The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-01-15

Want Action From Legislature.
So much for the war hero end of
the story. And now to the men who
are interested in getting the Kansas
| legislature to see the light on the ques-
| ton of boxing.
One of them was of the judiciary be-
| fore he went to the war and became a
boxing fan. He is James w. Finley,
of Chanute, senator from the thir-
teenth district.
Before he entered the war. Judge
Finley was the youngest member of
the bar in the state who sat upon the
| bench of a district court. Finley left
| the bench to join the army and went
to France with the 105th Pioneer In
fantry.
Besides piling himself up a war
record, he learned to appreciate box
ing cover there" When he returned
to this country his fellow citizens
elected him to the state senate, and
one of the first bills which he will
introduce at the present session will
be a. measure which will 1egalize-and
also regulate-boxing in the state of
Kansas.
Fighting Parson Favors It.
The other man is the Rev. Earl A
Blackman, of Chanute, famed thru the
A. E. F.. as 'the Fightin' Parson,"
and chaplain in the both Field Ar
tillery, Of the Thirty-fifth division.
Blackmah was known wherever there
were Yanks in France as a devotee of
clean athletic sport for men. And
Blackman is in favor of the return
of boxing to the Kansas sport calendar
of peace time. He has indicated that
he will come to Topeka during this
session of the legislature to lobby for
the boxing bill which Finley will in
troduce.
Not only that, but the fighting par
son took to his home at Chanute, a
copy of the bill, and he hopes to bring
1T back to Topeka with the endorse
| ment of all the women's clubs in his
senatorial district, and thus bring into
| the bill.
a Two-fold Purpose.
The purpose of the bill is two-fold.
| One of it's functions is to make boxing
| in the state legal. Of course Kansans
box. And there are boxing bouts for
which admission is charged. 1t is to
make such events legitimate and not
in violation of the state law that the
bill is primarily intended.
| - But there is another side to it. The
men who are backing the sport are
anxious to see it as clean as possible,
that for them.
| To Regulate Boxing.
| Boxing will be very closely regulated
| and supervised, if it is introduced
again into the state. The framework
/ of the bill provides for the establish
ment of the office of state athletic
director whose activities will not neces-
sariIy be confined to the regulation of
boxing, but who will have charge OF
many athletic features of the education
| of young kansans
No bout will be permitted to go
more than ten rounds, under the terms
| of the bill Every bout which is staged
| 20 he Of Ilo mn ct
be put on under the direction of some
club or other responsible organization.
Easy to Control Bouts.
| In this way the state has easy means
| Of control of the sport at all times.
Permits will have to be issued by the
state athletic director for all bouts
which are held
| The officials and referees who han
die the bouts will have to be licensed
| by the state athletic director, and this
gives the power of the law an addi-
tional hold over the sport. Referees
lor officials who Permit any brutality
lwho fail to stop an unequal fight or
Iwho permit any irregularities what
ever, will lose their licenses, and with
out licensed officials there can be no
boxing bout.
| Collect Tax on Admissions.
| The office of the state athletic d.
rector would be self-supporting. Fees
1 for the licensing of the officials and
for the issuance of the permits will be
collected by the state athletic director.
and these will be sufficient to furnish
funds for the maintenance of the Of
flee. Incidentally, the provisions of
1.-THE bill allow for the collection of a
tax on the admission fees to the box
ling matches which may be staged.
and serve as an additional source OF
income for the support of the office.
| The creation of the state athletic
| directors office is an innovation in
state legislation, so far as is known,
and constitutes another instance of
tKansas's leadership in progressive leg
islation