GUIDES AND SCOUTS

Hokitika Guardian, 17 June 1933, Page 2

GUIDES AND SCOUTS

INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS. LORD BLEDISLOE’S -ADDRESS* AUCKLAND, June 14. At the annual, parade of Girl Guides and Boy Scouts the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, in the course of m address. on the international aspect of guiding and scouting told of the interesting" enterprise pf a, troop of Christchurch Rover Scouts. With the ultimate object, of linking up Rover Scouts throughout New, Zealand, Australia and Canada-, ’the North Beach ROvor Scout Crew commenced on June 1 wireless transmissions firom a station operated by its own radio society. It liad successfully interchanged felicitations with New Plymouth. That- niot only showed, said His Excellency, the resourcefulness, inventiveness and enterprise among the older brothel's of the Scout, movement, but in this respect New Zealand scouts were pointing the way to the rest of the world.

TWO GREAT CONFERENCES. His Excellency sa.jd he wished to point the way to further inquiry on their part into those difficult international questions which at the present critical moment ‘in the world's history were harassing the statesmen of the nations of the world. Eyes were concentrated at the moment upon two great world conferences, one of which had been assembled for several weeks at Geneva and the other and more im- . portant which had assembled .In bourdon. The first ’‘M been called to check: .-physical warfare and the second to ■cheek the economic warfare which was •driving .nations steadily into bankruptcy and beggary. “Let our earnest prayers go on at this critical moment i n the world’s history for. the /success of these two great international conferences,” said His Excellency. Nations mi"ht not mean to fight, but. if thev had the men trained, the warships, the guns, the bomb-dropping aeroplanes, the submarines and the poison gas. war evitable] The Geneva Conference was attempting, if possible, to put a stop to all warfare and preparations for war. The following day there wish'd Begin In London the conference intended to stop the present disastrous commercial and financinl war being waged between nations. It .had been initiated, by British statesmen and \yould be 1 opened by the King.

'causes of UNEMPLOYMENT. Industry, trade qpd finance were national no longer,' but were international. There were, thousands in Auckland suffering from unemployment through no fault of, jtheiy own, but. because there was not enough money coming into the. country..jto pay them. .That money normally came ,in to , pay for the primary products of New Zealand, but Brit''in’.s factory trade had fallen off, no doubt partly on account, of war debts and high taxation, but aiso inrgely owing tp restrictions, imposed by other countries on the importation of British goods, and to the hoarding of gold. Without professing’ to' be at war the nations of the world to-day, through exclusive nationalism and regardless of the’r dependence on© upon the other, had been developing an 'intense trade warfare and cutting their own throats. Now gatherings such as the world jamboree of 1929, .when Scouts of 42 different nations lived together, produced an atmosphere in which war was -impoa* sible. That signified that wo nil belonged to one great human family, whatever might be our colour or race or our station in life. If we are narrow in our outlook on mankind a.t targe, ” said His Excellencv. “w© are failing in the greatest of all loyalties, our loyalty to God, who after all, is Father of all, and whose Fatherhood necessarily implies ouv brotherhood and sisterhood with people of all nations of the woild. Dock of mutual knowledge is the great s fyjjjr.ee of strife in th© world. The great ■need of the) world to-day is. the coij-j ,star>t and friendly intercourse of: nations. This spaciou* comradeship eomes well within the scope of your Scout and Guide law.”

THE DELIGHTS OF NATURE. Speaking of whit the children had i n common with others, HU Excellency said: “You have God’s beautiful native with all its spacious grandeur and beauty, freedom and linspiratjon. its trees, its flowers, if« wild life, its beautiful sunsets, its breaking waves, its besprinkled firmament. A love of nature i s an unconscious love of God. who provided for u.s all without distinction of class, race or peopl© its, wondrous citto *0 full of harmony and nf peace. I venture to suggest to you that if vou wish to enrich your sense of comradeship, which 'i-s .sit) important in the world today. throw yourselves, «s vou hive opportunity, into the expan s vd© delights of God’s natural gifts. t'T have a, most profound 'belief i ll the power for gpo-1 of vonr two Treat movements,” concluded His Excellency, “and T most sincerelv hope that now that the Scouts i n particular have been re-established on a sounder 'footing, Ibßt the two tn'eat movements will emlrace all that is hoajthv' and pntr'otto throughout the whole of this country, and will make their indelible mark for entol in the inter-1- of toe to— rf this co-ntry and this Empire. God bless you •