New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-28

reasons save fraud may be reinstated
70 amateur standing in all sports other
than the one in which he professional
lied after five years have elapsed
In his Introductory remarks Mr..
| Kirby spoke of working under rules
that fitted conditions in 1874 or 1875,
but were long since out Of date. He
added that instead of Distinguishing
between athletes as amateurs and pro
fessionals that the difference to-day
should be drawn between those who
compete for sports sake and those who
compete for the sake OF something else.
Better be an honest professional he
concluded, "than a dishonest amateur
Howard Whitney, secretary of the
L. S. G.. A., recited the plan that has
been followed in the controlling body
in golf to stamp out professionalism.
He said that widespread publicity and
campaign of education among the play
ers themselves was conducive Of far
better results than any other method.
He said that the golf body sat as
court of equity and judged each case
on its merits He was asked by Justice
Weeks as to the rules of the association
whereby professional baseball players
are permitted TO have amateur standing
in golf, and made clear that only after
the applicant for reinstatement to ANA
teur standing had shown his good faith
and had not participated as a profess
sional within given period OF years
was he admitted TO play golf.
Case of Ward.
The case in point was that Of John
NJ. Ward. Mr.. Whitney took pains to
explain that neither Christy Mathewson
nor Chief Bender could become ANA
teur golfers under the rule. Justice
Weeks was insistent in probing the golf
secretary's views and brought out that
"A golfer loses his amateur standing If
he capitalizes his ability by acting as
salesman or manager in sporting
goods house. Mr.. Whitney intimated
that should such case be brought up
the golfer would be debarred. Upon
query by Mr. Kirby, Mr.. Whitney said
that he believed the golf association
would be only too willing to adopt such
a code as that outlined.
Much the same state Of affairs as ex-
lists in golf was depicted by Robert ID.
Wrenn. He was asked by the ever in
quisitive Justice Weeks about lawn ten
mis- players who had their expenses paid
to play in hotel tournaments, and adj
mitted that this was an evil which
smacked of professionalism. He added
that he was working TO have such con-
ditions eradicated from the sport.
But" said Mr.. Wrenn, you can have
a thousand rules, and some one will al
ways find q way to evade them. You
must make public opinion strong enough
to prevent an evasion without having
the player lose caste"
An interesting state of affairs was
revealed in soccer football b. +. i.
Mockler, who showed that amateurs and
professionals compete without restric-
tion on the same teams, and that there
is a classification of players, known as
rowing amateurs, who apparently are
doing much TO hurt the game. He said
he could see no harm in having profess
SIGNALS and amateurs mingle, but adj
mitted the impracticability of admins
tering amateur rules under such condi-
tions. He cheered the conference, how
ever, by saying that if the proposed
rules were adopted his association un-
doubtedly would fall in line.
w. f. Garcelon, former graduate
manager Of athletics at Harvard, speak
ing for the National Collegiate Athletic
Association, advised the conference to
20 slowly. ave shouldn't decide these
questions in a great hurry" said Mr.
Garcelon. 1--WE should meet on Thurs
day, and then have another meeting a
month hence. Every sport involved
should take up the rules separately
and make the exceptions necessary in
their application TO that particular
sport.
There should be an annual gather
ing like this, and maybe in two or
three years we would get a rule that
could be generally enforced. These
rules have 10 be worked out slowly. be
cause the line between the amateur
and the professional is so faint. In the
question Of summer baseball alone
there are one hundred different inter
pretations by one hundred different col
leges.