The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 (extracts)

Mr. Laffan received the following reply :- " American ~ommittee, lympic Games. "London, England, 1908. ' 2 3 Hind ourt, l~ leet Street, E. C. "The Rev. P. S. de Courcy Laffa11, 108 Victoria Street, S.W. "DEAR 'rn,-Your communic2.tion of July 20 J1as been received and noted. "The A.A. U. of the United States through its officials now in London desire to acquaint you with the fact that, as a matter of record, Thomas Longboat l:as been declared a professional by the A.A. U. of the niled States for an act committed in the United States. This is merely a matter of record. "May I suggest that you call upon Mr. Percy L. Fisher, 'ecrdary of the A.A.A., to furnish you with all the information and evidence that he has received in relation to Thomas Longboat's doings in the United States and also in Canada ? I feel confident that Mr. Percy L. Fisher and the other officials of the A.A.A. can give you information in relation to one Percy 'ellen, who has been competing with this Thomas Longboat in America. "Yours truly, ( igned) "J. E. ULLIYA.,:." It will be observed that this reply gives none of the facts upon which it charges Thomas LongboJ.t with having been disqualified as an amateur. 'Ihe repre entatives of Canada, on the other hand, declared themselres to have a complete answer a regards "one Percy ellen/' and it is obvious that under such circumstances the burden of proof lay on the persons who challeng d the amateur qualification of an athlete duly entered by his national governing body. When the governing body which enters a competitor vouches for hi amateur status, and that amateur status is contested by a foreign governing body, the mere assertion of the latter body cannot be considered as concluding the case against the competitor. All that the British Olympic Council could do under the circumstances was to notify the Canadian manager that Longbo1t would run under a protest from the manager of the American team. This notification was duly made. Having no evidence offered them, the British Olympic Council could not possibly have given a definite decision before the race, and would not have given one at all without a full inquiry, which would of course have taken place had Longboat won. IIe did not finish. A word more is necessary with regard to the time taken by Haye~ in the Marathon Race of 1908, which was 2 hr. 55 min. 185 sec. In