140. A man who is in the habit of drinking wine or spirits in strong doses every day is not the slightest use for scouting, and very little use for anything else.
141. It would be simply impossible for a man who drinks to be a scout.
142. Men who get into the habit of drinking often ruin their own health and the happiness of themselves and their families. The old saying, “Strong drink makes weak men”, is a very true one.
143. I have realized the failure of the imposition of artificial restrictions from without, as compared with the encouragement of the natural resistance through will power from within. Our aim in the Scout Movement is to prevent drinking by employing natural, instead of artificial, means, namely by strengthening the character (i.e., the moral will power, self-respect, and self-control) of the individual and by supplying hobbies and activities that tend to fill a man’s life with interests. We are out to prevent the evil in the next generation rather than to endeavor to cure it in the present.
Leave a Reply