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Show I Sport Is What We Make It, Clean or Unclean. Un-clean. AMATEUR SPORT REEKS WITH COMMERCIALISM Why Not Impanel a Jury for Self-Arraignment of Fans? Sport la what we make It. It Is wholo-Bcmo wholo-Bcmo or unclean, according to tho character char-acter of lta exponents and tho atmos-phoro atmos-phoro In which It Uvea. It accurately reechoes re-echoes tho tone of tho day; and as tho dominant noto of this day Is money-making:, money-making:, It follows naturally that amateur ama-teur sport reeks with commercialism and hypocrisy. "Wo elt In Judgment upon the game and tho players; wo would better at once Impanel a Jury for self-arraignment Wo alludo to sham amateurism as professionalism. Wo name It wrongly; It should bo commercialism; commer-cialism; composlto of tho worship of tho golden calf nnd tho unslackcd fovor for winning: Why Is It tho dls honest nmateur gots more monoy for his porformanco than tho confessed professional? profes-sional? Why Is tho volunteer soldier given more glory than tho regular who does tho same work better? Why aro tho gold mines farthest from home always al-ways reported to be the richest? Why' do wo favor the crooked trail? Because of tho Rubtlo appeal to our Imagination; and Imagination tends (not necessarily, of course) to complexity and overdrawn ' or undordrawn pictures. Tho plainly told talo Is too simple, too near at hand, too direct. It must ho cmholllshed a little to dlsgulso Its true nature. The late P. T. Barnum onco said that tho peoplo lovo to be humbugged; and being humbugged a , lot, developed the the humbugging habit; obviously tho peoplo llko It. Publicly they ravo over tho docay of the drama privately thoy yell In wild delight at tho worst "knock-about acts" of tho vaudc-illo vaudc-illo stage At the club they wax Indignantly Indig-nantly virtuous over "yellow" newspa-pors newspa-pors and at homo scan them eagerly. The other day on the train I .at op-poslto op-poslto an elderly and respectable looking dlvlno who dovoured the yellowest of the yollow dallies all the way from Now York to Brewster and no doubt thundered against It from his pulpit tho next Sunday. I A Keen Point. That was a very clever and deep thlnk-1 thlnk-1 lng Japanese who said recently: "When wo were giving to the world the most exquisite bits of ceramic art ever seen you called us 'heathen.' Now slr.ee wo have killed some thousands of Russians wo are acknowledged by you to be civilized" civi-lized" We arc hypocritical. Wo thump our breasts with great vigor, crying aloud the virtues which our acts full to reveal. Were you over bo unfortunate as to como upon a man beating -a woman, amid a , circle of onlookers and not one raising a hand to stop the brute? I llnd as I Journey through life that courage . of , united action under command Is common enough (for example, troops In battle where men are shoulder to shoulder) but Individual Initiative In tests of courage Is rare, nnd rarer where the moral rather than physical quality Is demanded. Lack of moral courage breeds hypocrisy. University faculties, athletic chairmen, alumni committees, sound the cymbals loudly In a salvation army walk-nround for undcflled collego sport, but lot the test como and watch them scatter to cover! They say they want "reform." They lie. If they really wanted It, they would have It. They do not really want It unless It bring them immediate material ma-terial returns, unless there la no hurt coming to their winning prospects through the turning of a now leaf. While tho. faculty salvation buglers blow themselves them-selves blue in tho face at the public gates, official sponsers lcgltlmlzo the various methods by which the collego may continue to throw temptation at the very young man for whose bciiefit and tho public the buglers are exhaling psalms of athletic righteousness. The fncultles wink the other eye. The college trustees wink the other eye. The world winks tho other eye. It Is tho countersign counter-sign of the day; the habit of tho breast-thumping breast-thumping Pharisee,. And in sport it leads to covert professionalism. No More Than Other Things. Professionalism Is much maligned. Thero Is no more disgrace In earning a living by running foot races or by play-ing play-ing baseball or football than there is In selling things from behind a counter or In casting up figures or in following any other respectable business honestly. But dishonest professionalism Is like any other dishonesty, and posing ns an ama-teur ama-teur when lu reality ono Is a pro-fl pro-fl fesslonal, Is a peculiarly contemptible means of obtaining goods under falso ' pretenses which In commercial life Is a misdemeanor leading to Jail. Over and over again I am asked why It Is that hypocrisy nnd dishonesty enter into sport, which Is supposed to be the expression of our playful side? Why, indeed! H1 Why arc there scandals In business, adultoratlpn of food, corruption In poll- tics, disloyalty among friends, social blackmailing? Why? Because It is tho temper of iho day, tho cursed spirit of "progression"; the pursuit of that JBB modern grail, "success"; win win some- how, but win; get tho purse; everything goes, so long as you are not caught with tho "goods on" to borrow Tammany's apt slang whether your activities be nt Caracas in the Venezuelan diplomatic fcrvlco. or at Atlantic City playing "sum-mer-nlne" baseball, or at Albany In tho Supremo court. Professionalism Maligned.- And do you look for purity In sport JHB with Impurity touching it In every hu- JBB man activity, from tho pulpit to tho bar and back again even to tho highest Ju-dlclary Ju-dlclary of the Emplro State? Write graft, and greed and cant on tho front door of modern endeavor, and then do not ask me why man's play ro-Ilects ro-Ilects man's spirit In his business and so-cla.1 so-cla.1 struggles. Linked with the fover u for winning is the craving for publicity which supports organizations of "so-ciety" "so-ciety" reporters who flourish luxuriously by blackmail instead of subsisting on brood and water behind bars. Publlcltv at 'any price: but publicity must bo had". Ifa man shoots. a deor he must have his photograph in the papers; If the au-tomoblle au-tomoblle club gives a road run every starter must bu photographed and his life history and that of his sisters and cousins and aunts sent to all- tho dally newspapers; If Mrs. Moneybags helps a poor devil of a family to the oxlent of the morning paper. Ever publlclty-seok-ing, over photograph glvlngr climbers all . social, professional, commercial from some dollars, she must read about It In Christian Endttvvor "singing preacher" to 1 dancing soubratto. ' This crazo for success la exhibited in tho sport of different countries according to tho temperaments of tho respective peoples. It is most highly developed In , throbbing America, whero ambition and nervous energy and the commercial zest ure greatest. It is dellberato and selfish in England; happy-go-lucky and cvanes- cent In France, where tho spirit of play for play's sake really sways outdoor nc-tlvlty nc-tlvlty moro than it docs In any other country' of tho world; It Is sordid and vulgar and greedy In Germany. And con- I slderlng its environment sport shows re- (' ' murlwbly slight infection everywhere p. mfftrnf mi W'c wmmt w-W$mw- .'0m mm- Wv ife1 i fHW w&f. "Wm plv Ifl :M: W w -I SPrEDY TWO-YEAR-OLD This is a picture of Onklawn, the speedy two-year-old, for which August Belmont paid Will Shiels $30,000 as he was going to the post for the Saratoga Special. Ho didn't got in the money. which speaks volumes for its fundamental funda-mental health. Now, It Is a curious fact that In America, Amer-ica, where tho winning spirit is Intcnscst, there Is actually less professionalism than In any other country Cases of amateurs competing for money (which Is what tho world calls professionalism) aro the raro exceptions In America, and when brought before tho Inter-Collegiate association or the Amateur Athletic union (our two chief governing bodies .of amateur sport) aro dealt with severely. That phase of sport Is giving Us no trouble to speak of. Our difficulty is with tho really more offensive of-fensive and certainly much more complex com-plex covert professionalism superinduced by the frenzy to win that possesses equally colleges, clubs and Individuals of high and low degree. The ailment manifests mani-fests Itself In various ways: recruiting "star" athletes from preparatory schools and other colleges and clubs through promises of help I" college by "eating clubs" or score-card graft privileges, or other similar schemes which bring the boy board or keep and sometimes money; permitting, undergraduates to play on summer resort hotel or town baseball nines for their board and lodging; permitting per-mitting men In athletic clubs to compoto unchallenged, who because of their athletic ath-letic prowess and because tho club wanted want-ed them,' have been given positions in tho business house of an enthusiastic member, mem-ber, at salaries which thoy do not and are not expected to earn outside tho athletic ath-letic Held. In Its wholesale form the ailment ail-ment finds expression in collego football ccndldatps being herded In practice squuds to some resort, public or private, and there given board and keep for several sev-eral weeks beforo college term opens In the endeavor to get the advantage of more training nnd preparation over a rival collega with whom match games aro to follow during the college term. Incentive to Activity. Tho other day In a paragraph (which Grander Matthows, with signal unsuc-ct-88, has been ever since endeavoring to nrjswcr), a Frenchman typlilcd America by saying tjint wo aro "a people terribly practical, dqvold of pleasure, systematically systematical-ly hostllo to all idealism" . . that "the ambition of an American's heart, tho passion of his life, is monev; and it Is rather delight in the conquest and possession-of money thnn in the uso of It." In other words, the Incentive to American Ameri-can activity 1b achievement, capture of the prize, not because of Its intrinsic worth, or of servlco it may render, but solely because It repreaonlH success winning. win-ning. That precisely describes the American's Amer-ican's attitude toward sport. The game had no subtle significance for him; It is cnly a means to a material end. Football anu rowing arc a means to beating a rival team,. Just as dry goods and otocks are a means to making dollars. The American Is Intolerant of any result short of victory. That, Is his pleasure the pursuit pur-suit of success. And the same spirit, the commercial Bplrlt, has takon such firm possession .of nl3 blay us to make It Berl-0U8 Berl-0U8 business; indeed, beating tho opponent oppo-nent is about all of pleasure tho college athleto .now haa. loft- Ilulen commlttAns and faculties and alumni have 'ncrmlttod all the fun to bo legislated out of the game, until IL Is such a grind tho boy gets no recreation. He answers the call lor candidates because of loyalty to his alma mater, and he sweats and tolls through his galley-slavo period of preparation prep-aration with no other hope of recompense than that of victory. It is a fine spirit misapplied and maltreated., mal-treated., As to College Sport Talk at random with tho men you meet and you will quickly understand why college col-lege sport reflects a national spirit blinded blind-ed by the glory of material achievement. feverishly active for business and pleasure, pleas-ure, and frenzied for publicity. Look at your newspapers. You will llnd greater prominence given to "those present" at polo and at hor3o shows than to tho horseg. The highest price paid for a box and by whom, Is tho absorbing theme. Brilliant but superficial! That comes piotty close to characterizing us In sport, and horse racing provides an excellent comparative Held for America, England and France. Wo aro busy buying sprinters sprint-ers that can win. England Ih selling them to us, but France 1b the only one really carrying out the Idea of racing for the purpose of improving tho breed of horses. lrglnnd's turf has Been contaminated In recent years by America's most disreputable disrepu-table clement and Us aggressive spirit of winning at any cost. Incidentally, we aro becoming a little serious In horse-breeding,, horse-breeding,, though In heavy harness classes for tho most part, we are still pursuing superficial - methods and obtaining brilliant bril-liant occasional norformers. Absence of .Ideals, But the most serious aspect of the commercial com-mercial spirit phase of American sport la absence of Ideals. We see college bnll players oplke base-runners and go absolutely abso-lutely unpunished; wo hear an entire undergraduate body seeking to con f uso the visiting pitcher of a rival college by unsportsmanly "cheering" and tho president presi-dent and faculty seated In the stands evidently evi-dently enjoying the exhibition; we are charged GO cents for a 10-cent programme; we pay undergraduate speculators exorbitant exor-bitant prices for football tickets. We are losing have lost traditions even In rowing, row-ing, tho one sport to which wo clung hopefully. College races aro no longer contests for university boating suprejTw acy; they arc struggles between professional profes-sional coaches It is no more the Harvard Har-vard and Yaje race, but a contest between be-tween the professional coaches they employ, em-ploy, It Is not whether Cornell or Syracuse Syra-cuse will win; but It Is to determine which stroke of tho coaching professionals profession-als Is the superior. Wo read In our papers pa-pers nowadays of "Courtney's Crew." of "Murphy's Eleven," of , "McMastcr'8 Boys." All honor to C6lumblo of New York, the onlv Important rowing collego with an amateur coach! Professional coaches, professional methods, professional profession-al spirit the frenzy to win. And the, moat deplorable exhibit -of nrofogelonal coaching and American brilliancy la in beating tho rules of the game. . At tho preparatory school nnd at college, boys arc deliberately coached to beat tho rulo; to Injure tho opponont. Trickery, dcccnllon nnd quostlonabln methods are put forth ns prlmn requisites of tho successful athlete. It is abandon ment of Ideals, and America the worst offender. , , Lacking tho higher attainment of the Englishman In his games, and with nl-most nl-most none of his serious view of sport, tho Frcnchmnn yet Is n sportsman ue-cauye ue-cauye of tho playful sldo of his plcasure-Iovlng plcasure-Iovlng nature. Outdoor recreation is the customary' expression of his normal self, and ho probably attains to wider ethical results In sport for sports sako on lees exertion and pretense thnn any other person In the world. Ho rarely loses sight of the fact that his sport Is fun, consequently ho has not gone In for games of any kind very deeply, and those ho has tnken up mo3t seriously the horso, hunting, racing polo aro confined to the best class. The most characteristic characteris-tic exhibition of the Frenchman at play are his water sports on the Seine and his country picnicking, whore fun Is tho keynote of the occasion. And they hnvo dono some fairly creditable credit-able work In athletics and football, too. Germany Imitative. Germany is purely Imitative, and always al-ways bourgcolso. Tho Kaiser's oftorts to Interest tho better classes In boating havo met with little success. University sport is a myth. The Gorman's Idea, of sport is beat exemplified by that university dueling game of mock heroics. In which tho combatants, after protecting themselves them-selves so thoroughly that no real Injury may bo received, proceed to slash at one another with the ihln-blnd".d schlager far tho sole purpose of Inflicting cheek scars, which prldoful sludentfl mav later exhibit as they swagger along tho Unlor den Linden. .We need not take the Gorman seriously in oport: his chief Joy lies In argument for every two clubs there arc at least thrp separate "government bodies. Tho Turn Vereln nnd the beer garden represent Germany's most popular popu-lar conlors of spoitlvo effort; clscwhoro tho standard Is scarcely third-rate. Men turn to professionalism (mostly bicycle) In Germany as they turn to carrying bricks or butchering sheep. Professionalism in England. Profe?slonallam flourishes In England like It does no whero elso n3 a tribute to English sporting spirit, nnd tho national betting habit. University sport In England Eng-land Is, howovor, absolutely free from professionalism; It knows nothing of commercialism; com-mercialism; It !o tho Ideal of amateur sport, of sport for sport'3 sake. But aside from tho universities and schools and one or two clubs, professionalism in "nmateur" sport runa riot. Athletes are handled llko race horsco. run to order by their backers and the bookies, nnd tho heaviest busluess dono In tho heats by men who perhaps rarely appear as winner of an event. Professionalism in track athletics Is England's bqto nolr. Professionalism Profes-sionalism In football cornea von' near to being an equal thorn In England's amateur ama-teur side. English cricket Is qulto .13 full of professionalism as track athletics and football, but hero monoy making Is not tho lncontlve and the gcntlcmon who dominate dom-inate cricket keep It free from rcandal and harmful Influence. In England thoy can do this; wo could not In America, and It Is a matter entirely of tomperament. Ah Englbh cricketer may bo given his Beaaon's board and keep and a lump sum for his "expenses." In return for playing On a county cloven, and lltorally no scandal scan-dal or no 111 lnflucnco upon the game results, re-sults, becauso the circumstances are not made an excupo by other club managements manage-ments for deopor ventures In covert professionalism, pro-fessionalism, In order to beat the rival. If, however, such a precedent wcro established estab-lished In tho United States, thoro would be pernicious activity, Immediate and wldo-sprcnd; overy manager of r every eleven In every county. In every Stato of the Union would be sent post hnsto on a lour of the world to gather unattached crack players who were willing to accept "expenses" and summer's keep. The most absurd and harmful Illustration of deception decep-tion In English cricket aro tho Australian Austra-lian "amateurs" who periodically visit England and sometlmeo America and proceed at the ond of the tour to divide nmong themselves tho surplus gato receipts! re-ceipts! Difference in Amateur Sport. Between America and England the abld-. abld-. Ing dlfferenco in amateur sports Is ono of tempcroirient; tho Englishman lives up to the spirit of the law better than thft American; the American lives up to tho letter of tho law more completely than the Englishman. And It is the spirit that counts. Sport in England has a significance signifi-cance which It Is only beginning to nc-qulro nc-qulro in America, but tho American sportsman, when you do find him. Is the salt of ,the enrth, the fairest fighter and tho best loser It has been my exporionco to meet In any part of tHo world; and young America Is a courageous, sclf-dc-nylng, manly boy who wants to do thd right thing. Our relentless compotltlon. our commercial Bplrlt Is killing sport's chief value; yet there la the comforting thought that tho spirit grows. I havo watched it kindle from a tiny spark until It has now warmed Into a fair glow, with tho satisfaction meanwhile, of knowlnn that nt least wo aro learning the patience which works apd the concentration that uses Its opportunity. An Amateur Defined. And what Is nn amateur? a man who plays the game for tho game, and for the thrill that honorable contest with and success over a worthy rival bring to him. Amatours aro those who contend for honor. Professionals aro those who contend con-tend for gain. There are no other dis tinctions no "seml-profess lonals. no wo-nmal"urs"- man Is either an ama-tnur ama-tnur or a professional. When victory Itself ceases to be sufficient return for v Umlntr then the amateur tends toward tho prffosXnnl whoso Incentive to win muBt bo something more material than m thrill When that gain, prollt. whatever you please to call It. becomes tne Incentive, the tlirtll of honorable con-tJat con-tJat c lies to have any .dgnlficance. Em-nlovmcnl Em-nlovmcnl of professional coaches and PmdTcr" Is followed by profess onai method meth-od professional spirit; and tho profes-iViniii profes-iViniii snlr? . tends to placevwlnnlng above a 1 lso.P Sport for wort's sakc-that Is the amateur. Sport for tho sake or sornr-thinc-ninglng from moro winning to the r.urso of gold, according to the degrees 1 ho urofslonal spirit ha-s advanced-that i the nrofeqslona . Amateur stntus rests soleVy Pupori , 1M complete dlsasKOclatlon from professionalism In all Its forms lta trickery Its militarism. Its moral and so-pint so-pint atmosphere. As ho soul Klvca character so the man. o thrill of honorable contest gives character char-acter to the amateur athlete. Tendfl to Deterioration. Professionalism tends toward deterioration. deteriora-tion. Invariably, sooner or later, must corruption elze upon any snot "here maT tprlal ism-proflt- replaces ldcallBm-glory. Tho Present chase after professional teachers reads strangely besldo tne thought that evory game of the present, dav eveept baseball and racquet, has reached ?tsP highest play Ins skill through amateurs: while on the other hand with the- exception of baseball, no gamo which la waved by professionals Is today proa-porous? proa-porous? For oxnmple-professlonnl podes-trlanlsm podes-trlanlsm Is practically dead; pugilism Is moribund: professional row11 bare y Hvex md baseball owes IM llfo solely to ho fact that th. American people cling to It as Its national game; oven so, baee-bal baee-bal 1 lacks tho strength of a dozen years aco before warring rival leagues brought Silftlon to the gamo and disgust to the nubile Faith in America. I have an abiding faith In America and In Americans. I know that despite commercialism, com-mercialism, the spirit of sport la growing; that the value of play Is becoming more and more understood. I do not believe that the. unclean spoLs In our sport are representative of the- American nt play anv more than Hooker Is ropreocntatlve of "tho American bench, or Loom Is is representative rep-resentative of tho American diplomatic service, or Rockefeller Is representative "of American business men. 1 know thai the most of amateur sport Is free from taint and la highly bencflcial, and I be-Hcvo be-Hcvo that the great majority of men are clean lu business and sport. But as the escaping noxious gases from tho sewer poison, tor the moment. God's free sweet near-by air, so the fumes from tho foul spots In politics, in business and In sport when uncovered Infect temporarily the otherwise healthful channels through which they make their escape. One skunk run to earth can scent an entire count v. Cleansing Encourages. Then follows tho period of scandal and of cleansing which makes depressing rending bin Is tho encouraging sign that shows the pooplo opposed to dishonesty. That the public arouses to Investigation Is our saving grace. When wo a tnnd inactive in-active amidst a stench of corruption, then indeed will there be cause for alarm. So long ns the world goes on and man lives upon It, man will be frail, but not Increasingly In-creasingly 30; ho Is growing morally as well as physically stronger and outdoor play Is a lnrge factor in the remodeling-Wholesome remodeling-Wholesome sport has much to do with developing de-veloping that Btrong, fearless, honest flbro which Is Indeed in national life, and perhaps more so In our growing, pulsing country than in any other. Play Is fundamental, not merely tho result re-sult of surplus energy. Tho benefit lies not In tho more winning of today 3 game; It la preparation for tomorrow; It Is development de-velopment of character for the real boy, man comes out in his play. ' Men of great capacity for play have great capacity for work; studv Roosovelt and Balfour, though the latter Is anaemic by comparison compari-son with the former.' Anglo-Saxon power and progress is duo perhaps as much 10 their play as to any single factor. Peoples Peo-ples that do not play hard, the Latin races for example, havo fallen behind in tho march cf events, while it is equally notable that as a people expand thoy turn hioro to play Germany, for lnstnnce. Commercialism Sweeping. Tho commercial spirit Is sweeping the world and where tho commercial spirit reigns, the spirit of amateur sport thrives with great difficulty. In America commercialism com-mercialism Is throttling tho spirit of Bport. Tho question is, what are we going to do about It? Well the remedy Is simple sim-ple enough If parents and college faculties and all others concerned will be hor.esL Build up tho spirit of sport for aport's snkc Jso more rules. Not more legislators. legisla-tors. Not less play; but tho spirit of the amateur law Snterprotcd truly. Wo want more game?, association as weir as Rugby football, lacrosso as much as baseball; moro players, fewer spectators. No -professional coaches. Reduction of gate receipts; re-ceipts; less money, leas hypocrisy, leas business, less politics. How Is thl3 to bo obtained? The spirit should early be Inculcated at tho home, but for our universities we want a con. gicss of friends with the courage of their convictions. Not only a meeting of Harvard Har-vard and Yale and Princeton, but of del egates rrom ovrTTTaHIl from Maine to Cnifr) lhH men who win A? taJBF road qucstlonSdJB way to bORia nn ,lnrttK sake-tho slmnlor t '?tB' Tho colPgHVehia guard or the ArncrlUri$K StatUS Of C0lJf4o 3aBL not simple to Put t$B (Written Caspar- J Wlft among the yrunr rS-MS cans. He is rcK5 LiR the best AmerS SiPXB sport. Afl a JmMSW'J tho Outing StaSfMi an unrelenting anT-JM warare against X JE teur sports. nc V, tW standard booka of '&?' and In the PeBoBraML gives to all forma cfnMfi work has had il?tM America. Mr. WSitP11 Iho ur-orts and athlfeB countries, and wrltfc ternatlonal point nt vum dcrstandlne of Ihe dfiSME in the habits of voSbSTSBW |