Scouting, Volume 1, Number 20, February 15, 1914 Page: 1
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SCOUTING
Published semi-monthly by National Headquarters, Boy Scouts of America
For Scout Officials and Others Interested In Work for Boys
Vol. I.
NEW YORK, N. Y, FEBRUARY 15, 1914.
No. 20.
Our Most Urgent Need.
THE needs before us for accom-
plishment are many and of great
importance, but none so pressing-
as the need for working- out some
practical plan of providing- more men
to serve as Scout Masters.
As we look over the whole field and
consider the reports from all the dif-
ferent centers, we find that the prob-
lem is not one of money but one of
men—men of virility and character,
capable of inspiring- confidence in boys
so that by their example of living- in
accordance with the principles of the
Scout Oath and Law they will effect-
ively carry out the Scout prog-ram in
its truest sense—men who, because of
their interest in the State and Nation,
are willing- to make the sacrifice in-
volved in volunteer service as Scout
Masters—men who realize that the boy
of to-day is the man of to-morrow,
and appreciate the importance of
working- with him.—From the Report
of James West, Chief Scout Execu-
tive, delivered at the Foiurth Annual
Meeting.
ANNUAL MEETING INSPIRES MEN
FOR LARQER SERVICE FOR BOYS
Reports Submitted to the National Council at Washington, D. C., Show
the Extension and Improvement of Scout Work
Throughout the Country.
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL
APPROVES NEW PLANS
Actions on Resolutions.
IMPORTANT matters which the
National Council acted upon by resolu-
tion at the fourth annual meeting are
described below.
1—Local Councils.
Resolved, That the responsibility and
authority of local councils be further de-
veloped, especially those organized with
Executive officers.
(1) By modifying organization policy so
as to extend the jurisdiction of Councils in
large cities, when desired by the parties in-
volved, so as to include supervision of
work of troops just outside of the city
limits or in smaller adjacent communities,
when in the judgment of the parties con-
cerned and the National Council it will
best serve the interests of the Scout Move-
ment.
(2) By the further development of the
plan of having correspondence and ques-
tions of administration concerning Scout
Masters under the jurisdiction of Local
Councils handled exclusively through the
officers of Local Councils.
(3) By encouraging Local Councils to
handle printed matter and Scout equipment
for the benefit of those under their juris-
diction with a view to reducing the ex-
pense and delay in serving their constitu-
encies. (Approved.)
2—Field Work.
Resolved, That the field work be de-
veloped :
(1) By the appointment of a Director
pf Field Work.
£2) By the division of the country into
(Continued on page 7.)
THE fourth annual meeting of the
National Council of the Boy Scouts
of America was held in Washington,
D. C., on Lincoln's Birthday, February 12,
There were four sessions, three in the
Raleigh Hotel and one in the White
House, where President Wilson's greetings
were delivered, at his personal request, by
his Secretary of State, the President being
too ill to leave his bedroom. Mrs. Wilson
stood beside Mr. Bryan while he spoke for
her husband, and pinned Eagle Scout
Badges on the coats of five Washington
Scouts, the first in this city to reach this
rank. Throughout the day these Eagle
Scouts carried the messages and otherwise
aided the National Council members.
Another member of the Cabinet, Hon.
Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy,
also addressed the Council, speaking in
highest praise of the character development
work of the Boy Scouts of America and
expressing his appreciation, " which is only
the appreciation of all America," of the
generous, unselfish and noble praise of all
those engaged in the movement.
Still another member of the Cabinet,
Hon. David F. Houston, Secretary of Agri-
culture, sent a personal representative to
express his high regard for the movement
and his desire to co-operate with it in
every possible way.
Five United States Senators spoke to the
Council, and others wrote, declaring their
deep interest in the movement, and spoke
favorably of its methods and their convic-
tion that it is one of the most powerful
factors in America making for better citi-
zenship.
The Governors of twenty-two States sent
telegrams, all of them approving the move-
ment heartily, offering encouragement to
all who are engaged in the work, several
expressing the hope that some day all the
boys in this country will be members of
the Boy Scouts of America.
The members of the National Council
present represented nearly all organizations
and institutions which have to do with boy
life in America; the National, State and
Citv governments: virtually every character
of business, and all of the professions.
The testimony of the representatives of
these organizations indicated that no move-
ment has ever given them such a practicable
method of improving boys and bringing
them into close relationship and sympathy
with various good causes.
The Boy Scout plan and program were
not altered in any material way by the
National Council, it having proved satis-
factory in all its essential elements.
The Council, however, provided for cer-
tain changes in methods of administration,
as suggested by the Executive Board, for
the purpose of increasing the assistance
given to Local Councils and Scout Masters
in their work with boys. These improve
ments are enumerated elsewhere in this
issue of Scouting.
The Morning Session.
The Council assembled at 9:30 A. M. for
its first session, President Livingstone pre-
siding.
Mr. Livingstone, saying that the reports
of the Executive officers would give a
complete statement of the past year's activ-
ities and an outline of the plans for the
Boy Scout work in the United States in
the ensuing year, spoke particularly of the
desire of all the National officers that they
themselves, and the Council members, and
the local leaders, keep prominently in mind
the Boy Scout ideal, preserving carefully
the best of things, the spirit which has
grown up in the Boy Scout Movement, and
which has distinguished and glorified it.
He spoke of the danger of Scout workers
keeping their eyes so close to the path that
they might lose sight of the goal, and urged
all of them to pause now and again and
review thoughtfully the Scout Oath and
Law—" Lest we forget."
National Court of Honor.
Chief Scout Ernest Thompson Seton, in
his report as chairman of the National
•Court of Honor, said that it was his joyful
privilege to report " high and honorable
achievements of the distinguished Scouts of
our organization." The National Court of
Honor had a great deal more to do in 1913
than it had in 1912 in considering the honor
claims presented. The standards have not
been changed, but a more rigorous exami-
nation has, in each case, been instituted,
and the successful stimulus of the honor
medal is shown in the steady increase of
the numbers.
In 1913 the Court awarded five silver
and twenty-five bronze medals, making a
total of thirty cases of especially note*
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 1, Number 20, February 15, 1914, periodical, February 15, 1914; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282662/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.