The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-06
DID YALE BALL
 PLAYER FAv0RS
 SUMMER GAME
Clarence Barnes Comes Out With Remarkable State ment Against Eligibility
 Rule

Clarence A. Barnes the center field
 r on Morgan Bowman's championship Faleeteam in 1905 comes out in let
 fer to the Yale Alumni weekly, strong " in favor of summer ball and opposed 70 the rule which bars the athlete who ,as indulged in the national game in he good old summer time, from play ng on the varsity team. This conn., n1unication doubtless will revive a question which has been the subject ,f bitter controversy between the en- ribility rule makers. Barnes was one off the best center ielders turned out it Yale since Barnwell's time and coming from him, the statement will De widely read and with a great deal ,f interest. He says, writing from Boston:
 .fIf the publication of this letter provokes some discussion with regard 70 the amateur and professional sta rus, so-called, in college athletics, my purpose will be fully satisfied. nave never been able to endorse the present rules of athletic eligibility as now Tn force at Harvard and Yale. 1 have always regarded any restriction upon summer baseball as direct lnterfer- snce with a legitimate and honorable means for student to obtain the nec- essary funds for a college education Just why a young man should De op- iiged to take a rnenial position paying B few dollars a week, when he could very easily, was it not for the rules, earn sufficient money playing ball to defray a large part of his college ex- penses I have never been able to un- derstand.
 .'The rule certainly has a strong ten dency to put a premium upon wealth, and to prevent the poor man from get ting the benefit of an education at a large college Within the last four years I have been obliged to advise not less than six young men Of un- questioned baseball ability, scholar ship, and moral standing to enter a college which allowed it's students the privilege of playing summer baseball All of these young men had a strong desire to go to Yale, but were depen- dent upon their own efforts to earn an education and they could Tn no other way make as much money as they could by playing ball in summer. All were men of ability and refinement, and would not only have made good bulwark for the Yale ball team, but would have reflected credit upon the college in every way.
 Even to prevent a young man or wealth from playing ball on a semi professional team during the summer is a direct detriment toward raising the standard of baseball, and in this way more than in any other can be attributed the present weakness of the Yale and Harvard teams. A young man striving for an education should not be restricted from legitimately earning the same, and it is a great hardship to say that only those who have money, and are not obliged to work for an education, should repre- sent their college upon the athletic field. and under the rule, by necessary implication such is the fact
 ''I do not believe it is right for any one to make athletics of more inpor- tance than education, and of course athletics should be entirely subordi- nate. The rule debarring a man from representing his college in athletics should aim to distinguish whether or not the individual is in college for the purpose of athletics or for the purpose of obtaining an education. It would not be difficult to frame a rule which would debar an individual whose prin- cipal object is to take part in athle- tics. This might be accomplished by requiring a higher standard of schol- arship, and setting an age limit upon the competitors for college teams.
 "The rules preventing athletes from obtaining remuneration directly or in directly from the college is. of course, a good rule, and should not be ad- versely criticized nor do I take that position here.
 In another year or two, should the present system continue, I shall ex- pect to see it the regular thing for Amherst Williams, Brown, Tufts and other small colleges winning regularly over Yale, Harvard and Princeton. Such a result will be the inevitable outcome of the present restriction. I am in favor of anything which will raise the scholastic standards, and I am willing to see a corresponding de- crease in athletic prowess if attributa- able to this. but if the lowering of the athletic standard is caused by a prevention of legitimate ways of earn ing an pdI1catiOn I Ohipct ''