Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

A.A.A. JUBILEE SOUVENIR that all the speeches reflected the interest, the enthusiasm, of those who remained silent. In Athletics, as elsewhere, there is not infrequently more" weight" behind the" strong silent man" than behind the ~peaker who constantly addresses the Chairman. THE OFFICERS It is appropriate that, at an early stage, reference should be made to the officers of the Association, past and present. We should not have had "Fifty Years of Progress" without capable officers for fifty years. In the Constitution Laws, the Hon. Treasurer is mentioned before the Hon. Secretary. That is, perhaps, some confirmation of the saying that " If the finance is right, everything else is right." Mr. W. M. Barnard, the Hon. Treasurer, in his interesting article has referred to the excellent services of Mr. C. . Jackson, the first Hon. Treasurer, and every one who knows anything at all about the Association will gladly acknowledge the quantity and quality of Mr. Barnard's efforts to maintain the finances on a sound and permanent basis. Sometimes "money talks," and a glance at the series of balance sheets will reveal the success of Mr. Barnard's efforts year after year. A few years ago, in order to interest each section of the Association more closely in the financial side, he suggested that a small Finance Committee should be formed. The first three members were the Auditors, viz., Mr. T. M. Abraham (North), Mr. J. H. Green– away (Midlands), and the writer, representing the South, but in later years it was thought that the auditors should not act in a dual capacity. On the death of Mr. Abraham, Mr. A. Fattorini succeeded him, and Mr. Greenaway and I resigned our positions as auditors, in order to con– tinue as members of the Finance Committee. The Association has only had four Hon. Secretaries in fifty years: Mr. Montague Shearman (1880-1883), Mr. Charles Herbert (1883- 1906), Mr. Percy Fisher (1906-1915), and to-day we have the ser– vices of Sir Harry Barclay. Sir Montague Shearman's connection with the Association is referred to in a separate article, in which I have tried to give a brief record of his exceptional services, first as Hon. Secre– tary, and in later years as a Vice-President, and the President. He was followed as Hon. Secretary by Mr. Charles Herbert-to the younger generation a name, a man it is difficult to describe. As a com– petitor in open events from I 892 to I 906, I gazed at him with a certain amount of awe-I was always a worshipper of people in authority-not unmixed with astonishment. He was a Civil Servant, but if during his journeys to athletic meetings he had not frequently produced an office file containing claims for repayment of income tax, which it always seemed to me he marked as "correct" rather light-heartedly, I should have taken him for a sporting journalist, or a dweller in Bohemia. As a matter of fact, he was a regular contributor to The Field and other journals, and a great playgoer. In those days, the work of the Association was comparatively 34

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTM4MjQ=