Truth THE ROTTEN N.Z.R.U.

NZ Truth, Issue 90, 9 March 1907, Page 4

Truth

THE ROTTEN N.Z.R.U.

Putjlilshed" Evbjry Saturday Mobnen(s at Luke's Lane (off Manners, STREET), WELIiINGTONy N.Z. SUBSCRIPTION (IN ADVANCE), 13S. . .. , PER ANNUM.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1907

Sinecy the "All Black" football combination, by their ■ prowess on distant green ; and muddy fields gave New Zealand, a splendid advertisement, Aaiid more strongly than ever "cemented, the bonds" (sec .London Letter elswhere) of a mongrel Em- \ pire-, and, what is more pertinent, raised the New Zealand Rugby Union from the mire of poverty and semibankruptcy to a glorified state ot affluence and influence m sporting circle's, some of the gaseous 'gooseheaded galoots who run the show m" the interest of "pure and disinterested" Amateur sport seem to have taken leave of what little sense Nature m her wisdom bestowed on them. Wealth, particularly the $ud- ; den accumulation of it, has peculiar effects, on those . unaccustomed to its mixed blessings and it generally dis-> covers, m those fortunate enough to achieve it, who is and who is not able to "stand their corn." And it may be generally remarked that some of the bumptious bounders who at present run the N.Z.R.U. are unable to do that. They have become frisky and fractious, and have more than one© . kicked over the traces, until it was absolutely necessary to draw a tight rein on them. The ignorant, loutish behavior of Neil (falbraith and his satellites m invoking police aid, to remove, if nepes-; .sary by. forpe, a number of press, representatives doinp; thoir duty to their employers and the public, from the 1 Athletic Park ground m September last is still fresh m the public; mind, and unless this controlling 1 •tody of M pure" sports shows a much desired disposition to deal fairly and squarely by all, and prove itself amenable to justice and reason, this pa.per will, at anyratc, keep it verdant m the public' mind. This august body has; more than ever s*i:ice its banking account was considerably augmented by the proceeds of the "All Elack" tour, o.ssumed the role of Censor-General abrogated to itself powers and priv- 1 ilepes and virtually effected a "oorne'r" m Rugby. The unfair treatment of alleged Pm^j offenders by. this body \\ps been manilest more than once and dealt with m these columns from time to time. If there wr.s but a shadow of manly fair play by bhis plutocratic push m dealing with offenders there would not be room for criticism ; but when such a body, animated m many instances by a few,- whose presence on the commifrtee of any honorable amateur spotting association is a by-word and a reproach, is led into the perpetration of wrong-dealing, the lash of .censuru cannot' be too severely used,

The chief conversation m Rugby circles just at present is the disqualification by the N.Z.R.U. of .Secretary Atkinson of the Athletic- Club. The facts of the case are that sometime last season one of the Petone players, JCelly, went to Blenheim and played for one of the district teams, and as he showed rare form r - the kind presumably ' not usually shown by Blenheimi'tes, the Marlborough. Rugby Union sniffed suspiciously and enquiries wore set on foot, with the result that it was ascertained that when, a Marlborough team visited ''Wellington to play the Athletic Club, some of the Marlboroughites made arrangements to secure the services of a Petone player, or player's, for a forthcoming .flna). "'ho \w» ; .fois were subsequently entertained at -the Bellevue, Gardens and it is alleged that on the way out there a Blenheim player got off the train at Petone to complete negotiations with certain Petone' players.^ A Blenheim delegate next noised it .a--round that Atkinson was the moving spirit m the matter ; that ho ■ Had arranged for Kelly, of Petone, tq go to Blenheim, and moreover alleged that Atkinson had gone down to the wharf to see the team off from Wellington. Mowat, a member of the •Marlborough Union, was the prime mover m the matter, an& he seemed to have secured the capacious and receptive ears of the triumvirate,! Messrs Dixon, Wylie and Galbradth. It was proved that Atkinson, at the time the boat left the wharf, was at Ms work, and that, a- player named McLennan, of the Athletic Club, was the only representative of that team present. Atkinson told all he knew of the matter, and averred that even that was only ' hearsay ; but the blessed Trinity who run the N.Z.R.U. disregarded his defence and sent Kirn up. Mr Mountebank Mowat, of course wished to appear as a ■disciple of pure sport; out theire are reasons to doubt that asseveration, because it is common talk that" Mowat had ' his "bit' on 1 ' the match (which* was disputed) find had he ■'been a' winner '"pure sport" could Have gone to the wall. Most of these Rugby. Unionites' dearly love to air their eloquence on pure sport;, and,' 1 the worst' of it is, or the, best .of it is, that those who are) the loudestmouthed 'are . inveterate gamblfers, who would stake their last sixpence ; on anything from a maggot crawl to a horse race. "Gaily," more than anybody else, loves > to pose a,s a virtuous "youth," . who has never, and will never, blow the froth off a foaming pewter, and it was, like his extreme impertinence, duritig the inquiry, to tax Kelly with having ticked up beer at Cheeseman's Hotel, Petone. Such is the piffling Puri-. tanic attitude this body is taking up! What m Hell has . Kelly's "slate" .to do with the N.Z.R.U;, and why m Hell did not Kelly bust "G-al'braith's jaw for his dirty, impudent insinuation. , . . ; .

It is more, however, to the business-: lake acumen of Wylie and- his merry men that attention should be directed. An invitation to attend, the' inquiry was sent to Atkinson, who declined to acknowledge it, because it was unsigned. Then, ,to show the Union's displeasure Atkinson was camanamicated with >by Secretary Wylie, and that letter "ie a disgrace to any Kindergarten scholar. It is undecfflheraifcile, , smudged and defaced and what on earth its_ contents ; were none hut , Wvlie and his crbv.ii know ;~ certain it, is that Atkinson: does not,- . and, moreover, it can he .-.S aid; that if such a letter emanated from the copyir.e: pfcess of any business ..firm m Wcllir^on it would have meant instant dismissal ' for the writer or press operator. . The N.'Z.R-.U. naS two secretaries, Wylie and.Merrie, ami it is, a- sad' - and sort;y piece of business that between the pair .'no letters can be written, copied and ported, the contents of which are uhderctaT?dablc or deciphera'blei Really it docs seam that th 6 time 1 is ripe for the infusion of new blood into the veins of this Rugby, Union. Unless t-Hs m -done the noble game is sure to suffer severely.