The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-18


stand the scout test and take the oath
and abide by it to become a member
of the Boy Scouts of America.
Work for the Future
But why should the men be so inter-
ested in the boy? Because the boys of
today are the men of tomorrow, and
the men who are aiding the boy by
instructing him in scoutcraft, by giving
advice and by showing them how to do
things, tomorrow will be the men of
yesterday and when that time comes
not only the management of this great
army of Boz Scouts be- left in their
hands, but also the management of the
United States, Some boy of today will
be the President of the United States
of tomorrow. Some boy of today will
occupy the governors position in every
state of the union tomorrow Every
doctor. every lawyer, every judge, every
commissioner. every alderman, every
senator must give up his place to one
of the boys of today. We will have
finer set of men tomorrow than we
had yesterday. We want more George
Washingtons. more Abraham Lincolns,
Twains, more WILBUR Wrights, more
Thomas Edsons, and we must find dhem
among the boys of today.
You have seen a lot in print about
our conservation of our resources. The
most valuable resource we have are
the boys in America. Every boy who
gees. astray becomes mislt, and a
failure is a great loss to the asset of
this country Every honorable, brave,
efficient boy is a tremendous addition
to the assets of this country. The Boy
Scouts of America is the greatest con-
servation society in the world, for we
are working to conserve the boys. We
want to make the boys happy, and no
tough. lazy boy is ever happy. The dec
claration of independence states that
we have inalienable right to life lib
erty and happiness. No boy can be
happy unless he is allowed to play, con-
sequently every. city, town or village
Which makes no provision for children
to play is a traitor to our great coun-
try, because it is denying the young
people of. their unalienable rights.
Where Work Is All Play
In the organization of the Boy Scouts
of America our work is all play, but
is play Which teaches the boys how
to do things which are necessary for
them to know if they are to be sue
cessful men and citizens.
To become a scout a boy must learn
the scout oath, which is is follows on
my honor | will do my best; first to
do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the scout law; second. to
help other people at all times; third,
to keep myself physically strong, men,
tally awake, and morally straight. He
INST also know the scout sign, scout
| salutes and the significance of tho
badge; know the composition and his
tory of the national flag and the Gus
| tomary forms OF respect due to il; know
how TO tioat least four standard knots:
| know and understand the scout laws.
which are:
/. \ scout is trustworthy.
.. a scout is loyal.
3. a scout is helpful.
4. \ scout is friendly.
5. scout is courteous.
6. A scout is kind
Z. A scout is obedieat
s. \ scout is cheerful.
3. A scout is thrifty.
TO- A scout is brave.
II. A sout is clean
II. \ scout is reverent.
After passing the above test he is
enrolled as d tenderfoot. After he has
become tenderfoot he can, by pass
ing additional tests, become a second
class scout, then afterward a first class
scout
The national headquarters have made
an agreement whereby he is able, by
showing proficiency in different lines
of work, to win merit badges for his
work.
Medals for Special Work
These merit badges are given for
almost any kind of work the boy sees
fit to take UP. such as cycling, first aid
electricity, Interpreting, life saving,
mining, music, signalling, surveying,
etc. Twenty-one merit badges entities
him to the eagle scout badge and rep
resents the all-round perfect scout The
at airs of the local movement in the