(the English version of de Gresac and de Croissel's La Passerelle), and he toured with this play in America. Later he played Conan Doyle's Raffles in the English provinces. He died in London April 17 1920.
BOY SCOUTS. A brief reference was made in the article SCOUT (24.476) to the institution in England in 1908 of the Boy
Scout movement. In later years it developed so strongly, both
in England and in other countries, being also imitated, hardly
less successfully, by that of the Girl Guides on similar lines, that
its history requires fuller record.
In 1893-4, when serving with his regiment, the I3th Hussars, Sir Robert (then Lt.-Col., and later Lt.-Gen.) Baden-Powell realized that the ordinary peace training of soldiers for service in the field was not sufficiently practical, and he therefore carried out classes of training in his squadron for the men individually in scouting and campaigning. In 1897-8, having been transferred to command the 5th Dragoon Guards, he carried on similar training, but on improved lines, with a view to developing character i.e. manliness, self-reliance, and reliability as well as field efficiency since these were largely lacking in lads coming into the army from the ordinary board school. His lectures and practices were collated and published in a small book, Aids to Scouting.
During the South African War, 1899-1900, Maj. Lord Edward Cecil, Baden-Powell's chief staff officer, organized the boys of Maf eking as a corps for general utility on scout lines rather than those of cadets, and the experiment was an entire success. The experience showed that, if their training were made to appeal to them, boys would learn readily, and also that boys were capable of taking responsibility to a far greater degree than was generally believed, if only they were trusted. The troop was made a small unit, in order that the commander should be able to deal with each individual on personal knowledge of him; the system of patrols was instituted, of six boys under a leader. In carrying out the organization of the South African Constabulary, 1901-3, Baden-Powell employed the same principles on an extended scale. Responsibility was thus given to the junior non-commis- sioned officers, and emulation between the patrols produced a good spirit and a higher standard of efficiency all round. The human side was appealed to, and the men were trusted on their honour to a very large degree in carrying out their duties. Their uniform for field work was the cowboy hat, shirt, green tie, and shorts. Badges were awarded for proficiency in different lines of work.
In 1907 Sir Robert held a trial camp for scout training for boys at Brownsea I., at which he had boys of every class to experi- ment upon, and its results exceeded his expectations and prompted him to go on with the idea. The training was based on that which he had employed with soldiers and the constabulary, with some adaptation to make it suitable for boys, following the principles adopted by Zulus and other African tribes which re- flected some of the ideas of Epictetus and the methods of the Spartans, and of the ancient British and Irish, for training their boys. He also looked into the Bushido of the Japanese, as well as the more modern method of John Pounds for dealing with boys, and Jahn for their physical culture, as well as those put in practice by Sir William Smith, Seton-Thompson, Dan Beard and others. In Jan. 1908, he brought out the handbook of the training, entitled Scouting for Boys, in six fortnightly parts. A number of troops were started in different parts of the United Kingdom before the series was half completed. Although he had only anticipated that scouting would be taken as an additional attraction for their boys by the Boys' Brigade and Church Lads' Brigade, it became evident that a separate movement was required to deal with the number of boys who were taking it up uncon- nected with these bodies.
In 1910, the Boy Scout movement had grown to such dimensions (123,930) that Sir Robert felt it incumbent upon him to leave the army in order to take the movement in hand as " Chief Scout." With a view to making the subject appeal to boys, and to meet their spirit of adventure, he held up for their ideal the doings of back- woodsmen, knights, adventurers and explorers, as the heroes for them to follow. These he grouped generally under the title " Scouts."
Through camp life, boat work, pioneering and nature study could be found all the attractions for a boy which at the same time would be the medium of instruction. The instruction took the form of active self-expression on the part of the boy, rather than his passive reception of ideas.
Partly from his own experience and partly from that of others, Sir Robert worked out what was lacking in the training in the average schoolboy. The deficiency lay chiefly in the direction of: (i) Character and general intelligence; (2) skill and handicrafts; (3) physical development and health knowledge; (4) service for others and for the State. The activities and practices of scouting were, therefore, framed as far as possible to develop in (i), (2), and (3) the efficient individual, and then to harness his individuality for the good of the community, i.e. citizenship. Honour was made the high ideal for the boys. The Scout Law, on which the movement hinges, was taken from the code of the knights.
King Edward, and later King George V., became the patron of the association of Boy Scouts, and the Duke of Connaught its president. Administration was decentralized from the Imperial Headquarters Council (at 25, Buckingham Palace Road, London) through county commissioners, district commissioners, and local associations to the scoutmasters in charge of troops.
For organization the troop was purposely kept small in numbers (40 being regarded as the best maximum), in order that the scout- master should have personal knowledge of each of his boys, this being the only possible way of developing the character of the individual. The patrol system was adopted from that of the South African Constabulary, and for the same reason. An extensive sys- tem of badges was instituted, as in the Royal navy and the constabu- lary, for excellence in different branches of work.
The Boy Scout movement is non-military, non-political, non-class and interdenominational. Its aim is to make good citizens, and for this reason it was judged unnecessary to introduce military drill. Scoutcraft is a means through which the veriest hooligan can be brought to higher thought and to the elements of faith in God; and, coupled with the scout's obligation " to do a good turn every day," it gives the base of duty to God and to neighbour on which the parent or pastor can build with greater ease the form of belief that is desired. The Scout Promise, to carry out, on his honour, as far as in him lies, the Scout Law, is the binding disciplinary forcg. The aims and methods of the movement were inquired into by the Privy Council in 1912, and a Royal Charter of Incorporation was granted as an official recognition.
The outbreak of war in 1914 found thousands of scouts just sally- ing forth in their little, self-contained units with their trek carts and tents, and the Sea Scouts with their boats and equipment for their campings in the August holidays. By telegraph the object of their outing was changed; the Land Scouts were mobilized all over the country under the chief constables to protect the railway bridges, waterworks, telegraph and cable lines. At the same time Sea Scouts at once took over the duties of watching the coast from the coast- guardsmen, who were called up for service afloat; and there they remained till the end of the war, working under the orders of the Admiralty. Some 23,000 boys took their turn at this service. Over 100,000 of the older scouts and scoutmasters took their places on sen-ice, and they did well. Ten thousand of them gave their lives for their country. Some of the V.C. heroes were Craig, Gates, Dimmer (also a Boys' Brigade man), Laidlaw, Toye, Cruikshank, McKean, Jack Cornwall, Dean, Haine and Hallowes, formerly Boy Scouts.
Through scouting the boy has the chance to deck himself in a frontier kit as one of the great brotherhood of backwoodsmen. He can track and follow signs, he can signal, he can light his fire and build his shack and cook his grub. He can turn his hand to many things in pioneer and campcraft. His unit is a band of six, com- manded by their own boy leader. Here may be seen the natural gang of the boy, whether for good or for mischief; responsibility and self-discipline for the individual; and esprit de corps for the honour of the patrol, as strong as any house-spirit in a public school.
To the outsider's eye the scout's staves are so many broomsticks, but to the scout they are different. His staff, decorated with his own particular totem and signs, is typical; like his staff, among a mass he is an individual having his own traits, his own character, his own potentialities. He may be one of a herd, but he has his own entity. He gets to know the joy of life through the out-of-doors. Then there is the spiritual side. Through sips of nature lore, imbibed in woodland " hikes," the puny soul grows up and looks round. The outdoors is par excellence the school for observation and for realizing the wonders of a wondrous universe.
At Olympia, London, in July and Aug. 1920, was held perhaps the most significant gathering of boys that has ever been known, when some hundred thousand Boy Scouts from 27 different countries for the movement has spread over the world came together to show to the public something of the aims, methods and results of " Scouting for Boys." The fact that these boys, wearing the same uniform and obeying the same Scout Law, had started a remarkable personal inter-comradeship, might well be an important factor toward developing that spirit of good-will on the part of the peoples themselves that was essential to the hopes founded on the League of Nations.
