BOY SCOUTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 365, 16 April 1910, Page 2

BOY SCOUTS.

Till-: POSITION DEFINED. By Telegraph —Press Association. Wellington, Yesterday. As a result o£ negotiations between the Minister of Education' and the Boy fcr'cout organisation, it has been arranged > that while Boy Scouts are engaged on; work prescribed under the Defence Actj as affecting cadets the scouts wifl be J under the control of the Comuianoant | of Cadets, but at other times the Bovl Scout organisation will carry on its' work independently as heretofore. TIIEIR STATUS IN THE FORCE. Wellington, April 14. j' Since the publication of w»e iiewi cadet regulations, dissatisfaction has 1 existed among many of those respon-j sible for the active work of the Boy; Scout movement, their allegation being' that an effort is being made uy the military authorities in Wellington to remove the Scouts from the control of; the body which has 'brought them into ' existence, and to make them merely aj junior branch of the defence force, 1 \vithout any of their ipresent distinc-j tive characteristics. These grievances of the scoutmasters Were brought un-. | der the notice of the Hon. George; Fowlds, who, as Minister of Education, is the Ministerial head of the school: cadets. | The Minister assured a New Zealand. Times representative that there, hadj teen no such policy as l was suggested l by some of the Boy Scout officers. was, he said, at the request m tlie Boyi Scout organisation that provision was made in last session's defence Act Jor them to form part of the junior cadets. The regulations, so far as they relate to Boy Scouts', were the result of much correspondence and many conferences between Dr. Makgill (Commissioner ot' the North Island Bov Scouts), who was authorised by the Chief Sc-out (Major, Cosgrove) to act for him in cunneewom with the regulations. I>r. Makgill sawi the regulations before they were print-) ed, and expressed his satisfaction with them. "It is quite optional," continued Mr. 1 Fowlds', "for any unit of the Boy Jsoouti organisation to come under the Minis-1 tor's! control, but if they 1 elect to do so it is only right and quij;e essentiali that they s'liall be under the entire con-! trol of 'the Minister. They cannot bej under two heads, and 3s the Cadet De-| partment would have to .provide tliemj with uniforms and equipment, that department would obviously need the en-J tire control, but such control would ,in no wise restrict the Boy Scout organisation in the work they are doing now in an unofficial way. i'he Department is not forcing anything on them."