BOY SCOUTS’ VALUE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21195, 19 August 1940, Page 8

BOY SCOUTS’ VALUE

DICTATORS’ OPPOSITION DESTRUCTION OF MOVEMENT “It is significant that one of the first things that Hitler. Stalin and Mussolini did on gaining power was to stamp out scouting,” said Mr A. W. Cooksey, Commissioner of Scout Training for New Zealand, when speaking at the weekly luncheon of the Hamilton Rotary Club today. ■•“ They realised that it was a force to be reckoned with, and that their evil designs could not succeed while scouting and boy scouts remained in their countries. “They stamped out the moral principles, but retained the technical training,” said the speaker. “They have used those methods of training for their own ends. It is also significant that they have realised that, in order to gain unity in a national movement, they must enlist the enthusiasm of the country’s youth. That is what we also must do—enlist the youth of the country for the purposes of service and usefulness. Post-War Responsibilities “Today our job is that of winning the war. but what is going to happen afterwards? There will be a certain amount of clearing up to be done and we must prepare our young people for it. Our job today is one of destruction, but those who come afterwards will have to build. Thus our responsibilities todav are twofold: We have to win the war and we have to prepare the younger generation for the work that will have to be done afterward. In scouting I think we have one of the finest and greatest movements for training the children for the responsibilities that will remain after the war is over.”

The speaker dealt with principles upon which the Bov Scout movement rested, and stated that the idea behind it was to produce good, healthy and happy citizens. The movement had made a great deal of progress in the Dominion during reeent years, the increase in membership the year before last being 1700. Last year an increase of 2000 was seen, and another rise was expected this year. The number of boy : couts and girl guides in the Dominion was 16.000, and there were 4,500.000 active participants in the movement in the world. The Boy Scout movement and the Rotary movement had similar aims, for they both worked in the interests of international brotherhood. On behalf of the club, Mr F. Pickering thanked the speaker for his address.