BADEN-POWELL by E. E. REYNOLDS

FEW men have lived such busy lives as B.-P., yet he never seemed in a hurry, and he always had leisure for friendship. This was in part possible because by the time most people were at breakfast he had already been at work for an hour or so. But he had early learned how to work at odd moments and in odd places. Thus during the Matabele campaign he noted in his diary to his mother, 'The above was written while we paused inactive on the field, waiting for the stretchers'. Journeys and waits at railway stations provided excellent opportunities for writing and planning. it was in this way that he was able to deal with an enormous correspondence. A reply to a letter would be pencilled on the back or on a blank space; comments on a report would be jotted down in the margin; a draft for a Foreword to a book --- and he found it difficult to refuse such help although some abused his generosity --- would be carefully revised until he was satisfied it met the need. There was nothing hurried about any of this occasional writing, as can be shown in. many pages of his characteristic handwriting with their emendations and additions.

He once gave a list of the contents of a morning's letters and it well illustrates the variety of the appeals made to him ---few of which he refused, though even he could not be in two places at once.

I am afraid I must appear to many Scouters to be very stuffy and unresponsive to their various requests, but I believe they would appreciate my difficulty and sympathize with me if they took over my postbag for a day.

As an example I jotted down this morning the subject of each letter in turn as I opened it. The list may amuse you.

1. A former Sergt. in my Regiment asks me to help him get work.
2. The Grammar School at R. invites me to give an address.
3. 48th Hussars want me to preside at Dinner.
4. A correspondent claims to have originated Scouting.
5. Request to advertise the S.A.C. Dinner.
6. An author wants a 'brief account' of my life.
7. County Commissioner wants me to approve a step that has been turned down by Headquarters.
8. Govt. Museum wants me to organize visits of Scouts and Guides.
9. Girl Scouts of America want my opinion on a Memorial.
10. Communist writes derogatory remarks on me.
11. Sporting journal wants an article of 1,000 words.
12. Invitation to visit Rosemary Home (the Scout Convalescent Home).
13. Drawing of a Wolf Cub wanted for making a statuette.
14. Editor of the Scout wants an article on Hobbies.
15. Blind Institute wants me to fill up a Questionnaire.
16. Newspaper wants an opinion on Military Procession for Armistice Day.
17. Suggestions wanted for raising funds for South African Scouts.
18. Rover asks advice about getting work.
19. School at A. wants me to present prizes.
20. Two requests for Autographs.
21. Chief Commissioner Wales suggests ten days' motor tour of Scouts.
22. Invitation to join in forming an Arbitration League.
23. Request for four drawings for Art Gallery.
24. Article for Scouter wanted to-morrow.

(So I send this in.)

Some of his best work went into his 'Outlook' in The Scouter (as the Headquarters Gazette came to be named). Here he was talking direct to his leaders, and he felt that to be amongst his most important duties. For, thirty years he also contributed regularly to The Scout; here again he gave of his best. Naturally over such a long period there is some variation in quality, but he maintained a high standard; he never wrote down to boys or fobbed them off with hurried work.

He also did much journalism. This he found necessary as an addition to his income; however simple his own needs were, a growing family meant growing expenses, and his tours at home and overseas were not a charge on Scout funds; he liked to be self-dependent. In the earlier days of the Movement he did much lecturing; thus in 1912 when he toured America and went to Australia and New Zealand, he was able to report, 'From the proceeds of my lectures in America, I was able to defray the expenses of my journey; the proceeds of subsequent lectures which I delivered in New Zealand and Australia were handed to the Local Organizations to help their funds'. In later years, he covered expenses by writing. 'I suppose I shall have to write another book, he would say as he set out on one of his tours, and the material would first appear in various journals or in The Scout. One consequence of this method is that such books as Scouting Round the World (1935), or collections of articles as those in Adventures and Accidents (1934), tend to read disconnectedly. They served their purpose at the time, and made it possible for B.-P to go far afield on his Scout missions of goodwill. To-day they help many to recall his visits, and so strengthen the unity of the Movement.

By carefully organizing his time, B.-P. was able to enjoy brief holidays---and a holiday was as complete a relaxation as it could be made. Most of all he preferred the travelling holiday --- the moving about from place to place. Here is an account of a caravan tour made the year following the Arrowe Park Jamboree.

The Chief Guide and I, with our youngsters, took a delightful holiday in August in 'Jam-Roll' (the Jamboree car and 'Eccles' the caravan) with six lightweight tents.

We wandered and camped in Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and Devon, and we realized once again that England has beauties and interests quite as good as any you can find abroad.

Those splendid open downs of Marlborough and the Mendips with their wonderful ancient British relics, like Silbury and Avebury and Stonehenge; the cliffs and crags of the Cheddar Gorge and its stalactite caves; the lovely old-world villages like Sandy Lane and Lacock; the splendid Elizabethan great houses like those at Corsham, Montacute and Cranborne, with their treasures in pictures and furniture of bygone days; cathedrals like Wells, Exeter and Salisbury; and ruins like Glastonbury with all their glory and history; then the setting of the whole, in typical English scenery in August, could not be surpassed in any land.

Of course the weather wasn't all sunshine ---it seldom is in the English August; but it was like shell fire, when you see it from indoors it looks bad, but when you are out m it you don't notice it so much.

And then when, after a few days of gale and rain squalls under leaden clouds, you get a glorious cloudless day, how much more fully you appreciate the sun and all his warmth and glory --- especially when he dried your sodden dishcloths.

Indeed the glorious air of the Mendips was all the more exhilarating because it was not deadly hot.

The whole outing was perfect, and what added to my particular enjoyment of it was -well, it is like the story of the two American ladies (N.B. told to me by an American) who motored through the country, both of them chewing gum heartily the while.

One of them, pouching her gum for a moment in her cheek, exclaimed, 'This scenery is perfectly lovely!'

To which the other responded: 'Yes --- it sure adds so.'

But it was the gum which mainly appealed all the time.

So while I admired and enjoyed the scenery the thing which 'added so' to my enjoyment was the frequent sight of Scout or Guide Camps, and, best of all, of hefty sun-tanned Rovers in ones and twos hiking through the country.

One couldn't help feeling that if Scouting had done nothing else, it had, at any rate, encouraged the development of the out-of-door healthy man.

But these fellows were all going a bit further and evidently drinking in the beauties and wonders of our country, developing clean healthiness of mind as well as of body, together with happy comradeships.

It was very good to see. Yes -'it sure added'!

I am confident that you Scouters and your Scouts little realize what a great good turn you were doing to me when you gave me 'Jam-Roll' and 'Eccles'.

During such tours he liked to visit factories and workshops to see how things were made. It will be recalled that this habit went back to his boyhood days when with his brothers he went tramp-camping.

When he needed to get right away from everything and everybody, he would go off for a few days' fishing: this for many years was his chief sport. He was never---apart from polo---a ball-playing man, and he needed a sport which he could enjoy alone, for there were times when he could only recover tone by being solitary. Thus he could write to a friend in 1925, 'I am a different animal to what I was two months ago thanks to a severe course of fishing'. And in 1929 he wrote to an angler friend. 'As to New Zealand, I shall be going there, via Panama, sailing early Feb. 1931, arriving early March. I don't know how that suits trout fishing there --- but I should indeed like to get a little if it is possible. Only I do like to do it alone. In X they would make up parties to go with me, which just destroyed the whole pleasure of it'.

An earlier glimpse of him as a fisherman dates back to about 1910. A correspondent writes:

My father met B.-P. on the banks of the River Dove when B.-P. was staying at the Isaac Walton Hotel; they were both fly-fishing and they exchanged compliments and ideas which led to a friendship. My father asked B.-P. what sport he had had and B.-P. said, 'Quite good. I have caught 5 brace of nice fish'. My father said, 'May I have a look at them?' Whereupon B.-P. said, 'I only fish for the sport of the thing, but always return the fish to the river so that they may enjoy a longer life'.

A fellow angler contributes the following note on B.P. as a fisherman:

I should say B.-P. was as good an angler as he was at most things. He preferred River fishing for Sea Trout or Salmon, and liked to be on his own, particularly on any river requiring more than usual care and courage.

His technique being what it was, he perhaps gave less attention to his technical appliances than is sometimes necessary in some Northern Rivers, and I can well remember an instance of him using a beautiful presentation rod and gaff, which had the misfortune to meet a 25 lb. salmon, with the result that both gave way at the critical moment, and but for the services of a gillie of courage and resource, the salmon would have won!

I think his chief joy in fishing was that it took him away from the ordinary business of life more effectively than anything else, particularly when the formalities too often connected with sport were by-passed. He was always entranced with the beauty of River life, especially in the Highlands in the Autumn, with its gorgeous colouring.

Even the Boy Scouts had to give place to science and philosophy when the day's work was finished on the river. I don't think he was ever so supremely happy as he was when wading deep and waiting for that electrical thrill of a taking fish. I am quite sure Isaac Walton never had a more devoted disciple.

However much he enjoyed his fishing excursions, or his travels, home always called strongly. No one who experienced the hospitality at Pax Hill can ever forget the cheerfulness and happiness of the home life he and Lady Baden-Powell had together created. An unending stream of visitors of all kinds passed through --- distinguished men and women, old friends, leaders in the Scout and Guide worlds, Scouters and Guiders in need of rest; and, in the summer, campers pitched their tents and came to know their friendly hosts. There was no ostentation or ceremony, but a warm-hearted welcome for all.

B.-P.'s own habits were as simple as in his soldier days. He slept in a verandah room open all the year round to the weather; he was up early and off for a walk with the dogs, and if he were fortunate enough to have a 'free' day, he filled it with activity. Correspondence had to be dealt with, an article had to be written, or a few more pages of a book drafted. There might be reports to consider, or perhaps some new plan of campaign for Scouting to map out. Sometimes he would have an hour to spare for sketching and painting, or modelling. The garden was another source of pleasure, and visitors were called in to take their share of whatever needed doing --- the trimming of a hedge, the making of a path, the planting of new trees, or the pruning of roses. Then in the evening would come good talk, the discussion of something read, or perhaps the showing of some films he had taken, for he became a keen cinematographer. All was done thoroughly, but with that ease which only comes of happiness shared.

The house itself was a museum of treasures; some were records of his past achievements and others gifts sent by admirers, but each had its story, and with B.-P. as guide, time passed too rapidly.

In such surroundings it was possible to glimpse something of B.-P.'s personality. Great movements are not created by average minds drawing up paper plans; they reflect the genius of the man whether it is a John Wesley, a William Booth, or a Baden-Powell. That genius is not one of intellect alone, but of the whole man, and B.-P. had it to an unusual degree.

It is difficult to describe, still less to explain, these things; only the effects can be noted. It was, for instance, quite impossible in B.-P.'s presence to think of him as the Founder, or the Chief Scout; such a way of regarding him was too cold and formal. Perhaps the only way of describing how he was regarded by those who worked under him---though even that expression seems wrong, for he inspired the feeling that one was working with him --- is by the one word 'affection', and this can best be conveyed by a few incidents drawn from many written down by Scoutmasters who only met him one or twice.

The first record describes two incidents, one at a Rally, and the other during one of the week-ends when he camped at Gilwell Park.

Our Troop was given the privilege of marching past the Chief first, and afterwards he came round to see us separately. His first words were, after a good look at us, 'Well, you are an ugly looking lot'. He had a wonderful trick of taking the stiffness out of a rather formal or ceremonial occasion. At a camp-fire at Gilwell a Troop were to give a display of tumbling, and were wearing brilliant orange shorts. When the Chief arrived, everybody stood in silence, but he suddenly said to this team: 'Where did you get those lovely pants?'

On the following morning, he was wandering round the boys' camps with only his two dogs, and cine-camera, at about 8 a.m. He had just 'shot' a Scout who was lying in the tent with his legs projecting outside, when the boy sat up looking rather embarrassed. The Chief said, 'I've got you for life'. I was wondering whether I could get a 'snap', when up ran another Scout with a camera, so I dashed for mine. B.-P. stopped, and 'posed' and arranged his two dogs at his feet, but then found that he had his back to the early morning sun, so insisted on turning right round, so as not to spoil the picture.

The second recollection comes from a young Scoutmaster who some years previously was one of a Guard of Honour when B.-P. returned from one of his tours.

The Chief was to land at Southampton, and the local Troops, etc., were lined up outside the Dock Gates to welcome him. As a callow youth of seventeen, I had to stand in front of our school 'contingent', and to my joy when he came along the Chief stopped, shook hands with me and began speaking. I found myself looking into those kindly eyes of his and telling him that before long I was to leave school, etc. etc. 'Well', he said, whatever you do, don't leave the boys', and he repeated seriously several times, 'Stick to the boys'.

Two incidents are recorded by a Scoutmaster who first met B.-P. in 1916.

The Chief and Lady B.-P. spent a night or two as my parents' guests during some Scout Rally. It was after lunch that I, aged five, and-my brother, aged three, were brought in to pay our respects to the visitors. The Chief was in uniform and standing with his back to the fireplace. My stolid young brother, who at that age hated getting himself dirty, strode straight up to him and, placing a pudgy finger on one of his freckled knees, said in an accusing tone, 'What those dirty spots?' The Chief rocked with laughter, and then proceeded to hold us enthralled for some time with animal stories and the like. This first meeting with him made a very vivid and lasting impression on me, very young though I was.

I next recall the Friday evening of the 1937 Gilwell Reunion. It was fairly late when I had eaten my supper and washed out my billycan, and I was walking up the drive towards the house in the dark, when I overtook two figures just inside the gates, and said 'good evening' as I passed them. in answer, a torch was flashed on my back and to my astonishment I heard a well-known voice say, 'It's Brown, isn't it?' I turned, and by the light of their own torch could see that it was the two Chiefs.

Now I had been introduced to him at the Reunion the year before, but had had the chance to say little more than 'how d'you do' to him, so that it is little short of amazing that he should have been able at once to put the right name to my back view and my voice. I then reminded him of my very first meeting with him, which he well remembered and laughed over again; and we had a long talk about the Jamboree in Holland, to which I had taken a composite Troop (or rather, half Troop), consisting- of Public and Preparatory School Scouts and town and village Troop Scouts, to which had been joined a very mixed half Troop from a British school in Cairo. He was intensely interested to hear the experience of the S.M. of a Troop which had consisted of Egyptians, Greeks, Cyprians, Maltese, and English boys living in Cairo, besides boys of different ages and social classes from England, and to hear that no Troop could have worked more happily or more successfully together. It was a grand meeting with them, in which I had them all to myself. and one that I shall long remember.

His memory for people and places was astonishing; another example is given in the following note from a Scoutmaster.

In the summer of 1925 two village boys who belonged to my just-started small Troop at Drayton St. Leonard, near Oxford, were walking down the street at Dorchester during their school lunch hour; they had Scout buttonhole badges. A touring car pulled up near them on the kerb, and the man driving called to them and said 'I don't suppose you know who I am'. When they replied that they did not, he said, 'Well, go and have a look on the front of my radiator'. There they saw a mascot with 'Presented to Sir Robert and Lady Baden-Powell on the occasion of their marriage'. They came back to the side of the car, and B.-P. shook hands with them, asked them how long they had been Scouts, whether they had been to camp yet, what Troop they belonged to, and many other questions. Of course they were thrilled, and for some time this chance meeting was the talk of the village. Over six months later I happened to have the good fortune to meet B.-P. for the first time, in Oxford, on the evening of the day on which he laid the foundation stone of Youlbury. When he heard I came from Drayton St. Leonard, he at once said, 'How's your Troop getting on? I was so glad to meet those two Scouts of yours last summer', and sent them messages of good luck.

This affection was not confined by any means to members of the Scout Movement. I have received a great number of letters from commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and from men who bad served under him in India or South Africa, witnessing to the warmth of their feeling for him. 'A lovable and loving man' is the expression used by one Colonel, a former Adjutant in India, and it is repeated in other terms in tribute after tribute. One example which came under my personal observation is typical. In January 1934 B.-P. underwent a most serious operation, and for some days his life was in danger. The annual Scout Commissioners' Dinner was being held, at which his son, Peter, represented him. On my way, in Scout uniform, I was stopped by a raggedly clothed man; I thought at first that be was begging, but he asked, 'Can you tell me how B.-P. is? I was under him in South Africa'.

The Coming-of-Age Jamboree in 1929 had revealed as never before the depth of this affection, but even such a demonstration made no difference to his unassuming character. Nor did it mark for him the end of a road; it simply spurred him on to greater endeavour.

More and more he was able to leave the day-to-day direction of the Movement to the team of men he had chosen as his Headquarters Commissioners, though he was ever watchful of the progress made, and at times urged them forward with suggestions and proposals for development. From such men he expected constant service to the Movement and could express impatience if they became too satisfied. Thus in a note written at the end of 1930, he said:

I have just written to A and B re the elections to Headquarters Committee, urging them if possible to get rid of old duds --- especially X --- who fill up places where we ought now to be getting the best men we can, and young blood if possible. It is no longer enough to have idlers and effetes on our board, when we've got to lead the Movement on up-to-date lines, under increasing expectations of the public, and in the abnormal conditions of the country. We can't afford to toy with the situation for sentimental reasons. Don't bother to answer this --- but consider it.

He always placed more importance on people than on rules and regulations; he regarded it as one of his most important functions to seek out men who could bring lively personalities to the service of the Movement. A second sphere to which he devoted his thoughts was that of general policy, especially as far as it affected social problems and conditions. It was natural that from 1929 onwards, the question of unemployment occupied his thoughts. He felt that there must be some way in which Scouting could help --- not of course in finding a solution, but in trying to prevent some of the rot which set in when youths were idle for months and even years on end. He followed his usual method. First he got together all the first-hand information he could and asked for suggestions from men in personal contact with the problem; then he drew up some tentative suggestions for action; these were submitted for criticism to men whose opinions he felt were valuable. After considering their comments, he drafted a list of suggestions for Scout Headquarters to consider and issue. Here are the main points of the plan he circulated to all his Commissioners:

1. The first effort of every Scoutmaster must obviously be to keep his 14-16 year old boys in his Troop and not allow them to drift away to join the unemployed crowd. This in very many cases will mean the introduction of greater variety in the Troop programme; and for preparing lads for occupation or employment it involves increased incentive and opportunity for taking up hobbies and handicrafts. We have to realize that an increasing number will be out of work but they should have at least hobbies to occupy their enforced leisure. They should he taught to rely on themselves and not expect amusement to be provided for them. This may involve more frequent Troop nights and the provision of tools and possibly workshops or allotments. More Troop nights will be possible if Rover Scouts come in to help the Scoutmaster by taking charge of the Troop on different evenings, and by showing an example of keen and interesting Scouting. Senior Scouts should be encouraged themselves to organize games, sports, hiking, camping, etc. As regards the provision of tools and workshops, materials, etc., here lies a definite job for members of Local Associations. The sites and materials might be provided by them and the work of building by the Rovers and Scouts themselves.

2. The next point for Scoutmasters and possibly Local Associations is to get hold of the unemployed boys in the neighbourhood, probably through co-operation with the local school authorities and Employment Exchanges, etc., and to bring them in as Honorary members of the Troop to participate in the Troop activities and comradeship.

If every Troop took on only five 'younger brothers' this would mean 55,000 unemployed boys being at once under good influence instead of drifting towards uselessness or crime.

3. In view of the coming increase of unemployed boys which has to be faced we already need a big increase in the number of Troops to receive and take them in hand. The first step in this direction must necessarily be a campaign to secure more Scoutmasters and instructors in hobbies and games. There are thousands of young men in the country to whom it has never occurred that they can, and ought to, do something in the way of social service. An intensive campaign to secure them could best be devised by Local Associations both through press appeals and personal solicitation. The fish are there in the river right enough, but whether you are to catch them depends on whether you offer the right kind of fly in the right kind of way.

4. Training must be made available for new Scoutmasters. Commissioners are in a position to see to this; Local Associations can second their efforts, especially in regards to meeting places, books, transport and expenses.

5. For the provision of gymnastic apparatus, workshops, allotments, tools, and materials, etc., funds are of course essential. But funds only come when you have got something to show as a reason for them. Local Associations have a corporate responsibility in this matter. Show people what you are doing and what you have done and give them an idea of what you might yet do, and purse-strings will be loosened. Begging letters are of very little use compared with personal visits to explain. Here again is work for individual members of the Local Association. Ladies' Committees or public banquets in large cities, if adequately organized, can give valuable help in this direction.

More and more his interest was concentrated on the world-wide aspect of Scouting; health alone necessitated some limitation of his attendance at Rallies and other functions in this Country and he wanted to feel freer to get into closer touch with the Movement beyond these shores. It was natural that the Dominions and the Colonies attracted him most, but there were also opportunities of making brief visits to European countries and America in the furtherance of the ideal of friendship between the boys of all countries as a basis for peace and goodwill.

At times he felt that he was not doing all he should to encourage the men and women in the Movements; he even went so far as to suggest that he should resign from being Chief Scout of this country and appoint someone else, while he himself would remain Chief Scout for the Movement outside Great Britain. The suggestion was received with such horror by the few who were consulted that he went no further with the proposal. But the fact that he could seriously think of such an idea indicates two things: his sense of duty was highly developed and he had no use for sinecurists; secondly, in spite of Jamborees and Rallies with their rapturous receptions, he did not realize how deep was the personal affection all Scouts had for him; he thought of himself as the Leader of a Movement in an almost impersonal way, and he argued quite simply that if the Leader could no longer do his job, then someone else should take his place.

As his seventieth birthday approached B.-P. raised the problem of a successor; in the Royal Charter of Incorporation B.-P. is mentioned as Chairman of the first Council, grid no provision is made for the appointment of a Chief Scout. But the question had to be faced sooner or later, and he was not the man to shirk discussion. There were several possibilities: a Royal figurehead; an outstanding personality with experience of the Movement; a 'commission' of leaders; or his son. In 1926, when he was going out to South Africa, he jotted down his ideas on the subject; he made two points --- if no suitable man emerged, then 'let the office lie dormant', and 'the mere fact of his [Peter] being my son will not be allowed to count'.

Four years later he again raised the question, and wrote, 'I would urge that the Movement should not be run by a Committee, as they would, in their turn, be run by a Secretary, who however capable, could not in addition to his other duties, supply the necessary personal touch and leadership which give the spirit to the Movement.... I am convinced that a Chief Scout (possibly with defined powers) is essential to the future success of the Movement'. In the letter from which this extract is made, the name of Lord Somers is mentioned for the first time as one of the possible outstanding men who could be considered.

The friends whom he consulted in this matter were naturally very reluctant to come to any decision; the mere thought of Scouting without B.-P. was distasteful, and in 1930 he was full of life and energy. So for the time being, nothing further was done.

B.-P.'s visits to foreign countries were seldom of long duration. His European journeys were usually for special purposes in connexion with Scouting. Thus in 1933 he and Lady Baden-Powell visited Rome and had an audience with the Pope --- who was a warm supporter of the Boy Scouts --- and B.-P. himself discussed the training of boys with Mussolini. The Balilla had replaced a vigorous Scout organization, and B.-P. was anxious to see for himself what was happening. The interest he showed was regarded by some opponents of Fascism with suspicion, but it was all part of that insatiable curiosity which possessed him and a determination to see things for himself and make his own judgments. He wrote the following account of the conversation with Mussolini.

When Mussolini had explained his reasons for the Balilla, and the principles of their training, which he said were modelled on that of the Boy Scouts, he asked for any criticisms. I suggested four, viz.:

1. His movement was obligatory, instead of voluntary.

2. It aimed at narrow nationalism instead of wider international good feeling.

3. It was purely physical, without any spiritual balance.

4. It developed mass cohesion, instead of individual character.

As regards 1, membership was imposed by authority, and was not the outcome of the boys' initiative.

Mussolini pointed out that every boy had to consult his parents about joining the Balilla. With the parents the force of moral suasion prevailed which in Italian fashion he illustrated by placing his finger across his nose, and above it with his eyes he gave a cruel malevolent leer. Then squeezing the palms of his hands together he said: 'Of course, for the parents it is different. They feel the moral obligation for their sons to join the Balilla.'

Then, with a grin, which implied that if they didn't feel it they would be likely to feel something worse, he added that he did not recognize the importance of the boys' own initiative in the matter.

Regarding 2. He fully agreed that the development of an intense nationalist spirit was essential for Italians as a first step before they could consider the feelings of other nations. This might come in another generation.

Regarding 3. Courage, he said, was the only spiritual quality that was needed, and this could only result from confidence in their physical strength.

Regarding 4. He further explained that Italians were too divided up into sects, parties, classes and races, so that consolidation was necessary in order to make them a nation.

The results which one saw in the Balilla were mainly eye-wash of smart military uniforms, without inner discipline.

One difficulty of travelling on the Continent was that it was practically impossible to avoid demonstrations. An amusing account of an attempt at incognito travelling in 1928 is given by Lord Hampton, the Chief Commissioner of the Boy Scouts.

The Chief Scout and Lady Baden-Powell, with myself to carry the rugs and bouquets, were on our way to an arduous but exciting five days' visit in Hungary, where we were to see something of the Scouts and take part in the fifth International Girl Guide Conference at Parad. It had been arranged therefore that the journey itself should entail nothing more exacting than the necessary consumption of food, the usual spasmodic attempts at sleep and the watching of a varied and charming spring landscape....

It was at Linz that the first happy tragedy overtook the party. Dulled into that feeling of security from interruption which an itinerary carefully planned by Thomas Cook encourages, and possibly soothed by an excellent lunch, we were taking it easy in our several ways. I don't know what the Chief Guide was doing, but I do know that the Chief Scout was lounging in his shirt sleeves, and that I myself had abandoned the contemplation of the landscape, pleasing though it was, for a less strenuous form of exercise; and it was in this condition that we drew up at the platform exactly opposite a smart Troop of Scouts standing at the 'alert', with their right arms stretched out in salute. We had perforce, therefore, to make ourselves tidy in record time, climb down on to the platform and, with the whole trainful as interested spectators, return the compliment. It was rather a silent occasion. None of them could speak a word of English and our combined German didn't amount to much. But they were a keen-looking lot of boys under a capable-looking Scoutmaster and a smiling priest, and they had a nice little bouquet of gentians for the Chief Guide. Then we returned to the corridor, the Chief made a brief speech --- kindly interpreted by a friendly fellow-traveller --- and off we went again to the accompaniment of much hand-waving.

In the safe seclusion of the Chief's compartment we looked at each other, and made sundry calculations. How many times were we due to stop between Linz and Vienna, and, great heavens! what was going to happen when we got there? For we had learnt from our Linz friends that the details of our secret journey had been telephoned up the line from the Austrian capital. Naturally, all Scout people --- and the Chief is no exception --- like to be in uniform when they meet their brother Scouts in the mass, and the question arose as to whether it wouldn't be wiser to unpack there and then, change, and be prepared for any emergency. Unfortunately, so great had been my trust in the promised secrecy of our journey, that I had registered all my uniform through to Vienna, and I could hardly be expected to undertake a complete change of kit when I next met it in the midst of a seething douane. Nor could we hope that others would respect our incognito if we broke it ourselves. So we decided to remain as we were, and presently we began to slow down at Polten. Eagerly I scanned the platform. 'All clear this time,' I reported, but I spoke too soon; for there they came, doubling in single file down the long platform, to halt expectantly opposite our carriage. Another smart Troop, more salutes, more cheery Scout faces, another bouquet for the Chief Guide, just another little speech, and away we went again with the comforting thought that there was no further stop before Vienna.

As a matter of fact there was, but an unpremeditated one. Some twenty miles short of the capital there is a long, steep gradient over the hills. And there was our Orient Express, train-de-luxe, what-not, jewelled in every axle, hopelessly stuck until it pleased Vienna to send us an engine to shove behind.

However, it was quite pleasant up there amongst the blossom, and we received added comfort from the thought that we should arrive almost in the dark an hour late, and that any possible inquisitiveness on the part of the Viennese Scouts would have evaporated by that time. Nor apparently were we wrong. It is true that there were two Scouters on the platform when we arrived, but they wore their trousers long and had respectable bowler hats on their heads, only the little badges on their coat lapels betraying them for what they were. With their kind help, our baggage was collected, and they had thoughtfully provided two cars to take us and our belongings to the Hotel Kranz.

But what was this? Would the Chief mind going a little bit out of the way, as there were a few boys waiting to see him ? Again we looked at each other as we took our seats; and as we went, there seemed to be an expectant note in the air. The crowds grew thicker. They seemed to be waiting for something to happen; and, as we drove under a great archway, the reason lay before us. There they were, fifteen hundred of them in two great lines four deep, stretching across the whole front of the old Imperial Palace. If the little country Troops had been mere interludes in an otherwise peaceful and well-ordered journey, this was something serious. Apparently the intention had been that we should remain in the car and merely slow down when passing the Scouts, but obviously this couldn't be done. And what a reception the Chief got! As we walked slowly down one side and up the other, every Troop in turn gave an extra special performance of their particular yell, cameras clicked --- though it was much too dark for any successful result --- introductions were effected and there were cheery smiles on every hand, not to mention yet another fine bouquet for the Chief Guide.

When we reached the cars once more an escort of some twenty cyclist Scouts formed up behind us and we drove slowly away down that friendly avenue, the Chief standing somewhat precariously on his, scat, the cyclists spread out behind, and the whole fifteen hundred giving tongue to their Troop yells fortissimo. Out in the public streets we had to dispense with our escort. They wanted to come with us to the hotel, but we considered that the combined effort of watching the Chief and dodging each other might cause them to forget that they were not the only traffic on the street.

Even the otherwise sober and respectable Hotel Kranz had caught the infection. There was a Scout flag over the entrance, another half-way up the main staircase, and yet a third suspended above the Chief's bed.

It appeared that the guilty people were the staff of the Hotel Kranz, who telephoned Scout Headquarters to the effect that the Chief was going to spend a night there, and what were they going to do about it. They in their turn, with true Scout unselfishness, had notified other Troops up the line to be on the look-out, and hence all the business.

Did we regret it? There was, of course, the rude break into what we had thought would be a thoroughly peaceful journey; there was the terrible uncertainty of not knowing what in the way of Scouts we were going to meet next; there was the feeling of being indecently dressed when confronting the world-wide uniform in one's most comfortable travelling clothes. That it was worth while goes without saying. Worth while for the pleasure of seeing the boys, worth while for the pleasure of seeing the boys see the Chief., above all, worth while for the still fuller realization of what our brotherhood means, and may mean.

But the next time the Chief wishes to travel incognito, a few fundamental precautions must be carried out. He must have a false passport all reservations must be booked in the name (say) of Mr. Jones, of Stepney Green, and he must wear smoked glasses and a false beard.

1932	ON THE CALGARIC, 1933 B.-P. and Lady B.-P. with Heather, Peter, and Betty

The Jamborees and International Conferences brought him into closer contact with Continental Scouting. In 1931 the Rover Scouts of twenty-two countries met at Kandersteg, Switzerland, where an International Scout Chalet had been opened in 1923. The sight of these young men-t--he products of Scouting---camping and climbing amongst the mountains, stirred B.-P. as few sights had done, and he expressed his thoughts in memorable words.

Up here among the Swiss mountains, in the green valley of Kandersteg, one is very remote from the fuss and hurry of the world. Yet, from where I sit in the flower-decked balcony of this Chalet, I can see the flags of twenty-two nations waving above the tents, and the camp fires of some three thousand young men gathered there.

Rover Scouts they are: a brigade, as it were, of storm-troops of the larger army of over two million Boy Scouts. Their arms are alpenstocks, their discipline that of goodwill from within; their service consists not so much in fitting themselves for war as in developing the spirit of universal peace.

The days are long over when Scouting was looked upon as a useful game for keeping English boys out of mischief, parents and public have come to see in it a practical process of education for the use of both sexes; with the wider growth of its Brotherhood abroad, its possibilities in the direction of human fellowship for developing the spirit of international goodwill are now becoming generally recognized.

To those who witnessed the Scout Jamboree at Birkenhead in 1929 the coming together of some fifty thousand boys of various nationalities was something of a revelation. But the Rover Moot, if it included smaller numbers, was not a whit less impressive, seeing that it showed not merely a mass of boys linked in friendly comradeship but a growing band of young men who, within the next few years, will be the men of affairs in their respective countries.

Here they were gathered in conference, devoting their hard-earned time and money to considering ways and means of developing Scouting generally, and their service for the community in particular. This they did in no spirit of unctuous priggishness or youthful superiority. Far from it; they discussed their subjects in all earnestness in the great conference pavilion every day, but in the huge Camp Fire circle at night they were the jolliest specimens of jovial boyhood that one could wish to see. Never, during the whole fortnight in camp, was there a suspicion of trouble or anything but cheery brotherly feeling among the many and varied elements which went to compose the gathering: Scandinavians, Roumanians, Japanese, Hungarians, Australians, Siamese, West Indians, East Indians, French, Cingalese, Poles, Armenians, etc., a polyglot lot, but good friends for all that.

To myself, possibly, the most inspiring part of their varied programme was when one saw the endless succession of these splendid specimens of the young manhood of all nations setting out in comradeship together with heavy packs on their backs and ice-axes in hand to tackle the neighbouring mountains. The Moot might have been held with greater convenience in any large city, but this valuable side of it, namely the breeding of mutual friendship in healthy sport, would have been lost.

Aye, and something more and above all price, namely, the higher tone of thought which could not fail to have inspired the least imaginative among them in those wonderful surroundings of mountain scenery. Here, among the eternal snows, face to face with Nature in its grandest and most sublime form, they must have felt themselves in closer touch with the Almighty Creator, and in a new atmosphere, far above the man-made jazz and vulgar squalor of the town.

Yes, a wide and promising field lies yet before the Scout Movement.

Two years later, in the fateful year 1933, the Fourth World Jamboree was held at Gödöllö in Hungary, when the ill-fated Count Teleki, Chief Scout of Hungary, welcomed Scouts from thirty-two countries and from sixteen parts of the British Empire. The symbol of the camp was the White Stag of Hungary, and in his final words, B.-P. used this as his text.

My brothers, --- Those of you who were at the last Jamboree in England will remember how the Golden Arrow was handed out to each country as a Symbol of Goodwill flying forth to all the ends of the earth through the Brotherhood of Scouting. Now at Gödöllö we have another symbol. Each one of you wears the badge of the White Stag of Hungary. I want you to treasure that badge when you go from here and to remember that, like the Golden Arrow, it also has its message and its meaning for you.

The Hungarian hunters of old pursued the miraculous Stag, not because they expected to kill it, but because it led them on in the joy of the chase to new trails and fresh adventures, and so to capture happiness. You may look on that White Stag as the pure spirit of Scouting, springing forward and upward, ever leading you onward and upward to leap over difficulties, to face new adventures in your active pursuit of the higher aims of Scouting---aims which bring you happiness. Those aims are to do your duty to God, to your Country, and to your fellow men by carrying out the Scout Law. In that way you will, each one of you, help to bring about God's kingdom upon earth --- the reign of peace and goodwill.

Therefore, before leaving you, I ask you Scouts this question --- Will you do your best to make friends with others and peace in the world?

A new kind of peace mission took shape that year when B.-P. and Lady Baden-Powell sailed with a ship-load of Scouters and Guiders to visit the Baltic States and there meet the boys and girls and leaders of both Movements in a happy, holiday spirit of fellowship.

But what of Germany? It has been noted that one of the first foreign exchanges of visits was between the Wandervögel of Germany and Scouts of this country. The war inevitably meant estrangement and for some years afterwards development of good relations was naturally difficult. One problem was the rise of a number of youth organizations in Germany of different political colours; attempts were made to bring them together into one federation. These failed, but parties of Scouts visited Germany and were well received. Many felt that the situation was unsatisfactory, but the International Scout Committee felt unable to proceed until greater unity existed amongst the Germans themselves. The Austrian Boy Scouts were very happily working in harmony with Scouts of other countries and some of their leaders came over to Gilwell Park to be trained, for Gilwell had established itself as an international training camp very quickly, and its methods of training as laid down by B.-P. were rapidly being spread all over the world.

With the coming of Hitler, the German position changed. Gradually the Hitlerjugend superseded all existing youth organizations. The official handbook stated:

The Hitler Jugend is a component part of the National Socialist Party; its business is to see that the youth is brought up in the same spirit, and the hope of the party lies in those who from their early youth have cast in their lot with it. Not every Hitlerjugend boy need necessarily become a member of the National Socialist Party; he is under no obligation to do so, but if a boy has done his duty well in the Youth Movement, he may count on the doors of the party opening to him, at the annual ceremony on the 9th November.

There were many efforts made by various British organizations, schools and clubs to get into contact with the Hitler Youth, and every facility was given them by the German Government to do so. We may be inclined to think now --- being wise after the event --- that such efforts were misguided and that the British visitors were the dupes. But no one can question the earnest desire of the British to promote understanding and goodwill, and for that their efforts should be remembered with gratitude. Naturally the Boy Scouts were early approached by the German authorities to arrange exchange camps and visits.

In matters concerning foreign countries, B.-P. was inclined to leave decisions with his expert advisers, and when he raised the question of Germany, he received little encouragement. But he was not fully satisfied and in 1937 he wrote the following letter:

I think the time has come when we, in the British Movement at any rate, ought to do something to be friendly with the Hitler Youth.

They have been visiting and contemplate further visits to several of our Scout Troops and to schools, and our fellows have been visiting them in return. The Austrian Scouts and the Hungarian apparently had a good time with them in passing through Germany in uniform en route to the Jamboree (in Holland, 1937). And the Jugend themselves want to be friends with us.

B. is apparently their 'Minister for foreign affairs', and was originally a Pfadfinder Scout; he is in Ribbentrop's office, and is just now going through a course at the London University. As to him and Ribbentrop being spies, I don't see that this matters much to us, even if true. Neither they nor the Hitler Youth could do much to convert our boys to becoming Nazis.... I can't see any danger in their trying to convert our boys to Fascism even if some of the International Commissioners see danger of it in their own countries. . . . I have asked both Bromsgrove and Oundle, and they both agree in saying that apart from praise of Hitler, they made no attempt at converting our boys.

It makes us look a bit ridiculous if we decree against fraternizing while our boys are keeping up and extending friendship with the German boys through Scouts, school journeys, Gliding Club, Y.M.C.A. Camping Club (who held an International Camp at Wiesbaden last month attended by 3,000). It seems as if we at Scout Headquarters were being left behind, instead of leading the way, and our warnings to the Scouts are being unheeded.

What do you think?

Soon after writing this B.-P. set off for Kenya, and before anything further could be done, the general position had deteriorated.

Outside the British Empire, B.-P.'s closest contacts were not with European countries but with the United States. From the time of his first visit in 1910, he took a keen interest in the progress of the Boy Scouts of America, and he held in high regard Dr. James E. West, the Chief Scout Executive, whose enthusiasm and great abilities built up the largest National Association in the world. In the official history of the American Boy Scouts (published in 1937) it is stated:

Our literature records our own debt to Baden-Powell and the ideas of English Scouting, which Wm. D. Boyce brought to us. The numerous visits of Baden-Powell, brought hither by generous Scouters, have been an inspiration and a challenge. Even as time stealthily creeps up to stalk the Chief Scout, the more than fourscore years have not dimmed his deep interest in youth --- not alone in the British Empire, but youth everywhere.

 

BADEN-POWELL was many times urged to write his autobiography; in 1923 he wrote in reply to one proposal, 'I have thought over your kind suggestion re writing my reminiscences --- but I cannot feel inspired. I don't see that they have really any general interest except so far as they refer to the Scout and Guide Movements --- and all this part is already well known'. However, some years later he was fortunately prevailed upon to write down the memories of what he called his 'double life' --- the first as a soldier and the second as the founder of the Scouts and Guides. Anyone reading the book Lessons from the 'Varsity of Life (1933) without knowing anything of the author, would get the impression that B.-P.'s life was a series of surprising chances; there is no hint of the hard work put into each phase of his career, nor of anything exceptional in his own abilities. One theme occurs again and again: he believed that the British Empire had a mission to fulfil; some may interpret this as a survival of the High Imperialistic period we associate with the Diamond jubilee of 1897 and such lines as Kipling's,

For the Kings must come down an' the Emperors frown
When the Widow of Windsor says 'Stop!'

But it would be as foolish to dismiss B.-P.'s views of the Empire by labelling them in this way, as it would to judge Kipling by his 'Widow of Windsor'. The views of the '90's broadened and deepened with experience and thought, for one of B.-P.'s notable characteristics was that he never became mentally set; his development was due not so much to reading --- though he read widely --- as to his contacts with men and women of all walks of life, for he put more value on experience, especially on varied experience, than on theory.

It has already been noted how quick he was to realize the possibilities of Scouting as a basis for goodwill between boys and girls of different nationalities and creeds. He concentrated more on the things which unite than on those which separate; he would study the causes of diversity, but he was convinced of the fundamental importance of cultivating in the young the feelings of kindliness and helpfulness towards others; on such a basis alone he believed progress towards peace and happiness was possible. This comes out very dearly in his attitude to religion and Scouting. Almost the only angry letter drafted by him which I have read --- and this is endorsed, 'Not sent, but I meant it' --- was to a speaker at a Scouts' Own who, with some Jewish Scouts in his audience, had given a specifically Christian address. To do so on such an occasion, was, in B.-P.'s eyes, to betray a trust, and to give needless offence with the risk of causing divisions.

His frequent charge, 'Look Wide!', was one of the many ways in which he urged Scouters to look beyond minor differences and petty wranglings and to concentrate on the greater vision. He was puzzled at the narrowness of outlook which resulted in cutting off the nose to spite the face; he found people so interesting that he would sometimes tolerate workers in the Movement who were misfits; but he saw something good in them; he recognized some useful quality which they could contribute to the common cause. It has already been pointed out that he was inclined to leave the solving of problems connected with foreign nations --- such as Germany --- to his expert advisers. But in matters connected with the British Dominions and the Colonial Empire he took a close personal interest, for he regarded the unity of the British peoples as of paramount importance, not only for its own sake but for the peace of the world. His many visits overseas were directed towards this ideal.

It was indeed fortunate for the Scout Movement that he was fond of travel and never lost his keenness to see people and places. Few men of his time travelled so widely throughout the British Commonwealth. Wherever he went, he took note of things to be praised and also of weaknesses; little escaped his attention when he was watching a Rally or inspecting a Troop. His reports were consequently always helpful, for he offered practical suggestions for improvement. He was eager to find ways of linking up the Dominions with Great Britain; he constantly urged boys here to think of the opportunities overseas of building up happy homes and careers for themselves; many a boy craving for an open-air life wrote to him for advice and in reply was told of the possibilities of farming or perhaps of one of the Constabulary Forces; the Buckhurst Farm experiment had been intended in part as a training ground for boys who wanted to settle overseas, but the war cut that short. After the war, steps were taken to put Scout Migration on a regular footing and a department was set up in 1922. During the first ten years of its existence 5,000 Scouts were sent out to the Dominions; then economic difficulties decreased the opportunities. This work was very much in the mind of B.-P. and he helped it forward in every way he could. A message to a party of Scouts going to Australia may be quoted as an example of the advice he gave them.

Some fellows seem to think that by going to Australia they will find a country m which they are bound to get on after they have failed in England. It is true that Australia has more room for men and opens out greater possibilities for them; but it means just as hard work there to gain success as anywhere else. The waster in England win be a waster in Australia. The fellow who is a hard worker and can stick it out through difficult times until the sun shines again is more certain to succeed in Australia than he would be in England.

So when you get there don't be rebuffed by difficulties or disappointments. They are bound to come now and then; but be determined to stick it out and see the bad time through and you are sure to come out on top in the end.

The great thing is that, being Scouts, you are not going to a land of strangers; you will find brother Scouts there ready to give you the hand of friendship and helpfulness when you want it.

I urge you to remember the old saying 'Once a Scout always a Scout' and to stick to and carry out the Scout Law as well as you can, even when you are grown up and working far away from Scouting influences. We shall all be glad to hear from you as to how you get on and your news will be helpful to other fellows wanting to go out there.

In the meantime from my heart I wish you God Speed.

In his report on the tour of 1912 to the West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa he set down the ways in which he thought Scouting could be of value in the Dominions.

Education for good citizenship through character training.
Development of the Marine Service through Sea Scouting.
Preliminary Training for the Cadet Service in discipline, etc.
Extinction of Race Feeling between Boers and British boys in South Africa, French and British Canadians in Canada.
Promotion of Imperial Brotherhood among the rising generation Overseas.
Promotion of International Peace through the brotherhood of the Scouts in all countries.

This extract is of special interest as it was written only four years after the Movement had started; it already showed that widening of vision which came so quickly when the idea of Scouting spread beyond these shores. The fourth item in this list was of special interest to B.-P.; nothing so displayed his desire for promoting unity as his efforts to bring together in Scouting the various national elements within the Empire.

It was a French-Canadian boy who was the first Scout in a Dominion to greet B.-P outside Great Britain, when he visited Canada in 1910 with two Patrols of Boy Scouts.

Some Canadian Troops are microcosms of the varied races of the country; thus one Toronto Troop has boys of fifteen nationalities. Here, then, B.-P. could see Scouting doing its share in the development of Canadian Nationhood.

Australia and New Zealand present no such diversity of racial origins, but there, as always, the presence of B.-P was a tonic and an inspiration.

Before going on his 1931 tour he sent some suggestions which are of interest.

My object is to meet members and workers of the Scout and Guide Movements, and secondly, in sonic cases, South African veterans and Regiments affiliated to the 13/18th Hussars. But I cannot undertake to inspect any youth organizations other than the authorized and registered Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.

I have already received from Australia and New Zealand generous civic honours both in the shape of presentations after the Boer War and receptions when I visited the Dominions in 1912. I would ask, therefore, to be excused any such functions this time, other than the few already accepted.

Rallies should not be formal parades, but preferably demonstrations of Scout activities --- the more original the better. I can best judge of the Scout spirit of the Scouters and Patrol Leaders by the performances of the boys themselves. I don't want to see stiff imitation military parades which allow no initiative to Scouters or Scouts and which give a false impression to the public of our methods.

Where I am to address an audience of grown-up people, I would ask that no young people be admitted. It is impossible to address both effectively.

Knowing from experience the generous way in which presents are forthcoming on such occasions, the Chief Guide and I wish to say that we fully recognize the kindly feelings of our comrades without any need of gifts to prove it.

I hope you won't think me awfully discourteous and unresponsive in stating these restrictions, but I want to have your sympathy and help in the matter. I know only too well the limits of my powers (Don 't forget, as some do, that I am in my seventy-fourth year!) and I am only anxious not to disappoint expectations or to cancel engagements owing to breakdowns, as happened more than once on my South African tour.

A quotation from the Sydney Morning Herald must serve as one sample of many thousands of reports which marked B.-P.'s tours. Here a visit to a camp is described.

With an agility that would put to shame many men of half his age, Lord Baden-Powell descended steep tracks, clambered up rocks, walked along paths above which rain-wet scrub hung heavily. With the eye of the pioneer he looked appraisingly at camps and fireplaces. He saw packs and spare clothes folded neatly underneath tents. He saw bridges of sturdy workmanship, steps cut in rocks, swing gates made of rope and small tree stems. He saw a water system that would have done credit to a Board of Works engineer. He saw camp sites levelled out in the face of a steep hill, and protected from the winds of winter and the heat of summer by a thick mantle of trees and scrub.

The sun was setting when he arrived. As he went from one to the other of the forty-eight different camp sites, here and there fires glinted through the gathering gloom, blue smoke curled into the still air. And the smell of frying sausages was wafted through the bush. Billies of boiling water bubbled merrily. Thick slices of bread were toasted at the end of sticks held by brown little hands. Smiling boyish faces shone in the flickering light of fires.

It was all delightfully informal. Many of the Scouts seemed unaware that the Big Chief was among them. 'Hey, Jack, I dodged you!' yelled one youngster from the top of a rock to a mate who chased him. They did not see the keen-eyed Big Chief watching them from a path above them. 'Hey, Jacky, you can't eat. . .' Suddenly he saw Lord Baden-Powell --- stopped in the middle of a word, and came as nearly to attention as he could on his precarious perch.

In the centre of a large cleared space stood a heap of firewood. He was asked to light it --- around it, later in the evening, was to be a 'wood badge' investiture. Now no Scout must use more than two matches in lighting a fire. B.-P. took several and in the end had to invoke the aid of a Herald representative's copy-paper. At that moment the Chief Guide appeared.

'I took more than two matches,' said B.-P. shamefacedly.

'Awful!' replied the Chief Guide, and B.-P., true Scout that he is, did not excuse himself by saying, as he could have said, that the laying of the fire was not his doing, nor did he blame the dampness of the wood.

In a very happy speech, Lord Baden-Powell said that when he had seen the Scouts marching on Friday and Saturday, he had had just a doubt whether they were not too much 'parlour Scouts' --- but the visit to the camp had impressed him with their knowledge of woodcraft and the true Scouting attributes.

Two countries presented special racial problems --- India and South Africa, and it was fortunate that B.-P. had lived in both for long periods and so could discuss the difficulties with first-hand knowledge. Boy Scout Troops had early been formed in India amongst the white boys, but for some years there had been no official recognition of Indian Scouts. The Government of India was approached for its approval, but no encouragement was given. In 1918 B.-P. wrote to a Scoutmaster who had been in Ceylon and had transferred to India where he proposed to develop Scouting amongst the Indians. The following extracts give B.-P.'s point of view.

I am very glad to hear that you have been able to make so promising a start with the Boy Scout Movement for Indian boys, and I sincerely trust that it will be as big a success as it has been in other parts of the Empire.

My reason for not promoting Scouting amongst Indian boys hitherto has been quite misrepresented. It is not true that I was against it in principle --- quite the opposite --- I was against starting it without trained Scoutmasters, as our experience elsewhere has shown us that in the hands of well meaning untrained leaders the Movement generally gets into difficulties, gets off on to wrong lines, bores the lads, and dies a natural death.

I wanted it to have a fair start but, owing to the war, the large proportion of our officers in the Movement were called to other service, caving it in the hands of a small and temporary acting staff so that it was impossible to do more than keep the existing Troops going. We had no experts available for training new Scoutmasters.

Now that you have come from Ceylon to India and have so kindly offered your services to organize the training of men interested in the Indian boys I have every hope that this branch can now develop on to a successful footing.

I am extremely sorry that my use of the word 'native' in my letter should have been misunderstood, but it is twenty years since I was in India and at that time the word meant nothing derogatory. Native cavalry and native infantry were official terms. I had been on active service with both branches and commanded a brigade of native cavalry, and I learned to appreciate their sterling qualities, and therefore I never attach any kind of disparaging meaning to the title of 'native' --- personally I have the very highest regard for the Indians and for the services they are rendering as loyal fellow subjects in this war.

I look forward to paying a visit to India and to seeing your Indian Scouts as soon as I possibly can after the war is over.

It was not until 1921 that he was able to set off with Lady Baden-Powell for a tour of India. By then a number of unofficial Scout organizations had sprung up, and B.-P. hoped to bring them together. Just before sailing he wrote the following letter to Sir Rabindranath Tagore who at the time was in England.

I am sailing to-day for India on a mission which I hope, from reading your interview with Dr. Fort Newton, is one that you will approve. I do not know to what extent you may have studied the ideals and progress of the Boy Scout Movement, but it is largely a natural growth --- a movement, not an organization. It has overrun the borders of country, class and creed, and is already establishing itself as a brotherhood among the young in every nation on the basis of their common membership of the human family. Its aim is happy efficiency for the service of others. Its handbook is mainly the Book of Nature. It is on that basis that I hope to help it to become more widely extended in India especially, since it appears to me to second your own idea of a true league of humanity. Already the Movement numbers well over a million members and it is continually growing. While I promote it among the boys, my wife is doing the same for the girls.

I am only handicapped in my advocacy of it among my fellow men in India by the fact that personally I carry rank through having been a soldier. This naturally makes those who do not know me suspicious of my intentions. If you would care to look into our aims and methods and realize from them that my object is very closely allied with what you suggest, then I hope I may have your support, by letters or otherwise, among your friends in India.

The aim of the tour was achieved, and B.-P. was able to report after a meeting at Madras when the various organizations gathered, 'We who had sat down to the talk as a meeting of representative heads rose at the end of it a united band of brother Scouts'.

One of the most interesting incidents of the tour was when Mrs. Annie Besant publicly made the Scout Promise in front of B.-P. when the Boy Scout and Girl Guide organizations she had formed were recognized. B.-P. was criticized by some at the time, for only a few years previously Mrs. Besant had been interned, and on her release had been elected President of the National Congress. To one critic (who had threatened to cut off his subscription to the Movement) he replied:

Mrs. Besant had in her Nationalist Movement some 25,000 Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. There were in addition to hers, some five different organizations of Scouts in India apart from the authorized one, and though a Conference had been held at Madras of all these, they could not see their way to coming into the one organization.

It was for this reason that I went to India.

I found Mrs. Besant anxious to bring about a better understanding, and it was largely thanks to her lead in the matter that the various organizations, with two small exceptions, agreed to come in. Mrs. Besant herself as head of the Indian Boy Scouts Association took the promise of the parent Movement on parade before them all and this brought not only her own Movement but others to amalgamate with ours. I gave her the title of 'Honorary Commissioner', as giving her some sort of position with her Scouts in place of that which she had to vacate on the absorption of them.

As ever he was more intent on finding common ground on which all

could meet than hunting for reasons against coming to an understanding. It was indeed no small achievement to have brought together the various Indian Scout organizations, and it was undoubtedly his influence which was the deciding factor in a difficult situation. Fortunately the Chief Commissioner in India, Sir Alfred Pickford, a member of the Indian Legislative Assembly in 1921, was the right man to carry on the good work. Later when he came to England, he was to prove one of the outstanding personalities of the Movement.

B.-P.'s interests in India were varied. Thus the Scouts of the Kalimpong Himalayan Home under Dr. Graham treasure a portrait of B.-P. which he gave them during his visit in 192,1. On it he wrote:

As topmost Troop in India --- on the map, I see, Be topmost also in your Scout efficiency.

When in 1922 General C. G. Bruce was passing through with the Mount Everest Expedition, he brought to the School a message from B.-P. with whom he had travelled in the Himalayas when both were serving officers. The message read:

Scouts! General Bruce and his party will pass near you on their way to try, once more, to climb Mount Everest. I know they will have your warm interest and admiration and good wishes on their Scout-like adventure. They are tackling the biggest mountain in the world with cheery pluck and determination. They have already tried various sides of it in vain, but they mean to try again until they succeed.

I hope that you too will imitate their example. Whenever a difficulty comes m your way, even if it be the biggest difficulty in the World, tackle it cheerily and pluckily, and if you can't get over it one way, try another and stick to it till you are successful.

Best of good wishes and good camping to you.

Another school which captured B.-P.'s interest was that founded by the Rev. C. E. Tyndale-Biscoe at Srinagar, Kashmir. This pioneer's work showed just that touch of originality which would naturally appeal to B.-P. Those who have seen the Reports of the school will appreciate the following remark:

I have just received with great joy your pamphlet with its wonderful Heath Robinson-ian design of grinding grit into boys. This book is hardly one's idea of an Annual Report of a Mission, though it is a fine example of what such a report should be in humour and interest.

I should like to congratulate you upon it and also on the wonderful progress you have made with your grit-grinding machine and the; results you have already achieved.

Go on, and my best wishes go with you.

Another side of Indian work which inevitably attracted B.-P. was the Village Uplift movement associated with the name of F. L. Brayne. In July 1928, he wrote:

Thank you so much for letting me see the draft for your new chapter on Village Uplift in India. May I say that I heartily agree with the ideas that you put forward.

I can of course only speak with any authority on the points in which Scouting comes in. At the same time having lived ten years in India at various intervals during the last fifty years, I am able very cordially to endorse your plea for the average schoolmaster to be encouraged to develop health of body, mind and spirit of the children not merely as auxiliary to his scholastic teaching but as its primary aim.

In the present state of the development of rural India your estimate of the possibilities of Scouting where it is properly carried out is most encouraging, and when your book is published (or before) I should much like to quote your remarks as giving a standard for all our Scouters and Guiders in India to work up to.

As Rover Scouts come more generally into being in India --- with their obligation of rendering self-sacrificing service to the community --- they might be valuable agents for your scheme if each group could take a village in its charge.

I am sending for your information a report recently issued of rural education in Burma and the use they are making of Boy Scout methods there.

Time proved how valuable the Indian Scouts could be in this work of helping villages to appreciate the importance of elementary hygiene and cleanliness.

The colour problem in Empire Scouting presented a difficulty for which there was no simple solution, and B.-P. was too much of a realist to suggest drastic measures which might all too easily have created further obstacles to goodwill. One method he advocated is given in the following extract from a letter written in May 1930.

We had a most thoroughly enjoyable trip to the West Indies and what I hope was also a useful one, because the colour question is very varied in the different islands there and in places where the bar was very pronounced we started the idea of parallel movements for the natives so that at least they might get the benefit of the training even under slightly altered conditions.

South Africa again presented a different kind of racial problem, and here B.-P. felt closely concerned, for that country meant so much to him in happy memories of the most active part of his life. His first visit after the war was made in 1925 when he was under doctor's orders to take a holiday! At that period the racial question did not acutely affect the Boy Scout Movement, and he was able to hope that goodwill would prevail over prejudice.

He and Lady Baden-Powell and the three children left for the Cape in September 1926, and while the two Chiefs were touring the country, Peter, Heather and Betty went to school. Here is one glimpse of a family Christmas spent in a bungalow at Gordon's Bay.

I write this on Christmas morning, when my thoughts run to you all at home.

In the early, early dawn I woke with a feeling of 'Where am I?' The sea was washing among the rocks just below my window, a pink glow was in the sky, and joyous voices were shouting to each other in a strange tongue.

The voices were those of a passing party of Dutch young men and maidens, rucksack on back, going out camping.

From my bed I look out over an expanse of calm sea under a cloudless sky to the distant outline of Table Mountain, twenty miles across the bay. His upper heights are glowing red in the rising sunlight, while his base is still in the violet shadows of night.

My first step is to make a hurried sketch to catch the quickly changing hues of dawn. My second to grab a peach from the basket, feeling it almost a sin to break into the lovely bloom and to exchange the delightful scent for the luscious flavour. But the deed is done all the same.

Peter and I have had an argument, as to whether in dealing with these peaches you eat them or drink them, but we agreed that in any case you need a basin of water and a towel handy!

Presently the bumping of feet and the hushed chatter of small voices in the neighbouring room of our shack shows that the youngsters are awake, in fact very wide awake, to the fact that it is Christmas morn.

And though there are only sprigs of sugar-bush in place of holly on the walls, and though there are no chimneys for Father Christmas to enter by, still, stockings have been hung up in all good faith---and the presents are there.

In a few minutes we are all assembled on one broad bed in a state of tense excitement and feverish unpacking of many parcels.

Later in the day, cooking the Christmas dinner absorbs the time and inspires the ingenuities of each of us. Apart from Peter, who fancies himself as chef in the department of fried eggs, Heather and Betty also do their share, even though it involves standing on a chair in order to reach up to the kitchen range.

A few short extracts from B.-P.'s report give his impressions.

Perhaps I ought to have known, but I certainly did not realize fully what a re-visit to my old haunts meant. It was not merely the enthusiastic crowds of Scouts and Guides that one met, but at every place one came to there were ex-members of my old force, the South African Constabulary, to revive old memories. Then there were the members of the Mafeking garrison now scattered and living in different parts of the country.

There were old friends of the times when I lived at the Cape; and everywhere, especially among gangers on the railways, were old comrades, disreputable-looking old rascals, some of them, who had served with me in Matabeleland, or in Zululand, in the days of long ago.

And those who could not come to see me (and some came many hundreds of miles to do so) all wrote to me and required answering, and you may imagine what that meant --- with no office, no secretary, beyond a hard-worked wife with a pocket typewriter in the train!

The doctor intervened when B.-P. once more suffered one of his relapses from overwork.

Under doctor's orders I was not allowed to go to South-West Africa, and the Chief Guide went there in my stead, another three thousand miles over very hot desert country. Meantime I, in more cowardly fashion, took a few days off in the beautiful Maclear country --- trout-fishing.

The atmosphere and scenery of this district were exactly like those of Cumberland: a grand sheep country in a grand climate. A delightful farm was offered me at a rockbottom price. I was sorely tempted to buy. Had I had the wherewithal I should probably now be a South African citizen. Indeed, if I were only a young man starting out in life --- but that's another story.

His final review once more refers to the racial problem.

The main thing that strikes one, and it strikes one hard, is the exceeding kindness and hearty welcome accorded to us by our brothers in South Africa.

In this coming back as I have done, after an interval of fourteen years, for my. eighth visit in the course of forty-three years, it is intensely interesting to note the growth and development that has gone on of the country, its people and its resources.

From my standpoint I am able, better even than many who live among the changes, to visualize what developments the next forty years may bring. Evolution is going on. This country is no longer a British colony taken from the Boers, but a new nation forging itself out of the elements of both races; so the changes will be very big, but whether they lead to success or disaster will depend almost entirely on the character of its then citizens.

Having also seen something of the quality of the boys, and of the Scouters who are training them, I am filled with hope, and can realize all the more fully the immeasurable value which Scouting and Guiding can have.

Therefore, I have urged Scoutmasters not merely to go narrowly, according to the letter of the book, but to study and search out the weak points in the character of the boys and to see where, through Scout methods, they can remedy these, and energetically to infuse the qualities that will be needed to help the new South African nation successfully to find itself.

The family was home again in April 1927, and in a note to a friend B.-P. wrote:

It is good to be back, and on such a typical spring day as yesterday was --- with the scent of wallflowers an primroses, and the rooks cawing, and the trees budding --- so English after the glaring hot sun and hard outlines of South Africa. But all the same we loved the warmth and brightness of it all and were --- all five of us --- awfully sorry to leave it.

Seven years later B.-P. with Lady Baden-Powell and their daughters set off for a World Tour. This was a formidable undertaking for a man of seventy-seven, but Australia called him as the Scouts were holding a Jamboree there at the end of December 1934. The desire to renew touch with Scouts and Guides elsewhere extended the tour to Canada and the United States. On his return, B.-P. published an account under the title Scouting Round the World; this was written for boys and is a series of yams about places visited and things seen, packed with those odd bits of information which boys enjoy. Here is a short specimen of his style of writing for boys. He is describing a visit to Thursday Island in Torres Strait.

Right up above the Rabbit's Ear (Cape York) of Australia you will see on the map what appear to be a number of flies. Those are small islands --- some inhabited, some not. In the middle of these is Thursday Island. It is a hilly, stony island covered with small trees, and it has a township of between 100 and 150 bungalows, shops, and offices and two churches.

When we arrived the bay, which forms the harbour, was full of smart yacht-like luggers. They were the great pearl-fishing fleet which makes its headquarters there. Pearl shells, even if they contain no pearls, are valuable and are gathered from the bottom of the sea by what are called 'Skin Divers' because they go down in their own skins and not in diving dress.

The shells are cleaned, the oysters being preserved for food, and the shells packed in sacks and sent to Japan to be made into buttons --- so they tell me, but I can't believe that so many buttons can be made or needed, or could command such a price, for one ton of shell --- that is about seventeen sacks --- is valued at over £80.

As we steamed up to the pierhead we found it lined with a 'Posse of Welcome' of a hundred and eighty Scouts and sixty Girl Guides --- but they were in brilliant colours, the Scouts wearing scarlet kilts instead of shorts. It was a great change from what we were accustomed to, but quite a good one.

The natives of these islands are quite a different race from the Abos of the mainland. They are bright, intelligent fellows and they make excellent Scouts. But they are not accustomed to wearing trousers or shorts, their national dress being a lava-lava or kind of loose kilt of linen. So the Scouts, who are bare-footed, wear a scarlet lava-lava. Scout belt, shirt, and neckerchief, a staff, but no hat because they have fluffy, wiry hair and a hat would not stay on.

There was a small Troop of white Scouts and Cubs in ordinary regulation kit and a native Troop of Sea Scouts, also in regulation kit. The Sea Scouts were the best I have ever seen for size and strength. Great hefty fellows they were, all over 6 ft. high and strongly built.

The voyage out was by way of Egypt, Ceylon and Malaya, and this gave the two Chiefs opportunities for seeing Scouts and Guides of such diverse nationalities as Egyptians, Copts, Armenians, Palestinians, Arabs, Greeks, Somalis, Jews, Tamils, Cingalese, Chinese. Indians, Burmese, Malays, Japanese, Javanese and the Islanders of the Torres Straits.

The Jamboree at Frankston near Melbourne brought together Scouts from India, Ceylon and Malaya, from Pacific Islands like Fiji and Nauru, from China, Japan and Java as well as from France, Great Britain, the United States, and New Zealand.

In his report, B.-P. wrote:

In Australia it was only natural that some anxiety should be felt before the assembly came into camp at Melbourne, as to what sort of reception the coloured folk might get in a country where the Asiatic question had from time to time caused considerable discussion. In the event, there was no kind of doubt about the kindliness of the welcome accorded to them. Among their white brother Scouts, the coloured visitors were received with the same cheery hospitality which the Australian Scouts extended to all; while by the public they were given the fullest measure of applause when parading or performing m the arena. I am bound to say that on their part they largely reciprocated and earned this goodwill through their own cheery courtesy, their smartness and their discipline. Their efficiency in woodcraft was put to an exacting test when the camp was assaulted one night by a tornado of wind and rain, but early morning inspection of the camp showed that without exception they had learned their business, for although the contractors' marquees were flat on the ground, not a Scout tent was down, and in spite of the soaking rain, breakfasts were cooking on glowing fires in all the camps.

Apart from its varied and interesting displays and impressive discipline, an outstanding feature of the Jamboree was the 'mixing' of these boys of so many races in real mutual friendship for one another. This gave one visions and hope of what may be possible as they grow to manhood and increase in numbers.

There were, of course, many of those human incidents which did so much to endear B.-P. to all whom he met. One may be given out of thousands; a Scoutmaster relates the following:

The Chief had been riding round the camps and, as he returned up the road, it occurred to me that if we could get him to pose for a photo beside our gateway it would make a wonderful souvenir for all Troops in our District. Well, nothing venture nothing win so, adopting a traffic-cop air, I placed myself in the centre of the road and made my request. Smilingly the Chief complied, and soon some thirty or forty cameras were using up spools of films on him at full speed. In the rush I nearly got left, just managed to secure a photograph.

Just beneath the Chief's horse in this snap you can notice a man's foot encased in plaster. It belonged to our District Commissioner, 'Boss' Currey, who had the misfortune to break a bone early in the camp. Some of the boys had, in sport, autographed the plaster bandage. During the photo episode the Chief noticed these autographs, and chipped 'Boss' on being an autograph hunter---autograph hunting was the curse of this Jamboree, and the Chief had publicly dubbed autograph-hunting Scouts as 'Cissie Scouts'. 'Boss' retorted that he wished he had the cheek to ask the Chief for his! With that, I and another Scouter hoisted 'Boss' on to our shoulders and there he was, head down, legs waving wildly, the bandaged foot under B.-P's nose, while someone dug up a pencil and we secured the only official autograph of the camp.

On the return journey the party visited New Zealand, then crossed the Pacific, calling at the Cook Islands on the way to San Francisco and Vancouver. At Victoria B.-P. was the guest at a luncheon given by veterans of the Matabeleland days, of the South African war, and of the South African Constabulary. He always enjoyed such meetings, with the lively memories they evoked of the past.

During the crossing of the Dominion, Scouts and Guides assembled wherever possible, to see the Chiefs. At Toronto 14,000 Scouts and 8,000 Girl Guides rallied to give them a great welcome. B.-P. was particularly impressed by the work of some of the Prairie Parsons whom he met. He wrote about one of them:

He has come 275 miles with a party of Scouts and Guides from his parish to attend our Rally. The parish covers 8,000 square miles. The Scouts number 84, and the Girl Guides 98, but they are scattered over wide distances, and so work entirely as Lone Patrols, which he and his wife, as Guider, visit periodically in his 'rectory' (a Ford car).

Once a year the whole Troop gather to a central spot to camp, and once a year both Scouts and Guides gather together with the members of the Local Association to a banquet. The Guides bring the salads and the Scouts bring the poultry. The youngsters sit down to their feed, waited upon by the Committee, and then the functions are reversed. After the banquet each Patrol gives some sort of entertainment which it has previously prepared. Thus the whole district is brought together, which had never been the case before.

Most of the Scouts are 1st Class and there are several King's Scouts among them and all wear Scout uniform paid for by proceeds of plays performed by two Patrols. Yet many of them had never been in a town, or even on a railway, and none had ever seen a play!

The Scoutmaster and his party were delayed on this occasion in getting to our Rally because the ferry over a big river was not yet working owing to the floating ice, so they had to do an extra 120 miles to come round another way; and in addition they found difficulties with the snow.

The Scouter always carries food and blankets in his car because very frequently he gets held up by snow-drifts and blizzards. He has been at it ten years and loves the life!

Possibly nothing pleased him more than being able to include in his report the following paragraph:

A further sign of confidence in the Movement, and an important step in its progress, has been accorded by His Eminence the Archbishop of Quebec, the Cardinal Villeneuve, in forming the recent alliance of the French Catholics in Quebec with the Boy Scouts Association. This cannot fail to meet with the approval of His Holiness the Pope, as being in accord with his encyclical urging all Christians to co-operate in resisting the forces of irreligion and in further accord with His Holiness's intimation to me that he wanted to see all Scouts working in unison as a family together.

Another advance to unity had been achieved.

His fifth and last Scouting visit to Canada ended a quarter of a century after the first French-Canadian Scout had greeted him at Quebec.

Chapter Twenty

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