GIRL PEACE SCOUTS.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 16 October 1912, Page 3

GIRL PEACE SCOUTS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —May I once more have the use of a little space in your paper to futher advocate the value of the '' Girl Peace Scout Movement." At the mention of the name I note on the lips of many, a cynical smile similar to. that accorded the Salvation Army in days gone by, but just as the latter has proved its inestimable value to the community, so will the G.P.S. movement, and the day wall soon come wdien to be a Girl Peace Scout wi 11 be a " hall mark of merit."

At the recent Eugenic Congress held in London, a paper was read by Professor Smith, in which it was nointed out " that such great men and women as Luther, Napoleon, Lincoln, Beethoven, Mozart, St, Francis D'assisi, and Florence Nightengale had no a»cestry to warrant their character and their work. It was their ' environ-* ment' or ' education ' that gave them their talent." It is a well recognised fact to-day, that every child that is properly born into the world has vast potentialities stored up, and it is the function of education to awaken and call into play those latent powers and so develop them till we have produced the complete man, the complete woman.

Our educational system naturally falls short of this ideal, it does not prepare our boys or our girls for the higher responsibilities of life. The death roll of infants under 5 for 1911 was 1760, and this is abnormally high in comparison to our populatlou, and all through " ignorance." Commenting on this fact, a member of Parliament recently said, "If the girls at school were taught the reason why certain foods disagreed with infants, and why certain foods agreed with them, many lives would be saved." That these babes are worth saving is unquestionable, especially when we remember that such men as Kant, Spencer, and Newton, were all frail weaklings, and that their great influence would have been lost to us had not special care been bestowed upon them as infants. This is one of the features of the G,P.S. training course which embodies personal hygiene, First aid, Elementary principles of sick nursing, care of infants, cooking, signalling, swimming etc. Nor must we forget the moral side of the movement, the girls are under the control of some kind motherly young lady, called the Seoutmistress they are taught the value of Truth, honour, and loyalty to God, and to our King and Country. The womanly qualities of kindness, gentleness, and the desire to care for and help others are called into play by the observance of the Scout Law. The word " Scout " has been defined as " who leads the way, is always on the lookout to do good and be. useful," and that this is not merely idealistic is proved by the results in districts where troops have been established, where " ,living epistles," in the form of capable truehearted, self-reliant girh, have been written and are open to be read of all men.

I am, etc,, HOHACK. W, MILKER