Scouting, Volume 1, Number 16, December 15, 1913 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. T.
NEW YORK, N. Y., DECEMBER 15, 1913
No. 16
Greetings!
AT this season when good will toward men
receives articulation, it is with pleasure that
we of the National Headquarters Office ex-
press in this way our sincere appreciation of the
good wishes that are coming to us daily in letters
from Scout leaders and Scouts in all parts of the
United States.
Ours is a movement which is essentially depend-
ent upon good will. No Scout could ever develop
as he might; no Scout leader could ever have suc-
cess and satisfaction in his work; the National
officers would be unable to give the services they
do with the means they have, if the spirit which
is commonly caled the Christmas spirit did not pre-
vail throughout the year.
Yet this is an appropriate time for us to ex-
press our thanks and our best wishes to all who are
at work for the benefit of the boys, and we do so
most heartily.
James E. West,
Chief Scout Executive.
POLICY OF SCOUT SUPPLY
DEPARTMENT IS DEFINED.
AT a meeting of the Committee on
Scout Supplies on November 19, the
following resolutions were passed,
which will be of interest to all members of
this organization as defining the future
policy of National Headquarters upon a
number of important matters:
1. scope of the supply department.
Resolved, That the scope of the department
shall be confined strictly to such items of
equipment and printed matter for which there
might be in the opinion of the Committee a
real use in Scouting and which this office
would render a distinct service by supplying,
provided, however, that no attempt shall be
made to develop a general sales department
for the sake merely of profit, and that it
shall be the policy of the Supply Department
at all times to sell goods of the best quality
at the lowest possible price consistent there-
with.
11. method of selecting supplies. _ _
Resolved, That definite specifications be
adopted for each item of equipment, the
organization to adopt the policy of contract-
ing with any or all manufacturers who com-
ply with specifications subject to favorable
prices and terms.
iii. method of distribution and use of emblem.
Resolved, That for the present supplies
bearing the official emblem, with the exception
of uniforms, shall be sold only by the Supply
Department at Headquarters or through such
branches as it may establish in Scout centers
or with Local Councils, and that uniforms
be permitted to be sold by the_ manufacturer
through agents for the time being,
iv. delivery charges. „
Resolved, That the organization shall fix
the net prices for all supplies handled, and
include in the catalog _ the weight of each
article when packed, giving also a parcel post
map and a scale of the charges for delivery
in each zone, explaining further that express
or freight will be used where it is to the
advantage of the customer.
v. discounts. „ ,
Resolved, That Scout Councils of the first
class (those maintaining paid officers) be
given discounts from the retail price of sup-
plies to offset the expense of handling, the
amount of such discounts to be determined
by the sub-committee on merchandise.
Scout Master, Have You Thought
to Take the Oath Yourself ?
I have talked over with some of my
friends engaged in this work
with boys the advantage of takir~
the oath ourselves, as Scout Masters.
It seems strange now that it took us
so long to wake up to the somewhat
stupid inconsistency of encouraging
boys to a certain course, and then not
following it ourselves. We influence
more boys by our example than by our
teaching; and, by taking the same oath
which they take themselves, we are
making the fullest use of the oath in
our relations to them. After the oath
is once taken, the degree of our influ-
ence with the boys will depend, more
than anything else, on the extent to
which they feel that we practice it in
our own lives. This is the real secret
of the Boy Scout Movement at its best.
—From Mr. Arthur A. Carey's address.
THE SPIRIT OF THE SCOUT
LAW AND ITS IMPORTANCE.
NOVEL CAMPAIGN FOR
FUNDS A BIG SUCCESS.
How the Hamburg, N. Y., Council Got
Everybody in Town Interested in
Scout Work.
By R. A. HORTON, Scout Commissioner.
Hamburg, n. y., is a village of 2,500
inhabitants. The Local Council being
in need of funds, arranged for a can-
vass of the men, inviting each to con-
tribute. The men in the Council were di-
vided into three sections, each to work
with one of the three Troops here, making
three divisions composed of men and boys
to solicit. Blank subscription cards were
printed, the names of men of the village
written on the back, and delivered, one
third to each section, who were to work in
the third area of the village allotted to
them, and the contest was on for one week.
Reports were turned in on Tuesday eve-
ning, and the Scout in each Troop having
the most cash was given $1.00 to add to his
subscriptions; this was repeated on Thurs-
day night, and on Saturday evening a sup-
per was given 85 Scouts and Council
members by the wives of the Executive
Committee at the rooms of the Business
Men's Gub, who allowed the boys to use
the club rooms the remainder of the eve-
ning.
Judge Harry L. Taylor, Vice-President
of the Buffalo Council, addressed the com-
pany after the supper, and the final results
of the campaign were announced. In all,
$274 was pledged and $251 of this amount
('Continued on page 8.)
A Prominent Leader Discusses the Aims
of the Movement and the Duty
of Scout Masters.
By ARTHUR A. CAREY *
Chairman of the National Committee on Sea
Scouting.
THE Scout Oath and Law are the moral
ground-work of the whole move-
ment; and, as such, they are more
important than any other branch of Scout-
ing,—such as woodcraft, seamanship, ath-
letics, sports and games, etc., considered
in themselves. In this respect the life of
Scouting is precisely like human life in
general, and the problem is_ to make our
sense of honor—supported, in the case of
every particular man or boy, by his own
form of personal religion—so strong and
alive that it will furnish the true motive
and tone for every outward activity; and,
by permeating all other activities with its
own spirit, make of our woodcraft, sea-
manship, athletics, sports and games, etc.,
honorable activities; that is, activities con-
trolled by fair play and the rules of the
game, whatever they may be.
To those who object that this point of
view is too much that of the preacher, and
that the interests of boys cannot be awak-
ened and held by an appeal to their moral
sense, I answer that it depends entirely on
the spirit in which the appeal is made. If
it is conventional and " preachy " the appeal
will fall flat; but surely we have not forgot-
ten—even in these days of hustling com-
mercialism—that, to the real man who
lives somewhere under the jacket of every
hustling business man and mischievous
boy, the moral law, in its practical applica-
tion to human affairs, is really the most
sublimely interesting and inspiring fact of
life. All we require is to be sincere and
in earnest ourselves, and then it will not
be so difficult a matter to wake up the
spark of aspiration in the minds of our
boys. It is the dry bones, the pretensions,
and the formal manners of moral teaching
that fall flat, when brought face to face
with the penetrating directness of the boy
mind; never by any chance its quickening
spirit.
I have talked over with some of my
friends engaged in this work with boys the
advantage of taking the oath ourselves, as
Scout Masters. It seems strange now, that
it took us so long to wake up to the some-
what stupid inconsistency of encouraging
boys to a certain course, and then not fol~
lowing it ourselves. We influence boys
"From an address given by Mr. Carey at a
recent meeting of the Greater Boston Council of
the Boy Scout* of America.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 1, Number 16, December 15, 1913, periodical, December 15, 1913; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282654/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.