The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-06-18

III ..r f-es control. 1t Is TO De hoped J
. ..a trustees Of the schools for
81 men in the country will put q
. and restraining hand upon the
. s.r intercollegiate games by
. ..-. .ur students are brutalized and
. .a.cn learning is minimized at
. SEATS Of learning.
III u. Of. 4u extended experience as the
NJ If a college for young men.
% vide observation Of this evil
section of our country, I have
.. old very decided opinions on
fcct. Nor am l alone in these
r- ..Eaut Eliot, Of Harvard Univer-
said recently of football:
III <. zane is fit for college uses in
men are often 50 knocked or
-.taa into irsensibility or immobil-
- --.- it is a question whether by the
--.rstf0u Of water and stimuIants
-- ,au be brought to and enabled
IT.. Oh playing. No game IS fit for
Here uses in which recklessness in
sr.#r- or suffering serious bodily in
E-r.1= promotes efficiency and 80 is
Za.-.t and held up for admiration.
h.. gross exaggeration of all COM
t-.- sports Is now working meal
|-.a..e harm to schools, colleges and
rga -~stt,es."
~.r. President Eliot is not a fanatic,
H. ne without SuuCdIlOlldl tSpeE-
E--. It may be asked why he does
r-t forbid the game if he holds such
E-rr1tIc views on the subject. The
III r-rer is easy; he has not the power
g die head of Harvard University to
- oh5nit it., but he throws all the
@-af-nt If his great influence against
Ia AMI he deserves the thanks of all
an r..pIe for so doing.
81 ar. If the worst effects of these in
II a--.aregiate contests is thai they set
fa.-. ideals in college life and pull
#..a~ true ideals; the physical is eX-
r.f above the mental and moral TO
IL a. illusion of all the correct stand
81 .-.- of value in life. To this point
#H.ruer's Weekly has spoken In a late
81 s-a If that journal of civilization"
=. editor says:
"Tuere is q tendency among under
graduates so to magnify athletic con-
#re=rs between colleges as to make
#+nar the dominant interests of our
Institutions Of learning. Not only are
e. studies of the courses put in the
@~rackground. but those who devote
#-hemseIves 70 them become objects of
DEMONSTRATION and even of a certain
- Of contempt. To the minds of
nauv students, perhaps of the ma
#aritv in some institutions, the real
4usu. the heroes, are those whose
achievements are physical, and those
III III tA- t|t}EEfoD III ASh@A SChAtoC 49,
s-hose who spend four years on the
AIIeachers cheering the heroes. The
Smeu whose achievements are merly
#fntpIIectual, and their work, are negli-
&gfblc.'
In addition to this degrading tend
ency to magnify out Of all proportion
4athletics as compared with menta
achievements and moral character,
#another evil influence is brought to
Ntear upon college students by these
inter-collegiate contests. Money low
juE and the gambling spirit are bOth
Encouraged by it. College games are
Softeu run for gate receipts. and around
8them gather q Gordon of gamblers
4 from the student body and from out
i s.3ers. by all of which the worst pas
-luus If human nature are q"ufckened
into life and activity. What could be
worse for young men than such con-
tracts and the evil atmosphere that
goes with these intercollegiate games ?
i f such an influence fell on any class
Y the Young men of the country it
wuuId be bad; but it Is u~nspeakably
j evil when it falls on the young men
who by reason of their superior adj
vantages ought to become the future
i leaders, of the people. To corrupt this
i class Of young men is to set agO1ng IN
"~lerces that make our civilization die
the top. The gambling mania
4 which is now injecting society in the
higher circles" so-called, Is re-en-
55r.od in a great measure by the
-.mhIing of the ball ground. Both
uuunE men and young women in the
settlement iRcidont to intercollegiate
games learn to bet. and then go on
j forwards to all the excuses of the
.rl table and the horse race. In
deed if one is to bet at all, it would
i he ji1icult to say wherein a wager
uu a. horse race would be worse than
n h
Il h"r~e race brutes run against each
.r1ar. being the unwilling and ignor-
ann Instruments of an immortality of
which they know nothing, whereas in
4 -ne intercollegiate contest human be
nE4 run and scuffie against each other
Oatten being slain and MANNED in the
ra--aSt) knowing full we'll the betting
erEenered by the sport. BY legisla-
tag We outlaw the gambling of the
race course; why permit the worse evil
If -ambIing on the ball field?
I'm addition to all these considera-
+..- there is another which should
College authorities to forbid in
+r--"oIIcgiate games, even if no i'm
"tEa1ity sprang from them. 1t is this:
i TIM. duty of the colleges to make edu-
scion as cheap as possible in order
IN give struggling young men a chance
~ 70 collegiate course. If the length
or collegiate terms can be shortened
-#t the length OF the vacations eN-
'aHIe5. the expense of the course can
reduced. and the time in which
F0Ung man car work to make his
0nr to meet his expenses can be
." longer. In his way his income
". be made greater and his expense
cunt smaller. If so small an
mt as $50 was thus saved each
- it would amount to the inch of
her that would make buckle and
-ue meet" and thereby make pos
sikh. a college course to h Worthtest
.fg men of the land-the sons 81
soil. the 20 boys.
t if for many days a considerable
'.rt If the student body of an i~nst1tu-
. is off attending intercollegiate
.as the expense of a college cOurse
r be Increased thereby, and the
0- made longer and the vacations
"-0r, if the work of the college is
0. 70 he abbreviated and lowered
quality. These intercollegiate
-'.0s impair the quality Of college
While they increase its cost. Is
ii policy wise il any part of oul
.".rT. especially in the south?
" here is in any college a body OF
".r-e' who can not possibly have
college spirit unless loyalty +
alma mater is kindled and kept
ing by intercollegiate games, lei