The Olympic Games and the Duke of Westminster's Appeal

THE OLYMPIC GAMES . 17 was sufficiently framed to permit an appeal to the public to be made. TEXT OF THE APPEAL. On August 18, 1913, the appeal was issued to the Press, in t he following terms, invitations being made to the newspapers to assist the Fund by themselves receiving subscriptions and send– ing them to the Treasurer :- We, the undersigned, appeal wit h confidence to our fellow-countrymen for the financial support which is necessary for the adequate representation of the United Kingdom at the Olympic Ga.mes of 1916 in B erlin. It will be within the memory of all y our reader'l that our representative ·athletes at Stockholm in 1912 were quite unable to do justice either to them– selves or to t heir country owing to the lack of suffi– cient funds. 'fhe money available was quite in– adequate for the purpose of finding out ow· best men or giving them real preparation or even caring for t hem properly in Sweden. Though we feel that there may have been excuses for the public a.pa.thy b efore that meeting, we are convinced not only that the results of Stockholm were a shock to every one who ca-od for sport in Groat Brite.in, b1.:1t a lso. that such results must never again occur. We a.re m honour bound to send a team to Berlin in 1916 if possible; but it would b e better to with– draw entirely from the Olympic movement t han to repeat our experience in Sweden. A widespread and immediate support will be neces– sary if we are to secure at least such advanta <res for the Brit ish team of 1916 as have been enjoyed by other n ations in the past, and will certainly be a t the disposal of the majority of their riva.ls in Berlin. It is, in onr opinion, a national duty to pro· vide funds which will enable us to make careful search throughout these islands for suit.able athletic talent ; to allot trainers and coaches in every dis – trict ; to give standard medals for good perform-· a.nces at trial meet,ings ; to organize and endow the eff<?rts made by a.II the leading associations ?Ontrollmg British sport ; to specialize training m those events of the Olympic programme which are at present unfamiliar to British athletes; and, finally, to secure a unity of purpose, unhampered b~: la.ck of means, among all those who are connected with the various bra.ncheH. of snort in which we shall compete in Germany. For all.these plans we believe that. money will be forthcoming from a generous pul:>lic. _The funds resulting from this appeal, wh1clL_w1!Lbe_sent_to-ever-y- ne.-wspa.per, will- be-con– trolled by th~ Specie.I Committ-ee elected for the pur– pose, who will see that the money is spent in ways approved by .the associations governing sport, in accordance with the strictest amateur traditions This ~mmittee will account to the public for it~ expenditure. The members of the Committee a.re :- Mr. J. E. K. Studd, Chairman Mr. A. E. D. Anderson Mr. B. J. T. Bosa.nquet Mr. Theodore A. Cook Bir Arthur Conan Doyle Mr. P. L. Fisher Mr. H. W. Forster, M.P. Mr. J. C. Hurd Sir Claude MacDonald, G.C.M.G., &c. Mr. E. Mackay-Edgar Mr. G. S. Robertson It is not merely for the immediate pnrposes of the Games of 1916 and the arrangements set forth above tbat·ao large .a. sum as £100,!)00 is now fixed a.s the total required. We venture to think that the processes of' athletic organization here suggested will be of permanent n ational benefit not only to the · men who are selected to be our representatives at Berlin o: other meetings, but also to the great body of t he nation's. .);Outh t hroughout the United King– dom. The ra1smg of the standard of physical· capacity in t he British Isles is one of the idea.ls which t he Special Committee and the British Olympic Council will firmly keep before them. In such a. task a.s this we may be confident of the enthusiasm created by international competition ; but we must a lso count upon the definite financial help of a.II our countrymen of every degree. We therefore t rust t hat you, Sir, will be able to acknowledge not merely the co~spi?uous generosity of a few donors, but a lso contnbut,1ons of those small amounts which will typify the support and t he good wishes of the population as a. whole. Subscriptions may be sent to the honorary tree.surer of the committee (Mr. E. Mackay-Edgar, Basildon H ouse, Moorgate-street, E.C.), to their bankers (Lloyds Bank, Limited), 16, St. Ja.mes's-street S.W., or to the Editor of - - - ' (Signed) GREY. HARRIS. ROBERTS. ROTHSCHILD. STRATHCONA. WESTM:INSTER. ~n response to ~his appeal it was agreed by the Editors of The T imes, the Daily Mail, and some other papers to receive subscriptions, in their own name, but this particular suggestion was soon found to work inconveniently in pract;-,e. It was no use having a number of different centres of this sort. On August 20 it had also been an– notmced that the Duke of Westminster, one of the signatories to· the Appeal, would himself receive donations as well, and a little later, on September 11 , the Duke of Westminster's Olympic Fund was made the central fund, and the organiza– tion was thus simplified. By the Press generally the appeal was well supported, but the leadina article in The T imes may be taken as representa~ tive in this respect. A REASONED DEFE.!\OE. In its comment on the Appeal, on August 18, _li_e_T imes e:i..--pressed_the hope that it would meet with a prompt and generous response, and started its own subscription list with a donation of £500. The leading article then reviewed the whole situation :- " The new Committee, under the ch~irmanship of Mr. J. E. K. Studd, which will have the a.dminis~rs – tion of the fouds after they have been subscribed has been subjected to much impatient criticis~ because this appeal has been so long delayed ; but a. sufficient answer to that criticism seems to be conta ined in the fa.et that whereas, during the earliilr discussion of the snbject in the Press and up to the appointment of this Committee in March last, it was genera.Uy assumed that the a.mount of money which would be required would be a.bout £40!000, .the sum. which !5 now a.eked for is £100,000. It 1s evident, smce this larger sum is necessary that if the Committee had hastened to issue it; appeal for the amount which it was at first thought would suffice it must almost immediately have found 2 )