Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1914-04-01
Local Boy Scout Movement.

Barton is considering the possibility
of establishing a Boy Scout movement
Recently number of representative
men had a meeting to canvass the
matter. The great value of the move
ment was recognized. The grea test
need seemed to be some man to take
up the work. In this connection we
would like to publish an extract from
an address by Ernest Thompson Seton
given at the National Council meeting
of the Boy Scouts of America.
The most important years of the
boys life are from fourteen to eight
cen. These are the years above all
others that are formative Before
that the metal is too soft, after that
it is too hard. The period between
fourteen and eighteen is just the time
when you can mould that character
into any desired shape, and here again
is difficulty that the average Ameri
can boy has to meet.
He leaves school at fourteen-tha
is the history of most of our boys. He
naturally wants to have some fun; he
is beginning to earn little money,
and becoming more or less independent
of father and mother; he is released
from supervision and not yet aware of
ing to the proper and natural impulse
of youth he wants ''fun."
There is only one place open for
him. and that is the street, and most
of the influences there are I, am sorry
to say, for evil.
At this point the boy has been
allowed to drift. l am not forgetting
the noble work of church, of Sunday
school, of Y. M. C. A., of synagogue
or benevolent organization, but it is
obvious that they have not solved the
problem, because this dreadful waste of
our most precious national resource
has been going on almost unchecked.
What we think we can do is just
this-to give them a new weapon of
infinite possibilities. We invite them
to use this weapon, to take our materi-
al and digest it and absorb it, and then
they will come in and cast their lot
with us and work with US on this truly
national idea with the certainty of
uplift for the whole nation.
Give us men enough to lead the
groups and we will carry out our
program so completely that in ten
years all the jails will be empty and
abandoned!
All any boy needs is fair chance,
and we want to give it to him. But
what would you clergymen think if
some day you found your church door
jammed with a string of boys, or the
Sunday school overlooking with lusty
young fellows clamoring for longer
hours and more teachers, or even
midweek meetings and more lessons!
What would the steady business man
think if early some morning deputa.
tion of boys were to come begging hin
to be their leader in the study o1
civic duties and virtues? Yet this is {
daily experience with the Boy Scou
organization. And it is sad, aImos
tragic. when in some cases we SET
these boys turned hungry away.
have seen whole troops go to piece
because of this lack of leadership.
say that every school teacher
every clergyman, every college MAJ
should feel himself called to thi
work. He is ex-officio Scout Master
And when the country wakens up to tn
Importance of this, there will be
chair of Scouting in every university
and a Secretary of Scouting in tn
Cabinet. At the present time [ believ
we can get all the money we want
carry out our program, we can get a
the boys we want, eight million Q
them-but alas, we cannot get tn
proper men to handle these boys
That is what we want now.