The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-06
Endowed Athletics.

,Thc so.callod "liternture Of exposure
vh,ch writer's OF tho steffcns-La"s'oh-
rarbe,, tvpe have developed SO rampant
~ in recent years, has touched, among r1net''
other things on tho nlisde eir o.
college athletics; and couple Oh inor'tn rs
ago we were told by ono OF inc mos.
,v,f,clv.read OF Ill ou. magazines that
snort at our big universities had taile en-
,,pot most unhappy days, and tllat shatp
practice and even dishonesty were now
adnys nil too evident Oh every SIDE.
Mich OF tic detail that this writer
gave was possibly new, but his general
argument. unfortunately. was not. inc
tendency toward commcrcinlistn IN the
athletics Of Our colleges has been tor
some time quite generally recogn,zz'e GO
only recently, however. have conditions
here seemed OF sufficient gravity to var
rant active interference OF some sol.
on the part Of the faculty
At the ffty-sixth convocatioh OF me
University OF Chicago. hold q few Gays
aEo, President Harper made al inter-
esting suggestion in this connection lie
said:
an view Of the Interest aroused by
the abolition of the admission Ice "
haseball contests In the spring, an oplh-
ion is Nentured that II the necessary eA-
penses OF athletics could be proelqqeo ny
special tandowments ana hthe 'eli.p...-
ton OF the gate removed many Q, Inc
evils attributed to intercollcslate at il1ee'So
would disappear
Here Is the admission Of a great edu-
Gator that athletic sports are response
BILE for much that is evil In undergrad
uate life of to-day, and an \ honest on SV op'n-
ion as to i a corrective for these evils
In regard /, to the enicacy,of his plan NJ
however, We take 1t that the learned
doctor is on quito the wrong track. me
endowment plan would undoubtedly give
10 college athletics new staoiiitS' a
dignity and desirable t1uasi-oftioial
character which would contribute al
rectly to raising their tone, but that such
a step would in reality free athiet1cS
from It's principal defects seems mar s:s
IL to be borne eout byathelf acts BIZ
Practically all the unpleasant features,
OF athletics at our universities spring
from single cause.-the overmasterlns
desire to win at all costs. To the I'M
worthy end of victory for its own sake
"a rious gentleman's pastimes have oeen
largely degraded TO the status OF mere
professionalism Promising players at the
preparatory schools are openly bid tor
nv agents" OF rival colleges: perqui-
sites tan,amount TO a salary are pro-
vided for the greasing Of the stars way
through the college that lands MIN; WIN WIZ
the result that good many men are
to.dav n]ayIng for example, football,
not because they love it as a sport out
because there is good money IN u
for them, These and similar prostitu-
tions OF a splendid phase of youthful
activity are, to our mind, decidedly the
worst Of athletics in its atter-day de-
yelopment, and 1t Is these no doubt,
that Dr. Harper had in mind He IS
wrong, however, in attrlbutlns them 70
an ambition for large gase-receipts. a
rea sonably close familiarity with col
lecc athletics in latter years lmpresses
us with the decided conviction That me
colleges passion for winning is due, not
10 tho financial temptations of the
gate" but simply to the inherited In
stinct for mastery and 10 the haio Oh
the accruing prestige.
DR.. Harpcr's suggestlo Is Is, interest p1tl
ing. both because, Of tho novelty OF MS
idea, and because this represents one of
the first attempts to deal officially Win
n set OF collegiate conditions that are
sadly in need OF Improvement. Ills rec
ommendation seems to. be Inadequate,
however. because it falls to touch the
real seat OF the dlHicalty-the burning
desire for victory. With endowed attn
letIcs trickcry and Professionalism
would In all likelihood so on In, the
snme familiar way We are optimistic
enough 10 believe that a euro for these
evils will some day come; but we en-
ltertaln the conviction that such a euro
will come, not in the form OF Increased
or Improved control from outside. but
IS
in an awakened and healthy disgust with
present methods on the part OF the stu
dents themselves.
Observation-Disclosures
President Roosevelt has let 1t be
known In Washington that he disap-
proves OF the plan set on foot by the
several thousand employees OF the govern
ment In the city OF WASHINGTON to give
him an ovation when he returns to tho
, capital from oyster Bay. The Tlmes-
Dispatch indicated yesterday that tho
proposed welcome was hardly IN good
taste. II would have been nppropriat TO
In any other city, but not IN Washington
President Roosevelt Is not the man to
encourage sycophancy In any FORM
8.s -=r7-T------- ---=--
The Times Dispatch Ia In receipt OF n
somewhat pathetic communication from
Hcnrico county friend who suggests
"pestorius foctidus," as the scientific
-. ~ hn II n Ine mn