Commissioner's Outlook

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 110, 26 May 1937, Page 12

Commissioner's Outlook

' ' LITTLE JOHN.','

"BIG SMOKE."

E.

DUTTON,

Our King is crowned! May he enjoy a long and happy reignl Perhapa some of you listened in to the Goronation service broadeast. The reception was not too good, hut it improyed, and our King's voice .came to us, living in the utte'rmost part of his kingdom, cleari^, - as he took that soleinn oath to rule i justly and accordinsr to the Oonstitution. ThoSe few short words placed on his shoulders a great responsibility. That he realised, I feel sure. Now everyone of us, as loyal subjects, must help him to carry that great burden. How can we help him? We Sfibuts must have been reminded of the day we stood bfore our fellow Scouts and took an oath of loyaity to God and the King. By keeping that promise we can, each of us, help to make our King's burden of State lighter and his reign happy. Those of yOu who had the privilege of standing in Westmimster Abuej when Home on the Jamboree trip in 1929 would perhaps be able to pieture more easily that stately pageant. lf you read the Souvenir book that . we sold as our Ooronation work, you will be surprised at the ordeal that our King and Queen had to undergo. foa m.ay hear some people say that it is a lot .of old-fashioned rot. That is generaliy a display of ignorauge or a failure to appreciftte the great historical traddtion which -the ceremony upholds. No nation has such a reputation for dignity as our old England. There is nothing theatrical about dt; it all has a very deep historical and xeligious meaning, It would be a sad day if it were all abolished. Kngland would lose her dignity and would not be the same England. New Zealand ie young compared with England, and it would be out of plaee for ns to do such things. But as we grow older we shall accumulate traditions, and I hope you Scouts will ever try to carry them out with dignity. I am not godng to thank yoti all for turning out so.well on Goronation Day, because I know you all wished to show your loyaity. There were two things I would like to comment upon, though. The Courtesy of Our Navy. One of the Cubs wished to take a photo of the naval detachment on McLean Park. The officer in eharge, seeing this, called the men to attention while this was done. That was an act pf cpurtesy and in keeping with the traditions of pttr Royal Navy. Also it phowed the consideration they have Bhown to young people throughout the world, and so made their name beloved. It was an object lessOn to us. I have written to the officer in charge expressing our appreeiation. Be Prepared. Another example and Opportunity of ii,viing up to our motto was given a little later in the afternoon, when the erowd rushed the stage for a betterview. The Mayor asked us to get the croWd back. LucMly we had oUr btaves and we were able to clear a space around the stage. Your Scouters have, no doubt, told you of this use for the staff, and perhaps some thought it was not much of an idea. Still, you ilid it, and perhaps it will help you to regard yOur stafE as something inpre than a hockey-stick or fairy wand. Colours. Once again I would ask all Scouts and Scouters to make themselves aequainted with the rules coneerning the saluting of eolours. You will timi it in F.O.R. Patrol leaders should also read it and tell their patrols.— Ckeerio 1

A Call To Scouts The other day I was looking back over tho Scouting events of the twelve yeara that- have passed since I started t'he Second Hastings Troop. At that time we had just had a big epidemie of infantile paralysis; previous to that there had been only the First Hastings Troop. When things got going again there were only f our of the old' hands who came back, and the Commissioner of those days and I decdded to take two of the boys e^ch and to form two troops. From those four Scouts and no Cubs wa have grown to about seventy Scouts and thirty Cubs. It might have been a greater increase than that, but we have been held back by the lack of Scoutmasters and also the absence of a headquarters of our own. We had to dodge around from oue meeting plaee to another, and our other two troops (the First Hastings became the Frimley Troop and the newer-formed Heretaunga Trodp) have never had oaa Scoutmaster for very long spells, aa work has always called them elsowhere. Still it has been an increase, and that is the main thing. That growth is entirely due to the keenness of those chaps dn the early days. It was certainly a novelty then, but people had not got any idea of what Scouts were. The result was that all those early members had to face a lot of chaffi and sneers that the boys nowadays have never experienced, and it took real grit and keenness to face it all. It was always a very real fight to put Scouting on the map in Hastings, but they stuck to it and won. They turned up to every publie paade and did quite a lot of usefnl jobs; people saw that Seouts were useful and that Scouting had come to stay. Since then, as the years have passed, people have seen the steady growth of Scouting and have seen that nothing can stop it, for ehanges in meeting-places and on Scoutmasters have only had a very temporary effiect on the troops concerned. We no longer hear the question, "What afe those boys in that uniform?" Only very seldom do we get sneers slung at us now. It is all due to the way all those Scouts of those twelve years have ' ' carried on," and ignoring all remarks and jeers, have "stuck to it" through thick and thin; many a time have they put their wishes aside aud turned up to some parade that they didn't like. They have left a great tradition ±'ot the prei sent Seouts to take up aud in their ; furn to pass on to those following in the future years. The only thing that can hinder Scouting now as if the boys rest on their laurels and forget to "stick to , it" whatever may happen. 1 We must all still remember that • Scouting depends on us just as much . as it did years ago. We must all still put our wisfhos aside and iurn up evon

when we don't fepl like doing so; we must all still keep ourselves smart when in uniiform; we must all still carry on as Scouts in the way the Chief expects all Scouts to do. Our attendance at troop meetings must still be at least 85 per cent., aua at public parades we must still do our best to turn out to lOO per cent. I know that there are very many Scouts who are as keen as it is possible for anyone to be, but I also know that there are quite a number, worse luck, who let Scouting Deeome a reserve amusement and who turn up when there is nothing else to oecupy them. It is those chaps who are letting our Chief down and also letting their fellow Scouts down. It is they who are doing their bit to spoil the tradition left to us by the Scouts of past years. I want every Scout to try to realise what a lot depends on every single ono of us, and to buck himsfelf up, aua to come up fighting to keep the reputation and numbers of Scouts ever jncreasing. Let us remember that every absence, except through illness, and that every un-Scoutlike action is a hindrance to the progress of Scouting. If every single one of us does his best to help Scouting. and does nol leave it to the next chap we shall make our movement jump ahead, and such things as our wished-for headquarters will come to pass, aud we will be able to say that we have, everyone of us. done his best to pass something on to the Scouts of the future. May the best of success and happiness be for every Seout who does his best always.-—' ' G'ood Hunting and Good Scoutine. ' '

A Word To Parents And now for a tala to you, mothers and fathers. However keen a boy may be on his Scouting, he will always be very much handieapped if his parents do not help him. There are quite a number of people, I am sorry to say, who do not tane the least interest in the Scouts to which their boy belongs. It is with them just something to which their boy can go if they do not Want him at home for something or other. I would remind you that a keen parent is of just as much importance to a troop as a keen Scout. Boys arriving late will always upset the smooth running of a parade, so Will you please see that your youngster gets off early enough to get to parade in time. Then, as to subscniptions, it ia neceseary to have money to keep ourselves going, and I know tHat quite a number of boys just get their subs from their parents without having to work for it. Our Chiefs idea is that all Scouts should eara that for themselves, so what about finding them some work about the house that they know they will regularly have to do before getting their subscription money, "or some other idea may be more suitable for soine people. That is just a suggestion on which you may form some plan. Of course, some boys take papers, or earn money for themselves from ontside sources, and in that case f ather • s poeket will be that much heavier. ("Thank goodness," he'll say.) Then again, a boy who is not regular in attendance eannot get on properly, and there again the parent .can help us a lot. To all those fathers and mothers wno help us all they can, I say, in the name of Scouting, "Thank You." And now just as an illustration of ho;w much difierence a keen parent does make to a boy I am going to give you this example. In the Scouts we have what is called a "Court of HonoUr," a meeting of the boys who are leaders (and in some troops the seeonds also) and this meeting does praetically the whole of the planning for its troop. What is said at these meetings is not given out, only just the results, but just this once I am going to give you the Temark mad© by oue of my leaders the other day when we were discussing as to who should be made second in a certain patrol. This leader said, "I vote for j his people are keener than 's and that makes a big diff ereilcc. ' ' • It is your boys we are trying to train and make into useful men and we can do far more with your help than without it. A lot of you probably have never given it a thought, and that is why I have put in this pieee so that you may understand really where some of the diffieulties of a Scoutmaster come alone.

District Scouter.