AROUND THE CAMPFIRE.

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15353, 29 September 1923, Page 20 (Supplement)

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE.

BOY SCOUT NOTES.

(By Pathfinder.)

I want to talk to patrol leaders this

week. Suppose you were stopped in the street by an old gentleman who noticed the white metal badge in your buttonhole and who said "Why do you wear a white badge when most scouts wear a brass one?" "Why, sir,” you would say, "that’s a patrol leader’s badge." "Patrol leader’s badge? Are you a patrol leader, then? What is a patrol leader?” Here we have a simple question but a most difficult one to answer. What would your reply be? Ask youself the question.

How many times has a young tenderfoot who dares to question, perhaps thoughtlessly, a patrol leader’s command, been told, "What do you mean by answering him back? Don’t be cheeky I Can’t you see he is a patrol leader?” If that tenderfoot were to turn round and ask the old man’s question, what would you say? Because he has two stripes it does not mean to say he is a patrol leader; because his arms are covered with badges ranging from the now obsolete Thriftyman’s to Ambulance, that does not mean that he has qualified as a patrol leader. Just as badges don’t j make the scout, badges don’t, or ought not to, make the patrol leader. Unfortunately some people think that, they make the scout and the patrol leader; but, however brainy, however much lie has swotted out of “Boy Scout Tests,” he cannot swot up the art of being a patrol leader. Roland Phillips, in his "Patrol System,” which should be at every patrol leader’s side, says; “ . . Muscles usually have a more cogent influence than brains. Boys have a respect for biceps without being interested in 1 phrenology.” That is the whole se- | cret of a patrol leader. Is he capable of leading? The too popular fellow is not always best as a leader, but the unpopular leader will never succeed. Boys are apt to take advantage of a too popular patrol leader. He' finds himself in an awkward position when he is called upon to perform ■ some task which might not find favour with the members of his patrol, and is greatly inclined to shirk it, or, to put it more mildly, postpone it. On the other hand an unpopular leader is never obeyed with any good feeling, and it is natural instinct not to respect him. The patrol loader who wishes to be successful should not stand aloof or be.at all snobbish when off parade. .. . . ... ' One generally finds that; when a scout has just been given his stripes, and is no older than some’of the scouts’ he is proud of his promotion, but carries his pride too far. I have heard such a fellow call older boys than himself, who, through general mischievousness, could be trusted with 1 a patrol seriously, "cheeky kids" and started ordering them about unnecessarily. Naturally, these kicked at this and it resulted in them leaving the troop, and nothing could bring them back. A successful leader should not bo afraid to demand instant obedience and respect while at work, but he should go in as a scout when at games. Never assert your rank while at play or you will not get half the pleasure out of the games yourself and will dampen the boys’ enthusiasm. What is the position of a patrol leader? No, do not start looking up the list of ranks in "Scouting for

Boys.” We know the position of a patrol leader in that—one lower than a lady worker, three lower than a surgeon, and thirteen lower than a county president. Let us review the actual position of the patrol leader. By position I mean the place where lie stands in the movement. It has many times been pointed out that the essential motive of the scout movement is the patrol system and it is that which differentiates the movement from all other boys’ organisations, To put the matter in a few words, then, the scout movement is the breaking away of the old rule of the boys being governed by men, and the formation of a new system—the government of boys by boys. From this we see that the great difference Is the “invention” of the patrol leader. The patrol leader is the keystone of the whole movement. Take away the patrol leader and you might as well take away the scouts’ uniforms and put them into cadets’ khaki.

There is a danger of the elimina-

tion of the patrol leader as such in some, in fact I might say a number, of the troops throughout the country. When the sole duty of a patrol leader consists in collecting subscriptions and standing in front of a flic of boys, seeing that they are proper-

ly dressed and lined off, he ceases lo be a patrol leader except in name, and that troop might just as well call itself “A Company,” for it ceases to be a scout troop and the boys cease to bo scouts. The scoutmaster of such a

troop has not studied "Scouting for Boys” and doesn’t know the first principles of the movement. Let me quote the very words the Chief uses. He says, "The great thing in this scheme is ,to delegate responsibility mainly through the patrol leaders. . . . . This is tile key to success in scout training." Coming as it does, near the end of the book, it may have been overlooked by some for whose benefit it was written. At present there are some who have failed to grasp that one point, which is the secret of scouting, with the result that the patrol leader Is usually not given enough responsibility. It is up to the patrol leaders who have the interests of their patrol at heart to try and get to work on Hie right lines. Do not forget that it is the patrol leader’s position which makes the movement .unique. One of the first principles of the scouts is to help one another. ■ There are always difficulties and pitfalls which evolve in the path of the active patrol leader, and perhaps that difficulty which the individual has come across might be a difficulty or a warning to others. I want you patrol leaders to write and tell rne of your pitfalls and to make suggestions. Perhaps a fellow in one troop might find a way out of a situation which a leader in another troop has been worrying oyer for weeks. Create ,a spirit ot helping'one another. Write to me and let me put any extracts from your letters that arc of general inLerest into print in this column. Don’t put it off. Write to-day. -

I have come lo the end of my space without writing any troop topics or cub news. Therefore for my sins I can safely prophecy a violent death at the hands of the disappointed ones who inform me whenever I meet them, which is frequent, that the column would be considerably improved if I shortened my discussions and enlarged the troop topics. Instead of complying with their wish I have—well, this week’s effort speaks for itself. I wish I could issue an order recalling or withdrawing all scout axes and sheath knives.