New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-24

isef: but they do indicate mark d defect
ou' American tempe rainen In Its prescn; stage Of
u a,nrn,ent We are too high strung TOO jerky
h',noIjc Unbalanced to take things ihiosopn-
Fhu,. The high pressure developed in the fierc,
'.cs for wealth affects everything we do. When
~ OF through the green stage of materialism
- will doubtless be less sensitiveness ana
are self-cnntroL
Tibet is a very strong statement. but 1t can
49,, he set down to the writer's dislike of what he
".us ma;erialism. or of Oymplan games in Amer
,.o a. else W here for he adds:
believing thoroughly as do In College athlet-
A.. in spite Of some serious evils connected with
Yam most of which think can be eradicated or
,rrsatIy modified. hope TO see the time when
s,rh contests between students will be conducted
~ centlemGnlv and friendly spirit. and when
~. only effect OF defeat will be to stimulate the
t.,ten side 10 greater effort
The writer Of that is himself University man
,rs testimony and his opinions are to be con-
s,,ered from that point Ct view. If l We're to
eminent on them should say first that they are
moi borne out by The conduct of the Yale men in
england, nor does he censure them in that re-
s,ect on that there have never been two opin-
IONS Mr. Grenfe Sir Richard Webster. all the
oxford men with whom they came In contact. the
rnslsh public who saw them under the most
irving circumstances. their own countrymen,
Who whatever their natural prepossessions. scru
,inized every detail jealously-a We're Of one
mind Whatever Yale athletes may be at home,
here they wcic admirable in department. There
yas no crying end no su<ng. and no bitterness.
There we're no accusations. no excuses and no
want OF equanimity or manliness. And II is TO be
remembered that they were tried higher than
they ever could have been It home Defeat at
home is one thing Whatever the bitterness of
craftsmanship. 1t is all between Americans. De-
tsat abroad is very different thirg. On these
,.io
bity than they had ever borne u theirs
10 defend not only the honor Of their University,
hut the honor of their country and their flag. On
them it depended. in the most literal sense.
whether the Stars and Stripes or the Union Jack
went I'D TO the masthead. for the result Of each
contest was signaed on the field itself by hosting
the American flag or me British flag. The strain
was tremendous. and they bore 1t in the way we
know How was II. II q, nome they had been
wont 10 give way to tears and despair and savage
resentment, that here in England the Ya.e men
behaved like men?
But II is not of Yale only or mainly that the
writer quoting speaks. 1t is Of the colleges
generally that he says they Cannot endure de-
feat with any sort OF equanimity" ana some Of
his censure is even stronger than that Is his
opinion the general opinion? have heard Of
protests against college athletics and against In
tercollegiate contests, but don't remember to
have heard of one based on the ground that
they gave rise II animosities and hatreds. The
protests seemed to me to come from well-mean-
Ing lovers Of learning who had very inadequate
sense Of the value Of physical taining-who
wanted boys to be bookworrs and nothing else.
have read ESSAYS on this subject which had all
the air of having been written by people to whom
a University was nothing but an institution for
-, ,,-ioco and e1an
Matthew Arnold's young barbarians at play were
Infinitely preferable to that. e'en If the young
barbarians lost their tempers and hooted their op-
ponents.
But do they? The answer to that question
would be most useful If 1t came from some we'll
Informed person who would put the patriotic
view aside and give us rhe plain truth. un-
adorned. The patriotic view may be kept for
foreign consumption. The American whose
serse OF duty leads him to expose the nakedness
of his native land. or what he thinks such, 10
the gaze Of the foreigner, is od'ous But as be-
tween Americans frankness Is best. we can
afford 10 tell each other the truth and we pretty
often do and sometimes with embellishments.
At present this Is strictly family matter IL
as the untutored European alleges, Americans
are thin skinned. We ought to endure the truth
when we tell 1t to each otrei privately And to
vatey so FAR as Europe ana the rest Of the
world concerned.
There are, no doubt. other Europeans. still more
,n,utored who profess to have discove red in the
United States a certain intolerance of opinion
mere difficult 10 deal with than mere sensitive
moss The American according to them, requires
n have smooth things said TO him. Not what Is
true but what is agreeable-that is to be the rule
for the speaker the writer. The majority IS not
content with being the majority; it must sup
press the minority altogether. or which comes 10
The same thing, impose silence on 1t. Nothins Is
N ba said OF which the majority does not APP
nrove and the majority approves only of wrat
is flattery to its vanity and its national pride.
This OF course is an extravagant caricature, II
Il have any basis at all, in fact. individuals VINO
sneak in the name of the American people may
resent straightforwardness in others, ana profess
10 know that their seventy millions OF leNo"
countryrlen expect immunity from crlticlsfh' anu
insist upon 1t. But If you ask these NOISY per
sons IN produce their power OF attorney, or TO
saw who gave them the right to speak for Amer
teams they will not produce 1t. for they have
none to produce and they cannot say VINO gave
them their authority. for authority they have
none They will continue to regard truth as All
offence. and TO heap contumely on him who tells
1T. and to tell him he is not an American II ne
does not regard everything American as PERFECT
Nevertheless the correspondent whom nave
been quoting is an American and good one
almost as good as II he had been born IN bohe'Iha
or in Ireland What NJ says Is but the eNprtS''"'
~ ono mans opinion; he evidence q one witness
II there ne opinions and witnesses on the o'her
side "a no doubt there are. this is good time TOT
them to be heard. " W. %
WEDDING AND AN ENGAGEMfNf'