The Olympic Games and the Duke of Westminster's Appeal

::: 18 THE OLYMPIC GAMES. itself hopelessly embarrMsed for Jack of means. Since its appointment the Committee has been busied with obtaining from the governing bodies in the various sports suggestions for the best means of carrying out the work proposed, and with ma.king estimates of the cost of the different plans. It now comes before the public, we may assume, sure of its ~ound and with a carefully elaborated programme m each department. A general idea of the work proposed in one and another department has already been made public and, as was recently announced in our columns, the Committ.ee has already furnished, from private subscriptions, some £1,600 for immediate e..xpenses to those governing bodies of which the need was most urgent. In its entirety the task which confronts the committee is, of course, something much larger than the mere equipment of Great Britain's representatives for the scoring of ' points ' at the Berlin Games. The wider and better training of the youth of the country, quite apart from any immediate results which may be attained at Ber!in, must be to the advantage of the nation ; and this aspect of the matter, we imagine, will appeal strongly to a large section of the public ; the fact that a wider and less slipshod physical training of our boys and young men cannot fail to improve the physique and manhood of the people. There is also the consideration that, the national reputation is more deeply involved than perhaps we care to recog– nize in the demon.etration of our ability to hold our own against other nations in the Olympic contests. " It is unnecessary now to thresh out once again the whole question of our participation in the Games. We may like them or we may not. We may or may not believe that their effects are wholesome. The re.et remains. that they are assuming larger and larger rmportance m the eyes of the rest of the world with each succeeding Olympiad, and that it was the holding of the Games in London in 1908 which invested them with the prestige which they now enjoy. At those Games Great Britain easily out-distanced all competitors. At Stockholm in 1912 we could do no better than win a not over-creditable third place. Whethe~ we too~ that resul~ Vl;17 seriously ourselves or not, 1t was widely advertISed m other countries as eridence of England's ' decadence.' If we withdrew from the Games now the world could only believe that we did so in a fit of sulks. If, on the other hand we continue, as we must do, to take part, we must at least make an effort to dispel the im~ression created by our failure at,Btockholm. That failure was agreed by all compete_nt authorities to have been unnecessary. As much as BlX months before the Games attention "?V~ ~· and. called repeatedly, in articles· in this l~ f:<> the inadequate character of the prepara– tiollll :which ·we were making, and the disaster which overtook us was foreseen. Those articles were met with denials and recrimination on the pa.rt of those tben in control of our representation ; but the event abowed every llt.aiement which they contained to have 1-D jUltified. The preparation of our athletes Im the~ and the management of them at Stock– holm. - in (ieplorable contrast to the thoroughness and: baei-1ike eamestnam shown by some other DMIOIIL The oootroversy which followed was brought to • 1-1 by a letter from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, J:blwhed in ~he ~-- ,on August 8, 1912, in which lllpd the eiloption of the plan previoualy proposed in t.bme ooJamn..-namely, the formation of a new Oommitteellllllller,and 1- unwieldy<than the British ~ Oomid1; with it.a nearly half a hundred ~ md the ,raing by public eubscription • ~ ,fund to .enable that Committee to do lmDII · The ,liDN auggeated by Sir Arthur CamD wwe·clmely.folfowed in,tbe organization of the new Special Committee (of which he is himself a member), and it is for the necessary funds that the appeal is issued. " There is no need to combat again at any length the apprehension which has been expressed that anything which the Committee may sanction will tend to the ' professionA,lizing ' of British amateur sport. The thorough training and discipline which British rowing men undergo, and by virtue of which at Stockholm they proved t,hemselves once more the best oarsmen in the world, doffi not make them any the less good amateurs. Sirililar training and discipline will not make professionals of the runners and jumpers in our schools and colleges. A youth is not going to become a less honoumble antagonist because he runs well instead of badly ; nc:r a jumper because some one has taught him how to jump in proper form and ha.~ enabled him to clear a few inches more. ·w ell-built boys, or girls for that matter (for the part which women play in the Olympic contests is too seldom recognized), will not be demoral– ized or lose their better instincts because, instead of taking part in games and athletic sports in the slouching, haphazard way that is so common, they are taught to use their muscles rightly and to take an honest pride in doing their best. It is true that we may not approve of many things which have been done in the Olympic arena ; but some other nations have just as strong a dislike of those practices and • tactics ' as we have, and any attempt at their repetition will be closely watched for at Berlin. It should be onr part to hold the standard of sportsman– ship in international encounters at its highest, and both by example and precept to assist in the main– tenance of the most honourable code. But our influence will not count for much unless we have the respect of the other peoples as athletes. ThP work which :Mr. Studd, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and their colleagues on the Committee have in hand is one which fully deserves the support c!ai.med.' ' THE Krno's SUPPORT. On August 21, 1913, the first list of subscriptions to the fund was published, amounting to £4,127 10s. Od., including £2,000 from Lord Northcliffe and £1,000 from the Duke of West– minster. On the following day WM published from the Dake of Somerset, chairman of the British Olympic Council, an announcement of the King's interest in the fund :- The King has graciously expressed to me, as chairman of the British Olympic Council, his interest in the preparations for the Olympic Games at Berlin in 1916, and hie hope that every effort will be made to ensure that the United Kingdom is represented by its best athletes on that occasion. MR. FREDERIC l!AlmisoN's CRITICISM. Meanwhile, however, from other directions the appeal for so large a sum of money WM provoking a good deal of criticism, especially among athletes of the older generation. Mr. Frederic Harrison wrote to The Times the following letter, under the heading of " Professionalism and Gate Money " (August 26) :- " Surely this stir about the Olympic Games three years hence has a comic side ! To be told that our lade cannot, fairly compete in some foot-raoes and other triala of etrength-4Xµa, ..-o6wHlfl•, &la-Ko•, bo,,,..,, ..-a)..,.-unlese a awn of £100,000 sterling