The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-07-12
PRIZE FIGHTING.

A DlsasresabIs Truth too Plainly Demon
Stratsd-No Excuse for the Officers of III,
Law,
Neg York Tribune.
The prize fight about which all thu
rulians Of two continents and a large
minority OF educated gentlemen have
been thinking and talking for tho lasl
month came Off Monday, and to-day
Sullivan is the undisputed champion OIL
the world, There have been many brave
u~tteranCes by the authorities OF several
States, designed TO convey the impress
sion that the fight would be prevented at
all hazards, butt must now be acknoWl-
edged either that the Governors put o
somewhat too childlike faith In the vir-
tue OF proclamations, or else that they
were not consumed with desire to have
the peace kept. There was scarcely u
pretence OF secrecy on the part Of the
pugilists or their hackers. The pro-
gramme was announced all over the
country, and special trains carried Sulll-
van, Kilrain and the most ardent ad.
mirers Of both from their training quar-
tiers 10 New Orleans, aud thence In due
time to the ring. The only point in all
the proceedings which those most close
ly concerned thought 1t safer not to
dlvulge In advance to the world
was the actual place Of fight
ing; and that was really m open secret
hours before the combat. The simple
explanation OF oil this publicity Is that
these men did not believe the authori.
ties intended to prevent the fight II they
could conveniently avoid doing so, aad
the result vindlCates their judgment.
The truth Is, however dlsagreeable 1t
may be to acknowledge 1t, that though
u strong public sentiment Ia theoretical
ly opposed to prize fighting, it diminishes
In intensity very fast as the hour for an
important fight approaches, and Is re-
placed, especially among men OF the
class upon which the practical enforce
ment OF the laws depends, by an indispo.
sition to interfere. Tens Of thousands
OF ~law.abiding citizens, who would vote
against prize fighting as often as they
got the chance, will read the details Of
this latest encounter before they eat
their breakfast this morning. These
are facts, and there Is no advantage in
denying or concealing them simply 10.
cause they are not Creditable facts.
What they prove, or indicate, may be a
matter OF dispute. Perhaps they prove
that, as Mr.. Lincoln once said, there IL u
good deal of human Uature lying around
loose. Men, and women TOO, are tense
ly interested in supreme displays Of.
strength and skill aud pluck, and
whatever conscience may have to say on
the subject, when the excitement Is on,
too many Of them decline 10 discrimi.
nate between what Is really fine and
what is utterly ignoble. There is no
doubt that a prize fight Is the most
brutal aud demoraliZiDg exhibition OF
physical proves now left in the midst
Of civilization. The people engaged in
professional pugilism IRE one and all law
breakers, and ninety. ino.hundredths OF
them arc utterly deprayed and degraded.
The second and third rate encounters
which they bring about in the course OF
providing themselves with diversion
and a living are regarded with little In
terest by the community at large, and
that little leans toward indignation; but
when the championship Of the world Is
ut stake, an inclination to let the fight
proceed Is manifested In many quarters
where, except for the teaching OF ex.
perlence, IL never would have been look.
ed for.
These facts do not excuse the negli.
genCe Of officials sworn TO enforce the
law, The Mississippi authorities could
have prevented the fight II they had
been determined 10 do so, and In so
doing they might have set an example
TO the whole country, the value OF
which would have been appreciated so
soon as the inevitable reaction from a
temporary excitement had set In. Many
a man will feel hereafter n sense OF
humiliation In realizing the interest
which he actually took In this fight, and
though a strong sentiment practically
encouraged 1t, an overwhelming senti-
ment would have supported the men
who had been brave and alert enought to
prevent II, As 1t is, the comparatively
slight decentralization inherent in a
natural though unworthy curiosity to
know the result becomes vastly greater
and more persuasive through the graft
hCatlon oil that curiosity, and will bear
its own fruits in every part Of the
country,