St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-04-17
Regulation of College Gymnas-
tics,
Editorial in n. Y. Independent. ]

Editorial in n. Y. independently
Unless the body is ed
ucated, as well as the mind, the mind
might about as well not be educated.
The mind cannot do good work, and
cannot do any work long in puny,
sickly, unframed body. The best stu
dents are apt to spoil their bodies while
training their minds. Therefore phys
Therefore instructors in bodily culture.
Amherst College was forced to its sys-
TEN of obligatory physical culture by
the death of number of the most
promising men in one class just before
or after graduation. 1t did not seem
to pay to kill men in the process of ed
ucating them. A process of regular,
prescribed physical education, either
gymnastic or military, such as exists
in a number of our institutions, is
something to be aimed at, and will of
fer a vent to the animal spirits which,
unguarded, lead to physical excesses.
But it must be understood that phys
ical education is not the first object for
the students as il whole, neither should
it be for any individual students. Our
system of electives has gone quite too
far when it allows a man to give the
most of his time to physical training,
whether with gloves, oars or ball.
These things are amusements, recrea-
tions, not employments, in college. A
young man who gives his chief atten-
ton or thought to these does not belong
in college, and should not be allowed
to remain in college. Much less should
there be encouraged bands or assOcia-
tions of students, whose chief business
it is to become proficient in games,
and who do as little study as is possi-
ble consistently with this their prime
business. That class of students can
be spared. What good they get out
of college is incidental, and the incl
dental hurt they do is more serious
than the incidental good they get.
Closely connected with this is the
matter of college extravaganza. This
has come, as Bishop Huntington says,
to be 4 mOnstrOus evil. The legiti-
nIaIe eNI'u'ioS' VI " UVii0So So s'"i
tuition, board, books, etc, are but il
! fraction of the amount which the pub
lie sentiment requires for societies
spreads, games and matches. This Is
not only a needless burden to parents
but actually discOurages worthy young
men from going to college. We would
welcome any reform which will limit
these expenses and one of these re-
forms will come in the positive dis
couragement of intercollegiate games
with their expensive concomitants.
Now we have no objection to Ordi
nary rowing or playing baseball o
foot ball. These are all well enough
They are excellent, healthy games
, When kept at home, and confined t.
matches between classes in the SAM
! institution, they will not become
nuisance. But it is when we come t.
) matches between rival colleges, ant
: with professional clubs, that it become
necessary to give all the spare time G
the ''teams" to training, and the col
2 lege degenerates into circus. At TIL
E beginning, the Intercollegiate contes
= seemed innocent, but it has gone S
! far now that we believe it is time
. shut down entirely upon it. And W
d give cur hearty sympathy to the mos
!. stringent limitations in that dIrectlo
d that can he proposed. The college at
d thorities which have encouraged I'll
S evil in it's beginning, now see what
= is, and wish they could be entirely ri
d of it.
d The evils connected with these il
,f tercollegiate contests we hardly nee
= to discuss. They are universally col
J. demned. The scandalOus betting al
ID drinking and carOusing, which have
g. times made Worcester and Springfie
ne and New London hideOus, are co
to nected with bad practices, fOrbidd
by public law and college law.
es would be easier to deal with them
st we found purer tone pervading sol
meetings of alumni. Our newspapt
he show discretion in reporting them.
ng We do not care now to go into t
he subject of college government aps
IN from this matter of college games ; |
VS. we suppose that it is clear that a lal
is number of students prove themsel'
ls- unfit to govern themselves. Some s
ng of government there must be, whetl
M parental on the part of the teacht
me or more democratic, the students t;
er- ing part in it through their chosen &C
ant mittees, AS in some notable exp'
in ments now going on. We are not 5
the but something can be taught us
by verY successful methods, having !
Ugh itary character and organization,
d a pecially in the South as, for exam
an in the University of Tennessee,
ing Knoxville. But some discreet SUI
for vision will probably need to be {
not tinued, we do not say so long as
ows dents are young, but so long as
'ing are encouraged to exert themselves
put physical rather than intellectual
md moral planes. OF course such e
the offeDses as drunkenness, gambling
betting of all sorts are forbidden (;
visit it is the temper which leads to t
one. things that we want TO control