The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-29

american Scnene, IL the mere luelltlOH
of it has not by that time already led
us into serious difficulties.
INTERCOLLEGIATE BOAT RACING.
If it be true that Cornell has taken
the position that it Is open in the future
to propositions from Yale and Harvard,
If they wish to engage in future
aquatic contests, but that no eXclu-
sive arrangement, and none that would
shut out half a dozen other institutions
with which Cornell completes, will be
considered, it is, to our mind, fortu-
nate thing for the future of college
boat racing. 1t is impossible to have
satisfactory eight-oared, four-mile
contests with anywhere from half
dozen to double the number of crews
entered. There is no course in this
country that will accommodate such a
number without assigning to some crew
a position that will handicap it so seri-
ously as to practically throw it out of
the race. There is scarcely a possibility
of rowing such race without more or
less unintentional foul1ng or other IN
reference. Besides that, the line must
be drawn somewhere. The country is
too big, the number Of its educational
institutions too great, and prowess in
rowing is too common to make any
such thing possible as a contest that
shall assign clearly and rightfully the
championship to any one crew. With
the growing interest in all kinds of ath-
letics and the increasing desire Of col
leges and universities, so-called, all
over the country to enter these races,
regatta would presently become
wholly unwieldy, and the summer
would have to be spent in successive
races before the claim for first place
could be decided.
A good many people, including most
Of the graduates of those two UNIVERSE
ties, are inclined to think that a mis-
take was made when Yale and Harvard
consented to admit any third party to
their contests, or to enter races in
which crews from other universities
took part It is difficult to make the
graduates or friends of those other
institutions understand that this is not
matter Of either cowardice or super
cll1ousness, but Of tradition. The great
body of graduates, and the undergrad
yates almost to man, of New Haven
and Cambridge care nothing at all
about the result of any university race
except as occurring between the Yale
and Harvard crews. The desire of each
university is far less to hold a national
championship than it is to score a vic
tory over the other This rises ont of
the relations that have long obtained
between these two universities and the
spirit of rivalry that has entered into
ana become part of the university
life Of each Of them To exchange that
for an ambition to compete with everv-
body in the country would be, in the
minds of college men, a misfortune.
The tendency to make athletic events
between college teams public affairs
and to attract the interest and nres-
ence Of the outside public has been
deeply regretted and almost wholly evil
in its effects
The present occasion appears TO offer
opportunity for return to the aarIia,
ana better custom. Cornell has beaten
both Yale and Harvard this year Let
1t be So No fear Of being tainted with
that fact should deter them from ar
ranging hereafter their old scheme Of
aquatic races, leaving the rest to fight
1t out among themselves. AS long as
either of them was victor, if could
not, with especially good grace. refuse
to another party an opportunity to 20
tr1eve defeat. Now both of them are
at liberty to withdraw from a contest
whose terms make it impossible that if
should have great interest or value
The successful carrying out of mi
versal American intercollegiate rowing
race is out Of the question. Neither
Yale nor Harvard need worry itself
over the question whether it has or has
not the best crew in the United States
Let that matter be judged by the time
record made, and let them go back to
the good old habit of meeting and
fighting each other, as Cambridge and
Oxford do, leaving other universities to
make whatever arrangements for con-
tests among themselves they may pre-
fer.
TOURISTS AND THEIR APPAREL.