lunch at the D.I.C. as i the guests of the District Commis- : sioner.