Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-12
He Does Things.

The President is a man of action who pro-
duces results 1t has often been said of him
that "he does things" He is also very quick
in doing them. For example, the matter of
foot ball.
The gridiron season opened. Players necks
and backs were being broken, skulls were
being fractured and ribs were being smash
ed. The usual howl went up about the
brutality of the game. or the brutality of
the way the game was played The howl
had very familiar sound. 1t has been in
the habit of going up and making itself
heard these many years. Newspapers have
been writing more or less eloquent opinions
Of the human sacrifices offered up. and the
CORY tragedies enacted on the gridiron, and
the immolation of victims upon the altar of
sport, ETC., etc. The result was nil. Foot
ball players kept on punching, and pounding.
and gouging. and kicking their fellow-men
on the other elevens just the same. Foot
ball enthusiasts waved aside all objections
and said nothing could be done to modify
the game. 1t was a game for men and not
for maids, they answered
Then the scene changed The President
had conference with some of the high
priests of the gridiron. There was a heart
to-heart talk. Also some luncheon. The
foot ballists were converted or hypnotized.
or something like it, and they left the
White House holding the opinion that per-
haps after all 1t might be possible to play
foot ball with other than homieidal intent.
And now the Big Three Yale, Princeton
and Harvard, the universities that are TT
in foot ball. come out squarely and fiat
footedy for clean foot ball" 'foot ball
without roughness," play without foul
play and everything for which the friends
of good sport have been clamoring for
years.
This announcement is made in the news
papers today:
eat meeting with the President of the
United States, it was agreed that we con-
slider that an honorable obligation exists to
carry out in letter and in spirit the rules of
the game of foot ball relating to roughness
holding and foul play, and the active
coaches of our universities being present
with US. pledged themselves to so regard it
and to do their utmost to carry out that
obligation. (Signed)
Walter Camp. John E. Owsley. for Yale
81 B. Fine, A r. Hildebrand, for Prince
ton.
Edward H Nichols, William t. Reid. jr.,
for Harvard
The papers today also announce that:
Jacob Gould Schurman. president of Cor
nell University, made the following. state
ment today on President Roosevelt's efforts
to bring about reform in foot ball:
8 believe in the retention of the game
but its brutality must be eliminated The
difficulty has been in finding some supreme
central authority which could initiate re-
form with effect President Roosevelt has
all the qualifications for such effective ini-
tiation. His standing as a college man. his
well-known devotion to athletics his SEN
s1ble comments on the foot ball situation in
his Harvard address, all mark him out a.
the man to lead in this movement of re-
form >"
Cornell's head coach. Glenn s. Warner
also comes out for foot ball minus murder
And this result has been achieved just be-
cause the President called a few gentlemen
to the White House and had a talk with
them.
Does the President do things? He does