New Britain herald., 1916-09-26
COMMUNICATED
Commissioner Explains Reasons for Withholding Support of Boy Scouts in Collection of SoI-
 dier's Relief Bags.
New Britain, Conn.,,

Sept. 25, 1916. To the Editor of the Herald
 Some question has arisen concern ing the position the Local Council of Boy Scouts, through the commits sioner, has taken toward the collec- ton of Soldiers Relief bags under the auspices of A. G. Hammond Camp, United States War Veterans. The commissioner has not changed his mind and re-iterates his former stand with the following facts in mind.
 CD The committee in charge of the canvass, has secured the services of Scouts, in the case of bona-fide Scouts, without consulting the com 1 missioner. In order to safeguard the standing of the movement, and to be | certain of the worthiness of en- deavors seeking the aid of Scouts, irrespective of the merits of this par ] t1cular case, every organization de- siring such support, is required first to make application to the commis- sioner, who in turn, must secure the approval of the executive committee of the Local Council. This is the rule of the Hartford and New Brit ain councils.
 No such sanction was requested or gained. Scouts were secured without the knowledge or sanction either of the Commissioner of New Britain or of MT. Ripley, the executive of Hart ford The matter of the support given by individual boys came to the attention of both officers only indi- rectly. Inasmuch as the commission CT and the council had received no request for the services of the Scouts, with the opportunity that would then be afforded of making an impartial investigation of the merits of the re- quest, the only course, in view of the official ruling and in view of the pol icy of protecting both the movement and the public was to repudiate our official responsibility.
 CD Any Scout acting in uniform, in such a situation, has no official standing at the time. He has no right to wear the uniform for such purpose until the matter has been sanctioned by the Local Council. He may serve as an individual, Ii he choses, in ordinary clothes, but the Council, through the power bestowed in the National organization by the Federal government, may, and does forbid the use of the uniform, and
 
 in the name of the Scouts, in en- deavors unsanctioned. Hence again the commissioner was obliged to give the public notice that any boys ap- bearing in uniform were not, for the time being. bona-f1de Scouts, and the organization was in no way sanction ing their endeavOrs.
 (3) The statem ents of at least one collector, a boy in uniform, when fol- lowed up, were found to be incorrect and the sanction he claimed to have received from his Scoutmaster had not been given, and the ScOutmaster did not even know that the boy had been helping The boy also gave false information as to his troop af filiation so that the commissioner was led to doubt his genuineness as a Scout.
 All of these circumstances, to- gether with the Investigations made by the Chamber of Commerce, have made the officers of the organization feel merited in withholding the sup port of the Scouts
 Boy Scouts are always willing and eager to serve the public in every commendable way. They have done good service on various occasions such as the Fourth of July celebra- ton, Memorial Day, the State G. A. R. Fncampm ent, the Public Health Cam paign of the Board of Health and on many other occasions. But in order to retain the high standard of work, in order to protect our boys, and in order that the public may continue to have confidence in the services of the bows the officers must retain the right to determine where and under what conditions Scouts may servo.
 Yours very cordially,
 ELMER T. THIEVES,
 Scout Commissioner