The Press Saturday, July 7, 1923. Concerning Games.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17809, 7 July 1923, Page 14

The Press Saturday, July 7, 1923. Concerning Games.

To watch the thousands surging mto Lancaster Park last Saturday was to realise why tho English haro been charged with taking ihoir pleasures sadly. 'Above and below conditions were disagreeable* in the extreme. Even in the most favoured positions it was impossible to keep dry or warm or clean, but players played, and spectators shouted, us cheerily a3 if it had all been a romp among the daisies under a summer sun. Thou on Wednesday again we had the ''gladiatorial con- " test,'' with the same crowds, tho same mud, the same rawness witnout and wild exuberance ■within—which proves, of course, how far from the real facts.the foreign conception of the English mind is. Professor A. C. Pigou, who in spite of his name is as English as Harrow and Cambridge can make him, wrote recently in oho of the. many suggestive or Licks in which he iseoky relief from the "dismal science": "In a sense that " is not merely paradox, games are the " serious business of life. Work is a "means to an end. Play is a part ofi "the end itself.'' And tho man who can assimilate that is really educated. It might even bo tho case that no others aro educated—though, remembering the penalty reserved for those who cause the weak to stumble, we shall not say so finally. It is safer to ask with Professor Pigou what makes the perfect game, for although there aro dangers here also—he writes: " Down then with golf, a horrible abor"tion!"—the general argument has only to be stated to be accepted. The heart of any game is that it should be played for pleasure—and not merely for the pleasure of the victor or victors. " The game is life and zest and friend"lineas and laughter, and where the "ball goes, there go also these." In other words, it is not a game if the desire for victory includes also a desire, or even a readiness, to inflict pain (ofi course spiritual pain).on one's opponent. Though there must be opposition, there must never be hostility. Which is Professor Pigou's first point. His second ia that the players, meeting on equal terms, must bo approximately equal iu prowess, and because this is eo often not the case "the genius of mankind " has devised the handicap." But even a handicap dtoes not deceive. There ore gamai in which tho players pit themselves against Nature, others in which they pit themselves directly against one another, and although handicapping is a simple affair in one class at can do no more in the other class than equalise the result. "It cannot "equalise the game, and it is even- " ness in the game, not in the score, "that really matters." It would not be a gam© for Cambridge University to play cricket against Grantehester village though it conceded 1000 runs start. But even with "the spirit that "quickeneth," and arrangements that make the contest even, the Professor is not yet satisfied. He wants ewiffc motion and strong effort, winch are lacking in. golf, "at which a million men "have becomo angry, but no man yet " has ever become hot or out of "breath," and he insists that theso should bo experienced by all the players all the time, which, "for all its splen- " did record," is not the case- in cricket. And after that, what? It takes sorue courage to confess it. "The archetypal " gams must soar into .the realm of the "beautiful." That excludes hookey, ■which forbids complete freedom in the arms, and it does not admit even football, since beauty here "wears, a stern "aspect and is often plastered with M Hiud." The only perfect game ia that which ebowa "light-footed youth " in rapid motion on green glass under "the sun—in white clothes eagerly "watchful," and the devotees of that game will bs so uplifted to find themselves the only pure grain remaining in the Professor's eieve. that we shall »ot give them the additional joy of being named. The Professor takes his pleasures as a Professor perhaps should —not sadly, but very psychologically, and we must Be content that Lancaster Park these days meeta every test but the last.

Mr Massey on Imperial Problems. In. his speech on the matters which are certain or likely to be discussed by the Imperial Conference the Prime Minister covered a wide field, and although ho did not break any new ground, lie made quit* clear the frame ' of mind in which he approaches these problems. Although party feeling is strong and active in the Dominion where domestic matters are concerned, it is unquestionable that the Prime Minister's general attitude is repre- j tentative of the opinions of the vast ' majority of men of ail parties. The highest political interest of iliis country is tlie preservation of Imperial unity, and it must be with deep satisi action that nearly every Ne;v Zealander realises that Mr Massey is on this issue very strongly conservative. For m other Dominions there are strong lladical tendencies—we use the words Radical and Conservative in their strict sense, and not in the current political sense—which are not without danger to the continuance of the Empire as an indissoluble congeries of free States; and the traditional conservatism of New Zealand, not less decidedly marked in our representation by Mr lieddon than in our representation by Mr Massey., will be a useful brake upon over-speedy readjustments of the internal structure of the -Empire. Amongst the practical methods of assisting Imperial unity is the improvement of intra-Imporial communications and the enlargement of intraImperial trade. Although some people play with the idea of an Empire wholly self-contained ;',nd ultimately keeping all its trading within its own boundaries, the idea is impracticable, and, if i it were practicable, would be unprofitable. But there is much to be done \ in the way of mutual encouragement of ! trade between the Imperial States, and not less to be done in the way of making communication by sea, by cable, by wireless and by air much more rapid and efficient. .Fortunately there is no disagreement amongst the Dominions concerning this part of the general problem. Nor can there be auy real disagreement upon the nded for full co-operation by all the Dominions in the maintenance of the Empire's naval j defence. Tho method which any Dominion may adopt is of little import- { anco provided that its arrangements (it in with the general plan. Tho most serious of the problems before- tho Conference arises out of the growing feeling that it is'anomaloua that the foreign policy of the Empire should be controlled by a Ministry and Parliament responsible only to fh© people of the United Kingdmn. We may deplore the notification by Canada that ithat great Dominion will not accept any responsibility for tho effects of a policy in which she has had no voice, but it is tho part of wisdom to note the fa«t and' to take such'' steps as will ensure that in times of crisis tho Dominions will be glad to act in full concert with the United Kingdom. Even Mr Massey, with that distrust of large innovations which he shares with most New Zealanders, feels that his Majesty's Ministers in this country should in some important refipects have the same rights as his Majesty's Ministers in London. Many suggestions have been made as to the ; machinery which will guarantee that j British foreign policy shall be the policy of tho Empire as a whole, but none of the suggestions has been completely satisfactory. It is not to be expected, however, that the united wisdom of the men at the Imperial Conference will fail to find at any rate an interim solution of the problem.