Scout Law

“ Scouts are taught to do a good deed without any thought of a return; but all the same, it is pleasant to know that the reward does often come, and if any of the four chums had failed to find a chance to turn his badge right-side up that day, on account of having given a helping hand to some one, certainly they must feel entitled to that privilege after lifting Amos out of his sad predicament. Saving a precious human life must surely be counted as answering the requirements of the scout law. ”

“ Well, nowadays there are thousands of boys all over the British Empire carrying out the same idea, and making themselves into fine, reliable men, ready to take the place of those who have gone away to fight and who have fallen at the Front. These are the Boy Scouts. Their code is the Scout Law—that is, a set of ten rules which they carry out in their daily life.
I will explain these Laws, and will give you some other yarns of camp life and adventure such as the Scouts go in for.
HONOUR Law 1. ”

“ Before I begin my yarn, fellows, I want to say that I have had a good talk with Dick about the Boy Scouts, and I have also been reading carefully the scout oath and law, and other things given in the manual. I understand more about it than I did before, especially about the first point of your oath, which is: ‘To serve God and my [6] country, and to obey the Scout Law.’ In the Navy, we have to take an oath of allegiance, too, but are supposed to serve our country principally through fighting, while you are trained to serve your country in all sorts of different ways. ”

“ I suppose you all know the scout law."
"Not yet," replied Jack. "Rand read it to us, but we haven't learned it yet."
"Let me see," continued the colonel musingly, "how does number four go?"
"It says," read Rand, "a scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other scout, no matter to what social class the other belongs. A scout accepts the other man as he finds him, and makes the best of him."
The colonel made no comment, and the boys walked on in silence.
"I was wrong," acknowledged Rand after a little hesitation. "I have no objection to Gerald." ”

“ So the first training that the Boy Scout gets is to understand that Honour is his own private law which is guided by his conscience, and that once he is a Scout he must be guided in all his doings by his sense of Honour.
LOYALTY Law 2. A SCOUT IS LOYAL to the King, and to his officers, and to his parents, his Country, his employers, and to those under his orders. He must stick to them through thick and thin against anyone who is their enemy or who even talks badly of them. ”

“ If a Scout were to break his honour by telling a lie, or_ by not carrying out an order exactly when trusted on his honour to do so, he may be directed to hand over his Scout badge and never wear it again. He may also be directed to cease to be a Scout._
People of a civilised country, just like boys in a school, are bound to conduct themselves in a proper manner, because of the law which causes them to be punished if they misbehave. ”

“ Kind [16] ness to animals, I believe, is one of the cardinal principles of a true scout.”
“Yes, sir, that’s what it is,” responded Josh, eagerly. “I’ve got the whole twelve points of scout law on the tip of my tongue right now. Here’s what they are: A scout has got to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
“Whew! that’s going some!” declared Felix, who being prone to put things off to a more convenient season could readily see that he was sure to run up against a good many snags if he tried to keep the scout law. ”

“ Meanwhile the photographers managed to get in some of their efforts, possibly unbeknown to the rest. Exposures where the subjects are unconscious of their posing always turn out best; since they avoid stiffness, such as ruins so many otherwise interesting pictures.
Here, with the woods for a background, Paul, acting by agreement as temporary scout master, drilled his followers in scout law, sign, salute, and the significance of the badges which they wore, all of them, of course, of the tenderfoot type, since few had as yet started to qualify for any higher plane. ”

“ No scout may ever use the call of another patrol. The second law binds you to be loyal, kind, obedient, and cheerful. Most of your work then consists in playing scouting games and practices by which you gain experience as scouts. When you have learned sufficient to pass the test you can win the badge of either a first class or second class scout.
That of the first class scout consists of a brass arrow head with the motto on it "Be Prepared." ”

“ Sure Pop nodded and smiled as he saw the familiar handbook. "Good work!" he said. "All true Scouts are brothers, you know. Well, how about the 'three keeps' of the Scout Law? Did you find them as easy as you thought?" [31]
Bob and Betty grew very red. They did not know what to say.
The Safety Scout saved them the trouble. "Joe's better tonight," he told them, comfortingly. "I've just come from there, and the doctor says he'll be up again in a day or so. What shall we do tomorrow, friends—begin hunting for adventure and planting Safety First ideas?" ”

“ Why! that frightened boy, Ben Greer’s son, who lives on the little farm-clearing in the woods with his gran’father and a Canadian farmhand whom Old Man Greer hires for the summer an’ fall.”
“Not Harold Greer? You don’t mean that abnormally shy an’ timid boy whom the children nickname the ‘Hare’? Why! I had to supply a certificate for him so that he could be kept out of school. It made him worse to go, because the other boys teased him so cruelly.”
“Jus’ so! But that brand o’ teasing is ruled out under the scout law. A scout is a brother to every other scout. ”

“ In the second volume, The Boy Scouts on the Range, were recounted a series of strange adventures that befell some of the Eagles during a visit to the Far Southwest, where they took part in the wild life of a cattle ranch.
Through the pages of The Boy Scouts and [Pg 13] the Army Airship the reader will find that Rob and his comrades always bore themselves manfully, no matter the emergency; and that they scrupulously observed "scout law" under any and every occasion, as every true wearer of the khaki makes it a point to do. ”

“ Anyhow, I leave it to Thad here if it's a sportsmanlike way of scoring in our game? If he says no, why I'm willing to let you hook up some of the beauties for our dinner; or to make things more lively I agree to climb down that greasy old ladder and put 'em on the hook for you. How about it, Mr. Scout-master; is it fair?"
"Perhaps the letter of the law might favor such a course," he said, solemnly; "but we pretend to be sportsmen, all of us, and as such we go farther than that. And Bumpus, you know very well that nothing of this kind was thought of when you made your wager with Giraffe. ”

“ So wear your buttonhole badge for the sake of other people.
POLITENESS LAW 5. A SCOUT IS COURTEOUS. A Scout should be polite to all—but especially to women and children, old people and invalids, cripples, etc. And he must not take any reward for being helpful or courteous.
Courteousness is much the same sort of thing as Chivalry, which is closely allied to Honour. Both were practised in the old days by the Knight's, who went about risking their lives in order to defend and help the weaker people, women and children, against bullies and marauders. ”

“ We do not often have the honor of sitting down to the table with young gentlemen who have uniforms on." [62]
"We'll stay," said Skinny, "if you will let us do something to help. According to Scout law, a Scout must try his best to do somebody a good turn every day. I haven't done it now for 'most two days."
"If that is the case," Ma told him, "my woodbox seems to be getting empty." ”

“ They didn't want to at first.
"There are Boy Scouts," he went on, "in all parts of the civilized world; in England, too, Gabriel, as well as in this country, and the Law says that all Scouts are brothers to every other Scout. There are a half million in the United States alone. I have been appointed Scoutmaster for this district and I want to organize one or two more patrols so that I can have a troop. I have had you boys in mind ever since you so nobly turned out to help find William, the time he was hurt on Greylock. It will be much the same as the Gang, only better. ”

“ Our own early history is sprinkled thickly with brave, handy girls, who were certainly Scouts, if ever there were any, though they never belonged to a patrol, nor recited the Scout Laws. But they lived the Laws, those strong young pioneers, and we can stretch out our hands to them across the long years, and give them the hearty Scout grip of fellowship, when we read of them. ”

“ Of course, what Step Hen referred to was the well-known rule by which the great body of members composing the Boy Scouts’ organization of America has been governed, in order to teach the units of each patrol and troop the benefits to be derived from making themselves useful to others.
In the morning every scout is supposed to pin his badge upside-down, on the lapel of his coat; and is not allowed to change its position until he has found an opportunity for helping some one, either by act, or advice that is really useful. ”

“ The Captain has the power to enroll Scouts, and to release a Scout from her promise, to suspend her for a certain period, or withdrew her badges and discharge her. A Scout who considers herself unjustly treated may appeal to the Local Council or even to National Council. The Captain directs the Scout training of the girls in her troop, and may examine them for the Tenderfoot and Second Class tests. Where no court of honor exists she may secure examiners for them for the special subjects of proficiency badges or this may be done by the Local Council. ”

“ At the time of which we write there was plenty of excitement and adventure to be found in that region, and Young Wild West was helping along the advance of civilization, which, by the way, has not reached all parts of the West yet, speaking in a true sense, and reckoning in law and order.
In company with our boy hero were his two partners, Cheyenne Charlie and Jim Dart, and two very pretty young girls and a young woman.
Cheyenne Charlie was a government scout and one of the best known Indian-fighters of his time. ”

“ I expect to live a long while, Cap Roche. I reckon you think as much of your life as I do of mine. If you should kill me you know very well that you would not live long after doing it. Your friends would never get a chance to do you a good turn, for you would never fall into the hands of the minions of the law. ”

“ He also knows when to sit silent before the ruddy embers and give his mind free play.
A Scout holds his honor to be his most precious possession, and he would rather die than have it stained. He knows what is his duty, and all obligations imposed by duty he fulfills of his own free will. His sense of honor is his only task-master, and his honor he guards as jealously as did the knights of old. In this manner a Scout wins the confidence and respect of all people.
A Scout practices self-control, for he knows that men who master problems in the world must first master themselves. ”

“ Little Jack Baldwin, gazing at his rescuers, Scouts Warren and Chase, Marcoo and Colin Estey, marching two and two at the head of the leading patrol, clapped his hands and almost burst his heart in wishing that he could be twelve years old to-morrow so that he might enlist as a tenderfoot scout. ”

“ If she starts forward when her letter has not been sent she loses one “life”: if she fails to start before the Captain has counted six from signalling the second letter, she loses a life. At the end of a given time, Scouts who have lost least lives are considered the winners. Of course all speaking must be strictly forbidden during this game. The Captain must arrange to give each Scout an equal number of chances to move. It should not be played too long at a time. More than twelve should not play, or the letters cannot each be sent often enough to keep up the interest. ”

“ The equipment of the Boy Scout on billeting duty consists of a piece of white chalk and a menacing demeanour. Thus armed, he knocks at every likely door, wishes the householder a good morning and registers on the door-frame the number of men that may be left till called for within, even while the policeman is still endeavouring to explain the international situation and the military exigencies to the slow-thinking rustic. Many formidable obstacles lie in our path, we know, but we are comforted by the thought that the Boy Scout isn't one of them. ”

“ The Boy Scouts of America is a private, membership organization and leadership therein is a privilege and not a right. We do not believe that homosexuality and leadership in Scouting are appropriate. We will continue to select only those who in our judgment meet our standards and qualifications for leadership." App. 453–454.
Thus, at least as of 1978—the year James Dale entered Scouting—the official position of the Boy Scouts was that avowed homosexuals were not to be Scout leaders. ”

“ Each Chartered Local Council may send one delegate to the National Council and one additional delegate for every 200 registered Scouts under its jurisdiction. The National Executive Board is the court of last resort and every member of the Girl Scout Organization has the right of appeal to that court. The Local Council's officers recommend Captains and Lieutenants for commissions, and have the power to request their resignation when desirable, or they may appeal to National Headquarters to dismiss an undesirable captain. ”