Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

THE INTERNATIONAL MATCHES BY M. C. NOKES PoLITICAL assassination is dying out. Committees of experts and societies for the prevention of others from doing what they want to do are running and ruling democracies all the world over. The individual is in abeyance; he is a unit, a mere member of a group, and only in some subtle manner and by some subterfuge can he concentrate great power in his own hands. It is true that men still have their heroes-they still single out some individual with one or more of the qualities of greatness and pay their homage to an idol who is usually only too conscious of their plaudits, and occasionally unworthy of them. Individual combat has gone by the board, " a one-man show " is now a term of reproach, and hermits are as rare as cinder tracks in England. Instead, there are cliques, clubs, cartels, syndicates, unions and teams. The star is no longer in the ascendant. The constellation has eclipsed the star and has replaced it as a working unit. Individual Championships are still held and serve many useful pur– poses. They permit the athlete to reveal his capabilities, and they provide the onlooker with a spectacle which is often of the highest class; but, above all, they are useful for the selecting of representative teams for competition between the larger social units, and especially between nations. It is the working of such international teams that is being con– sidered here, in all its bearings. The controversy between individualism and collectivism is of long standing and has produced no generally acceptable theoretical solution. But in practice it is found that man delights in concerted organised effort and the athletic team is a manifestation of his desires. An international team, then, is a collection of fine athletic specimens-each the best avail– able of its kind-and it is brought into existence as an instrument of national pride, as an advertisement of national prowess. The function of each member is to achieve a performance better than that of any member of the opposing team in his event, to co-operate with and to assist the members of his own team where this is possible, as it is in relay racing and middle distance running, and by the irradiation of his personality to stimulate the other members of his team to produce their best and most efficient form. Such characteristics are not seen at a Championship Meeting. The Roman Emperors maintained their popularity in the capital by giving the people free bread and circuses. Modern Governments also 105