THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1898.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10664, 31 January 1898, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1898.

Tilt! letter of our correspondent in another column on "Our Defences suggests an idea that is worthy of more than more passing consideration.

His scheme for enrolling the various bodies associated for sports and pastimes into so many separate regiments for the defence of the country would scarcely work out, for the twelve hundred registered cyclists of the city consist in a considerable proportion of women, whose services in a military capacity are hardly available, even though they have got the political franchise; and as for a regiment of bowlers, the habitual frequenters of the bowling-green consist in probably the same proportion of v ' elderly gentlemen ■ of . meek aspect and staid : demeanour, who could hardly be expected in the peaceful afternoon of their days to evolve the bellicose propensities j incident to preparation for , hunting the Russians. But admitting such limitations, there is force in the suggestion ; that in the present circumstances of the country, and of international relations, " sport'' and "play" might very well, for the present, take a back seat, and that the thews and sinews of our brawny young athletes might be direoted to the Wore ennobling purpose of protecting the country. It is • not in the least our intention to .belittle the importance of our alfresco enjoyments and the purposes which they serve in developing courage and manly strength. ' It is a Jin de deck feature of which society has every : reason to be proud, and one that will. undoubtedly show itself in • developing a finer type . of physical ; manhood than was known to our fathers. But . that at the most is but a means to : an end, and what nobler end could be • kept in view than to turn the benefits of that athletic agility and strength to the defence of home and country. , The Iron Duke, as he looked On the play- ! ground of Eton or some other public school, remarked sententiously, " That's what won Waterloo j" and considering the large number of the lads from such training • grounds that officered the British Army of the day, there is no doubt there was truth in the . remark; and th»t the 'dogged persistence which gave grounds for the allegation that the English soldier did not know when he was beaten had its source in large part in the mimic fray of the play field. V In earlier days, , when every Briton was . trttoed to UM the : croisbow, and When

archery was the pastime of the people, the .village green was the nucleus of the glorious battlefields that live in history, and Crecy, and Poitiers, and Agilicourt stand forth for all time in testimony of the priceless value of the sports and pastimes of the people being turned to good account in training the people to the use of arms. Earlier still the various Grecian games had their principal object and reward in the sturdy manhood that was ever ready to hurl itself on the enemies of the country, to roll back the tide of invasion, and keep Greece the home of freedom. But our games have no object, no purpose but the sheer, selfish one of affording amusement, unless it be the mercenary purpose of gate-money. At 110 time in history, perhaps, was there more earnest and universal devotion to sports and pastimes, and probably never in history were the objects of so great effort and so much enthusiasm so utterly trashy and ignoble.

No one, of course, will dispute that pleasure itself or amusement is worthy of pursuit for its own sake. But there is a measure in things, and the elevation of amusement-seeking to the position paramount which it at present holds in public estimation is dishonourable to our youth and humiliating to society, And the case is accentuated by the fact that the country is calling for defenders; that its safety, its very existence as an independent State, is imperilled by the weakness of our defence, while to whom should the country look but to its young men for taking up the duty of defending it against any possible incursion of a hostile force? The old cannot do it; they have borne the burden and heat of the day in opening up careers on which the young and vigorous have entered, and they are at least deserving of being fended round by strong arms that have strength to fight. The young, the women, and the frail cannot do it, and from all analogy of history, and from the suggestions of Nature, it is the duty of the youthful and the vigorous to give at least something of their strength and energy for defence, if defence is needed. And it is a disgrace to our young men that they devote so wholly their leisure time and opportunities to merely purposeless pastimes while volunteering is languishing, and they decline to render the least assistance to the defence of the country. If one-fourth of the attention and energy were given to military drill which are freely and even enthusiastically given by players and spectators to football, cricket, golf, and other mere pastimes, the shores of New Zealand would be impregnable, and for very fear of the army that could roll up for defence, there is not a nation in the world that would venture on molesting us. But our youths are uninspired by any nobler sentiment than eagerness to note a few scores in the victory of one lot of players over another in a contest without even the shadow of any practical purpose to servo. We do not for an instant question the fitness of an interest being felt in such a contest as those of the tost matches now proceeding between the English and Australian cricketers; but is there any man gifted with an average amount of sense or reason that does not see the silliness, when he reflects on the thing, of being carried away by a feeling in connection with such a contest, that is a weakness in humanity, and not a strength to be boasted of 1 Of course, it is "good form" conventionally, and once the reins are given to inclination, it is the easiest thing possible to be carried away. Any idiot can be so carried away; and it is strength and intelligence to see and rejeot the silly infatuation. But it has become the cant of the time to speak of such infatuation as a thing that it is neither possible nor proper to resist, and that it is a spocies of duty to feel and to think strongly about such a contest, The strength and the common sense are on the side of the man that resists such influence, not of the man whose woakness leaves him to be carried away; and with intolerable snobbery the weakling assumes that he it is that is doing the worthy and the proper thing,

Now we say, not a'word against the enjoyment of a pastime as such, and it would be a regrettable thing if the spirit of sport and pastime ever passed away; but why should an effort not be made to try and give some useful turn to this strong current in favour of popular sports and amusements 1 We dare say there was as much keen and vigorous enjoyment in the old time contests in archery as there are now in many a game of football or cricket; or, any way, there was enough enjoyment and fun in it to give plenty of zest to life, and furnish many an animated discussion and comment around the hearthstone in. the brave old times. And, without doing away with either football or cricket, why do not our clubs, and societies ot players try and devise some way in which their membership might conjoin some kind of organisation and drill with their training and contests, and impart some small amount of useful practical purpose into the enthusiasm of the pastime ? This suggestion is not Wade to the ; silly, brainless fellows who are incapable of grasping an idea larger than the little one that is immediately before them, But there are plenty of clear-headed men among , them, with originality in their ideas and conceptions; - and to these we appeal, and ask them, could not these clubs of theirs conjoin with their objects of pastime the object of enrolling and drilling for the' defence of the country 1 Would it not ennoble the status and sentiment of the club ; would it not give even a greater relish for the pastime when it had a noble object in association? Let it not bo supposed it is urged to con vert, these clubs from footballing or . cricket to soldiering. The 'object of play need never be altered, but 1 there may, be j grafted Oil it a shoot that might ultimately develop into a something that would be a pride to . the country. Among all these playing clubs is there anyone With patriotism and force of character sufficient to give a deviation to this passionate and somewhat reasonless enthusiasm for play, and turn a small measure of this enthusiasm into a channel that will lead to vivify volunteering, and to our young men showing themselves in the , character which they ought to maintain, of being the defenders of the hearths and homes of the country ? .