New-York tribune., 1915-12-31

Frame an Amateur
Law for All Sports

Of this rule. II will be possible now
for the Yale track team TO schedule =
meet with the track team Of the
Springfield \. VI. {. A. college on
which professionals are admittedly
taking part. and not lose its amateur
tanding, thereby forfeiting its right
20 take part in the intercollegiate
championship games.
William T. Garcelon, delegate from
the National Collegiate Athletic Asso-
citation, and formerly graduate manager
Of athletics at Harvard, touched a vital
spot when he demanded the conference
10 explain why 1t stigmatized man
professional for playing with profes-
sionals and the only reasonable answer
he received was from Justice Weeks.
who advanced the thought that the
question was one purely Of policy aris-
ing from the application or rather the
inability TO apply rules whose resulting
evil was the difficulty in detecting men
who played honestly for, sports sake
on teams some Of whose members re-
ceived money
In the justices opinion. the pre-
sumption raised was irrebuttable, and
The honest amateur had 10 suffer with
the dishonest one in the working out
Of the theory. Mr.. Garcelon admitted
that. although Harvard in its applica-
tion Of the rule did not in his day
20 TO the extent Of raising an irrebut-
table presumption, it did place the man
who played on a summer nine under
strong suspicion and shifted TO him
the burden of proving his innocence.
But" continued Mr.. Garcelon, "if
you make a man an out-and-out pro
fessional for playing on a team with
a professional you are taking away
from him the pleasure OF playing ball
a all in the summer. because he won't
dare lift a bat for fear of being sus-
pected of getting money. As for the
man who does get money, he has no
place at all in college baseball or
amateur sport" Both Mr. Garcelon
and DR.. Rsycroft explained that az
Harvard and Princeton a player is now
required to obtain written permission
to play baseball in the summer time or
be declared ineligible for not so doing.
The question Of the summer camp
and the playground was another prob
lem that the conference faced with
resolution to clarity a much muddled
situation. What the athlete does at
the summer camp wa touched on by
Justice Weeks at the Monday confer
ence. and yesterday he brought the
matter up again. This gave Mr.. Gar
cclon the opportunity for which he
was waiting. and he made the most of
it. TO defend the rightly conducted
camp.
It was shown that there were two
kinds Of camps the one designed pure
ly for recreative purposes and the
other for tutoring with recreation as
q side line.
One of the most progressive steps
was the fixing of definite pardoning
power. best understood perhaps by
study Of the rule itself.
The associations represented at the
conference were the following:
National Lawn Tennis Association. Julian :
Hammond and w. Scott OCornor. United states
Revolver Association. Dr. Reginald u. Snyre. Ma
to1al Association % Amateur Billiard Players.
George T. Moon. jr. playground and Recreation A.
Per- National COLLEGIATE Athletic Association
william J. Garcelon and Dr. Joseph J.. Raycro't
Athlete Research Society. Dr. J. T. Raycroit IN
terc0egate Basketball League Dr. !. = Rsycyoft
United StNes Football Association. Dr. A J..
Mocklcr and 7 W. Cehill: A. 4. L. o' Canada
y H. Crow Nrltsry Athletic League Major r. $
Cooke: Amateur Athletic Union. Justice Barlow :
Weeks. +. ". Ruben and G.. j. Turner. !. e.
\. \. A. A. 6. T. kirby. Romeyn Berry and
Thornton Gerrlsh: Athletic League u Y NJ e. A.
Dr j j. r. Fisher. New England Ir,ercoIlesiste
Athletic Associst stion Dr. Paul Phillips; North Amer
lean Gymnastic Union T. J.. H0Ne and G. r.
Sickel. Federation o. American hOiOrcyclists. J. l.
Bets National Cycling Association. r. NJ Kelsey