New-York tribune., 1899-06-13
THE ENGLISH CHALLENGE.

Tho challenge issued by Oxford and cam
bridge and accepted by Harvard and 1ale loc
an interunlversity competition in held alh-
letics Of which the text Is now published, Is
In nil respects courteous and spOrtsmanlike IL
cannot he denied that English amate"rs nave
Ind some reason in former years TO look WIN
susnicion upon American college athletes, Tor
methods and practices have been tolerated
here though never openly defended, which are
believed 70 be unknown at oxford and Cam
bridge. and which are intrinscally unwhole-
Some This taint of professionalism, impaired
ny the offering to young men of recognized
nrofciepcy I'm their specialtes of Inducements
Of one kind or another which In the ultimate
apalys!s were frequently reducible to pecunl-
orv basis. has not been general but 1t has ex-
listed 10 such an extent as to make 1t dlfilcult
or impossible for foreigners to discriminate.
EXPOSURE and discussion have happily produced
n strong sentiment against this sort of thing
many other American colleges besides Yale and
Harvard are no longer open to reproach, and
there Is good reason to believe that the amateur
status will be as carefully guarded hereafter
In the United States as It is in England
The contests which have been appointed for
the latter part Of July, and will probably occur
he an exhilarating and agreeable Incident
Such meetings are capable of contributing IN
an appreciable degree TO good feeling De-
tween nations Our relations with England are
now so cordial as to justify the expectation
that on the social side at least this university
competition will be a source OF unalloyed graf
ifcaton That 1t will be quite as satisfactory
in other respects to the American contestants
n1,1
Is by no means certain. Experience has shown
repeatedly that the visitors on such occasions
are almost inevitably subjected 10 disadvan-
tages which are revealed when the trial comes,
II not before 1t has been so. we think, with
out exception In the case Of American oars
men and athletes who have made the trip to
England. and the representatives of the Eng
lish universities who came here a few years
ogo 70 compete in track athletics with Yale
confirmed the rule. They found our climate
delightful and stimulating at first, but the Ion
ger they STAYED the less fit they felt, and when
the test came they were manifestly out Of con-
diton.
The lessons of the past will perhaps suggest
TO the Yale and Harvard athletes this year the
wisdom Of cutting down the period Of prepa-
ration In England to the narrowest possible
limits. 1t may be impossible to calculate In
advance just how many days will be needed
to recover the edge which has been lost on the
voyage, but are pretty well convinced that
there Is no use in planning TO become accllmat-
ed in the time available for that purpose.
However. those who have the question to de-
eide may be supposed to understand their busi-
ness. and no doubt they will receive an ample
supply Of advice. If the chances are in favor
of oxford and Cambridge, the acceptance OF
their challenge is not the less commendable on
that account. OF course. we want TO win, but
the effort may be we'll rewarded even If we
lose