THE BOY SCOUTS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1, 27 April 1912, Page 5

THE BOY SCOUTS.

GENER AI. BA 1 )EN-PO WELL’S VISIT.

Mr F. Bird, the District Commander of the Stratford Boy Scouts, has received notice of the details of the arrangements to he made in Wellington in connection with the visit of the Chief Scout, General Baden Powell. Efforts are being made to secure at least school excursion rates on the railways, and the Wellington Scouts assure visiting Scouts of a splendid stay |n the capital city. The General will arrive at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29th, leaving at 7.15 the following evening.

The following letter, received by Colonel Cossgrove, Dominion Chief Scout, from the General, will throw some light on a movement which is not received in Stratford with any great degree of enthusiasm by the general public:—“l am looking forward very much,” runs the letter, ‘‘to seeing your Scout officers and Scouts and to hearing from you any suggestions or questions which you may have to put to me. l ln the meantime, there are one or two points which I would like to put before your Association. “I am travelling with a view to getting some rest and change needed after heavy work at Home. t I am, therfore, obliged to ask to be excused all the entertainments and receptions which have been so generously offered to me. I should feel very gratified if you would kindly let this be generally known. I can only undertake the actual inspection of Scouts and some lectures to explain the movement. lam particularly averse to receptions on arrival, or guards of honour or escorts, and I hope that Scoutmasters will, therefore, not trouble to turn out' their hoys. “In explaining the policy of the movement to the public, I propose to show that our primary aim is to make the boys into young backwoodsmen and good citizens. We do not go in for military training any more than we do for a religious one. These points wo leave to others. At the same time our practical development of ‘character’ in the boys lays the groundwork of manliness and sense of duty, which is the essential and only basis on which all these other developments can successfully be produced. “The Socialist and Labour leaders now recognise that we are not hostile to them, and are non-political, but merely want to give the poorest boy a fair start in life. An the heads of almost all religious denominations are on our Council and approve our nonsectarian attitude. “These are points which I often find are not sufficiently known, and which I will enlarge upon in the lectures which I have already arranged to give; they might, therefore well be promulgated before my arrival. I only hope that educationalists, and gentlemen likely to be interested and useful to the movement, will be moved to attend them, as this method of getting their practical sympathy has had very successful results in America. “As regards the programme of inspection of Scouts, I am delighted to see anything that your Scoutmasters care to show me (except military parades or drills). I look upon the patrol as the unit, and the patrol leader as the responsible officer, and I carry out my inspections on that basis. (I am glad to see the exhibition of any practical work, and the more original it is, the more varied, so much the better, as it is by this that I judge of the individuality and ability of the Scoutmaster. For big assemblages of Scouts we never use the old-fashion-ed military parade; but, if in the open, the circular rally, as described in the handbook; and if in a building or confined place, the Scouts'form spiral by following their leader till the Scouts are all circling round the inspecting officer, when the command ‘Halt, sit down,’ is given and carried out in strict silence. I generally say a few words to the Scouts on conclusion of the review and I like to collect the Scoutmasters afterwards, to be introduced to them and speak to them. “Forgive my going into these details, hut as many Scout officers ask me these little points I have thought it may save you some trouble if I give the answers in anticipation of the questions. I should be grateful if you could kindly communicate them to your Commissioners and Scoutmasters.

“I have three gentlemen travelling with me as my assistants, Messrs Noel Van Raalte, Insole and Wrougliton. We are all looking forward very much to our visit to the New Zealand Scouts.”