Durango semi-weekly herald. (Durango, Colo.) 1899-1907, 1905-06-29

| to show how important these differ
ences are compared to the difference
of real achievement. and compared al
so to the bonds which should unite tc
gether all the men who are in any de
gree capable of such real achieve
ment. bonds, moreover, which shout,
also knit these capable men to thei
brethren who need their help.
The second point upon which | wish
To speak is the matter OF sport. Nov
shall not be suspected OF a tenden
cy unduly TO minimize the importanc,
of sport. / believe heartily in sport
| | believe in outdoor games. and | dc
not mind in the least that they are
rough games, or that those who take
| part in them are occasionally injured
| have no sympathy whatever with the
| overweight sentimentality whicl
would keep young man in cotton
wool. and / have hearty contemp,
for him If he counts broken arm or
collar bone as of serious consequence,
when balanced against the chance of
showing that he possesses 1nardihood
when these injuries are inflicted by
others. either wantonly or OF set de.
sign, we are confronted by the ques-
ton. not of damage to one mans body
but of damage to the other mans
character Brutality in PLAYING a
game SHOULD awaken the heartiest
and most plainly shown contempt for
tine player guilty of 1t; especially IL
this brutality is coupled with low
cunning in committing 1t without get
ting caught by the umpire. I hope to
see both graduate and undergraduate
opinion come to scorn such a man as
one guilty of base and dishonorable
action, who mas no place in the re
gard of gallant and upright men.
1t is bad thing for any college
man to grow to regard sport as the
serious business of life. II is bad
thing 10 permit sensationallsm and
hystera to shape the development OF
our sports. And finally 1t is a much
worse thing to permit college sport to
become In any shape or way tainted
by professionalism, or by SO much as
the slightest suspicion of money-mak.
ing; and this is especially true II the
professionalism is furtive, If the boy
or man violates the spirit of the rule
while striving to keep within the let
ter. Professional sport is all right in
its way am glad to say that among
my friends | number professional box.
ers and wrestlers, oarsmen, and base
ball men, whose regard / value, and
whom in turn | regard as thoroughly
good citizens. But the college UNI
derSraduate who, in furtiye fashion,
becomes a semi-prolessioDal is an I'M
mitigated curse, and that not alone
to university life and to the cause
of amateur sport for the college grad
uate ought in after years to take the
lead in putting the business morality
of this country on proper plane. and
he can not do IL If in ais own college
career his code of conduct mas been
warped and twisted. Moreover, the
spirit which puts SO excessive a value
upon his work as to produce this semi
professional is itself unhealthy. |
wish to see Harvard win a reasonable
proportion Of the contests in wnich It
enters, and | should be heartily
ashamed OF every Harvard athlete
who did not spend every ounce there
was in him in the effort to win, pro-
vided only he does it in honorable and
manly fashion. But | think our ef-
fort should he to minimize rather than
to increase that kind of love of ath-
letics which manifests itself, not in
joining IN the athletic sports, but In
crowding by tens of thousands to see
other people indulge in them. 1t is
far better thing for our colleges TO
have the average student interested
in some form OF athletics than to
other people do their athletics for
tnem.
So much for the undergraduates
Now for the alumni, the men who are
at work out in the great world. OF
course the mans first duty is to him.
self and to those Immediately depend
ent upon him. Unless he can pull his
own weight he must be content to re-
main a passenger all his life. But
we have a right to expect that the
men who come out of Harvard Will do
something more than merely pull
their own weight We have a right to
expect That they will count AZ posi-
i've forces for the betterment OF their
fellow countrymen; and they can thus
count only II they combine the power
of devotion to lofty ideal with prac.
teal common sense in striving to re-
alize this ideal.
This nation never stood in greater
need than now of having among Its
leaders men of lofty ideals, which they
try to live up to and not merely TO
talk of We need men with these
ideals in public life, and we need
them just as much in business and in
such profession as the law We can
by statute establish only those ex.
ceedingly rough lines OF mortality. the
overpassing of whicn means that the
man is in jeopardy of the constable
or the sheriff. But the nation Is bad
~ off II In addition to this there is
I a, 4. III H.. -