Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-06

! There has been going on within the
| last two weeks one of the most wide
! spread discussions regarding the summer
| base ball problem among the colleges
| that has ever been known. perhaps. The
arguments, pro and con, have arisen
mainly from the fact that base ball. as
! a college sport, was condemned by sew
eral professors. at the recent meeting of
| the intercollegiate association in New
| York. The Carlisle Indian school should
| be left out of consideration. although the
! argument has been advanced against base
ball that it dropped the sport because
of its evil influences. That is true. and
yet the manner in which it is generally
understood is not a fact. 1t was not
because the game itself contained any
influences more adverse than others. The
reason why the sport was abolished there
was because the Indians who played on
the team We're considered such attrac-
tions by independent clubs and by travel
ing aggregations of Indians that they
We're offered considerable inducements to
leave school in order to become MEM
berS of these teams. The result was
that the Indian would discontinue the
work for which lie was being fitted at
the governments expense. and would
leave the institution for six or seven
months only to apply for readmission
after his funds had run out.
That was what Glen Warner proba ably
meant when he said that base ball made
buns of the men. There are two In
dams, though. who have played semi-pro
base ball for the last four or five years
despite the fact that base ball has been
abolished at the school, and vet both
those fellows have been regulars on the
foot ball team there during every season
except the last, when one graduated. 1t
is not likely that base ball has made them
any the worse for their playing it during
the summer months, both being as clean
fellows as one would care to meet, and
besides both have annexed more than
500 month every summer they have
played. which is not to be despised by
any means by any man who is going
through school.
The other phases of the discussion have
been gone over by man who has kept
in close touch with the situation, and
here it what he has to say:
''It seems needless at this time to again
express my views on the much discussed
question of summer base ball. Person
ally, however. I resent the imputation
that association with professional base
ball players has a communicating infiu-
ence. l say Of my own knowledge that
a majority of the men who make base
ball profession are as clean in their way
of living as the average person. There
are exceptions. of course, but the boy or
young man is more likely to suffer from
associations outside of base ball than in.
The trouble lies not so much with play
ing with professionals as in violating the
principles laid down for being an anna
teur. There can be no possible objection
to man working his way through col
lege through his ability as a base ball
player. He should be encouraged rather
than otherwise. but not at the expense of
the good name of his college or his COL
lege team. If a man is truly earnest i'm
getting an education and can help himself
more easily by playing base. ball than by
any other method of employment he
should be honest enough not to jeopar-
die the standing of his college. and in
nine cases out of ten he would be. too.
unless encouraged to violate the ethics of
clean sport by those whose business il
should be to guard them most zealously.
Base ball and intercollegiate competition
I'm base ball is far too good sport to
dismiss SO lightly. Evils have crept in. |
to be sure. and more perhaps than in
any other branch Of athletics, but some