DUNEDIN AMATEUR ATHLETIC CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 2057, 27 July 1893, Page 34

DUNEDIN AMATEUR ATHLETIC CLUB.

The annual meeting of the Dunedin Amateur Athletifi Club was held in the City Hotel on Saturday nighfc Dr Roberts (president) occupied the chair, and there were about 40 members present. EEPOHT AND BALANCE SHEUT. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report (which has been already published) and balance sheet, congratulated the club upon the satisfactory state of affairs which was disclosed in these documents, and laid especial stress upon the fact that notwithstanding that the committee, instead of canvassing the town for prizes to be awarded at the sports, had been able to expend the sum o5 £55 in the purchase of trophies; and notwithstanding, also, that the representation of the club at the Championship meeting had cost £34, there was sf'H a balance in the bank of £31 7s lOd. He referred to the loss sustained by the club in the departure of prominent members of the committee in the persons of Messrs R. F. Cook, T. Kerr, and W. Devenish; and alluding to the Championship meetipg *t Wellington, said

that the club had been represented by athletes of a high order, who, although they had met with a singular amount of misfortune in running into second place, had in no way disgraced themselves.— (Hear, hear ) Probably they would be able to recover their laurels in the ensuing year. — (Applause.) The motion, having been seconded by Mr J. T. Pram, was put and carried unanimously. ELECTION OF OFFICE- BEARERS. The Chairman said he had much pleasure in recommending to the meeting for the post of president Dr Jeffcoat, who had been a vicepresident for the last three years, and who by virtue of seniority among the vice-presidents was now entitled to the position of president. The motion was carried unanimously; and other office-bearers were appointed as follows without opposition : — Vice-presidents, Dr Roberts, Messrs C. B. Grierson, F. J. Stilling, and J. Sinclair-Thomson ; hon. secretary, Mr W. H. Hislop; hon. treasurer, Mr J. A. Harvey ; hon. auditor, Mr S. M. Park. Eight nominations were received for the seven positions on the committee, and the following were elected :— Messrs W. J. Burk, J. Hutchison, W. A. Low, A. J. M'Credie, P. J. Ness, J. T. Pram, and G. Turton. THE VALUE OF TROPHIES. Mr J. H. Chapman moved—" That, in order that the title of ' amateur' as taken by this club may not be a misnomer, ib is desirable to reduce the value of the trophies awarded by the club to a nominal sum.". He said that, although he could not claim to have lately taken any prominent part in the affairs of the D.A.A.C., he was an original member of the club which was formed 10 years ago, with Mr Sleigh as secretary, and he had always watched the career of this club with a great deal of interest. " He believed that the use and not the abuse of athletics had a great effect on the development of a race such as ours, and that a proper cultivation of athleticß did much to form national life and character; and it was with these views that he came to the meeting, in the hope that he would obtain sufficient support from the members to enable his motion to be carried. Those who had served on the committees of clubs such as this must be painfully aware that during the last few years there had been tho growth of a spirit that was as far apart from the true amateur spirit as the poles were asunder — he referred to the desire to rank as amateurs, coupled with the love of gaining something tangible in the way of a trophy. Nothing had, so far as he knew, yet been done to check the growth of this spirit— most of them were content to let matters "slide" in the hope that the evil I would die out, but his experience was that I the tendency was for such things, instead of turning for the better, to turn for the worse. He looked upon it as a good sign that the club had managed to do last year without canvassing for prizes, but he knew that in many other athletic bodies the canvassing of the city for trophies for the annual sports was a perfect nuisance to members of the committee. He considered that now that the club was flourishing and that the members were enthusiastic, it was the time to grapple with the evil. A wellknown authority had defined amateur sport to be that which was practised for the love of itself, devoid of emolument, and another had said that an amateur was a 1 man who cultivated anything as a pastime and not for profit. He asked the members of the club under which category they came. For that invertebrate order of creature, the cash amateur, he had nothing but the most profound contempt — (hear, hear) — for, ashamed to own his true colours, this person must get a tangible reward for the development of his athleticism yet tried to hide his real purpose under the title of cash amateur. He hoped that, with whatever fate his motion might meet, there would never be anything such as cash amateurism in athletics.— (Applause.) Either let them boldly proclaim themselves as professionals or make themselves amateurs in the true sense of the term. He had asked several friends outside the club what was the difference between a man who ran for a £5 trophy and a money prize of £s— and there was no difference in the spirit of the thing between running for a £5 trophy or a twoguinea trophy— and he asked whether it could honestly be said that they were entitled to claim to be an amateur club if they awarded two-guinea or one-guinoa trophies P He said undoubtedly " No.' 1 There was no difference in spirit between the man who ran for a trophy and the man who said boldly that he could not afford to run for trophies ; and he preferred the man who boldly said he could not afford to run for trophies before the man who did not say that yet tried to turn his trophy into cash. He had asked the opinion of people outside the club, who took an interest in sport, what their opinion was of the so-called amateurs of Dunedin, and they had told him that they were merely amateurs in name, and that their actions did not correspond with their professions. He contended that a man who was allowed to choose his own trophy could not be called an amateur. Mr G. Tuetqn seconded the motion. He thought it would be a good thing if the proposed change took place. No doubt there would be smaller fields in consequence, but it would show who wire the true amateurs and who were not. Mr G. L. Denniston said that as some of the active members might feel a delicacy in discussing the proposal, he might be permitted to say a word or two from the other point of yiew. He was sure they all credited Mr Chapman with the best motives in bringing this matter forward, for Mr Ghapman was a true lover of ?port, and had given a long and consistent support to it ; but he (Mr Chapman) had not convinced him that this step would be a right one. He objected to the motion as a matter of principle. He had a great deal of sympathy with the members who liked sub: stanjbial trophies which they could show to their friends. So long as human nature was as they found ib, people liked something to work for, and it was a great pleasure to get a handsome present as the reward for their endeavours. He was afraid that the re-ulfc of making the pro? posed change would be disastrous to the club, as there would be smaller fields and fewer com.petitors. He admitted that the giving away of prizes was a drain on the club, bub it was at present not too great a drain, and, if necessary, they might reduce the value of their prizes Jnstead of making such a drastic change as that proposed. The CnAiHMAN said he entirely agreed wjth the spirit of the motion, bub he did not quite agree with the letter. He thought that in the tendency to which Mr Chapman had alluded, of athletes to run for prizes only, the general tendency was for the value of the trophies to be gradually reduced, and he believed that in the end the consummation Mr Ghapman wished for would be reached, but he did not think it was to be reached at a single bound. To prove that what he said bore a certain amount of truth, he pointed out that at a recent meeting of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association a limit was placed on the value of the trophies to be offered for any handicap, and it was proposed that the limit should be £7 7s, but at the special instigation of the committee of this club the value was reduced to £5 sa, and that was what the limit now stood at. Then, it must ba remembered for how long the

precedent bad existed of awarding trophies, and, though he thought they should be obliged to Mr Chapman for sounding a warning note, he believed the time had hardly come for the adoption of the reform. Mr W. A. Low said he was inclined to agree .with the president. Mosb of the competitors liked to gain something substantial which they could keep— something that would last— and he thought most of the runners in the club wonld agree with him in' thinking that the present system was the best. Mr 0. B. Gbierson said that the value of the trophies the club gave in some instances did not exceed £1 Is, and a badge, such as Mr Chapman proposed to give, would practically cost about the same. He pointed out that the adoption of the motion would prevent the club from accepting an offer of, say, a £5 trophy if such should be offered. He did not think there was anything unworthy in a feeling of pleasure at the receipt of something pretty as the result of a hard-fought battle. Mr Chapman said he was satisfied with having brought the matter before the club for discussion, and he hoped to live long enough to see the majority of the members of the club agree with him on the subject. After some further discussion, the motion was, by leave, withdrawn. * COMPLIMENTARY. The Chairman said the next business was a pleasing one. Prominent among their members on the running track last year was Mr Burk — (hear, hear) — whose records as a professional were well known to most of them. It would be remembered that Mr Burk left the running track for six yeare, and then returned to it as an amateur. It was no small thing for an athlste to go out of training for some years and lose the power of his muscles, and then to return to the track and show performances that redounded to his credit ; but this Mr Burk had done, and it must be borne in mind, looking at his performances last year, that this was so. With Mr Burk's performances at the local meetings and; at Wellington they were quite familiar, and they were aware that with the spirit of the true amateur Mr Burk asked the committee to permit him an opportunity of putting up a record for three miles for New Zealand. A race was arranged with the result that though he raff under unsatisfactory circumstances, Mr Bark completed the three miles in 15min 27£ sec. The club wished to recognise the spirit; of the thing as well as the actual performance by presenting Mr Burk with a small trophy, and he had much pleasure in handing him a medal, with the nature of the performance engraved on it. For himself and all the members of the club, he was exceedingly sorry that Mr Bark was leaving the track. — (Loud applause.) Mr Burk, in returning thanks for the acknowledgment of his record, said he had felt as much pleasure in running that race without the prospect of a trophy as if he had been running for one — (applause) ; but at the same time it was very nice to go into training with the knowledge that if they won they would be able to choose for themselves a trophy, with an inscription, which they could set about the house so that their friends might see it. At the same time he believed that when a man was once on the track he would run with as much determination for a badge as for any other trophy, but the difficulty would be to get him into training. Regarding the championships, he thought that with the assistance of some members in the jumping and weight putting events, the club would this year be able to win the coveted banner, and if he could give any assistance to competitors he would be only too glad to do so.— (Applause.) The Chairman said that it had seemed to the committee that it would be a graceful thing, now that Mr Eerr had Mb Dunedin, to recognise his services for the last few years by appointing him a life member causa honoris. Apart from his well-known zeal and interest in all matters connected with the club. Mr Kerr had . been' of actual service from a financial point of view, for when the club's funds were low he took upon himself the promotion of a fancy-dress football match— (laughter)— which resulted in increasing the funds by about £50, i at a time when £50 was very much needed. He therefore proposed that in recognition of his services to the club, and on his leaving Dunedin, Mr Kerr be appointed an honorary life member. Mr Chapman pointed out that the club would be establishing rather a rash precedent if proposals of this sort were to be made without previous notice. Mr Denniston, as one who had a great deal to do with Mr Kerr during the tetter's term of secretaryship, said that Mr Kerr rendered great service to the club not only in the special acts to which the chairman had referred, but also ia the ordinary secretarial work. He felt they lost a good secretary in Mr Kerr, but he was pleased that they had got an equally good one in Mr Ness. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr Denniston proposed a vote of thanks to the out-going officers, especially to the hon. secretary, Mr Ness, who, to his knowledge, had devoted to the affairs of the club an amount of time and trouble that was beyond all mention. The vote was carried by acclamation, and the usual compliment to the chair brought the meeting to a close. AMATEUR ATHLETES QF DUNEDIN. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— Those of your readers that tafce an. interest in the various branches of amateur sports must have read with some concern Mr Chapman's speech at the D.A.A.C. meetipg. With the general tenor of his remarks most of us have no doubt a great deal of sympathy, bufc when he winds up by saying that he has asked people outside the club what their opinion is of the so-called amateurs of Dunedin, and that they have Itold him that the amateurs are merely amateurs in name, and that their actions [ do not correspond with their professions, I th'nk he may fairly be asked to state whether or not he agrees with such an opinion. A stater ment like the foregoing appearing in the press with Mr Chapman's name } n any way connected with it is a very serious one, and such as cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed. — I am, &c, Dunedin, July 24. F. J. Stilling.