FOOTBALL IN MELBOURNE.

PooxßAiii'i as played! 'under the peculiar rales existing in Melbourne, appears to be degenerating from a •fine- ,n*4ill}r. game into q a'tt e^hilll|ipn ; .qf ; ffiseemly braisvllng i an3!°ljiriite fo'rcje. , ,The public reserves, and cricket grounds are occupied Saturday' after Saturday by eicited cr^^ds and still more ekcite.d players. ■ TJie latter, : s'aya . the !.< Argus," quarrel violently amongst themselves, 1 and many of them tisa the mos| offensive language, while th^e contagion of passion spread?^ the crowd, which howls and roars in its excitement, and too frequently ■emulates-; tha players in, -tbje: usa^f baa Unguage'. Thewhole scene is one of noise!) turmoil, and uproar, more in keeping .with a street row than with the pursuit of a legitimate s'por.t. , ,,, .The ouisajnoq, has ' be>n growing!' worse and worse, and .the Jjrawling . (jiilmmated . on , Saturday .week .(August , 12) in ,a disgraceful sc6flieonih?,Ea?t Melbourne ground In the midst of the play, during a match between',:i Hdtham and Oarlton, rfblows^ were •lexchang^d Between 'Kaikard, of'Hojtnam, and Coulthard,' ! 6f' Carlton; and t^e lft^eV'lAlgra^atbd : ; his ofeao? ' ""by using language of a most improper kind, not ,once, but repeatedly. The matter was brought under the notice, of the Football Association, which promptly disqualified „bpts players for the remainder of the season, expressing the opinion at that Coulthard was more to blame than the Hotham player. We do not think the Association could have done less, and it might have Deen expected that the decision "would be acquiesced in and respected. But instead of that, we find the Carlton Club defying the Association, andinsiqting on playing Coulthard jthf very njext Saturday, in a match against Melboiurne. ' The Melbourne team very properly refused to allow a proscribed player to take part in the game, and -the match fell through/ We trust that footballer^ .genepUy.jwUl^ahqwffaj) sympathy with; the Carlton ■XJlub", but will make common 'cause in upholding the authority of. the Association!' If football' is tb'- be a reputable game— if it is' to be saved from the ruffianisnl wnich'iS ftfat corrupting it— such conduct v ak Coulthard's must be 'severely repressed. The Association,; in the course it had 1 taken, has haU ithe interest of the game and reputation of the players alike at' heart, and though it has roused itself to vigorous action rather late jin the day, it ought to be thanked W applandedby footballers i .as'it Assuredly is by the public. The; game must be played decently and respectably, or it will become a question whether it should be permitted at all places of general resort. [Coulthard is the professional cricketer whose umpiring at {Sydney caused the notorious disi pute with Lord Harris' team.]