The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-07
WHY CHURCHES SHOULD HELP
 BOY SCOUTS
By JAMES F. WEST. Chief Scout Executive, Boy Scouts
 of Amertca.l

of America.l
 '-rhe war is over but our work Is ot!"
 This is the cry of the Boy Scouts ( America, the cry of a movement nat now comprises almost 100000 merican boys and a. hundred thous- nd leaders, the cry of a mighty rmy of organized boyhood that ma2ed tho country by performing le herculean task of selling S300.- co 900 worth of Liberty Bonds, S5O,- co 900 worth of War Savings Stamps. beating 2O.O0O,OOO feet of walnut imber for tho War Department, col ,cting enough fruit pits to furnish ae necessary chemicals for half hilton gas masks. distributing 3o,- loo 900 pieces of government lltera- pro and serving as boyhood has nev- r been known to servo In various apacfties for the r. M. c. A, the .mcricnn Red Cross. the Knights of ,oiunbus, the Jewish Welfare Board, he Salvation Army, tho American Li- .rary Association and hundreds of ther worthy agencies during the war.
 Such a cry cannot pass unioticed! And especially SO In the light of the achievements enumerated, for surely rhGn boys, mere yOuHESltESs ~aA -cld themselves together as solidly nto the history of our great tri- rph as the Scouts of America have one. their far-fluuE challenge to be f service during tho days 10 come anuot pass unheeded!
 It shall not.
 Such ia the determination of the Jig men of the country. who, under he leadership of the Hon. W. G. AcAdoo. former Secretary of the Treasury. have banded themselves nto a. National Citizens Committee To secure 1000. 900 associate mem ers of the Boy Scouts of America, n keeping with the proclamation is- ued by the President of the United states. calling upon the people 10 ob- crve the period beginning June Sth nd continuing to June 14th as Boy scout Week.
 This week is to be far more than
 drive" IL Is to he n even-day demonstration of gratitude in appre- tiation of what the Boy Scouts did urinE tho war; it will be dedicated 10 tho 1O,oOO,O0O boys of scout age O whom the benefits of Scouting ,houid be extended. it will aim to rouse the people 10. the necessity of raining the youth of today for the
 
 oS.
 And behind 1t will be every race md creed. every agency of service hc country can rnuster-every school very club, every church.
 Tho churches particularly will lend heir support to the movement, for. irst of all.. eighty per cen. of the ast number of scouts arc connected with churches. As the Rev. Franklin b. Elmer of the Northern Baptfsts Convention has said. "Scouting binds he boy to his church and affords mutually helpful opportunities for the | he church to serve him and for him Q serve in his place. The troop of to- lay must be built Into the church of tomorrow"
 The religious policy of the Scout movement is consistent with the best lf ecclesiastical principles. In all mat CTS of faith tho boy is directly under Inc guidance of his parent church. No religious teaching is thrust upon him from the outside. No attempt s made to wean him away from his proper religious environment. Scout Ing turns the boy toward his church and home instead of drawing him out of iti
 IL is endorsed by every faith and creed. IL Is approved and generous iy supported bq Catholic, Protestant and Jew alike. It is thoroughly Ameri- can. thoroughly religious. It teaches boys to iive-to live as God intended they should.
 The philosophy of "don'tism1 has no place in the creed of Scouting. It Is a movement of expression. not re- pression: expression through con- structive imagination in tho woods. FV.H fr,-y roads. out where nature is most beautiful, where the soul works as in the Temples of God. most purely.
 One million associate members are to be recruited during Boy Scout Week. They are to come from the big cities and remote country haIn1ets alike, from every place where people congregate. largely from the most holy of such places-the church.
 The need of such a membership, such financial auxiliary is impera- tive. for. as great as this movement is it as yet embraces but one-fifth of the eligible boyhood of the na- tion.
 The boys can be secured by mil lions. They want Scouting. They plead for ft! Their applications for Seoul membership pour into National Head quarters at the rate of a thousand "a dayi
 But troops cannot be formed with out red d-blooded God-fearing men tc serve as scoutnasters and assistants . The leadership cannot be obtain sd without the necessary funds for sup orvision. for extension.
 And the most democratic of funds the most American of funds, vii como from a great interested asso- ciated membership. who give, no only their dollars. but their heart: asd sym pathies as well; who feel, ir ! the giving, that In preparing these on whom it's future rests, the Natior . itself will be prepared!