Arizona republican., 1921-11-23

more appreciated.
 Sees Success of Drive "The members of these clubs are, to a great extent the fathers of sons, and they as fathers realize the inn portance and the necessity of pro- viding for their children the mental and moral environment of the Boy Scouts. and of giving them the i'm 1 petus toward right thinking and right l living which lies in the Boy Scout movement. With men of this kind to put themselves behind the drive in Phoenix for the Boy Scouts. the success of the campaign is assured, and I take this opportunity of thank i ing them for their cooperation and | of showing the educators of the state the caliber of those who believe in the
 Boy Scouts and the things for which | they stand"
 The meeting was opened by Royal w Lescher, president of the Kiwanis club, who, after stating the reason of the meeting and welcoming the clubs guests, who number nearly 200, turned the meeting over to J. Oscar Sexson, secretary of the Phoenix I. M c. A, who was chairman of the
 day.
 After Claude Decatur Jones. vice president of the Phoenix union high school, had made an announcement concerning the Thanksgiving day football game between the Coyotes and the Phoenix Indian school, Mir. l Enyeart, recent addition to local mu- sical circles. sang solo, which was accompanied by Mrs. Deity on the l piano.
 Chairman Sexson then welcomed | the Rotarians and educators again and followed this with taking the part
 Of an auctioneer and selling to the highest bidder a sucking pig which | had been given to the club for this purpose by the Parent Teacher asso- citation, the proceeds of the sale to go 1 to the charitable purposes of that
 organization. The pig was purchased l by Wright w. Ldwhon, president of 1 the chamber of commerce and Ro- tarian, for S25.
 Address of w. c. Woods Will c. Woods. commissioner of education for, California, was then in- troduced. His address follows in part:
 "On this. the occasion of my first visit to Arizona, want to express my appreciation of your great state and of the pleasure that I have had in entering it and knowing its people. I am particularly happy in knowing this state through the medium of the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, for there 1 is no more potent force for American- ism in this country than these and other kindred bodies which have | taught our business men that effort for the community in which they live and the country of which they are proud may go hand in hand with oth- CT endeavors.
 "But, whatever may be done for the advancement of our cities, the fact
 remains that there is no more im- portant business than that of making
 men-of bringing up our boys to be the kind of men that America needs.
 The time has come when we must
 realize the importance of organizing
 among our boys that they may take
 real interest in clean things, in
 good things, in noble things-that
 they may, in other words, be true to
 those ideals which in after years will
 make them men in fact.
 'T am no alarmist nor pessimist, but one fact must be taken into con sideration. The delinquency among the boys of the United States is greater than I think some of us want to imagine. I know that mature age
 may be sometimes too severe on the I faults of youth, but we cannot escape l the fact that juvenile delinquency is greater than 1t should be and that we must change this condition by 1 surrounding the youth of this coun- try with the better things of life.
 From two-thirds to three quarters of | the inmates of our reform institu- tions are under the age of 25 years. l proving that the seeds of evil, at least in their case. has been sown in | the tender years Of boyhood. It is l for this reason, if for no other, that
 we must get behind the Boy Scout
 movement
 Here MT. Woods gave personal l experience with a boy whose life was
 bettered in an unmistakable way by | the Scout movement, after which he continued:
 l Boy Scouts First
 "In California we have organized l the Boy Scouts in various ways 1 with the schools, with the play grounds. and with the churches-but
 no matter how connected, the result is the same. Of all movements for
 the assisting of youth. the Boy Scout is easily first"
 Turning to educational matters, MT Woods said:
 Certainly the program which has
 been laid down by the state of Ari-
 zona for the education of its chiI-
 dren is one of the most progressive
 in the United States. I want 10 con
 graduate you especially upon your
 plan for the reorganization of the
 office of the state superintendent--of
 removing it entirely from the field
 of politics and directing it entirely
 to the advancement of right edpca- tionaI ideals.'
 The speaker here spoke a glowing tribute to Miss Elsie Toles, state su- perintendent of education for Arl- zona, who was a guest of honor at the luncheon, and who had been in- troduced previously by Chairman l Sexson.
 T am here" MT. Woods continued, "as a salesman. That is my business to sell better education. and I be- lieve that I have the best goods on the market. I believe in education, for I see in 1t the salvation of this country of ours, Democracy can last only as long as the people can un- derstand their government, and when they cease to understand its com plications, that government must cease to exist.
 Education Saved Nation .'What has education done for the United States? We, admit, and the , world admits, that the United States is a successful nation. In every de- partment of endeavor we command the respect and admiration of the k earth. How de we account for this \ success? Energy? Good blood3s Il 2 couldn't be good blood, for our fore \ fathers were failures when they came \ to this country. Resources3s Surely < our resources are wonderful-but be- low the border is a country with re- sources as rich and varied as oul E own, and no one can call Mexico < successful country. Russia, 'h'