 In the early 1920s , many Scout executives were skeptical of what they called " secret camp fraternities " . By September 1922 , opposition to the Order of the Arrow was such that a formal resolution opposing " camp fraternities " was proposed at a national meeting of Scout executives . Goodman argued against the motion : " Using the Scout ideals as our great objective " , he said , a camp activity that will " further the advancement of those ideals " should not be suppressed . The motion was narrowly defeated , and the fledgling Order continued as an experimental program throughout the 1920s and 1930s . 
