BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 49 I have never known a boy who was not the better for having the matter put to him frankly and fully. For an instructor to let his boys walk on this exceedingly thin ice without giving them a warning word, owing to some prudish sentimentality, would be little short of a crime. Every one should read " From Youth into Manhood," by Winfield S. Hall, M. D. ; sexual hygiene for young men and older boys. (50c.) "Sex Instruction for Boys," Westminster Press, Philadelphia. (2c.)
SEA SCOUTING
Sea scouting has been introduced into this edition because it may be of value to the country and to numbers of our boys. In The Nautical Magazine it was recently shown that in the last fifteen years the Mercantile Marine, which should be the mainstay of British commerce and a backing to the Royal Navy in case of war, has increased by 26,000 men. Of these, 15,000 were colored men, 11,000 foreigners, 810 British. Yet we have crowds of men in Britain wanting work, while foreigners man our ships. The call of the sea is not sounded in the ears of our boys as it used to be. In many places it is possible to get the use of boats and hulks, instead of going into camp, where seamanship can be taught with all its good points of handiness, resourcefulness, activity, and health.
THRIFT
A very large proportion of the distress and unemployedness in our country is directly due to the want of thrift on the part of the people themselves. Our social reformers, before seeking for new remedies, would do well to set this part of the problem right in the first place. They would then probably find very little more left for them to do. There is money enough to go round if it were properly made use of by all workingmen. In many places, where thrift is practised, the men save their pay.
