BARRAGKERS AND BAWL.

NZ Truth, Issue 57, 21 July 1906, Page 5

BARRAGKERS AND BAWL.

THE SILLY SHRIEK OF THE DAILIES.

A Storm m a Teapot.

The howl raised by the daily papers! j over the alleged blackguardism among f the crowds who attend football mat- 1 . ches m and around Wellington, has N | been proved to have been merely a Jj catchpenny cry, a ruse to excite a. r sensation and incite a large expendi- L" ture of the public's pence m the pur- ]$ chase df the papers m question. -i There is actually, "nothing m it." t The fearful, wicked, outrageous black- ■! guardism, the horrific attack upon the ;| referee, the soul-searing language, the ; : | riot and rowdyism, simply, never hap- 'j. pened. Moreover, the public knew J well that the ■' 'scare" is merely what ?} it is here stigmatised as— a shameless !.j trick to catch and poucL the people's 4 pence. They know it is no new cry. « with the "Times" particularly.,. * That there was no solid, or even) shaky, foundation for the bilious 3 bawl has been proved beyond cavil, t b*- the evidence . adduced at the meet- : -i ing of the Rugby IJnion to considen | the matter. All the officials who -:fi were m the "best position to • have | observed and noted anything ruffianIT. were unanimous m repudiating the charges of rowdyism and saying that ■ • the accounts of the dailies were gros- J sl^ exaggerated. But more than -\alji.^|! .was the evidence of the referee him- " . self, who: stated most positively that -^ he was not assaulted m any way and 4i that- the worst he heard was the . noisy grumbling incidental to every *1 football match m any part of the .'M world ; there always being partisans c'; with unbalanced minds, who must i find fault wjth the ruling of the re- ?| feree, ■being of the nature of the ship- ! wrecked Irishman, who, scrambling* half-drowned,, up the shifting shingle \ '%. of a lonely isle, spluttered, as.he | spat; out a mouthful of sea, sand and * seaweed : "Begorra, ay there's ere a "I Guv'minfe m this counthry Oim agin' 1 V : A it. .■ ' " .';Vaf! Such" violent, adjectival mis- 'I statements are calculated to do ? the winter game a deal of harm and '■%. the action of the daily press is no- >' thing else, but that of the "ill bird 1 I that fouls its own nest." What can :^' the rest of the colony and our friends ii across' the water, m Australia and England, think of the nature ol our | football crowds and the general tone ;v* of the sport, when papers that they ':'4 look upon as reputable mirrors of the ;S public mind, make such serious alle- -M gations as those made by the' "Times" and "Post" and rage vio- -w lentil to prove that football and its ■% whole connections m Wellington have ? degenerated into a saturnalia of blackguardism? Ani now, forsooth, : C we are to have the spectacle of an enthusiastic but generally ' orderly) 5g crowd being awed, hushed and men- -if aced by, a posse of police! The .^ thing is rtidiculous and monstrous; >fl and a slur on the whole community;' "lf There is, however, need for reform "|§ m the management of the great game g m this district. Some of the Union v» officials have acknowledged that they/ f have heard bad language during the -'a progress of matches. Well, what sort * of Union officials are they that theyi-^i^ did »ot do their, plain duty and sup- 1 press it, as well as see to it that the brutes who bellow ; foul obscenities m 3 a mixed crowd would haws tp_jndjilge •'> 'S m their brutality outside the fenrefoV^ the future ? Why did not they justify, ;|I the existence of a governing body befare the press began to bay and yelp ;■ -^ -and hound them on to do their duty?, f Instead, these -gentlemen prefer to,_X strut m prominent pomposity In front of the pavilion, to let the girls admire them and the awed little boys - ; said "That's 'im !" Then, when the l /f match starts, they ensconce themsel- : % yes- m cosy, corners of the stand and!. ? proceed to enjoy the game. If, iit- 3 stead of this, the "energetic" igentryj^ went among, the crowd anh let it see that there really was a govern-< § ing tody and that it would uphold ; --AJ the* character and standard of the game,, they/ would be proving thefe - c | fitness for their high election. As H(;;^§ is they srfej. every Saturday, within a! --^ few feet of a Wellington "celebrity** and laugh while he. howls to the play- 'M ers, "Bash 'im! Kill 'im ! Jumpj on 'is belly : ! Bust 'im f Lay 'imk^ out!" and similar pleasantries. As..;| a fact' it is not the "rough, cheap*, V| crowd" that is guilty pf such nofsyr' -| •rowdyism as does exist ; it is the ;■■ bSg-ncollar, alleged gentlemen push whcv if swear and shriek and make the poor^ oM worried, worn-out welkin ring" '■}) with> their baboon yells and outrage- j;^; pus objurgations. S^ Another thing tjiese "active" corn-* nwtteemen choose to loftily ignore is the very objectionable presence, everyi 5 Saturday r right m front of the pavf- ;£ lion, of a bunch of bookmakers, who i | ' openly ply their calling, "corner off" 3 players to get a line on the probable^! result— let it be hoped not with a ?|j view to direct it !— and who have 3^ been several times detected m tryingr to get into the dressingrroomJ^^^Co W| "chat*' players *~" - ; The fact is now beyond dispute that the recent bug-a-boo bellow of the, dailies over one alleged "riot" was^l totally uncalled for and insofar aa^ that matter goes "Truth" has defeiK; 1 ded the players, public and Union- <| But here are a few matters that real*- ;| ly do require instant attention and ;|} having had their, plain duty pointed 3, out to them, it may be hoped the Un* |l ion officials will get m and do it. ||