The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-08-28
COLLEGE ATHLETICS.

| TO the corporation OF Brown University
| is devoted to the subject OF athletics, a
worthy use OF space, we should say, recog-
nizing that college athletics, TO which
| President ANDREWS has always been
| seriously devoted, is something more than
an artificial stimulsnt TO college life
rather is an important factor in modern
education.
The president naturally runs into the
| subject OF athletics from a consideration
| Of the morals OF the students, finding
athletic exercise a strong aid to the fac
ulty in promoting morals and elevating
| character. Observes President AN
DREws: "The restraint and self-denial
required in the athlete and made natural
by absorption in physical training greatly
inure to the moral improvement OF many
young men. Their habits are made better
and their vices fewer" And these happy
results are not confined to those act
ually engaged in athletics, for the infu-
ence "spreads through the college and
sets up among the students in general
fashion Of living vastly more wholesome
than that which prevailed in college life
before it's introduction. And the presi-
dent is convinced that so certain are the
advantages, physical, moral and intellec-
tual, arising from healthy and well-regu-
lated athletic exercises in college, that
"a very severe arraignment OF these
sports, supported by proof, will be neces-
sary before we can assume q hostile or
repressive policy toward them"
Very likely the widespread ambition
for athletic DEVELOPMENT and the taste
for invigorating outdoor sports, now so
general among young people, originated
ia our colleges. Outdoor sports, for
merly engaged In by comparatively few,
and interesting to only a small part of
the public, have now become one Of the
most prominent features OF American
life. Athletic clubs have sprung up and
are crowded with members. Athletic
contests are among the exhibitions most
attractive to the public. Young Mems
Christian Associations cultivate athletics
as part OF their regular work, thus greatly
enhancing their usefulness. Fashions BILE
life and thought have taken an athletic
turn. Young women as well as young
men engage In earnest outdoor exercise.
And 1t is not alone that we are physically
better men and women for the exercise
we take, that our morals are better, but
also we are able to study harder and in
crease the Intellectual production which
modern life demands in SO large guam
tity.
The president comes TO the defence OF
football with all the ardor OF absolute
confidence as an advocate, and the experi-
ence and thoughtfulness of an earnest
student of the subject. He points out
that the value OF sports, as an educational
and disciplinary factor, depends upon the
degree Of sternness involved, vigorous
competition as distinguished from mere
"fooling." As compared to all other
sports, the president concludes that foot
ball is pre-eminent In these qualities, as
also in the large number of men 1t en-
lists actively and trains before the teams
are actually selected. He would not
charge against the sport the evils that
have been complained of in exceptional
games OF football, involving only lew
players from the thousands that from
first TO last engage in the game, but
would seek a remedy in better work by
umpires and referees, and points out that
until We had expert umpires IN baseball
that game was threatened by the pub
lie outcry against the abuses that grew up
in the playing OF IL. Says President
ANDREWS, as TO this: "We at last have
1 80 "NSt""NN supply VI hVh,
partial, whose business 1t is to umpire
baseball games with the most absolute
precision possible. We shall In a few
years be equally fortunate in football,
when, believe, all illegitimate tricks
and violence, as we'll as most OF the severe
injuries which now occur, will be obvi-
eted. 1t is not the natural tendency of
football to become brutal and brutaliz-
ing. Nor is this the inevitable conse-
quence or, believe, the usual conse-
quenee OF playing It. 1t does not foster
disregard Of opponents safety or cultivate
the combstive instincts" A"
We like the tone OF President AN
DREw's remarks on this matter, and we
1 Itlxa h. IA. 81 1.yotf,x 40 I..~.